At my institution, pre- and post-award offices are separate. We have been
asked, after the fact in some cases, to process paperwork and seek
institutional approval in situations where a faculty member has money and
needs to put it in an account. They are referred to us with the idea that
this is a sponsored project and should be treated like any other project.

However, there are situations where there is no real end date and money
will be put into an account as it is received. We are told in some cases
that the money will be derived all or partly by membership fees and
donations. The effect is that, from an administrative standpoint, this
project will be "hanging" out there indefinitely. Not only do we not know
when the project file should be closed, but we do not know how much is
received  and when. Also, in some cases, the sponsor must be listed as
"various donors" when the account is set up. Our database receives one
initial entry and then we basically never hear from the faculty again
unless we call to inquire about the status of the project.

Do other research and sponsored programs offices process similar projects?
Is this a simple matter of needing to communicate more with post-award or
is there a larger issue here--specifically one of whether this is a true
sponsored project that should be processed through our office? The projects
range from providing students (when the sponsor is interested and has
funds) with internship-type experiences to doing research on
African-American culture.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Angela Bridwell

 *******************************************************************

 Angela M. Bridwell
 Grant Support Specialist
 Research & Sponsored Programs
 Stephen F. Austin State University
 P.O. Box 13024, SFA Station
 Nacogdoches, TX 75962
 phone: (409)468-1805
 fax: (409)468-1251
 e-mail: xxxxxx@sfasu.edu
 ********************************************************************

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