Private agency contracts refer to contracts for research services provided by University researchers for a specific project for a non-governmental agency. These are usually for-profit companies, often times drug and pharmaceutical companies that need clinical study research on new drugs or products. These types of projects are traditionally in FMS Fund 57001 for clinical studies or 57015 for contracts that are not related to clinical drug studies.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

The University enters into contracts on behalf of its employees. The contracts are from a wide variety of private companies. As a rule, these funds come with few restrictions on the allowability of expenses or re-budgeting. Any restrictions are addressed in the contract, and are typically listed in the Attributes section of the UTH Grants panels in FMS.

 The PI's primary responsibility is to conduct the research and report the findings to the contracting entity as outlined in the contract. There are, however, several critical issues that must be addressed regarding contracts with private agencies.

CHANGES FROM THE ORIGINAL CONTRACT

• If a PI leaves the University and another PI assumes the investigator role for a contract, an amendment to the contract must be signed by all parties. This is handled through SPA.
• If the termination or end-date is changed from that stated in the original agreement, an amendment to the contract should be promptly handled by SPA.
• Any change in the scope, program, funding, or fee from what was originally contracted must be amended in a contractual form through SPA.

EXPENSES

Expenses using this fund source must (as all funds must) meet with institutional policy as set forth in the Handbook of Operating Procedure (HOOP).

CONTRACT TERMINATION

If the funding vests with the University, then at the completion of the contract, any residual funds may be transferred to the PI’s gift account or spent out in the existing project as soon as possible. If funds are going to be transferred to a gift account, the PI should send an email to PAF stating the following:

• The scientific work on the contract has been completed.
• The obligations have been met (i.e., reports submitted, expenses paid, billing invoices submitted, and payments received).
• The gift account number which to close the residual funds.