Upon receipt of an award, a critical part of OSP’s review process is to examine the terms and conditions to determine whether we as an institution can accept them. There are many stakeholders involved in grant agreements, including the Principal Investigator/Project Director, the recipient institution, and the sponsor. Some awards can be negotiated, while others must be accepted “as is,” depending on the type of sponsor and award.
The majority of funding that comes through the Office of Sponsored Programs is from the federal government. The mechanism for funding can be in the form of a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement. Most of these awards at Montclair are “assistance awards,” i.e. grants and cooperative agreements, where the relationship between sponsor and institution is focused on supporting a public purpose through programmatic efforts or research and development. Because the terms and conditions are set by the federal government under federal Uniform Guidance, 2 CFR 200, they typically cannot be changed or negotiated. For more information about federal terms and conditions, please see the Understanding Terms and Conditions web page. Contracts with the federal government for work of direct benefit to a federal agency are less frequent. In some cases, they can be negotiated if they contain provisions that are not appropriate for institutions of higher education.
Awards from private foundations, non-profit organizations, corporate sponsors, local or state governments, and other institutions of higher education are also common, and these can often be negotiated. The awards can arrive in various forms, such as a grant agreement, grant letter, contract, sponsored research agreement, incoming subaward, Memorandum of Agreement, or Memorandum of Understanding. It is assumed that all Principal Investigators/Project Directors receiving funding have already worked with OSP to submit a proposal and that all necessary institutional approvals have already taken place.
If a PI/PD or other staff member receives award documents, they should not independently sign them. PI/PDs do not have legal authority to bind the institution to a grant award. Any and all award documents should be forwarded to OSP as soon as they’re received.
OSP is responsible for reviewing and negotiating awards to ensure that the terms and conditions can be accepted by the University. If there are terms that will affect the grant project team, such as those regarding reporting, intellectual property, or publication, OSP’s post-award team will negotiate with the sponsor to request more favorable terms in keeping with standard practices in the field of sponsored programs administration.
OSP may collaborate with University Counsel and/or contact the PI/PD to confirm whether these terms are acceptable to them. This is a service provided to PI/PDs to protect PI/PDs and the institution from legal risks. Some examples of terms that are important to Montclair State University as a public institution of higher education are as follows:
- Publication: preserving freedom and authority to publish
- IP Ownership: establishing rights to future inventions or intellectual property
- Termination: determining in what instances both parties can terminate the agreement
- Choice of Law: ensuring the governing jurisdiction is the state of NJ in the event of a dispute
Every award is different. While negotiating an award agreement, it may take time to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. Since there are some clauses that may put the institution or the PI/PD at risk, it is critical that negotiations are performed with intention and care. Upon finalizing negotiations and formally accepting the award, it will enter the Award Set-Up phase.