Re: something between a gift and a sponsored project Hastings, Kari L 01 Feb 2000 13:44 EST
At a recent Research Administrators Group Discussion here in Boston, Bob Forrester of Price Waterhouse Cooper did a presentation entitled: "Is it a gift or a grant? Should I care?" He presented the many ramifications of this type of decision with special reference to audit implications and tax implications. A teleconference on this topic will be presented on March 28th and is being sponsored by the Society of Research Administrators, Price Waterhouse Coopers, CASE and Hogan & Hartson. You can contact the Society of Research Administrators directly - 202-857-1141 and ask for Jeff McFarland for more information or the register for the conference. Kari Hastings ---------- From: Martha M. Taylor [SMTP:xxxxxx@MAIL.AUBURN.EDU] Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2000 9:20 AM To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG Subject: something between a gift and a sponsored project Dear Colleagues: Does anyone have a program (the specifics of which they would share) to handle funds from sponsors (particularly, but not necessarily, for-profits) that are not gifts because there is no charitable intent but they aren't really full blown research projects either. They may be small amounts for pilot studies or partial support of an investigator's general research or outreach program. They are mostly unrestricted but the sponsor may get a copy of a widely distributed final report or publication based on the effort. do you fully cost them? is there cost share since the funds are simply partial support for something the investigator was going to do anyway using internal funds? do you co-mingle these with other funds of a similar nature? what happens if by some wild chance IP is developed? since sponsors get tax breaks for costs other than charitable contributions, is there anything wrong with these types of funds going through a university foundation as an unrestricted grant? I will admit that some of the tax implications confuse me. I have usually said if it wasn't charitable it couldn't go through development. Some have suggested otherwise. do you have a way to document the dollar amount of research funds received for those things that go through your development folks for internal reporting purposes or for the NSF research expenditure report? Do the development folks have a way to account for funds that go through sponsored programs but may fit their definition of an unrestricted grant for their reporting purposes? where does potential conflicts of interest fit in? I am certain it could be a problem if not adequately addressed in policies and procedures. I really didn't intend to open up the "us" versus "them" discussion again but rather to borrow heavily from the programs out there that have been successful in drafting policies and procedures that have improved not only the relationship but have clarified the roles and responsibilities as well as to simplify processes and reporting. We are handling this reasonably well at Auburn right now but rather than our "success" being based on a firm foundation of policies and procedures, it is based on the understandings of the people in positions of authority over the process who have met on several occasions to clarify particular situations. Each time something different comes up we have to "meet once again." One day we might not be here and those who follow will have to beat down the same path. I hope to get some issues in writing before that happens. I have some really good stuff from Barbara Gray and from Chuck Chermside and thank them for allowing me to benefit from their hard work. I still have a long way to go to complete this project. Any pointers to web sites or policies provided by e-mail are appreciated. Thank you very much. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Martha M. Taylor, Director Office of Sponsored Programs 310 Samford Hall Auburn University, AL 36849-5131 334-844-4438 334-844-5953 (fax) (xxxxxx@auburn.edu) ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ====================================================================== ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ======================================================================