General Discussions

  • 1.  Routing of Contracts, LOI vs. Full Grant Proposals

    Posted 07-20-2021 05:16
    Hello,
    I was wondering if you treat routing differently for Contracts, LOIs vs. Grant Proposals. We only require LOIs to be routed if they require institutional endorsement, submission or if a limited submission. All other funding regarding type goes through the same routing process and follows the same review timeline. We have PIs who are moving into the space of unsolicited contracts and they are asking that we adapt the contract review/routing to better match the purpose of a contract. The proposal is going through several iterations and the PIs do not want to route all of the versions thus it often ends up on our desk when a contract has been issued and it becomes a rush and little leverage to negotiate.

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    Vibeke Svensson
    Director, Office of Sponsored Programs
    American University
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  • 2.  RE: Routing of Contracts, LOI vs. Full Grant Proposals

    RISING STAR CONTRIBUTOR
    Posted 07-20-2021 10:26
    Grant proposals and contracts are routed very similarally at our institution.  Since we are a small institution, I work directly with the faculty member in the negotiation process and intiaite informal conversations, as needed on versions. The final version of the contract is what is routed for approval (however the approving parties have been engaged during the negotiation process so it is not a surprise. Our contract volume is very small so this works for us.  For LOIs, we only route if there is a detailed budget and/or institutional commitment. We do enter it into our system for tracking , but do not route for approval unless/until it makes to a full proposal stage or the LOI is for some reason binding with a detailed budget.



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    Kris A. Monahan, Ph.D.
    Director Sponsored Projects and Research Compliance
    Providence College
    Providence, RI
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  • 3.  RE: Routing of Contracts, LOI vs. Full Grant Proposals

    Posted 07-21-2021 05:21
    Thanks Kris. That makes sense.

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    Vibeke Svensson
    Director, Office of Sponsored Programs
    American University
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  • 4.  RE: Routing of Contracts, LOI vs. Full Grant Proposals

    SUPERSTAR CONTRIBUTOR
    Posted 07-20-2021 10:57
    We, too, route grants and contracts in the same way - PI, Chair, Dean, and then back to me.  LOIs only route if there is university commitment of some sort, it's a limited submission, or any time a detailed budget must accompany the LOI.

    A

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    Andrea Buford
    Director, Office of Sponsored Programs
    Oakland University
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  • 5.  RE: Routing of Contracts, LOI vs. Full Grant Proposals

    RISING STAR CONTRIBUTOR
    Posted 07-20-2021 11:00
    Edited by System 01-31-2022 06:34
    We route all proposals/contracts that could result in an award.  We do allow PI's to route preliminary submissions if they are required by the sponsor and require a budget or narrative other than an abstract.  We require our PI's that work with industry sponsors to follow the same guidelines as any other submission.  We will not sign or review a contract until an IPF has been initiated, completed and routed.  We ask them to involve us at the point that they are needing to provide a quote (budget) and when the contract is in negotiation.  There should be an IPF in Cayuse at that point so that our legal team, Specialist and PI are on the same page from that point on.  Tying the completion of the IPF to the review and signature actions has really helped both sides not be blind sided.

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    Jennifer Mills
    Senior Grants and Contract Specialist/ERA Administrator
    University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa
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  • 6.  RE: Routing of Contracts, LOI vs. Full Grant Proposals

    Posted 07-21-2021 05:23
    Thanks Jennifer. We do try out best to get our PIs to involve us early on but it does not always happen.

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    Vibeke Svensson
    Director, Office of Sponsored Programs
    American University
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  • 7.  RE: Routing of Contracts, LOI vs. Full Grant Proposals

    STAR CONTRIBUTOR
    Posted 07-20-2021 13:21
    We also route LOIs and contracts similarly to what others have indicated.

    We route LOIs if we are committing to anything binding, particularly a budget amount, or if there is a submission limit.

    We route contracts, most frequently when we get the final contract.  Most of our contracts are long-standing ones, though, so there are not too many surprises.  When we get a new contract, we do review and negotiate prior to routing and signing.

    Pam

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    Pamela Vargas
    Director, Research & Grant Development
    Southeast Missouri State University
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  • 8.  RE: Routing of Contracts, LOI vs. Full Grant Proposals

    SUPERSTAR CONTRIBUTOR
    Posted 07-20-2021 19:24
    We're similar to most respondents, but we don't enter/route "LOI"s; we follow just the "verified/authorized" submission to follow (the individual Grant Administrator will put the LOI on their own calendar).  An LOI by our definition is just a pipe dream until the full proposal is fleshed out (of course, unless the funder has terms that "bind" before full proposal submission--which is rare in our experience).  If the "LOI" must be pre-approved by the funding agency in advance of submission of a full proposal, that's a pre-proposal, and we track it in our calendaring system, but still don't put it in the current SP (may change upon migration to Platform) until the full proposal is solicited.

    cheers,
    -Lisa

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    Lisa Churchill
    Grants Administration Manager/Signing Official
    The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
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  • 9.  RE: Routing of Contracts, LOI vs. Full Grant Proposals

    RISING STAR CONTRIBUTOR
    Posted 07-21-2021 13:23
    Hello Vibeke,

    Our institution has a great centralized process for Contracts, Proposals, and any LOIs or MOUs that would require institutional commitment or resources.  We also like to track any submission under a limited submission scenario.  Our central office usually sends out a Limited Submission notification to campus in that case.

    Regarding contracts, specifically the local or state contracts, we have had some similar iterative process issues with our PIs.  They have developed some solid collaborative relationships with the local departments and state agencies.  They often hear of funding opportunities that are not always put out for a bid or published. These are sometimes designed to be turned over through a quick iterative process between the PI and the project coordinator through a series of meetings.  They typically will meet a few times, discuss the project, and agree upon a scope of work and budget.  Then come back to us and want to rush through the contracting process.

    In the past, this was very cumbersome and often led to unrealistic budgets and or deliverables.  Especially with inexperienced PIs.  We helped alleviate this issue by establishing closer relationships with our PIs and encouraging them to include our office in these development meetings.  We created templated budgets and scopes for them for reoccurring projects to help them with the conversations with their project coordinators.  Our office has now also developed relationships with the community project coordinators, so now they include us in the planning process.  This has taken much of the pressure off when it comes time to route the contract for services.

    Developing these relationships has taken some time, but the effort has been worth it.

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    Michelle Davis, M.Ed.
    Research Administrator, Office of Research
    College of Health Sciences, Boise State University
    michelledavis3@boisestate.edu
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