We do a lot of commercial sponsor agreements at VCU.

They can be done VERY fast; e.g., we send our "standard" agreement, which
is VERY simple, pre-signed; we get a company decision maker on the phone,
chat, and they sign.

They can take MONTHS:  e.g., they send us a standard boilerplate agreement
which is designed for use between commercial companies and contains many
clauses which, though common in commerce,  we are not allowed to sign
because we are a) a state institution, and b) a university.  Our responses
are routed to their corporate counsel and first handled by a legal aide who
has no authority.  Finally, after several weeks , we reach an attorney on
the phone and explain many of the problems.  Then we must send sections os
statute (FINALLY the Code is on the web!  so we send URL's -- except to
those companies whose legal departments do not use e-mail externally
because of paranoid fears of loosing proprietary information) and AG memos.
 Then...   You get the picture.

The most useful approach I have is to get to decision makers inside and
outside the university and explain some fundamentals:  The commercial
environment and the university environment are differen;  there is some
overlap;  in that overlap we have win-win situations and can make things
work;  outside of the overlap, things are at best a zero sum game (for one
to gain, the other must loose);  any time the project strays from the
win-win area we all need to recognize it and drop that project, so we can
remain frioends and work without enmity when a win-win situation does come
along. This seems to work.

Remember, NOT ALL PROJECTS ARE GOOD FOR THE UNIVERSITY.
Also, if you are likely to have repeat business with a commercial sponsor,
work toward a general agreement you can use with every transaction with
that commercial sponsor.

GOOD LUCK!!

Chuck

At 10:47 AM 9/8/99 -0400, Susan Benjamin wrote:
>Here is one of those "simple" questions for which there is no simple
>answer.  What is the "normal" length of time it takes for the negotiation
> and processing of a commercial sponsor agreement which requires
>negotiations?  This would be the time from receipt of the proposed
>agreement in the Grants Office to execution of the final agreement.  We
>have had our share of the "easy" ones and that is not really my question.
> It seems more and more negotiations are required for various clauses.  We
> find it sometimes will take the sponsor quite a bit of time to respond to
>our comments or requests to revise clauses.  We are meeting with a group of
>researchers who have posed this question, with the indication that it takes
>longer then necessary to process the agreements in question.
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Susan Benjamin
>Grant Administrator
>Health Research, Inc.
>(518)431-1261
>xxxxxx@health.state.ny.us
>
>
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Herbert B. Chermside, CRA
Director, Sponsored Programs Administration
Virginia Commonwealth University
PO BOX 980568
Richmond, VA  23298-0568
Express Delivery Only:
 Sanger Hall, Rm. 1-073
 11th & Marshall Streets
 Richmond, VA  23219
Voice:  804-828-6772
Fax     804-828-2521
OFFICE e-mail   xxxxxx@VCU.EDU
Personal e-mail xxxxxx@vcu.edu
http://views.vcu.edu/views/ospa/

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