The Office of Sponsored Programs signs several types of contracts connected to sponsored research. The most important of these are awards, in which the sponsor formally commits to giving JMU funds to support your work.
Award Process
After all of the sponsor required changes have been made (such as budget revisions), your sponsor will typically send an award or a contract to be signed. Among other things, this typically commits JMU to the project you have described in your proposal and describes the penalties for non-compliance with any sponsor regulations. JMU Policy 4100 establishes that OSP has the authority to sign such contracts.
We will review the contract or award, along with any attached terms and conditions, to ensure that it is consistent with JMU and state policies and regulations. When necessary, we consult with Office of University Counsel to clarify what we are and are not able to agree to on behalf of the university. If there is a problem, we work with the sponsor to modify the contract or terms and conditions so that we are able to sign.
Our goal is to be able to find agreeable terms as quickly as possible. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at grants@jmu.edu at any time.
PIs are not authorized to sign contracts on behalf of the university. If you are asked to sign or certify on behalf of JMU, please reach out to grants@jmu.edu. Although uncommon, it does occasionally happen that individual fellowships and similar programs whose applications do not go through OSP have contracts or awards that require our signature.
