Award Terms & Conditions

All Stanford sponsored project awards contain terms and conditions (T's&C's), which supersede all other regulations; therefore it is essential that the Research Administrator read, understand and abide by them. Terms and conditions are found in the Sponsor Notice of Award. The terms of your award are applied before other regulations, including A-21. Even though A-21 doesn't list travel as an unallowable cost, if your award says travel is unallowable, then you may NOT charge travel expenses to that particular project.

Terms and conditions can contain requirements for prior approvals, budget expenditures, and unallowable costs. There can be requirements imbedded for prior approvals by the sponsor before certain expenditures are allowed, for example, for foreign travel, food, or equipment. Some expenditures may be specifically identified as UNALLOWABLE. They also contain requirements for the submission of various reports including the technical reports that need to be submitted by the PI.

The terms and conditions can be either attached to the award document, or are incorporated by reference. Incorporated references can be found on the web by searching for the awarding agency. The Office of Sponsored Research or your school-based management team can help you find and recognize terms and conditions for a sponsored project award. Terms and conditions also flow down to sub-recipients of contracts and grants, e.g., to subcontractors on Stanford awards.

Before accepting an award on behalf of the University, the Institutional Representative reviews all terms and conditions, regardless of the sponsor, and is responsible for negotiating appropriate remedies if an award fits into one of the following categories:

• it contains provisions that are incompatible with the University's policies on sponsored research
• it is inconsistent with government-wide regulations for universities
• it fails to include all elements agreed upon prior to the award
• it requires modification to conform to the PI's needs

In looking at the hierarchy of regulations, university policy must always be followed. A hierarchy of policies and rules provides standards for handling financial transactions for federal contracts and grants. Therefore, it is very important to read and understand all terms and conditions. The rules are complex and detailed, always check the exact text of the rule or policy rather than relying on your general recollection! Terms and conditions take precedence over all. When the university accepts the Terms and conditions of an award, we are bound regardless of whether they conflict with university policy.

In the case of all industry awards or other awards with non-standard patent, copyright, or licensing terms, the Industrial Contract Office must also approve the award terms. This approval is coordinated by your pre-award office.

Note on State of California Awards: State of California awards often have very explicit restrictions on budgets, so be sure to review each of these award terms and conditions in detail!

Working with Contracts

• Federal:
  FAR becomes the terms and conditions
• Universities, or non-federal sponsors with federal primes:
  may include FAR or the sponsor’s terms and conditions
• Non-Federal:
  may have their own unique terms and conditions

Federal Acquisitions Regulations System

The vision of the FAR System is to deliver on a timely basis the best value product or service to the customer, while maintaining the public’s trust and fulfilling public policy objectives.

Clauses are either incorporated by full text or referenced by number in your contract. They are the terms and conditions of the contract. You can find a list of all the FAR clauses on the web or contact OSR for help.

It's important for the Research Administrator to monitor the rate of expenditure on a sponsored project.

• PIs are responsible for the ongoing fiscal management of awarded projects, including regular monitoring against project period budgets. Federal grants policy (OMB Circular A-110) establishes the approved project budget as the financial expression of the project, and sponsors may evaluate the project against the budget at any time.
• Although sponsors allow certain flexibility's with respect to re-budgeting, un-obligated balances, and pre-award costs, Stanford University and sponsors expect expenditures to be reasonably consistent with the approved project and budget.
• Sponsors may question or restrict expenditures that appear inconsistent with the project plan and budget. PIs are obligated to request prior approval when budget and program plan revisions indicate a significant change in scope.
• Indicators of a change in scope can include, for example, significant expenditures beyond the amount authorized on the award, or requests for additional funding. PIs are obligated to request prior approval when budget and program plan revisions indicate a significant change in scope. Consult with OSR or your school based management team for additional guidance and for endorsement of the formal request to the sponsor.
• For Federal Grants advance written approval by the sponsor is required for:

• Change in project scope
• Reduction in PI level of effort by 25% or more
• PI’s absence from the project of more than 3 months

In all cases prior approval must be in writing from the authorized grant or contract officer.