Posted May 31, 2019 by Ashley Washburn
All grants and contracts for academic project work that is performed by university personnel and results in revenue to the university will be required to route through the Office of Sponsored Programs, effective July 1. Fee-for-service activities are included in this policy.
The Offices of Research and Economic Development and Business and Finance distributed policy guidelines to faculty on May 30. A summary of the changes is below. Researchers are encouraged to download the PDF that contains a decision tree to help them determine when fee-for-service activities sponsored by industry or other organizations need to route through Sponsored Programs. This document also will help users determine which facilities and administrative, or F&A, costs apply.
Fee-for-service activities that do not require a contract may continue to route through the department unless any of the following statements apply:
- A signed award document or contract is required, including a quote with terms and conditions.
- Funds originate from a federal source.
- The proposed work binds the university to a specific line of research or scholarly activity that requires a statement of work, or an orderly testing of specific hypotheses or methodology or validation of particular approaches.
- A specific commitment is made regarding the level of personnel effort or items of output, such as publications or reports.
- A budget for expenditures by activity, function or project period is required as a condition of funding, and a fiscal report, activity report or external audit is required during the course of the work.
- The proposed agreement provides for disposition of tangible property or intangible property rights.
- Funds for construction projects or acquisition of equipment or facilities are provided by a state or federal government agency.
- The project work will result in the need for a compliance protocol (i.e., Institutional Review Board, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee or Environmental Health and Safety).
- The document requires considerations, such as indemnification, or imposes other terms of legal accountability.
Examples of revenue-generating activities that are not required to route through Sponsored Programs include: room and board; tuition; gifts; event tickets; retail food or beverage sales; sale, rental or use of university property; live performance agreements; and student projects.
Inclusion of appropriate F&A costs will be required on all sponsored activities regardless of activity or sponsor type. UNL’s federally negotiated rate is posted on the Sponsored Programs website.
For questions about the new routing process, contact Kimberly Bilder, contracts manager in Sponsored Programs, 402-472-1649, or Julie Snyder, contracts manager in Procurement Services, 402-472-4601.
