Responsibility: KE Contracting Services
Prepared by: Subawards Functional Group
Work Instruction Number: WI-MS-01
Updated: April 23, 2025
Types of subaward tasks
There are four types of subaward tasks:
New Subaward: A request to issue a new subaward to an external entity completing a specific scope of work under an ASU prime award. This task type is initiated from one of two activities:
- The subrecipient was included at proposal time and the subaward task is initiated once the ASU award is setup.
- The subrecipient was proposed post-award and the subaward task is initiated once an Award Change Request is completed and sponsor approval is received.
In addition to the task request, these changes create a new GR account and Subaward Contract Number (prefix ASUB) needed to issue the subaward.
The task prefix in ERA is SUB.
Subaward Modification: A request for a change to an existing subaward has been issued. This task notification is initiated from an Award Change Request being completed or created manually by a GCO if the change doesn’t require the Awards Management Team (AMT) to review.
The task prefix in ERA can be either SMB (bilateral subaward modification) or SMU (unilateral subaward modification)
Subaward At Risk: A request to issue funds to the subrecipient at-risk through an Authorization to Proceed (ATP) letter. This may be needed in a few instances:
- ASU has not yet received prime award funding, but the award is anticipated in the near future or is actively being negotiated and the subrecipient needs to begin work as soon as possible.
- ASU has received a prime award, but subaward negotiations are taking longer than anticipated and there are time-constrained costs (such as a kick-off meeting with the sponsor) that need to be expensed.
The task prefix in ERA is SAR.
ASU rarely issues ATPs to subrecipients due to the financial risk it poses to ASU and the project in the event an agreement is not reached. It is expected that subrecipients would cover any time sensitive costs at-risk and if needed while a subagreement is being finalized. Subaward ATPs require approval from a Subaward GCO’s Team Lead before moving forward.
Subaward Other: A task type used to issue alternative agreements to partners that wouldn’t fit the parameters of a subaward or to issue outgoing funds that will be managed outside of Research Operations (i.e., by the department or ASU Purchasing). This might include subrecipient Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), collaborative agreements, research statements of work with clinical partners, or other agreement types.
The task prefix in ERA is SOT.
Task notifications
Subaward task requests are automatically generated from ERA and sent to the Subawards Team public mailbox ([email protected]). These tasks are then assigned out to Subaward GCOs by the team assigner (often the Team Lead).
Some subaward task requests are sent to GCOs or the Team Lead from department Research Administrators (RAs) or Assistant/Associate Directors (ADs). These tasks are manually created if the change doesn’t require an Award Change Request to be submitted.
Assignment of subaward tasks
Upon receipt of subaward tasks, the Subawards team assigner will assign the task to a Subaward GCO based on availability and focus area. Tasks are assigned on a first come, first serve basis.
Each Subaward GCO will be capped at a maximum of forty (40) subaward tasks. This includes combination of new awards, modifications, and other tasks that are actively being managed. If this cap is exceeded, tasks will remained Unassigned until other tasks are completed to allow team availability.
The aim is to complete subaward tasks within 28 days as long as all subaward documentation is available upon assignment. However, subaward negotiations can often take longer than this even with expedited document collection and review. Due to this, it’s highly recommended for RAs to gather subaward documentation as early as possible, to include subawards at proposal time, and to initiate post-award subaward requests as soon as possible.