Re: query, adjunct researchers Peter J Dolce 04 Feb 2000 16:57 EST
I don't understand how your scientist could have an NIH grant without being employed somewhere, but--our school is sometimes sought as platform from which to apply for grants by non-employees (e.g. retired scientists, persons in private practice, etc.) who have adjunct appointments. We have a policy which requires a chair to sign a letter to the dean before the application leaves with a detailed account of arrangements for space and administrative services, and certifies that arrangements about employment have been explained to the prospective grantee--i.e., when the grant ends you go off the payroll. I've never liked the implications of this because it seems to subvert all the normal processes and controls that apply to hiring a faculty member; so far though, none of these folks have received an award, so the sleeping dog lies unmolested. When I last asked the List about such arrangements, though, I learned of something called an Agency Agreement. It's an agreement that establishes a person as an agent of your organization rather than an employee. The organization can write any conditions it wants to into the agreement--length of the agreement, arrangements for space, etc. I believe such agents can be paid through the payroll system, receive benefits and have taxes deducted. I never pursued the matter, but your school's attorney can probably tell you more. -----Original Message----- From: William Campbell [mailto:xxxxxx@UWRF.EDU] Sent: Friday, February 04, 2000 10:02 AM To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG Subject: query, adjunct researchers RESADM-ers: Some years ago, my institution took on a local scientist who had an NIH grant in hand and needed an institutional home. We overhauled a lab for him, put him and a couple of additional researchers on the payroll (using grant funds, of course), bought and installed some equipment and let him do his thing. He brought in a lot of his own stuff as well, much of it scavenged from elsewhere. The project ended after five years--got some interesting results but no additional funding--and he went away. But not completely. He left behind all sorts of papers, equipment, and junk, some of which we finally pitched. Now he's unhappy about the way we disposed of his stuff and is threatening to sue. We'll work through this, but I've been wondering how we could have avoided the mess. So my question is, does anyone have a policy which governs such ad hoc relationships for adjunct researchers? (I suppose if you have a policy then such relationships are no longer ad hoc at your institution. They are ad hoc for us, though, that's part of our difficulty.) Some boilerplate for an agreement, perhaps? I understand that no agreement can ever handle every possible eventuality--who would have predicted that this guy would steal equipment from elsewhere, leave it behind, and then complain when we dispose of it? Still, if we had something, a framework at least, on paper going into the relationship it would be easier to sever when it sours. Thanks and regards, Bill Bill Campbell Director, Grants & Research University of Wisconsin-River Falls ====================================================================== 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") ======================================================================