In Brief
- Innosphere established a comprehensive administrative and compliance framework to successfully manage and implement a large-scale U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Engine award.
- The Advanced Sensing and Computation for Environmental Decision-making (ASCEND) Engine focuses on driving climate resiliency innovations across Colorado and Wyoming, fostering economic growth, and enhancing community well-being through a collaborative partnership network.
- Through effective prioritization and development of essential policies and procedures, Innosphere efficiently managed its subcontracts and policies, enabling ASCEND Engine subawardees to commence their work promptly.
Innosphere, a nonprofit incubation program that accelerates the success of founders building and scaling high-tech startups, together with a multitude of partners, including the states of Colorado and Wyoming, led the initiative of the Advanced Sensing and Computation for Environmental Decision-making (ASCEND) Engine to apply for the NSF Regional Innovation Engine (NSF Engine) award. The ASCEND Engine, a collaborative initiative focused on driving innovation in climate resiliency across the region, was selected as one of 10 inaugural recipients of the NSF Engines award. The award was established to propel technological advancement, economic growth, and partnerships across higher education, industry, government, and nonprofit entities.
Led by Innosphere, and with support from the State of Colorado and the State of Wyoming, the ASCEND Engine is a collaborative initiative focused on driving innovation in environmental monitoring, measurement, verification, and prediction.
Having not previously managed a large Federal award, Innosphere engaged Huron to help ensure processes and systems were in place to handle key aspects of award administration and provide interim operational support for its startup activities.
Through this partnership, Innosphere implemented necessary controls to properly expend Engine funds while remaining nimble—a quality which positioned Innosphere to move quickly to become a high-performing Engine. The ASCEND Engine has led it’s cohort in announcing RFPs for translational and R&D grants and announcing award recipients.
Challenge: Swiftly and responsibly launch and manage a large-scale federally funded project
Innosphere sought support on two key tasks:
1. Establishing baseline policy and procedures required to manage the NSF Engine award
Receiving an award of such magnitude requires an infrastructure of processes and resources to ensure funds are managed in compliance with federal regulations, and without overburdening program leadership or staff with administrative tasks.
2. Operational management and support of award activities
Once Innosphere won and accepted the NSF Engine award, continuous support was required to conduct administrative activities. Swift action on early administrative tasks, such as setting labor distribution schedules and issuing subaward agreements to collaborating organizations, was essential to set Innosphere on the path toward execution of the awarded scope of work.
Approach: Build an ecosystem with expertise and available resources
Setting the administrative foundation
To start, Innosphere focused on high-priority administrative tasks that would guide the rest of the project. Due to the urgency of several key startup activities, Innosphere and Huron worked closely to prioritize the development of policies and procedures based on what was most critical from regulatory compliance and operational efficiency standpoints. This prioritization exercise helped provide an understanding of available resources and identify quick wins (e.g., what could be feasibly accomplished in the short term) while continuing to chart the course ahead.
Standing up key policies and procedures
NSF has an awardee checklist for first-time recipients of NSF funding, outlining key policies and procedures that should be in place when an awardee accepts an NSF grant. The team used this checklist, along with Huron’s knowledge of best practices for sponsored programs administration, to develop a project plan that would allow Innosphere to maintain operations while quickly deploying all required policies and procedures.
Collaborating with constituents
The ASCEND Engine has almost a dozen subawardees as regional partners, including higher education institutions and other nonprofits, for which the team had to draft and execute subcontracts. Because a significant portion of the Engine’s budget needed to be distributed to these collaborating entities, jumpstarting the process to issue these agreements allowed Innosphere to cross a major milestone in the Engine’s overall programmatic aims.
Passing the torch to the right team
Huron staff supported key Engine operational activities (e.g., reviewing costs for allocability and allowability, performing the letter of credit draw, and drafting and issuing subawards) to operationalize the administrative infrastructure for the award in partnership with Innosphere leadership. Operations and administrative management of the ASCEND Engine were led by Huron until a permanent Innosphere-sponsored program administrator was hired and trained. Even as the engagement with Innosphere wound down, the Huron team continued to meet weekly with key Innosphere personnel to answer compliance and operational questions. The Huron team’s policy, process, and supporting documents were left behind as resources for Innosphere-sponsored programs staff, cataloged in their shared files, and itemized in an onboarding plan to transfer critical knowledge to key client program drivers and owners.
Results: A new model to sustain success
With so many moving parts in this project, there were many wins and reasons to celebrate. Executing all subcontracts, for example, allowed ASCEND Engine subawardees to begin their work quickly. This would not have been possible without an administrative infrastructure, which was prioritized in the early stages of the project. Ultimately, the engagement resulted in a series of accomplishments which helped drive the underlying goal of being able to efficiently and responsibly manage such a large NSF award.
Highlights include:
- Drafting and executing subcontracts for subawardees
- Developing and implementing nine policies and procedures:
- Conflict of Interest & Conflict of Commitment
- Direct Charge & Allowability
- Procurement
- Subrecipient Monitoring
- Cost Sharing
- Cost Transfer
- Institutional Base Salary, Effort Allocation & Certification
- Participant Support Costs
- Travel
- Providing training to Innosphere’s newly hired dedicated administrator to support independent operations
More about the ASCEND Engine
Led by Innosphere and funded with support from the State of Colorado and the State of Wyoming, the ASCEND Engine is a collaborative initiative focused on driving innovation in environmental monitoring, measurement, verification, and prediction across the Colorado-Wyoming region. The ASCEND Engine brings together a diverse network of partners to develop and commercialize technologies that address critical community resiliency challenges, foster economic growth and enhance community well-being.
More about Innosphere
Innosphere accelerates the success of start-up founders building and commercializing technology and science-based companies, using comprehensive incubation programs, modern office and lab spaces, workforce initiatives, grants, and venture capital. Innosphere is an award-winning 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a 27-year history of success in its mission to grow the region’s entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem.