Subawards

At NAU, subawards (also known as subcontracts) are formal written agreements where a portion of an NAU sponsored research project or program is passed through to an outside organization to complete a specific scope of work. These are centrally administered and negotiated by the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP).

Subrecipient vs. vendor determination

Per federal Uniform Guidance regulations, NAU must determine whether an outside entity acts as a subrecipient (collaborates to carry out a portion of the project) or a contractor/vendor (provides goods/services ancillary to the project). PIs can use the subcontractor vs. vendor determination to make this distinction during the proposal stage.

Requesting and issuing a subaward

If your proposal includes a subrecipient, or if you need to add one after an award is secured, specific documentation is required. The collaborating organization must fill out the subrecipient commitment form to provide information on their business processes, scope of work, and budget.

Policy and risk analysis

All subawards made under federal grants or contracts are governed by the NAU Policy on Subrecipient Monitoring. The OSP maintains additional tools to help with this, including a subrecipient risk analysis tool.