Re: Whose money is this? Jon Hart 17 Aug 2004 15:58 EST
The critical difference between a Development Office and a Sponsored Programs Office is the Development people raise general-purpose funds (capital campaigns, gifts not specific to a particular research project, etc.) and the Sponsored Programs office handles restricted funds for specific projects, funds that must be spent in a particular way and reported on in some detail. So, it depends on how the funds are given to the institution, not necessarily who does the giving. A corporation or foundation may provide a gift that the institution then decides to divvy up, perhaps requiring internal applications. Those funds at this institution would be handled by Development. A foundation giving competing fellowships that must be applied for individually and which funds must be of the restricted variety would come through Sponsored Programs. It is not unusual for donors who go through Development to require written reports on how the funds were spent, but that does not make them restricted. Also realize that Development probably has a quota they have to raise and they are very aware of every dollar they can put in their column. It does seem quite unreasonable that your Development office wants to take the credit while you do the administration; however, you should ask yourself if they are able to track conflict of interest, human and animal use, etc., and if you want to take that risk? We would much rather do a little more work and have the University in compliance than argue about the tracking of compliance matters. It is a line you will need to draw -- and good luck! Joni. Jon Elizabeth Hart, MPA, CIP Senior Director, Sponsored Programs Administration Senior Director, Human Subjects Protections Program The Rockefeller University 1230 York Ave., NY, NY 10021-6399 tel: (212) 327-8054; fax: (212) 327-8400 email: xxxxxx@rockefeller.edu -----Original Message----- From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG] On Behalf Of Roberta Truscello Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2004 3:30 PM To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG Subject: [RESADM-L] Whose money is this? There is an ongoing disagreement at this institution between the Office of Academic Grants and Sponsored Research and the Development Office, and I am looking for some advice on how others may have handled similar situations. The Development Office believes that they should receive credit for any funds that come from corporations, foundations and private sources. They would like for that funding, even if it is for research and comes with reporting or other requirements, to be counted as Development money. What follows is a typical example. The College recently received funding from a corporation that paid summer stipends to chemistry students for research projects, and that required a reporting on that research to the sponsor at the end of the summer. Development refers to this as "a gift that requires a report" and is arguing that the money ought to be processed through the College Foundation because it came from a corporation and would help inform Development's future fund raising efforts with that corporate sponsor. Further, since this Grants office is already a One Stop Shop, and is well-equipped to administer and monitor grants, Development would also would like us make this "a cooperative effort" whereby we would handle the work of budgeting, reporting and general administration of the funds, after they have been counted as Development money. To us (in Grants) it seems obvious that the function rather than the source of the funds determines how they are to be processed. All parties agree that this argument has been put forward many times, but folks outside of the Grants office are simply not convinced. Any thoughts? Roberta Truscello Pre-Award Specialist The College of New Jersey ====================================================================== 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") ======================================================================