I want to thank everyone for their response to my request for information
on combined pre and postaward offices.  A summation of the responses
supporting combined offices follows.  Combined offices:

1. Lead to constant, ongoing relationships, with faculty and provide for
more opportunities to interact.
2. Enable better and more comprehensive communication.
3. Provide better service.
4. Provide for one stop shopping, making the proposal process easier for
faculty.
5. Are economical.
6. Make it less likely for unresolved issues to "fall in the cracks."
7. Prevent problems that may appear during the post award stage at the
submission stage.
8. Provide for one point of contact for faculty through out the life of the
project.
9. Tend to have more highly skilled staff, as a result of varied workload
responsibilities.
10. Enable staff to work in teams that provide for a highly efficient and
effective flow of work processes.
11. Tend to have staff that are more knowledgeable about all aspects of
research administration, resulting in more comprehensive service for
faculty and improved chances for career growth of staff.
12. That have worked with a faculty member in the proposal stage, enhance
the ability to design a budget that meets sponsor and state/university
constraints.
13. Provide for one central location for file processing and archiving.

The following information was complied in response to the question by our
VP for Business Affairs regarding who would be responsible for signing the
reimbursement forms if the offices were combined

The SF270, Request for Advance or Reimbursement form, the SF272, Federal
Cash Transactions Report, and the SF269, Financial Status Report, state
that they must be signed by the "authorized certifying official."  It
apparently does not require signature by the University's fiscal authority
- merely someone who will attest that what is presented is true and
accurate.

In addition, in the sponsored program offices that I have heard from, it is
typically the director or coordinator for the office that signs the forms,
in his or her absence the vice president for research signs.  In some
instance the responsibility for signature has been delegated to an
administrative assistant or related position.

Responses were received from:

Smithsonian Institution
City of Hope National Medical Center and
 Beckman Research Institute
UNC-Wilmington
Boston University Medical Campus
Marquette University
University of Arkansas
Radford University
University of Hawaii
University of Texas Medical Center - Houston

If anyone has further information on combined pre and postaward offices
that they would like to share I would still like to hear from you.  Again
thanks to everyone who responded, hopefully I will have a response to my
proposal soon.

__________________________________________________
Kris E. Rhodes,
Coordinator, Research and Sponsored Programs
Stephen F. Austin State University
Box 13024 SFA, Nacogdoches, TX 75962
Phone 409/468-6606, Fax 409/468-1251
WWW Site http://www.research.sfasu.edu
Email: xxxxxx@sfasu.edu