Tools For Project Directors

The following information is provided to assist Project Directors with meeting the contractual obligations of grants awarded by the North Central Center.  Sections are provided for award management topics including Funding Acknowledgement & Logo Requirements, Invoicing,  Budget Revisions, Extension Requests, Change of Project Director and the ERME Retrospective Evaluation Requirement.  Please contact the North Central Center with any questions regarding this information.

Funding Acknowledgement and Logo Requirements
Invoicing Procedures
Budget Revisions
Change of Project Director
ERME Retrospective Evaluation Requirement

 

Funding Acknowledgement and Logo Requirements

While your grant has been awarded by the North Central Center, the funding is ultimately from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).  The regulations governing the use of these federal funds require that the following acknowledgement of support and logos be utilized in all promotional materials, presentations, media releases, and project materials developed for programming funding by this grant:

• Statement for 2021, 2020 and 2019 Awards
  “This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2018-70027-28586.”

The USDA/NIFA logo and the North Central Extension Risk Management Education logo must both be used on all printed materials, including those produced in electronic format.  Please utilize whatever size best fits your printed/electronic material.

To use the North Central Center logo, right click on the logo below and “Save As” to your desktop.

                   

To use the NIFA logo, please visit:  https://nifa.usda.gov/resource/official-nifa-identifier and use the identifier “as-is”.  Please refer to the webpage for additional formats and specific details.

 

An all-inclusive Funding Acknowledgement Image is available that includes the statement and both logos:

• For 2021, 2020 and 2019 awards, please download this Funding Acknowledgement Image.

Insert the image at full size on its own slide for PowerPoint presentations, or feel free to utilize in other documents.

If space prevents the use of logos on your materials, the following statement should be used:

For 2021, 2020 and 2019 Awards:  “Funding for this project was provided by the North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Award Number 2018-70024-28586, and (list other funding sources if applicable).”

Invoicing Procedures

• If you are working on an Exploratory Project, please contact Christine at clockert2@unl.edu for reimbursement details.
• All invoices must correlate to your plan of work and follow the budget and budget narrative that was set forth in your application.
• Invoices should include a detailed itemization of expenditures produced from the sub-recipient’s accounting system.
• Invoices should be submitted monthly or quarterly, and should be a minimum of $500 (except for final invoice), otherwise the invoice will be held until the total requested amount is at least $500.
• Accumulative total of all invoices should not exceed 85% of the grant funds awarded unless a final report has been submitted.  ***Invoices that are submitted bringing the total remaining balance to less than 15% will be held until the final report has been submitted. 
• Invoices should include the assigned 13-digit sub-award number (25-6324-xxxx-xxx) found on the first page of the agreement – “Subaward No.”
• Invoices must include a Certification Statement with signature:
• Email invoices to:
  University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  Attn:  Kathi Malone
  Office of Sponsored Programs
  151 Whittier Research Center
  2200 Vine Street – P.O. Box 830861
  Lincoln, NE 68583-0861
  kmalone2@unl.edu

Budget Revisions

Please contact the North Central Center for consultation if you believe that a revision to your approved budget may be necessary.  You may contact either Brad Lubben (blubben2@unl.edu) or Christine Lockert (clockert2@unl.edu).  Justification for the change in budget and a revised budget will be required.

Change of Project Director

The Project Director is responsible for the entire project.  This includes project management, subcontracting, funds oversight, meeting project time schedules, reporting progress and submitting the final report.  A change in project director designation requires approval from the Director of the North Central Center.  The existing project director must send a letter to the Center Director requesting the change.  Additionally, the newly designated project director must provide a CV and a letter which states his/her qualifications for assuming the responsibilities associated with the project.
The signed and dated letters must be written on the letterhead of the Project Director’s organization and addressed to:  Dr. Bradley Lubben, Director, North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center, 303 Filley Hall, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0922.  Failure to notify the Center of a change in Project Director designation could result in payment being withheld and/or de-obligation of any unexpended funds remaining under the grant.

ERME Retrospective Evaluation Requirement

In order to assess and document educational impacts across the ERME project portfolio, Project Directors are required to conduct a brief retrospective evaluation.

ERME has developed a specific format that all projects should follow to prepare a retrospective evaluation assessing changes in understanding/knowledge for each area of risk covered by the project. There should be a separate question (5 maximum) for each risk area (production, marketing, financial, legal or human) as determined by the topic areas you select within your table of Proposed Results.  The evaluation should be conducted at the end of the project’s workshop(s) or training series.

Please review the ERME Retrospective Evaluation Training presentation slides for more information.