¶¶Òõ̽̽

• When a sponsor decides to fund a proposal, an Award Notice is delivered to Sponsored Project Administration.
• This award document is called many different things: Grant, Contract, Cooperative Agreement, Purchase Order, Subaward, etc. No matter the award type, it represents a binding agreement upon acceptance/signature.
• Until the award document is received by SPA, reviewed and accepted, the project is not officially awarded and performance of the work should not begin until awarded.

• To begin the review, negotiation and acceptance process, all awards, grants, contracts, agreements or otherwise must be received in SPA.
• Award notifications can be received in various ways from our sponsors. Typically, SPA receives the award notification directly from the sponsor. If the award is received by the PI or Unit Administrator, the award must be forwarded to spa@uvm.edu.
• SPA will log allÌýAwards and Award Modifications into ¶¶Òõ̽̽Click - Awards.
• Each award is assigned to an SPA Award Acceptance Specialist who will coordinate and complete the acceptance process.

Ìý Ìý ÌýYou can login to ¶¶Òõ̽̽Click - Award or ¶¶Òõ̽̽Click - Award Mod and track the status of your award in .

• Every award received must have a corresponding approved ¶¶Òõ̽̽Click Funding Proposal on file. Having an approved Funding Proposal on file indicates the project has been vetted by the department and college and all approvals are in place that allows SPA to move forward with the award acceptance process.
• If a Funding Proposal is not on file, SPA will notify the PI and/or Unit Administrator and request a ¶¶Òõ̽̽Click Funding Proposal be created and submitted into workflow, where approvals will be collected.
• SPA will move forward with the award acceptance process as soon as the approved ¶¶Òõ̽̽Click Funding Proposal arrives in the SPA.

• Upon assignment, the SPA Award Acceptance Specialist will alert the PI and Unit Administrator of the award and request certain elements be confirmed (i.e..: statement of work, budget, the period of performance, reporting requirements).
• For an example of the alert see .
• SPA will also request the departmentÌýcomplete and return theÌýAward Data Collection Form.
• After obtaining PI approval, the completed Award Data Collection Form, SPA begins negotiation with the sponsor.

• SPA follows national organizations (NCURA, FDP, COGR, AUTM) recognized university standards when reviewing and accepting awards in support of sponsored projects.
• Areas of negotiation typically include the following.
  • Publication rights
  • Arbitration
  • Intellectual Property
  • Termination Conditions
  • Data Ownership and Use
  • Reporting Requirements
  • Confidentiality
  • Billing Frequency
  • Warranty and Guarantee
  • Pricing Conditions
  • Indemnification
  • Governing Law
• If any of the terms and conditions of an award are considered unacceptable as determined by the PI or SPA or would place ¶¶Òõ̽̽ in a non-compliance situation with federal, state, sponsor or ¶¶Òõ̽̽ rules or regulations, SPA will commence negotiations with the sponsor and inform PI and Unit Administrator.
• SPA will engage other ¶¶Òõ̽̽ offices on topics of concern and request support in the negotiation process.
• SPA leadership is available at any time to assist in the acceptance process.

• Upon completion of a mutually acceptable agreement with the sponsor and with PI concurrence, SPA accepts the award on behalf of ¶¶Òõ̽̽, collects needed signatures, and creates the award in ¶¶Òõ̽̽Click.
• To expedite acceptance, ¶¶Òõ̽̽ accepts electronic signatures for award, contract/subcontract documents.
• Funds are not released into PeopleSoft until all pending compliance concerns are completed, and green light is given to move forward from the respective compliance office (i.e.: IRB, IACUC, FCOI, Export Control).

• SPAÌýfacilitates the release of the budget into ¶¶Òõ̽̽'s financial system (Peoplesoft).
• When this award set-up process is complete, funds become available for spending and salaries can be distributed to the project (chartstring).
• SPA notifies theÌý Principal Investigators and Unit Administrator with system generated emails when the award set up process is complete.
• There will be three types of notifications:
  • New Award
  • Advance Account
  • Award Modification
• Each notification will provide relevant information and attachments. For example,Ìý the New Award set up notification, will have hyperlinks to the Manage Award webpage for reference and include as attachments the approved budget and the sponsor’s award notice of award.

• ¶¶Òõ̽̽ accepts both cost reimbursement and fixed-price awards to conduct sponsored projects related to research, extension, and public service.
• Both types of awards are subject to ¶¶Òõ̽̽’s normal sponsored project proposal and budgeting practices, as well as our normal award acceptance process.

Cost Reimbursement Highlights

• Cost-reimbursement is an award mechanism where the sponsor provides an amount not to be exceeded that may be used to pay for allowable costs that support the performance of the project. ¶¶Òõ̽̽ normally receives payment only after expenditures are made and invoices are approved by the sponsor.
• Cost Reimbursement projects require detailed budgets, and justifications are delivered to the sponsor at the time of proposal submission. Detailed budgets and justifications indicate the intended use of the funds as this detail helps define appropriate and allowable expenditures.
• Performance of the work continues until the award’s period of performance expires or funds are exhausted. Annual and final technical reports are the expected deliverables.

Fixed Price Award Highlights

• Fixed-price agreement, also known as firm-fixed price or fee-for-service contract, is an award mechanism where the contractor pays a fixed price for agreed-upon work, regardless of the ultimate cost to complete the work.
• The level of financial risk for ¶¶Òõ̽̽ is higher than that of a cost reimbursement awards as ¶¶Òõ̽̽ thru the PI, Department, and College must complete all work, even where the cost will be greater than agreed. PIs working with their departments are responsible for cost overruns or over-expenditures resulting from inaccurately priced projects or non-payment by the sponsor.
• The expectation is that fixed-price awards will have expenses that closely match the payment received.
• Fixed price projects should have a very well developed statement of work with payments tied to milestones or specific deliverables, avoiding all payment tied to completion of the entire project.
• Under fixed-price contracting, ¶¶Òõ̽̽ may retain any unexpended balance after contract work is completed and following SPA’s Residual Balance Procedures.

To view a pdf of the procedure see Award Acceptance Procedure (PDF).

If you have any questions about the process, please contact any member of our Award Acceptance Team.

• Researchers often collaborate and share research tools with other scientists or institutions without receiving funding.
• For many of these collaborations, a written agreement is beneficial or necessary.
• These non-financial agreements set out expectations, terms, and requirements that protect the interests of the investigators and the participating organizations.
• Examples, include CDAs, DUAs, and Teaming Agreements.

Examples of Non-Financial Agreements that will be reviewed, negotiated and approved by SPA include:

• Business Associate Agreement (BAA)
• No Cost Collaboration Agreement
• Confidentiality Agreement (CDA)
• Non-Disclosure Greement (NDA)
• Data Transfer and Use Agreement (DTUA)
• Data Use Agreement (DUA)
• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
• Right of Entry Permits for Field Work
• Teaming Agreement
• Facilities Use Agreement

What to Do and What will Happen

• Investigators and staff are to submit all Non-Financial (No Money) Agreements to SPA using ¶¶Òõ̽̽Click - AgreementsÌýor send to spa@uvm.edu.
• Include all relevant documentation, emails and any additional instructions needed to process the agreement.
• See the Quick Guide: How to Create a No Money Agreement and Submit to SPA.
• Additional ¶¶Òõ̽̽Click - Agreement User Guides are available at: ¶¶Òõ̽̽Click - User Guides for Proposals, Awards, Award Mods, Agreements.

Next Steps

• ¶¶Òõ̽̽Click delivers the agreement electronically to SPA in a state ofÌý "Unassigned".
• A SPA Award Acceptance Officer takes assignment, reviews and brings the agreement to completion.
• The agreement owners (PI and/or Department staff) will be kept informed throughout the process.Ìý

Approvals

• SPA will look toÌýcollect the PI concurrence with the agreement terms, information and arrangements prior to full acceptance by ¶¶Òõ̽̽.
• For those Non-Financial Agreements that appear to engage our principal investigator in an organized project and appear to require a time commitment or other resources of the department, SPA will request the Department Chair or designee approval before completing the agreement.
• LCOM approval is needed for all LCOM DUAs. See the below accordion "Working with LCOM"Ìýfor details.

Final Agreement

• ¶¶Òõ̽̽Click - Agreements will become the electronic system of record for all Non-Financial Agreements.
• The final version of the agreement will be archived and retrievable using ¶¶Òõ̽̽Click - Agreements.

Data Sharing Agreements with LCOM (new effective 2/26/18)

• Data Sharing Agreements initiated by an LCOM researcher will be routed from SPA to the LCOM’s Office of the Senior Associate Dean for Research for a review.
• LCOM review is conducted by the LCOM Medicine Technology Services Team who will work with the researcher to assure an appropriate data management plan is in place.
• LCOM Senior Associate Dean for Research will indicate to SPA when the agreement is ready for final legal review and SPA signature.

Examples of Agreements that should be directed to ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Innovations - Office of Technology Commercialization include:

• Confidentiality Agreements related to licensing or commercial development.
• Material Transfer Agreements - (outgoing and incoming)
• Co-development Agreements with industrial partners.
• Licensing Agreements for rights to ¶¶Òõ̽̽ patents and/or copyrights.
• Other Agreements related to Technology Commercialization.

Examples of Agreements that should be directed to Office of General Counsel include:

• Income Expense (Reveune Generating) Contracts
• Non-Procurement Contracts
• Other Contracts, as needed

Examples of agreements that should be sent to Purchasing Services include:

• Procurement Contracts
• See Contract Review