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Reminder

Compliance protocols MUST be approved and linked in SeRA to a SPO project record prior to award acceptance. 

See ORA's Award Acceptance Resources for additional information.

eCertification System: PI Leaves & Sabbaticals FAQs

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Background Policies

Research Policy Handbook Chapter 2.2

Acting Principal Investigatorship

Responsibilities for the intellectual direction of our externally sponsored teaching and research activities must rest with the faculty and may not be delegated to others, even on a temporary basis, without prior approval. Acting PIship is subject to the same criteria for eligibility as outlined in RPH 2.1, PI Eligibility and Criteria for Exceptions.

If the PI of an on-going sponsored project will not be engaged in the project for a period of three months or more, another Academic Council member must be named as Acting PI to assume direction of the project, subject to the approval of the sponsoring agency.
Research Policy Handbook Chapter 3.3

Sponsor Notifications and Prior Approvals

The PI is responsible for necessary notifications to the sponsor about project status. In all cases, required notifications or requests for prior approval of contract or grant status, including those described in the sections below, should be made in writing to the sponsor. Such notifications must be coordinated through the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) or the Research Management Group (RMG) in the School of Medicine.


Changes in PI Status

In addition, all federal sponsors and most non-federal sponsors have requirements regarding notification or prior approval of changes in availability of the PI:

  • For federal contracts and non-federal projects, the terms and conditions of the particular agreement will govern
  • For federal grants, Uniform Guidance requires prior written approval from the awarding agency for either of the following circumstances involving the PI or approved Project Director:
  1. A reduction in time devoted to the project of 25% or more from the proposed and awarded level
  2. Disengagement from the project for more than three months (see RPH 2.2 Acting PIship)

For any additional requirements, review the relevant award's terms and conditions and the general award policies of the specific sponsor.

To obtain sponsor prior approval for changes in availability/effort of the PI, including when a PI's faculty appointment will terminate prior to or during a project's period of performance, the department administrator, PI, or Department Chair should prepare and submit within SeRA a Central Office Request. 

SeRA Central Office Request Types & Instructions
Research Policy Handbook  Chapter 3.2

Management of Project Expenditures

The following certification statement appears in the eCertification System.

As the principal investigator I confirm to the best of my knowledge that the salary and wages charged to this project are appropriate in relation to work performed on this project. All other costs charged to this project are, to the best of my knowledge, appropriate. Where required, corrections have been or will be made through the accounting system.

This certification is the responsibility of the project PI (or Co-PI). A PI may delegate the review of monthly expenditures for accuracy, but may not delegate certification of the appropriateness of the charges except as follows.

  • The PI may only delegate review and certification to a participating Academic Council member or PI eligible individual who is responsible for the portion of the statement of work for which they are responsible. The designee must be identified as the Task Owner in the accounting system.
  • If the PI of an on-going sponsored project will not be engaged in the project for a period of three months or more, another Academic Council member must be named as Acting PI to assume direction of the project, subject to the approval of the sponsoring agency.  The acting PI will assume the responsibility of review and certification of project expenditures. If the acting PI does not have firsthand knowledge of the appropriateness of project expenditures and is unable to certify he/she should contact their School Overseer, or if in the  School of Medicine, their Research Financial Compliance Manager (RFCM)

Faculty Handbook Chapter 3

Sabbaticals and Other Leaves of Absence Applicable to the Academic Council and Medical Center Professoriates

It is important that faculty be regularly available to students and colleagues, participating continuously in the educational programs of the University. Sabbaticals and other leaves of absences may not only reduce a faculty member’s contribution to the University, but may also disrupt instructional programs. In general, the granting or denying of leaves is at the discretion of the department Chairs or School Deans.
Faculty Handbook 3.1.2

Short Absences

It is expected that when scheduling periods off, one's academic responsibilities are taken into consideration and continue to be fulfilled. The department Chair should be notified in advance of any absence of a faculty member on active duty that may affect class, laboratory, research, or other University commitments, including graduate student supervision.


FAQs

How do Principal Investigators (PIs) review and certify expenses if they are on sabbatical or leave of absence?

How should a short leave of absence of a PI be handled in relation to certifying sponsored project expenditures?

How do PIs review and certify expenses if they are leaving or have left Stanford?

What do I do if my PI is unable to review and certify project expenditures due to illness or death?

How do Principal Investigators (PIs) review and certify expenses if they are on sabbatical or leave of absence?

PI Sabbatical or Leave of Absence While Working on Sponsored Projects

The benefit of having an electronic system is that the PI can review and certify expenses remotely.  If a PI is on a sabbatical for research or leave of absence and they are still working on their sponsored projects, they must continue to review and certify the project expenses.

PI Sabbatical or Leave of Absence Not Working on Sponsored Projects

If the PI of an on-going sponsored project will not be engaged in the project for a period of three months or more, another Academic Council member must be named as Acting PI to assume direction of the project, subject to the approval of the sponsoring agency.  Please see RPH 2.2 Acting Principal Investigatorship and RPH 3.3 Sponsor Notifications and Prior Approvals.

The Acting PI must review and certify the project expenses.  If he/she/they does not have first-hand knowledge of the sponsored project expenditures, he/she/they should contact their School Overseer, or if in the  School of Medicine, their Research Financial Compliance Manager (RFCM)


How should a short leave of absence of a PI be handled in relation to certifying sponsored project expenditures?

  • The PI needs to review expenditures prior to the leave of absence and certify quarter-to-date expenditures.
  • If there is another faculty member who has first-hand knowledge of the sponsored project and the work performed, he/she/they can review and certify project expenditures via a Manual Certification.  All manual certifications must first be approved by your School Overseer and then by the ORA RAPC team.  A request for manual certification can be initiated by the Research Administrator (TM), Department Overseer, or School Overseer (SO) from within eCertification.

Request for Manual Certification

  1. Log into eCertification 
  2. Navigate to the Account Details page of the PTA that requires manual certification.  (The PTA should not be in certified status.)
  3. Click the Flags or Request arrow
  4. Select the Request for Manual Certification radio button 

    eCert_Account Details_Flags or Requests_Request for Manual Certification
  5. Enter the reason for the request. A comment is required. Click Submit.  When you click submit, the request status changes to Waiting for School Overseer Approval and can be viewed by clicking on Maintenance from the left-hand navigation menu and selecting Manual Certification Requests.  

    eCert Maintenance_Manual Certification Requests Dashboard
  6. If you have already downloaded an Adobe PDF version of the expenditure report from the relevant Account Details page within eCertification and obtained the faculty' signature, you can proceed with attaching the certified PDF to the PTA in the manual certification dashboard. Click the paper clip Attachments icon.  You will return to the PTA screen where you can attach the certified PDF.  
    • eCert Maintenance_Manual Certification Requests Dashboard
      eCert_Attach Manual Certifcation Docs screen
  7. The request is sent to the School Overseer (SO).  The School Overseer has a choice of actions: Approve or Reject. 
    • Approve – Routes the request to Central Admin for approval & changes the request status to Waiting for Admin Approval
    • Reject – Sends the request back to TM and changes the status to Rejected by School Overseer.  The TM or Department Overseer can resubmit the request as needed
  8. After the School Overseer action and the certified document is NOT attached. (Applies if Step 6 was not already completed)
    • Approve – Request status changes to Attach Certified Document
    • Reject – Request status changes to Rejected by School Overseer.  The TM or Department Overseer can resubmit the request as needed
  9. After School Overseer approves and the certified document is attached the request status changes to Waiting for Admin to Certify
  10. After approval by Central Admin and if the certified document is Not attached, the request status changes to Attach Certified Document. The TM or SO must attach the certified document.  (Applies if Step 6 was not already completed)
  11. After the Central Admin approves the request and the certified document is attached the request status changes to Waiting for Admin to Certify
  12. Central Admin certifies the PTA the the PTA status changes to Certified

Tracking the status of a Manual Certification Request

From the eCertification system's left-hand navigation menu, click on the Maintenance drop down option, and then click Manual Certification Requests. This action will route you to the Request Status dashboard, where you can follow the approval/rejection process. The Request Status column indicates the actions required to complete the manual certification process.  To view all columns within the dashboard, use the horizontal scroll bar.

eCert Maintenance_Manual Certification Requests Dashboard
  • If there is not a faculty available with firsthand knowledge of the project, contact their School Overseer, or if in the School of Medicine, their Research Financial Compliance Manager (RFCM) for assistance in resolving the matter.
  • There can be unforeseen events that preclude a principal investigator from being able to review and certify project expenditures in a timely fashion.  If the PI is not available, and no one with firsthand knowledge, the research administrator should contact their School Overseer, or if in the School of Medicine, their Research Financial Compliance Manager (RFCM) to discuss an appropriate plan.

How do PIs review and certify expenses if they are leaving or have left Stanford?

If the PI is transferring his/her sponsored project to another institution, the PI must complete their review and certification of quarterly expenditures prior to the Office of Research Administration (ORA) releasing the sponsored project or equipment to another institution.  If the PI is planning to leave Stanford during the academic quarter, the research administrator must review Quarter - to - Date expenditure data, and outstanding commitments.  Once the research administrator has reviewed the Quarter to Date expenditures and commitments, the PI must review and certify expenditures in the eCertification System.

PI Has Left Stanford and is transferring their sponsored project to a new institution

If the PI does not have an active SUNet ID

  1. SUNet ID should be sponsored by the department or lab, allowing the PI to login to the eCertification System to review and certify project expenditures, or...
     
  2. Follow the above Request for Manual Certification instructions.

PI Has Left Stanford and is transferring their PI role to another PI at Stanford

If another Stanford PI is taking over the role of the PI, the administering department must seek sponsor prior approval.  To obtain sponsor prior approval for change of the PI, the department administrator should prepare and submit within SeRA a Central Office Request.

SeRA Central Office Request Types & Instructions

The newly appointed PI must review and certify the quarterly expenditures.  While waiting for sponsor approval, a previously identified Co-PI with first-hand knowledge may take over review and certification responsibilities.

If there is not a faculty available with firsthand knowledge of the project, contact their School Overseer, or if if in the School of Medicine, their Research Financial Compliance Manager (RFCM) for assistance in resolving the matter.

PI will leave Stanford and the Sponsored Project will be terminated/end early (Project will not be transferred to another institution, or taken over by another Stanford PI)

If the project has ended, or will be terminated, the departing PI should review expenditures on or before his/her last day at Stanford, and certify the quarter-to-date expenditures.  If no additional expenses post to the project after the departing PI has certified, then no additional certification steps are needed. 

If additional expenses post after the quarter-to-date expenditures were certified, the PTA status will change from “certified” to “partially-certified”, and the additional expenses posted will need to be reviewed and certified.  In order to certify the PTAs, follow the same steps as “PI Has Left Stanford and is transferring their sponsored project to a new institution” (above).  Otherwise, contact your School Overseer, or if in the  School of Medicine, your Research Financial Compliance Manager (RFCM) to determine alternate methods for certification.


What do I do if my PI is unable to review and certify project expenditures due to illness or death?

The research administrator should work with the department or laboratory to determine if there is a faculty member who has first-hand knowledge of the sponsored project and the work performed.  If so, he/she/they can review and certify project expenditures via a manual certification.  Follow the above Request for Manual Certification instructions.

If there is not a faculty available with firsthand knowledge of the project, contact the School Overseer, or if in the School of Medicine, their Research Financial Compliance Manager (RFCM) for assistance in resolving the matter.

How do I change the Certifier in the eCertification System?

Submit a Help Ticket to receive a quick response and assistance from the eCertification system team.

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