CPS / Subcontract Issue

[Sarah Jahn]

Hello – I have a somewhat complicated scenario that I’m hoping to get advice on. My department has an R01 that received supplement funding from NIH to increase the diversity of subject recruitment. The PI is establishing a collaboration with the Carolina African American Twin Study of Aging (CAATSA) which is based at Duke University. The PI of CAATSA recently left Duke University and is now appointed at the University of Nevada. The supplement budget has funding for consultant fees for the CAATSA PI as well as a CAATSA recruiter. The CAATSA recruiter is currently an employee of Duke University. The supplement budget was set up to have the recruiter be a full time employee of UMN with 100% effort for 12 months.

Ultimately I think it should have been set up as a subcontract to Duke. However, with the CAATSA PI now at the University of Nevada, and no IDC included in the budget the UMN PI is looking for another way to proceed. One option would be to hire the CAATSA recruiter as a UMN employee, but that would mean she would need to leave her position at Duke University. Would it be allowable to set up a contract for professional services with Duke for the recruiter’s time? Appreciate any input you all can provide.

[Hlitawci Xiong]

Hello Sarah, the CoP subcommittee is requesting for someone from SPA to help answer you question. 

[amy rollinger]

Hi Sarah, 

1.  The question of whether the recruitment work at CAATSA and now the University of Nevada should be considered a CPS or subaward depends on the nature of the work being performed.  It appears as though this was proposed and awarded as a consulting service.  If you are questioning that designation, here is some guidance that may assist you:

A subaward is likely appropriate if you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions:

• Does the entity’s scope of work represent an intellectually significant portion of the programmatic effort of the overall project? 
• Does the entity have responsibility for programmatic decision making? 
• Could the entity’s work result in intellectual property developed or publishable results (including co-authorship)? 
• Will the entity need animal and/or human subjects approval for its portion of the work?

Conversely, an entity would be considered a contractor if they provide goods or services within normal business operations to many different purchasers and operates in a competitive environment.

You may also find a link to the FDP checklist to determine this classification on the SPA website at https://research.umn.edu/units/spa/subawards/overview.

2.  I'm confused by your statement "The supplement budget has funding for consultant fees for the CAATSA PI as well as a CAATSA recruiter. The CAATSA recruiter is currently an employee of Duke University. The supplement budget was set up to have the recruiter be a full time employee of UMN with 100% effort for 12 months.

How was this proposed?  Was the recruiter's salary and fringe in our (UMN) personnel lines?  or was it included in the consulting line for CAATSA?  

If the supplement was set up for a recruiter working 100% at the UMN, how did CAATSA fit into this role in the proposal?  

3.  If the UMN PI wants to work with the PI who is now at Nevada, you will need to determine if a CPS or subaward is the appropriate mechanism for this work.  Separately, the recruiter's employment is an HR issue that would need to be sorted out between UMN and Duke.  If the recruiter will remain employed by CAATSA, you would issue a CPS or sub for that work, depending on your determination of the appropriate funding mechanism for the work they are performing.

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