I also posed this question to the NSF Policy office and received this
reply:

"As far as signing the Coversheet, NSF does not encourage organizations to
have people
sign the Coversheet that are not employees of that organization.  This is
because the organization is certifying for anyone that signs the Coversheet
and some institutions aren't comfortable certifying for people who aren't
their employees."

Michael Pelletier

 Todd Travis
 <xxxxxx@CLA        To:     xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG
 RKSON.EDU>              cc:
 Sent by:                Subject:     Re: Subgrants & Co-PIs
 Research
 Administration
 List
 <xxxxxx@hrinet
 .org>

 10/17/00 11:22
 AM
 Please respond
 to Research
 Administration
 Discussion List

We have also questioned the "proper" way to handle this.  We have in fact,
recently questioned NSF about how it should be done.  While we do not
question our Investigator's desire for the Subcontract PI to have Co-PI
status, we have not been sure of the best way to handle it.

We have also been wary of having Investigators from other institutions
appearing on our cover sheet.  It does appear that this forces the
Authorizing Official from our institution to "certifiy" on behalf of
individuals not affiliated with our institution.  What we have done in the
past is consider the subcontract investigator a NonCo-PI Senior
Personnel in our FastLane submission but list their title as "Co-PI" on the
budget form for their institution.  In the cases where the PI has requested
more official Co-PI status for the other Investigator we have suggested
submitting as a collaborative proposal instead of a subcontract.  It seems
to make a certain amount of sense that if the
individual is to be considered a Co-PI on the entire project than their
effort should be considered more of a collaborative nature than just as a
subcontract.

Todd Travis

Terri Hall wrote:

> I would like to hear from other institutions...both those who allow this
> practice and also those who don't allow this practice and the reasoning
> behind it.
>
> Please send your comments to Ellen Rogers at xxxxxx@nd.edu.
>
> Many thanks.
>
> ===================================================
> "We must walk consciously only partway toward our goal, and
> then leap in the dark to our success." -- Henry David Thoreau
> Terri Hall
> Funding Opportunities Specialist / Community of Science Liaison
> Office of Research
> University of Notre Dame Phn: (219) 631-8710
> 511 Main Building Fax: (219) 631-6630
>
> Notre Dame, IN 46556 Email: xxxxxx@nd.edu
> ===================================================

____________________________________
Todd C. Travis
Assistant Coordinator/Research Funds
Division of Research
Clarkson University
V: 315-268-6475, F: 315-268-6515
xxxxxx@clarkson.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")
======================================================================