A working group comprised of members from the Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG), Research Financial Services (RFS), and the College of Engineering have updated the Foreign Currency procedures. Due to inconsistent application of the Foreign Currency Risk Reserve, there was a need to evaluate the procedure and make changes to better protect the financials of CU and researchers, and to ensure consistent application of the Foreign Currency Risk Reserve on all sponsored research agreements that include payment in a foreign currency.
The following identifies the changes that have occurred:
- Anytime a proposal is submitted to a foreign sponsor, CU will request for the inclusion of the Foreign Currency Risk Reserve.
- If the sponsor does not allow or accept the Foreign Currency Risk Reserve, the Proposal Analyst will work with the PI and DRA to revise the budget, remove the Foreign Currency Risk Reserve on the Sponsor approved budget, and document an internal budget that sets aside the Foreign Currency Risk Reserve in case of foreign currency rate fluctuations.
- The Foreign Currency Risk Acceptance Form is required prior to proposal submission. OCG will not submit the proposal without the completed Foreign Currency Risk Acceptance form.
- The department signature on the form demonstrates acceptance of the risk on the campus unit’s behalf for the life of the award, and the agreement of the unit stands even if the individual who signed the form leaves the position they held at the time of signing.
The updated procedure is effective immediately, with additional information located at the following web pages:
If there are any questions, please contact David Scarbeary-Simmons in RFS (david.simmons-1@colorado.edu) or Joan Eaton in OCG (joan.eaton@colorado.edu)