The P.I. SHOULD NOT BE A PARTY to the agreement -- a "Party" in the legal
sense that the P.I. is bound to perform the contract.  That position should
be reserved to the institution alone.  There are significant legal
ramificaitons to being a party to the contract that the P.I. should not
have to shoulder.

However, it can often be useful that the P.I. signs acknowledging that she
accepts P.I. responsibility and/or that she is cognizant of the terms of
the agreement.

Chuck

At 02:08 PM 11/10/98 +0000, you wrote:
>We are reviewing the language of  the research agreement used by our
>institution.   The question has come up as to "whether other
>institutions include the Principal Investigator as a party
>to their research agreement".  Your response with thoughts and
>comments about  why  "_to_ or _ not to_ include the PI as a party"
>will be greatly appreciated.
>
>Thanks.
>
>
>*********************************
>Paula C. Tolbert
>Associate Director
>Sponsored Programs
>Office of the Vice President for Research
>621 Boyd GSRC
>University of Georgia
>Athens, GA 30602-7411
>706/542-5925
>FAX:  706/542-5946
>e-mail: xxxxxx@ovpr.uga.edu
>********************************
>
Herbert B. Chermside, CRA
Director, Sponsored Programs Administration
Virginia Comonwealth University
PO BOX 980568
Richmond, VA  23298-0568
Express Delivery Only:
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http://views.vcu.edu/views/ospa/