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Fiscal Year End Procedures & Reminders

During the close of the fiscal year, Sponsored Research is committed to balancing normal procedures along with time sensitive fiscal year end items. To ensure a smooth fiscal year end closeout, we are sending the following reminders: 

Award Setup  

Until August 15, 2025: Awards currently on hold due to pending items required from the department will be held. After August 15, Sponsored Research will proceed with setup with the budget restricted.  

 After September 1, 2025, departments should: 

  •  Submit an AMR with the outstanding items  
  • Request the projects be rebudgeted and remaining account codes opened  

 Ancillary reviews have been sent to department contacts on all impacted awards. For assistance in reviewing and responding to ancillary reviews, refer to the Ancillary Reviews and Ancillary Review Submission job aids. If an updated budget is requested, reference Reconcile Awards Budget for system help.  

Just-in-Time 

Northwestern continues to receive Just-in-Time requests as well as RPPR follow-up requests for information required before issuing new or continuing awards. These requests will be routed to departments as promptly as possible. PIs are asked not to respond until Sponsored Research has reviewed the full and complete response. As a reminder, only an Authorized Organizational Representative may submit the final response to the sponsor. 

Award Modification Requests (AMRs) 

Award modification requests are usually processed in order of submission; however, we understand that occasionally there is an urgent deadline-driven request that needs to be prioritized. If there is a sponsor deadline for your AMR, please take the following steps: 

  • Include the sponsor deadline in the short title of the AMR 
  • Upload the sponsor request confirming this deadline into the supporting documents area of the AMR 

If you have concerns about the timeliness of a submitted AMR, please contact Maura Cleffi at m-cleffi@northwestern.edu.  

Reminder: Checking AMR Status 

To view the most up-to-date status, in the timeliest manner, please utilize the resources in CERES to look up the status of any transaction. We kindly ask you to do this prior to reaching out to SR as we want to dedicate as much time as we can to processing transactions. If you need to reach out to SR, use the “Send E-mail” feature within CERES as it provides a direct link to the record and provides the greatest transparency to SR staff if a request must be reassigned. For additional help, reference the “Check Item Status in CERES” job aid.

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