Department Administrator Roles and Responsibilities

Position Role
Sponsored Program Administration
Financial Management
Effort Reporting
Conflicts of Interest
Human Research Participant Protection
Animal Welfare
Environmental Health and Safety
Human Gene Transfer
Patents and Inventions
Export Controls

Position Role

Department administrators are administrative staff that work at the departmental level and coordinate with the department head, Principal Investigators, and school, department, and central administration personnel to support and provide guidance on the administration of compliance, financial, personnel, and other related aspects of research projects.

Department administrators report to supervisors in the department such as a department head, business manager, division administrator, or Principal Investigator.

General Administrative

  • Coordinates with Principal Investigator, department head, and school, department, and central administration personnel to help ensure that sponsored research and related activities are in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator and department head in administration and oversight of research and related activities.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to assure that all key personnel involved in sponsored program administration have met training requirements in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Cooperates with university compliance and monitoring efforts related to sponsored program administration and reports instances of noncompliance to the appropriate compliance office.

Preparation of Scientific Proposal

  • Assists Principal Investigator in obtaining appropriate internal approvals and assures that proposals meet federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures prior to submitting proposal to sponsoring agency.

Proposal Budget

  • Assists the Principal Investigator to prepare a categorized budget and justification and to confirm the accuracy and completeness of budgeted costs.

Protocol Preparation and Review

  • Assists Principal Investigator to prepare, submit, or modify scientific protocol in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to review protocol at inception and as required thereafter for completeness, accuracy, and improvement opportunities.
  • Assists the department head in providing oversight for research protocols.

Award Acceptance (Terms and Conditions)

  • Reviews the terms and conditions and accuracy of the award.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to comply with and implement award terms and conditions and subcontract scope of work.
  • Assists the Principal Investigator to prepare a revised categorized budget based on the actual award and the specific needs of the project.

Conduct of Research

  • Assists Principal Investigator and department head to help ensure that research is conducted ethically and in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Promotes the ethical conduct of research by reporting good faith suspicions of misconduct in research as defined within WashU’s Research Integrity Policy and other misconduct as described in WashU’s Code of Conduct.

Facilities and Administrative Cost Rate

  • Coordinates with Principal Investigator, school, department, and central administration personnel to verify that the correct facilities and administrative (F&A) cost rate is applied to sponsored project budgets.

Space Management

  • Assists Principal Investigator to appropriately and efficiently use space and to report the correct use of space to the department.
  • Oversees renovation of research space and maintains and updates Space System data.

Equipment Management

  • Assists Principal Investigator to obtain, maintain, and safeguard property used to conduct research in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Maintains and updates Asset System data.

Service Centers

  • Assists Principal Investigator to develop, monitor, and administer service center rates in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Reporting

  • Assists the Principal Investigator to comply with technical, progress, and compliance reporting requirements in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Project Closeout

  • Assists the Principal Investigator to submit accurate and timely closeout documents to applicable Federal agencies, University entities, and the sponsoring agency in accordance with Federal regulations and University and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Financial Management

General Administrative

  • Coordinates with school, department, and central administratio​n personnel to assist Principal Investigator regarding the financial administration of project funds.
  • Coordinates with Principal Investigator and school, department, and central administration personnel to determine whether project charges are allowable and allocatable in accordance with Federal regulations and University and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists the Principal Investigator to verify the authenticity and accuracy of expended funds.
  • Processes financial transactions and reviews and analyzes sponsored projects financial reports.
  • Reviews and approves FIS/on-line financial transactions and other financial charges on projects to verify that costs are reasonable and transactions represent an appropriate allocation of costs in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to assure that all key personnel involved in financial management have met training requirements in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Cooperates with university compliance and monitoring efforts related to financial management and reports instances of noncompliance to the appropriate compliance office.

Cost Sharing

  • Coordinates with Principal Investigator and school, department, and central administration personnel to identify and authorize appropriate cost-sharing obligations and expenditures.
  • Processes and reviews cost sharing and cost matching transactions and documents funds sources.

Cost Transfer

  • Assists Principal Investigator to determine whether cost transfer requests are allowable and allocatable in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Reporting

  • Assists Principal Investigator to comply with technical, progress, and compliance reporting requirements in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Project Closeout

  • Assists Principal Investigator to submit accurate and timely closeout documents to applicable federal agencies, university entities, and the sponsoring agency in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to post project expenses to the fund in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Coordinates with Principal Investigator and school, department, and central administration personnel to initiate resolution to any cost overruns.
  • Coordinates with the Principal Investigator and Sponsored Projects Accounting (SPA) to complete and submit appropriate final closeout or transfer forms.

Effort Reporting

  • Assists Principal Investigator to review, adjust, and certify personnel activity reports (PARs) for all applicable personnel.
  • Returns signed PARs to SPA in accordance with university policy.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to assure that all key personnel involved in effort reporting have met training requirements in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Cooperates with university compliance and monitoring efforts related to effort reporting and reports instances of noncompliance to the appropriate compliance office.

Conflicts of Interest

  • Takes appropriate steps to avoid conflicts of interest, or the appearance of conflicts of interest, between financial or other personal interests and the goals and policies of the university.
  • Complies with applicable school, university, and sponsoring agency conflict of interest policies and procedures.
  • Discloses all significant financial conflicts of interest to the appropriate supervisor.
  • Cooperates with university compliance and monitoring efforts related to conflicts of interest and reports instances of noncompliance to the appropriate compliance office.

Human Research Participant Protection

General Administrative

  • Assists Principal Investigator to protect the rights and welfare of human research participants in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to assure that all key personnel involved in human research complete and comply with the required education for the protection of human participants in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Cooperates with university compliance and monitoring efforts related to human participant research and reports instances of noncompliance to the appropriate compliance office.

Preparation of Scientific Proposal

  • Coordinates with Principal Investigator to provide accurate human research participant approval information for all submissions and correspondence to sponsoring agencies.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to assure that any use of human research participants is disclosed and detailed in the scientific proposal.

Proposal Budget

  • Assists Principal Investigator to verify that the proposal budget provides sufficient funds for compliance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to pay human research participants and/or cover their expenses as approved by the Human Research Protection Office (HRPO) Committee.

Protocol Preparation and Review

  • Assists Principal Investigator to prepare and submit human research protocol or changes thereto in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to obtain and maintain an approved human research protection protocol for the duration of the project.
  • Documents accurate human studies protocol approval information.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to review protocol at inception and as required thereafter for completeness, accuracy, and improvement opportunities.

Informed Consent

  • Assists Principal Investigator to prepare and maintain all documentation related to the informed consent process.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to submit informed consent documents to HRPO for review and approval.

Award Acceptance (Terms and Conditions)

  • Assists Principal Investigator to verify that the protocol complies with the terms and conditions of the award and that HRPO protocol approval is in place prior to the acceptance of the award and the start of research.

Conduct of Research

  • Assists Principal Investigator to adhere to federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to conduct research in accordance with current, approved human studies protocol for the duration of the project.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to adhere to all recommendations and conditions placed upon the research by the HRPO as required for the duration of the research.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to respond to Human Studies Research Quality Assurance / Quality Improvement (HSR QA/QI) Committee review findings and implement corrective measures suggested.
  • Promotes the ethical conduct of research by reporting good faith suspicions of misconduct in research as defined within WashU’s Research Integrity Policy and other misconduct as described in WashU’s Code of Conduct.

Protected Health Information

  • Adheres to and supports all federal regulations and university policies and procedures instituted to safeguard protected health information (PHI).
  • Assists Principal Investigator to assure that all personnel complete the appropriate level of training regarding the access, use, and disclosure of PHI in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Cooperates with university compliance and monitoring efforts regarding the access, use, and disclosure of PHI and reports instances of noncompliance to the appropriate compliance office.

Unanticipated Problems

  • Assists the Principal Investigator to promptly report any unanticipated problems involving risks to research participants or others to the HRPO Committee (WashU’s IRB).

Reporting

  • Assists Principal Investigator to comply with technical, progress, and compliance reporting requirements in accordance with Federal regulations and University and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Project Closeout

  • Assists Principal Investigator to submit accurate and timely closeout documents to applicable federal agencies, university entities, and the sponsoring agency in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Coordinates with Principal Investigator to secure and maintain all documentation for the study in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Animal Welfare

General Administrative

  • Assists Principal Investigator to oversee the humane care and use of animals involved in research in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to assure that all key personnel involved in animal research have completed the required education for the humane treatment of animals and laboratory safety and radioactive materials in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations, as well as university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Cooperates with university compliance and monitoring efforts related to animal welfare and reports instances of noncompliance to the appropriate compliance office.

Preparation of Scientific Proposal

  • Coordinates with Principal Investigator to provide accurate animal studies approval information for all submissions and correspondence to sponsoring agencies.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to assure that the use of animal subjects is disclosed and detailed in the scientific proposal.

Proposal Budget

  • Assists Principal Investigator to verify that the proposal budget provides sufficient funds for compliance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Protocol Preparation and Review

  • Assists Principal Investigator to prepare animal studies protocol or changes thereto in accordance with Federal regulations and University and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to obtain and maintain an approved animal studies protocol for the duration of the project.
  • Documents accurate animal studies protocol approval information.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to review protocol at inception and as required thereafter for completeness, accuracy, and improvement opportunities.

Award Acceptance (Terms and Conditions)

  • Assists Principal Investigator to verify that the protocol complies with the terms and conditions of the award and that Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocol approval is in place prior to the acceptance of the award and the start of research.

Conduct of Research

  • Assists Principal Investigator to adhere to federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to conduct research in accordance with current, approved animal studies protocol for the duration of the project.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to adhere to all recommendations and conditions placed upon the study by the IACUC, Division of Comparative Medicine (DCM) veterinary staff and other university entities as appropriate for the duration of the project.
  • Promotes the ethical conduct of research by reporting good faith suspicions of misconduct in research as defined within WashU’s Research Integrity Policy and other misconduct as described in WashU’s Code of Conduct.

Serious Adverse Events

  • Assists Principal Investigator to report serious violations of approved protocol to the IACUC particularly any that may affect animal safety.

Reporting

  • Assists Principal Investigator to comply with technical, progress, and compliance reporting requirements in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Project Closeout

  • Assists Principal Investigator to submit accurate and timely closeout documents to applicable federal agencies, university entities, and the sponsoring agency in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Coordinates with Principal Investigator to secure and maintain all documentation for the study in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Environmental Health and Safety

General Administrative

  • Assists Principal Investigator to adhere to all federal and state regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures instituted to protect the health and safety of research participants, personnel, and the environment.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to assure that individuals handling hazardous or regulated materials are well trained in proper safety procedures and have completed required environmental health and safety education in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists department head in establishing and monitoring safety programs for department, center, or project.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to support and comply with all Stop Work decisions.
  • Cooperates with university compliance and monitoring efforts related to environmental health and safety and reports instances of noncompliance to the appropriate compliance office.

Preparation of Scientific Proposal

  • Coordinates with Principal Investigator to provide accurate environmental health and safety information for all submissions and correspondence to sponsoring agencies.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to verify that facilities and resources can be provided to adequately and safely implement the research proposal.

Proposal Budget

  • Assists Principal Investigator to verify that the proposal budget provides sufficient funds for compliance with federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Protocol Preparation and Review

  • Assists Principal Investigator to identify hazards associated with project activities.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to prepare environmental health and safety protocol in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to obtain and maintain an approved environmental health and safety protocols for the duration of the project.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to review protocol at inception and as required thereafter for completeness, accuracy, and pollution prevention and health and safety improvement opportunities.

Award Acceptance (Terms and Conditions)

  • Assists Principal Investigator to verify that the protocol complies with the terms and conditions of the award and that applicable environmental health and safety protocol approvals are in place prior to the acceptance of the award and the start of research.

Conduct of Research

  • Assists Principal Investigator to adhere to all federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to conduct research in accordance with current, approved environmental health and safety protocol for the duration of the project.
  • Coordinates with Principal Investigator and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) to implement appropriate safety procedures and practices for the research project and to assure the availability of engineering controls and safety equipment prior to the start of the research.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to adhere to all recommendations and conditions placed upon the study by EHS and to assure that safety and compliance procedures are adhered to by all personnel for the duration of the project.
  • Promotes the ethical conduct of research by reporting good faith suspicions of misconduct in research as defined within WashU’s Research Integrity Policy and other misconduct as described in WashU’s Code of Conduct.

Serious Adverse Events

  • Assists Principal Investigator to promptly report all on-the-job accidents, illnesses, unlawful environmental releases, and/or potential exposures in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to take immediate and appropriate corrective actions and implement measures to prevent future occurrences.

Reporting

  • Assists Principal Investigator to comply with technical, progress, and compliance reporting requirements in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Project Closeout

  • Assists Principal Investigator to submit accurate and timely closeout documents to applicable federal, state, and local agencies, university entities, and the sponsoring agency in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to comply with laboratory decommissioning and safety guideline requirements in accordance with federal and state local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Human Gene Transfer

General Administrative

  • Assists Principal Investigator to adhere to all federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures governing human gene transfer.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to assure that all key personnel involved in human gene transfer research have met training requirements in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Cooperates with university compliance and monitoring efforts related to human gene transfer and reports instances of noncompliance to the appropriate compliance office.

Preparation of Scientific Proposal

  • Coordinates with Principal Investigator to provide accurate human gene transfer approval information for all submissions and correspondence to sponsoring agencies.

Proposal Budget

  • Assists Principal Investigator to verify that the proposal budget provides sufficient funds for compliance with federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures governing human gene transfer research.

Protocol Preparation and Review

  • Assists the Principal Investigator to prepare and submit the protocol and changes thereto in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures governing human gene transfer research.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to obtain and maintain approval for human gene transfer research protocols for the duration of the project.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to review protocol at inception and as required thereafter for completeness, accuracy, and improvement opportunities.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to submit relevant information to federal agencies as required in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures governing human gene transfer research.

Award Acceptance (Terms and Conditions)

  • Assists Principal Investigator to verify that protocol complies with the terms and conditions of the award and human gene transfer protocol approval is in place prior to the acceptance of the award and the start of research.

Conduct of Research

  • Assists Principal Investigator to conduct of research in accordance with Federal, State, and local regulations and University and sponsoring agency policies and procedures governing human gene transfer research.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to conduct research in accordance with current, approved human gene transfer protocols for the duration of the research.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to adhere to all recommendations and conditions placed upon the research by EHS and HRPO.
  • Promotes the ethical conduct of research by reporting good faith suspicions of misconduct in research as defined within WashU’s Research Integrity Policy and other misconduct as described in WashU’s Code of Conduct.

Unanticipated Problems

  • Assists Principal Investigator to promptly report any unanticipated problems related to human gene transfers in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures governing human gene transfer research.

Reporting

  • Assists Principal Investigator to comply with technical, progress, and compliance reporting requirements in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Project Closeout

  • Assists Principal Investigator to submit accurate and timely closeout documents to applicable federal, state, and local agencies, university entities, and the sponsoring agency in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.

Patents and Inventions

General Administrative

  • Coordinates with Principal Investigator and/or the Office of Technology Management (OTM) to disclose and report patent and invention information in accordance with federal regulations and university and sponsoring agency policies and procedures.
  • Assists the Principal Investigator to promptly report all inventions to OTM to assure proper patent protection.
  • Assists the Principal Investigator to coordinate with OTM on the preparation and prosecution of patents.
  • Cooperates with university compliance and monitoring efforts related to human gene transfer and reports instances of noncompliance to the appropriate compliance office.

Preparation of Scientific Proposal

  • Verifies that the Principal Investigator has written confirmation of invention in accordance with university and sponsoring agency requirements.

Export Controls

General Administrative

  • Assists the Principal Investigator to remain aware of and adhere to federal regulations and university policies and procedures related to export controls.
  • Assists the Principal Investigator to assure that key personnel are well trained in federal regulations and university policies and procedures related to export controls.
  • Assists Principal Investigator to disclose international exchanges of information, items, and/or activities as requested and to comply with recommended management strategies and restrictions.
  • Cooperates with university compliance and monitoring efforts related to international exchanges of information, items, and/or activities and reports instances of noncompliance to the appropriate compliance office.