Forms, Policies & Procedures

Full Board Review

Review of non-exempt research that does not qualify for expedited review, or that may present more than minimal risk to the subjects, must be reviewed at a convened meeting of the University’s IRB. At the University of Delaware (UD) the IRB meets once every month and investigators proposing new protocols are usually invited to attend the IRB meeting to present their research and address any questions the Board members may have. Students having protocols reviewed at a convened meeting and presenting to the IRB must be accompanied by their faculty advisor.

The meeting dates for the IRB, as well as the submission deadline for protocols to be considered for full board review at each month’s meeting, are set well in advance and can be found in the Research Office Calendar of Events. The number of protocols to be reviewed at each meeting may be limited due the constraints of time and the complexity of other items on the agenda. Protocols will be accepted for review in the order received. If the board is not able to review a protocol in a particular month, it will be given priority for review in the following month.

Investigators submitting new projects are normally invited to attend the IRB meeting to present their project to the Board and answer any questions or concerns IRB Members may have. The results from the meeting are later communicated to the PI and any conditions the IRB may have set before approval can be effective will be addressed then. If a new student-led project is to be reviewed by the full board, the academic advisor responsible for the student and project must accompany the student to the meeting.

Projects approved at a convened full board meeting must be periodically reviewed by continuing review before the expiration date set on approval and no less than once a year. Informed consent forms associated with projects reviewed at a full board will be stamped by the IRB with the approval and expiration dates. IRB-stamped documents are posted in IRBNet after approval and must be used when obtaining the informed consent of research participants.

General Safety-Fire-Security Survey Checklist

General Inspection checklist for fire hazards.

General University Research Program

1. PURPOSE

   To outline the types of assistance available under the General University Research program and application procedures.

2. POLICY
   1. General University Research Program
      The regular budget of the University of Delaware provides funds for assistance to full-time professional and faculty members for individual research and professional development. The University program for use of these funds is designated as the General University Research program. Three types of assistance for scholarly effort are available from General University Research (GUR) funds:
      1. GUR grants are administered by the Vice Provost for Research. In administering this program, the Vice Provost is advised by the Research Committee of the Faculty Senate. The Research Committee recommends budgetary allocation of the funds available for the year, evaluates applications for University research grants, and recommends those to be supported. Grants are primarily in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.Research grants are awarded each year in January for the following fiscal year. The grants support such research costs as stipends, technical assistance, equipment, supplies, travel, etc. Grants in varying amounts are approved on the basis of individual merit and specific need and are normally made for an academic or full calendar year. The amount of the stipend may vary from year to year and will be established by the Associate Provost for Research with the recommendation of the Research Committee. Applicants should clearly state their needs. Grants generally range from $3,500 to $6,000.
   2. General Information
      All full-time professionals and faculty members are eligible to apply for GUR grants. In evaluating proposals, the Faculty Senate Research Committee considers the following criteria and guidelines.
      1. The GUR program is intended primarily for beginning or young faculty members or professionals who need assistance for research projects not sufficiently developed (in terms of the project or the reputation of the investigator) to justify support form outside sponsors.
      2. Others are eligible under the following conditions:
         1. Experienced investigators who are developing new projects and need assistance to try out their ideas before applying for major support elsewhere.
         2. Experienced investigators who want to work on small projects or who are engaged in work for which there would be difficulty in obtaining outside support because of limiting conditions such as the specialized nature of the research or availability of outside funds.
         3. Professionals or faculty members who have been involved in lengthy research projects and need additional support to obtain critical material or to finish their work for publication.
         4. Senior faculty whose proposals are clearly superior and show strong promise of making an exceptional scholarly or artistic contribution.Although there is no restriction on the number of awards an individual may receive over the years, it should be understood that, all other factors being equal, preference will be given to those who have not received awards previously. An investigator is normally not considered for a second or later award unless at least three years have elapsed since the most recent previous award.
      3. Procedure for Submitting Research Proposals are found in the General University Research guidelines. The guidelines are updated annually by the committee.

The complete policy and more can be found on the General Counsel’s web site.

Gifts or Sponsored Agreements Checklist

This document is meant to provide guidance to determine if a transaction is a gift to be processed and administered by the Office of Development & Alumni Relations (DAR) or the Research Office (RO). See UD Gift Policy Section 8 (Gift vs. Sponsored Project) for complete details about how to make this determination.

Download the form below and answer all eight questions in the checklist, including comments whenever necessary. To use this form, review all the documentation associated with the funding for indications that will help you to determine whether the funding should be considered support for a sponsored project or a gift.

Gifts Used for Research-Related Purposes

Gifts to the University of Delaware (UD) that are to be used for research-related (RR) investigations and/or activities should be directed to the Research Office (RO) for evaluation, and for possible oversight, to help ensure that gift usages will be compliant with U.S. export control and trade sanctions (EC&TS). All UD research-related investigations and/or activities, including those using resources originating from gifts to UD, must be performed consistent with OFAC, ITAR and EAR requirements.

Researchers conducting RR investigations and/or activities using items of value acquired from gifts to the University (both monetary and research-related non-monetary) shall 1) have their planned RR investigation and/or activity evaluated by the RO for EC&TS compliance, and 2) if the RO deems it necessary, obtain a written statement of support/approval from the associated department’s chair and associated college’s dean for the planned RR investigation and/or activity.

After receipt of the associated department and associated college support/approval statement, final UD support/approval for the planned investigation and/or activity will be determined by the UD Vice President for Research, Scholarship & Innovation and the UD Provost.

As with all UD research-related investigations and/or activities, the University may determine that institutional EC&TS compliance requires written institutional-oversight plans or export-licenses. All research-related uses of resources stemming from gifts to UD are evaluated by the RO on a case-by-case basis.

Questions regarding gifts to UD to be used for research-related investigations and/or activities should be submitted to udresearch@udel.edu.

Related Links

• Gifts for Research-Related Investigation/Activity (RRI/A) Flowchart (pdf)
• Gift Use Plan Approval Form (pdf)
• International Agreements Involving Item of Value (doc)

Government Owned Property

1. POLICY

   The basic governing procedure in accounting for all government owned property being held by the University of Delaware under the terms of government research and development contracts and grants. (Questions on specific agency regulations are to be referred to the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, OVPR).

2. SCOPE OF PURPOSE
   To outline the procedure used in accounting for all government-owned property being held by the University of Delaware.

The complete policy and more can be found on the General Counsel’s web site.

Graduate Tuition Policy

1. SCOPE OF POLICY

   This policy sets forth graduate tuition requirements for proposals and awards, and applies to all departments, faculty, and staff involved in externally sponsored research at the University of Delaware.

2. POLICY STATEMENT

   The Research Office requires graduate tuition to be budgeted to grants and contracts at a minimum rate of 40% of the full-time tuition, per student proportional to effort, at the university base rate of $1,028 per credit hour for the fall and spring semesters. Exceptions to this policy may be granted under specific circumstances as outlined per this policy.

3. POLICY STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES
   1. Budgeting Requirements
      1. Graduate tuition must be budgeted as a direct charge to all grants and contracts at a minimum rate of 40% of the full-time tuition, per student, at the university base rate of $1,028 per credit hour for the fall and spring semesters.
      2. Full tuition is considered 9 credit hours per semester at the university rate of $1,028 per credit hour.
         1. If a graduate student is being budgeted at less than 100% of their stipend, the rate of the tuition should be prorated proportionately across all proposals, if applicable.
            1. For example, for a student budgeted at 50% of their stipend, a minimum of 20% shall be and up to 50% of the tuition may be budgeted on the proposal. Or, for a student budgeted at 50% of their stipend on two proposals (25% on each proposal), a minimum of 10% shall be and up to 25% of the tuition may be budgeted on each proposal.
         2. If a sponsor provides a stated amount for cost of education, the full amount as stated by the sponsor may be budgeted.
4. Policy Exception Requests
   1. Exceptions to this policy may be granted with approval of both the PI’s Dean (or designee) and the Vice President for Research, Scholarship, and Innovation (or designee) in cases where:
      1. the funding organization has a written policy precluding or limiting the charging of graduate tuition to awards, or
      2. the total funding available to the PI(s) for the project is less than $75,000 per year.
   2. Exception Requests During Proposal Submission: A request for an exception to the graduate tuition policy should be processed via the Proposal Approval Summary Webform.
      1. If the request is due to a written sponsor policy, the sponsor policy should be attached to the UD Financials: PeopleSoft Proposal Attachments page using the naming convention “[ProposalID]_Tuition_other”. This will feed into the webform for review.
      2. If the request is for an exception is due to the PI project being less than $75,000, the Dean (or designee) and the Vice President for Research, Scholarship, and Innovation (or designee) will review and approve the exception via the proposal approval form routing prior to submission
   3. Exceptions Requests During Award Establishment: If a proposal that did not originally meet the exception criteria is subsequently awarded for less than $75,000 per year, an email approval from the Dean (or designee) should be routed to the Contract & Grant Analyst during award establishment. The request for an exception will be sent to Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Innovation (or designee) for review and approval.
5. Post-Award Requirements
   1. The allocation of tuition costs must be allowable per the award guidelines and must not exceed the distribution of effort as reported through salary charges.
   2. Any re-budgeting of graduate student stipends should include the proportionate re-budgeting of tuition.
   3. Department/college research administrators should routinely reconcile tuition expenses for fiscal compliance.
   4. The Research Office will review tuition expenses during the closeout process for the fall and spring semesters referencing the following student salary expense account codes:
      1. 122600 GRADUATE ASSISTANT (O/H CHARGE)
      2. 122610 GRADUATE TRAINEES
      3. 122700 GRADUATE FELLOW
      4. 126900 GRAD STDT-ENROLLED < 1/2 TIME

Grant Transfers Procedure

When a Principal Investigator (PI) of an externally-funded grant changes institutions, a decision is made about whether the grant stays at the current institution or is transferred to the new institution. UD will determine on a case-by-case basis whether it will retain or transfer a grant. Because the grant award is made to the institution and not to the PI, there must be agreement between the institutions and the sponsor as to where the grant will ultimately reside.

If the decision is to change the grantee organization to the PI’s new institution, the request must be made prior to the PI’s anticipated start date at the new organization, preferably several months in advance. Failure to provide timely notification may result in disapproval of the request or a delay in processing.

If the decision is to leave the grant award at the current organization, the sponsoring agency must be notified immediately with a request for change in responsible PI. This correspondence may also include a request to re-budget part of the award as a sub-grant to the former PI’s new organization for continued work and collaboration on the project. In either case, Office of Sponsored Programs will assist in facilitating this process.

Some sponsors have specific guidelines and forms to be used when requesting a transfer. It is the PI’s responsibility to follow the guidelines of the sponsor.

Transferring a Grant FROM UD to Another Institution

Facilitating the transfer of an agreement from the University of Delaware requires significant amount of coordination and close attention to the award terms and conditions. Specific areas to review include cost sharing commitments, equipment procured on the agreement, unexpended direct and F&A cost balances. The responsibilities matrix – worksheet will assist in initiating and completing the transfer of awards from UD to another institution.

Forms:

• Grant Transfer Request form (from UD) – Attachment A
• Relinquishment Letter to the sponsor – Attachment B
• Title Transfer of University Equipment form – Use UD “Equipment Activity” webform, disposal category to permanently transfer equipment off campus
• Agency specific forms – Attachments – Other

Transferring a Grant TO UD from Another Institution

Facilitating the transfer of an agreement to the University of Delaware requires significant amount of coordination among the PI, the department administrator, OSP and the sponsor. The responsibilities matrix will assist in initiating and completing the transfer of awards from another institution to UD.

Other Documentation that may be applicable during transfer:

• Letter/Communication from Transferring Institution Indicating Intent to Transfer Award to UD
• Provider Determination Worksheet
• Consultant Agreement form
• Agency specific forms

Guide to Intellectual Property

The Ratner Prestia Document gives an overview of the different aspects of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets such as how protection is gained, the duration of that protection, who is entitled to the rights, and more.

The complete policy and more can be found on the UD Research Office’s web site.

Guidelines for Faculty and Professional Consulting Agreements

The main University policies and procedures relating to faculty consulting activities include the following:

Professional Consultation

• Inventions, Discoveries, and Patents
• Copyrightable Material
• Faculty and Professional Staff Involvement in Commercial Enterprises That Have Relationships with the University of Delaware

Responsibility for Private Professional Services
The University assumes no responsibility for private professional services performed by members of its faculty or staff. The name of the University is not in any way to be connected with the service rendered or the results obtained. The faculty member must make it clear that his or her consulting work is a personal matter. He or she must not use the official stationery of the University nor stationery having a University address or a University telephone number.
A faculty or staff member shall not accept or retain employment which would bring him or her as an expert or in any other capacity, into conflict of commitment or in competition with the interests and purposes of the University.

Use of University Facilities and Resources
The use of University Facilities and Resources is addressed in Section 4: Personnel Policies for Faculty of the Faculty Handbook in the subsection “Academic Freedom and Standards of Conduct: Consulting and Other Outside Employment.”

Rate of Compensation and Tax Consequences
The University will not comment on or offer input regarding the rate of compensation or the tax consequences associated with faculty consulting activities.

Intellectual Property Issues
• As a condition of employment by the University, all faculty and staff agree to abide by the University’s Intellectual Property Policies and Procedures and to assign to the University all rights to intellectual property developed (a) with the use of University facilities or resources or (b) in the field of expertise and/or within the scope of responsibilities covered by their employment/appointment/ association with the University.

• Faculty and staff may, within the scope of a consulting agreement, assign rights to intellectual property developed under consulting agreements to organizations engaging their services where the organization has a legitimate prior claim to the technology being developed. Examples include consulting activity leading to the refinement of an organization’s existing product or process or to a development for which the organization has background patents or prior art claims.
• It is inappropriate for faculty or staff consultants to assign Delaware intellectual property to organizations engaging their services.
• Consulting agreements should be examined to ensure that the assignment of rights to intellectual property evolving from consulting activities does not conflict with the University’s Intellectual Property Policies and Procedures.
• Faculty or staff consultants must avoid entering into consulting agreements that are in violation of the terms of their employment by the University.
• By assigning intellectual property rights to organizations engaging their services faculty or staff consultants may: (1) be prohibited from further activities in that field, (2) limit opportunities to profit from commercial applications or their
work, (3) limit opportunities to obtain funding from industry; and (4) restrict freedom to publish.

Terms and Conditions Recommended for Inclusion in Faculty Consulting Agreements
• Consulting agreements should recognize that all faculty and staff members have agreed to abide by the University’s Intellectual Property Policies and Procedures and that Delaware intellectual property cannot be transferred to an entity via a consulting agreement. Consulting agreements should also recognize that a faculty or staff member’s first duty and first responsibility is to Delaware. The University recommends including the following language:
“Entity agrees and understands that Consultant is an employee of The University of Delaware. Consultant’s primary responsibility is to the University. In connection with such employment, Consultant has entered into certain agreements with the University relating to ownership of intellectual property rights, conflicts of interest and other matters, and is subject to certain policy statements of the University. If any provision of this Agreement is hereinafter determined to be in conflict with these policies, then the policies will govern to the extent of such conflict, and the conflicting provisions of this Agreement will not apply. Consultant is not aware of any such conflict.”

• Consulting agreements should acknowledge the importance of documenting the nature and scope of the consulting activities and outline a process for preparing a written summary or minutes of the consulting activities. All written information provided by the entity to the consultant should be clearly marked “Confidential” or “Proprietary.” The University recommends including the following language:
“The Entity shall from time to time prepare a written summary or “minutes” of the consulting activities of Consultant. Consultant shall also record all documentation relative to Consulting Services separate from his/her other work, including work for the University. The parties shall have the right to periodically compare said documentation to ensure both parties have a consistent understanding as to the scope and nature of consulting services provided hereunder.”

Consider including language such that the consultant has the right to refuse to accept entity confidential information. The University recommends including the following language: “Prior to disclosure of Confidential Information hereunder, Entity shall make
a non-enabling summary disclosure to Consultant so that Consultant may determine whether to accept disclosure. Said summary shall be sufficient to enable Consultant to determine whether the disclosure involves technology or information already under development in Consultant’s University Laboratory, or whether he/she is otherwise bound by confidentiality concerning related information and/or technology.

Entity will take reasonable precautions to clearly mark information disclosed hereunder as “confidential” or “proprietary.” Entity will provide to Consultant a written summary of the matters discussed or considered during consulting provided hereunder in a timely manner. The confidentiality restrictions hereunder will not apply where the information was previously known to or developed by Consultant or Consultant’s research group, where the information is part of the public domain, or where the information came into the possession of Consultant through no fault or wrongdoing of Consultant.”

Terms and Conditions to be Avoided in Faculty Consulting Agreements
• Avoid accepting “fiduciary” duty or responsibility. Consultants required to accept “fiduciary” responsibility should be covered by insurance protection provided by the entity.
• Consulting activities should be performed in a relatively narrow and well-defined field. Avoid broad definitions such as “Entity Business.”
• Avoid or use caution in accepting exclusive consulting arrangements. Consider the ramifications of agreeing to consult with only one entity in a broad field.
• Carefully consider the term (duration) of the consulting agreement. Is there an exit? Can the faculty member terminate the consulting agreement “without cause”?
• Carefully review any requirements for representations and warranties, especially with regard to intellectual property issues.

GUR Final Report Template

The University requires that a report on the project be submitted to the Research Office no later than 90 days after the end of the grant.

This form serves as a template for the Final Report on GUR and UDRF Grants. Completion of this form affects eligibility for future internally funded grants.

For more info contact
The Research Development Office
researchdev@udel.edu
(302) 831-2136

Hazardous Chemical Information

1. SCOPE OF PURPOSE
   The State of Delaware Hazardous Chemical Information Act, Title 16 Delaware Code, Chapter 24, requires employers to provide information regarding hazardous chemicals to employees and students who may be exposed to such chemicals in the workplace, laboratory, classroom, etc. This policy and its accompanying procedures establish mechanisms to assure compliance with the Hazardous Chemical Information Act.

   Effective Date: This policy shall be effective on July 1, 1985.

The complete policy and more can be found on the General Counsel’s web site.