Overview
Many sponsored programs involve collaborating with external institutions. If your project involves collaborating with external entities, please begin discussing with OSP at least 4 weeks before the sponsor's deadline. This gives OSP time draft appropriate agreements, etc.
As part of the proposal process, OSP will need to work with your collaborators (and their office of sponsored programs where appropriate) to determine how the proposal will be formally structured. A few common options are:
- JMU is the subrecipient/contractor: One of your collaborators' institutions is the lead institution and JMU is a subrecipient/subawardee, or occasionally, a contractor. This means the funds goes first to the lead institution and is then distributed from then to JMU. Typically, a single proposal is submitted by the lead institution.
- JMU is the lead: JMU is the lead institution and your collaborators' institution(s) are either subrecipients/subawardees or contractors, in which case the funds come first to JMU and then are paid out to your collaborators' institution(s). Typically, a single proposal will be submitted by JMU
- Collaborative proposals: Some funders have specific provisions for collaborative sponsored programs. For example, the NSF allows both the subawardee structure and has a process for multiple organizations to together submit a collaborative proposal.
Read on below to see what you'll need to do differently for each type of collaboration.
When a proposal involves external collaborators, due dates often shift.
If JMU is a subawardee, the lead institution will generally want all materials to them before the sponsor due date. We require all materials five business days before OSP must have materials to the lead institution to ensure we can check compliance and get the materials to them on time.
If JMU is the lead, please also inform your collaborators that they must have all materials to us by seven business days before the sponsor due date. Their institution's Office of Sponsored Programs may set an earlier due date for your collaborators to ensure that they can review materials for compliance.
For this reason, we ask you to start working with OSP at least four weeks before the sponsor deadline if your project will involve external collaborators.
Typically Required Documents
Please confirm what documents the lead institution requires (along with their due date) and share this information with your assigned grant specialist.
When JMU is a subrecipient these typically include:
- A Statement of Work (SOW) describing what parts of the program will the responsibility of the PI(s) at JMU. The lead institution will probably give you guidance as to what they are looking for, but generally, this is a description of the work you are specifically planning on doing in regards to this grant. (If necessary, you can look at the template JMU shares with subrecipients when JMU is the lead for guidance.)
- A line-item budget and budget justification. When you complete our interest form, a grant specialist will be assigned to assist you. Further resources and information are on our budget development page.
- A letter of intent signed by an Authoritzed Organizational Representative (AOR).
Frequently you'll also be asked to provide:
- JMU's F&A Agreement: This shows our federally negotiated indirect costs rate agreement (NICRA). OSP can provide this; frequently it is part of the letter of intent mentioned above.
- Biosketch: Since the lead institution will be compiling the proposal, if biosketches are required for all PIs and senior personnel, they will need your biosketch.
- Facilities & Equipment: Similarly, if a single facilities & equipment (or similar) document is being compiled and submitted by the lead organization, they will need a statement from you regarding the facilities and equipment at JMU available for your use.
- Any other documents required for each PI/co-PI/senior personnel.
The Office of Research Development can assist with proposal development, including with preparing required materials for subawards.
When JMU is a contractor these typically include:
- A line-item budget and budget justification. When you complete our interest form, a grant specialist will be assigned to assist you. Further resources and information are on our budget development page.
- A Statement of Work (SOW) describing what parts of the program will the responsibility of the PI(s) at JMU. This will typically form the basis of an MOU between JMU and the other institution.
Remember, this list is not binding. Please always confirm requirements & their due dates with the lead institution.
Due Date
We here in the JMU Office of Sponsored Programs require the documents to us five business days before the lead institution's imposed due date so that we can review them before submitting them to the lead institution.
If your budget will allocate funds to one or more external entities, please begin discussing with OSP at least 4 weeks before the sponsor's deadline. This gives OSP time to determine whether the collaborator is a subrecipient or contractor, as well as draft appropriate agreements, etc.
Determine whether your collaborating institution is a contractor or a subrecipient
This depends on the type of work that your collaborator is doing on the project. For each collaborating institution, you will need to complete these documents and send them to your grants specialist or, if you haven't been assigned a specialist, to grants@jmu.edu.
- Subrecipient or Contractor Checklist
- Collaborator Statement of Work (SOW): This describes the work that will be done at your external collaborators' institution(s). (This may be a draft.)
OSP will use these to determine whether your collaborating institution is a contractor or a subrecipient.
If the collaborating institution is a contractor:
Please reach out to the JMU Procurement Office. Your collaborator will probably need to register as a vendor. Your assigned grants specialist will assist you in budget development to ensure that JMU, state, and sponsor regulations related to contractors are all followed. (See especially the Special Terms and Conditions For Federal Grants.)
If the collaborating institution is a subrecipient:
Please provide contact information for your collaborator to OSP as soon as possible so that we inform them of the documents we will require to submit the proposal, as well as the deadline. We require all documents five business days prior to the sponsor due date. For information on how to upload and submit these documents, please see our JMU internal approval page.
Except in unusual circumstances, JMU will always require the following items:
- Statement of Work (SOW): This must outline the role and responsibility of the subrecipient institution and should include objectives, tasks, and deliverables. It will form the basis of the subaward agreement. (Note that a draft was required in step 1 above.)
- Line-item budget & budget justification for the funds that the subrecipient institution will be spending. Sponsor-supplied forms must be used where available and sponsor regulations must be followed, including separating costs by year where applicable.
- F&A Agreement: This is a copy of the subrecipient institution's federally negotiated indirect costs rate agreement (NICRA). If no indirect costs are included in the subrecipient's budget then this will not be needed.
- Subrecipient Contacts – Federal Demonstration Partnership FDP Attachment 3B Forms Page 1 and Page 2 (if applicable). This tells OSP who the appropriate contacts at the collaborating institution are for administrative, financial, and other matters.
- Subrecipient Commitment Form: This must be signed by an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) at the subrecipient institution.
The following documents may be required for us to submit the proposal:
- Collaborator Biosketches: In order to submit a complete application, it may be necessary to include biosketches for your collaborators, particularly if they are PIs or senior personnel.
- Collaborator Current and Pending Support: This should describe your collaborator's current and pending support relevant to the project.
- Any other documents required for each PI/co-PI/senior personnel.
- Facilities and Equipment: If a facilities and equipment statement (or similar) is required, the collaborating institution will be required to send a document describing the resources available to your collaborators.
- Letter of Commitment/Collaboration: Typically this should state that should your sponsored program be funded, the collaborating institution plans to participate and accept a subaward from James Madison University in accordance with the approved statement of work and budget, and commitment to abide by all associated terms and conditions if awarded. If the subawardee is providing cost-share, its value should be explicitly mentioned and explained. It is generally signed by an authorized organizations representative (AOR) at the collaborating institution.
If human or animal subjects are involved, further documentation may be necessary. Please consult with the Office of Research Integrity.
Please be sure to prepare any materials, including the letter of collaboration, according to sponsor requirements. The Office of Research Development can assist with proposal development.
Due dates
As mentioned above, projects with external collaborators should communicate with OSP at least 4 weeks before the sponsor due date.
If JMU is the lead institution, we will require all materials, including those from subrecipients and contractors, to be submitted five business days before the proposal due date.
If your sponsor has other options for submitting a collaborative proposal, the OSP team and particularly your grants specialist will be happy to assist you.
The most common alterative arrangement we see is the NSF Collaborative Proposal. As explained in the PAPPG, in this case there is still a lead organization. This organization submits the project description, references cites, and other key components of the proposal. However, a non-lead organization submits their own budget & budget justification, biosketches, facilities, equipment & other resources, and similar documents directly to the NSF instead of to the lead organization.
