You MUST have a PI who is responsible to your institution -- remember, the
institution is the grantee! -- presumably an employee.

If someone on a project moves to another institution, you can subaward some
of the project, but only that which applies to the moved person(s).  And it
should not be the PI; if the original PI leaves, get a new PI and subaward
for the old one's necessary part of the award.

Technically, you could subaward the whole project, but you are left holding
the bag, because YOU are responsible!!  So do not do it!

Your imaginative creator of "the remote PI" should be sent to face the next
set of auditors you get!

Chuck

At 02:59 PM 2/11/2005, you wrote:
>Good afternoon friends.
>One of the more creative divisions of our university has come up with an
>interesting new twist to avoiding grant transfers.  It's called the
>"remote PI."
>
>What this means is that when a faculty member leaves the institution to
>take a faculty position at another institution, this division proposes
>to keep the grant here at our institution and subcontract the PI work to
>the new institution.  Then, one doesn't have to go through "bothersome"
>grant transfer paperwork and also we get to keep paying people at the
>original institution off the grant.
>
>I think the whole concept is LOONY.  I see all kinds of compliance
>worries related to the situation where the institution which is
>responsible for the grant has a P.I. which is no longer its employee.
>
>The latest attempt at this creative approach involves a Department of
>State grant.  A predecessor approved the "remote pi" idea for this
>particular grant, but the Department of State is not completely
>comfortable with this, so they've come up with yet another
>alternative--they'll approve the "remote PI" situation if our
>institution contracts the work directly to the individual faculty
>member, and not to her new institution.  They could care less if the two
>institutions contract with one another!  Oy vey!  Am I on another planet?
>
>Please, colleagues, am I being too overcautious when I shout "NO!" into
>the phone?  Be honest.  I am all about service.
>
>Thanks,
>Patty Hagen
>Saint Louis University
>
>
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Herbert "Chuck" Chermside, CRA
Director Emeritus, VCU Sponsored Programs
Executive Director, Research Administrators Certification Council
1915 Robindale Rd.
Richmond, VA 23235-3931
804-320-5502
xxxxxx@verizon.net

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