Faculty coming aboard: Best Practices for PI Transfers

Who we are Karen Sack, Administrator, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, University of Maryland School of Medicine Janet Simons, Director, Research Policy, University of Maryland Baltimore 2

Agenda Faculty incoming! – Getting started – Transferring awards – Other considerations 3

Communication Principal Investigator Sponsor’s Program Officer Sponsor’s Grant/Contract Officer Department Administrator Central sponsored programs administrator Co-investigators, staff, subrecipients, students IRB, IACUC, etc 4 Human resources

Getting started Negotiation process – grants to transfer, equipment, people, start-up funds, space and resources Is anyone coming with the faculty member? – Senior faculty may bring students, postdocs, staff, co-investigators – If yes, are any grants or fellowships associated with those individuals? – Is anyone on a visa? All these items impact the offer letter 5

Initiating award transfers Offer is accepted! Ask your new faculty member – To provide copies of current awards (including proposals) – Whether they are co-investigators on any projects – For contacts at their current institution (department and central) – For a list of equipment being transferred Contact your counterpart Remind the PI to – Contact each program officer (phone call and follow-up ) – Contact collaborators, subrecipients, students, post-docs, colleagues Bring your sponsored programs office into the loop 6

Options for each award Award transfers to new institution – A sub to the former institution may be needed to support continued project activities there Award stays at former institution with a sub to the new institution Award is terminated at the former institution and is resubmitted/renegotiated from the new institution Pending proposal is resubmitted from the new institution Nothing (at the new institution) – The award does not transfer; it stays with the prior institution 7

Other information to gather What documents does the sponsor need from your institution? – (work with your sponsored programs office) How much $$ is available to be transferred? – (work with the financial contact – department or central – at the former institution) Request a courtesy copy of the relinquishment document from the other institution – (work with the financial contact) Will the other institution issue subawards for awards that will not transfer? – (work with the PI and with your counterpart at the former institution) 8

Budget issues 1 Budget period – When will the award transfer – appointment date? award anniversary date? – Effective versus actual transfer date Institutional base salary; salary cap issues Effort commitment for PI/key persons: consistent with originally proposed commitment (or sponsor-approved change) Graduate student stipend rates, fringe benefits, other “local” rates F&A 9

Budget issues 2 Any need to issue subaward back to former institution (to support existing co-investigators or students)? New co-investigators from your institution? Routine charges for items such as LAN use, shared resources, shared positions Consider pre-award spending until the award officially is transferred 10

Commonly required transfer documents Forms as required by sponsor Budget for transferred funds Resources page for new institution IRB, IACUC, IBC approvals for new institution Description of changes to the project Sign-off from all proposed consultants and subrecipient organizations 11

Proposal routing PI access for internal systems before actual transfer date eRA Commons affiliation for PI (or corresponding requirements in other sponsor systems) Internal sign-offs Submission and institutional official signature 12

Transfer Follow-up For Federal awards, ensure that the other institution submits the relinquishing form AND the final FSR so that your institution receives any remaining unobligated balance Ensure that the award document is received – Especially important if pre-award spending was authorized Be prepared to wait Stay in communication with your counterpart and the Sponsor 13

Timeline: Navigating the Transfer Process Award received (partial amount) Wait Check with sponsor Wait Check with counterpart re relinquishment Wait Route and submit to sponsor Sponsor forms, budget estimate 14

Rough seas: Managing problems Delays Visas for international fellows or staff Walking new faculty through unfamiliar processes 15

Recruiting & Hiring Project Staff Identify positions that will need to be filled Strategize best plan to fill non-key positions Budget dollars and effort for shared positions (e.g., glassware washer, statistician, project coordinator, animal tech) 16

Other considerations Introduce the new PI to key offices Identify senior faculty to mentor new junior faculty Identify potential collaborators and introduce the new PI Log-ins for institutional systems, eRA Commons, etc Required regulatory/compliance training IRB – IACUC – IBC protocol submission Material transfer agreements Technology transfer Export control review Recommended: create and customize a checklist/toolkit for your new faculty 17

Ideas for checklist/toolkit Acronyms New employee activities/timelines (e.g., ID badge, parking, computer set-up) Useful resources (e.g., libraries, core research facilities) Training and/or credentialing requirements List of important offices to tour and individuals to meet Useful websites Sample grant proposals (for junior faculty) Template “resources” information for proposals Schedule information (seminar series, journal club, faculty meetings, grand rounds) distribution lists Safety and emergency information (e.g., signing up for alerts and messages) 18

Smooth sailing! 19

Questions?