The sponsor calling it a "grant" should make no difference to you:  the
exact terms of the agreement will be in the agreement directly or by
reference.  It certainly isn't a gift, because there are
deliverables.  Internally, if you have differences attached to the terms
"grant", "Contract", etc., you may need to give it a close look, or maybe
give your internal policies a look.  "Grant", as you know, has a legal
definition for federal agencies.  Otherwise the word is used with
essentially no consistency among various sponsors.  I deal with several
state agencies with documents entitled "Grant Contract".  Some commercial
concerns seem to think that naming an agreement a "grant" makes it free of
F&A costs, but your institutional policy, based on what the agreement adds
up to be, rather than the name it is given, should determine F&A applicability.

Make sure that the fixed unit rate covers both direct and F&A costs as
required by your internal policies, and make sure that you do not have
fixed or start-up costs that are amortized over "n", that you get stuck not
recovering if the actual N is significantly less than "n".

Of course each faculty member has her own idea what "grant" means -- but no
two agree!  Have Fun!

Chuck

At 08:45 AM 3/20/2002 -0600, you wrote:
>We've received a contract from a pharmaceutical company that reads
>
>"Company X agrees to award Institution a grant for up to n  clinically
>evaluable subjects . . . based on the agreed rate of  y."
>
>What are the implications of calling this a grant?
>
>Peter J. Dolce, Ph.D., Director
>Office of Research Support Services
>Meharry Medical College
>1005 DB Todd Boulevard
>Nashville, TN  37208
>V 615 327 6703
>F 615 327 6716
>
>
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Herbert B. Chermside, CRA
Director, Sponsored Programs Administration
Virginia Commonwealth University
PO BOX 980568
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