Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I purchase food with grant funds?
Food purchases must be pre-approved by ORSP. Submit a requisition with an approved Formstack and quote in ESM if allowed.

When gift cards are being purchased with grant funds, the following criteria must be met:

(1) the gift card is for research participant incentive payments or is approved by the sponsor, and

(2) costs for such incentives are included in the grant’s budget and are allowable by the terms and conditions of the specific grant.

The maximum value allowed for a single gift card cannot exceed $25.

The purchase of gift cards must have prior approval via a completed Authorization for the Purchase of Gift Cards/Gift Certificates, Incentives, or Prizes form.

Please follow these steps to complete the purchase:

1. Authorization Form:

• Complete the electronic gift card authorization form for ORSP VP approval.

• Retain a copy of the emailed approval for procurement purposes.

2. Request for Purchase:

• Email the approved authorization form and your request to purchase gift cards to:

  •  Jennifer Strahan (jestraha@kean.edu)

  • Yelena Khaytin (ykhaytin@exchange.kean.edu)

  • Copy Judy Pavese (jpavese@exchange.kean.edu)

• Your departmental support will be responsible for placing the order.

3. Amazon Business Account:

• Ensure the purchase is made using your departmental Amazon Business account once procurement grants final approval.

• Note: The purchase IS NOT made through ESM.

 They are most often used when a business is hiring a consultant or specialist. A professional services agreement is typically used for projects with defined scopes and timelines. It will usually include information about compensation and pay rates and what's expected of both parties.

Contract Required. University Departments must submit for approval a vendor contract in the following circumstances:

a. The hiring of professional services, regardless of the value of the contract.

b. The purchase of goods and services in excess of $50,000.00.

c. Any public works and construction contracts of any value.

d. Any project in which workers are employed and paid in accordance with the "New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act," P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.25 et seq.).

Submit the PSA to the legal and purchasing departments for review. Include the Grant Agreement and budget to verify that the grant covers the expenditure. Also, provide a W-9 and BRC to purchasing if needed. If the grantor is a federal agency, attach a Rider to any contracts paid with federal funds.

Timeframe: The requesting department should allow at least fourteen (14) days for legal review of any vendor contract. Using the standard Kean University contract template will help speed up the review process. Contracts for confirming orders will not be processed by University Procurement without the CFO's approval.

What information must be included in a Professional Services Agreement (PSA)?

The contract should clearly outline the products and/or services at issue, including, but not limited to:

a. Scope of work or an accurate, detailed, and concise description of the services to be provided or the work to be performed by the vendor.

b. Deliverables or the quantifiable products or services that will be provided upon project completion.

c. Term or the time period in which the contract will be valid.

d. Cost of products or services and/or price breakdown.

e. All contracts for goods and services must include a maximum “not-to-exceed” value.

My project is nearing its end, is there a deadline by which I need to use the remaining travel funds?

All expenses must occur before the end of the grant period. You should be able to request an extension but without it, you cannot spend after the end date. 

When should I request a no-cost extension?

Notify ORSP and they will begin the process for the NCE. Please include a reason for the NCE and the deliverables that still need to be completed.

Individual sponsor requirements vary. First-time requests are generally due to the sponsor thirty (30) days before the current end date of the project. Any subsequent extension requests, if permitted, are due to the sponsor sixty (60) to ninety (90) days before the extended end date of the project. Please allow a reasonable amount of time for us to review and process your request.

The non-teaching contract states that 12-month lecturers are not allowed to be paid by such means. Is there another way to pay them? 

12-month lecturers cannot be paid extra through a non-teaching contract for work on grants, as their time is already fully committed. However, one option is to get approval for them to do research in place of teaching a course.  

I budgeted $3K for a faculty trainer role under my grant. Can I pay a Kean tenure-track faculty member $1K per academic year over three years under my grant, given the $1K cap per participant and my $3K budget for this role?

Participants are non-Kean employees in most cases. The exception is a faculty who agrees to try out a new teaching technique in their classroom and they receive an “incentive” to do so. The $2k cap is annual, by grant. Anything over that must be documented as effort.