Occasionally, it is necessary to change the Principal Investigator (PI)/Project Director (PD) of an awarded grant or contract. This may be the result of a PI withdrawing completely from a project, taking a leave or sabbatical for a continuous period of three (3) months or more, or at the request of University leadership.

Most federal sponsors require the grantee to notify them prior to any changes with the PI or other key personnel named in the notice of award, as well as approval of any alternate arrangement to the PI or other key personnel proposed by the grantee before such changes can be implemented. Departments should refer to the terms and conditions of the award to determine if the sponsor will allow the award to be retained in the absence of the original PI. Generally, sponsors reserve the right to terminate a grant if approval for a leave of absence has not been sought or if the replacement PD/PI or key personnel is not acceptable.

When the sponsor requires prior approval, such requests should be sent in writing to Sponsored Projects Administration for review and approval before they are submitted to the sponsor. Contact your Pre-award Sponsored Projects Specialists for assistance.

FEDERAL GRANTS

• The department shall prepare a letter on departmental letter head with the PI’s signature addressed to the agency grant specialist. The letter shall request a PI change with a detailed justification including the agency grant number.
• The department will forward the letter to PAFT who will review, institutionally sign and forward to the agency for review and approval.
• One the agency approves or disapproves the PI change, they will issue a revised NOGA to SPA/PreAward who will process and then forward to PAFT for updating in PeopleSoft FMS.
• If the agency disapproves the PI change, they will send an email to our university.