Agency Prior Approval

During the life cycle of a grant, changes resulting from circumstances not anticipated during the development of the application may be necessary.  These changes can be financial or programmatic. Some sponsors allow the awarding institution to make changes and deviate from the approved and awarded grant application to a certain extent.  Most but not all federal agencies have delegated that authority to the awardee institution for single no-cost extensions, rebudgeting within certain limits, carryforward of unobligated balances, etc. Most awarding sponsors require the awardee institution to request prior approval for changes that would have a major impact on the grant.  Some examples of these are:

• Change in status of PI or Key personnel
• Removal of the PI/Key personnel
• Change in Scope
• Additional no-cost extension (2 nd NCE)
• Rebudgeting that would exceed 25% of the total approved budget
• Foreign component added to a grant
• Rebudgeting funds from training costs/participant support costs

The sponsoring agencies' terms and conditions should be reviewed when determining if a change needs prior approval.   All prior approval requests submitted to the sponsoring agency must have the Authorized Organizational Representative’s signature and be submitted by either a COM or SPA administrator.