Kris and the others cited in the attached give thirteen excellent reasons
why pre and postaward offices should be combined.  So why do most
universities have separate offices with separate lines (academic and
financial) of authority?

At 10:10 AM 1/3/97 -0600, you wrote:
>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
>
>
Thomas E. Wilson
Director, Sponsored Programs
Baylor College of Medicine
phone: 713-798-6970
fax:   713-798-6990
email: xxxxxx@bcm.tmc.edu