1.0  Purpose

1.1     This university policy establishes the procedures to be followed by faculty, staff, administrators, and any designee(s) such as volunteers, alumni, etc., of Wayne State University in securing gifts, grants, and contracts from all public and private sources. This university policy does not apply to direct appropriations from governmental sources.

1.2     The policy also identifies the officers who are authorized to approve applications and solicitations for external funding and those officers responsible for assuring compliance with conditions or agreements relating to contracts, grants, or gifts. It fixes responsibility for reporting contracts, grants, and gifts that are awarded to Wayne State University.

2.0  Definitions

2.1     Pursuant to the "Management Reporting Standards for Educational Institutions: Fund-Raising and Related Activities" issued by the National Association of College and University Business Officers and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, the following definitions apply at Wayne State University:

2.1.1  Gift: A contribution received by the University for either restricted or unrestricted use in furtherance of the institution’s mission for which no commitment, other than use as specified by the donor, of resources or services has been made by the University.  The contribution is a nonreciprocal transfer in that there is no implicit or explicit statement of exchange, purchase of services or provision of exclusive information.  If the donor receives benefit in return for the contribution, the amount of the gift recorded and reported is reduced by the fair market value of all benefits given, according to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service regulations.  The University has no obligation to report to the donor how the gift was used or invested; however, there is nothing to prevent the University from providing information to donors as part of donor stewardship.

2.1.2  Grant: A contribution received by the University for either restricted or unrestricted use in furtherance of the institution’s mission that typically comes from a corporation, foundation or other organization, not an individual.  

Grants normally fall into two categories, both of which are considered philanthropic in nature and thus countable in annual giving or comprehensive campaign reports:  

2.1.2.1    Non-specific grants – A grant received by the university that did not result from a specific grant proposal.  The university does not commit specific resources or services and is not required to report to the donor on the use of the funds.  It is this type of grant that many institutions may opt to designate as a gift for internal accounting purposes.  Grants of this nature will be administered by Wayne State University’s Development and Alumni Affairs’ office.

2.1.2.2    Specific grants – A grant received by the institution resulting from a grant proposal submitted by the university.  The university commits resources or services as a condition of the grant, and the grantor often requests an accounting of the use of funds and of results of the programs or projects undertaken.  The grantor’s requirement of regular status reports or other reports does not negate the philanthropic (and countable) nature of a specific grant.  Grants of this nature will be administered by Wayne State University’s Sponsored Program Administration office.

2.1.3  Contract: An agreement between the institution and another entity to provide an economic benefit for compensation.  The agreement is binding and creates a quid pro quo relationship between the institution and the entity. The University's responsibility under a contract normally involves the generation of some product or service, such as a report of research by the Office of the Vice President for Research, and generally subject to certain standards of performance and the expectation of tangible benefit on the part of the contractor. The difference between a grant and contract may be judged on the basis of the intention of the awarding party and the legal obligation incurred by an institution in accepting the award.

2.1.4  Public Sources:  Any institution or unit directly affiliated with a unit of state, local, regional, or federal government or an agency thereof, such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts.

2.1.5  Private Sources: Any person or entity which is not a public source, such as alumni, corporations, organizations, businesses, foundations, students, parents, and other individuals.

2.2     The vice president for research is defined to include his/her designee, who is specifically authorized by the Vice President to perform the duties specified in this university policy.

2.3     The vice president for development and alumni affairs is defined to include his/her designee, who is specifically authorized by the vice president for development and alumni affairs to perform the duties set forth in this university policy.

3.0  Procedures To Seek Approval To Solicit Gifts, Grants, And Contracts

3.1     When representatives of the institution wish to seek funding from external sources, they must receive approval to do so.  Coordination across institutional offices is necessary to ensure the appropriate administrative processes are deployed to protect both the University and the external parties.  These processes are based on the type of external party being approached, not necessarily on the type of funding or activity for which funding is sought.

3.2     When the external party is a private entity such as a corporation, foundation, professional association, prior approval will be necessary from:

a.   the departmental chair;

b.   the dean(s) and director(s) of colleges, schools, institutes, and/or centers involved;

c.    the vice president for development and alumni affairs.

As part of his/her review, the vice president for development and alumni affairs will determine if the proposed activity would result in a specific or non-specific grant.  In those instances wherein the proposal would result in a specific grant, the vice president for development and alumni affairs will forward the proposal to the vice president for research for final approval prior to submission to the external party.

3.3      When the external party is a public agency, prior approval will be necessary from:

a.   the departmental chair;

b.   the dean(s) and director(s) of colleges, schools, institutes, and/or centers involved;

c.    the  vice president for research

3.4     The departmental chairs and deans or directors shall review and act upon proposals and applications for formal support. Their approval indicates that:

a.   the program or activity is appropriate to the mission of their academic unit;

b.   the principal investigator or fundraising person/entity is capable of carrying out the program or activity; and

c.    space, equipment, personnel and other resources to carry out the project or activity are available within the unit or have been assured by another source.

3.5     The vice president for development and alumni affairs shall review and act upon all proposals and applications for gifts and grants from private, non-governmental sources to:

a.   assure that there is a coordinated approach to all foundations, corporations, businesses, organizations and individuals in the private sector;

b.   assure that the proposal or solicitation conforms to the financial and/or programmatic standards of the funding source;

c.    assure that the proposal is consistent with the overall established priorities of the University;

d.   verify that the school, college, institute or center has demonstrated the capacity to meet any financial, space, personnel, equipment or other commitment that may be necessary to carry out the grant or that the University will provide the resources necessary to meet those obligations.  Appropriate signatures on the Form for External Support (FES Form 404) is necessary for assurance on obligations.

3.6     The vice president for research shall review and act upon all proposals or applications for financial support from public agencies or private sources to:

a.   assure that all efforts to seek financial support are in compliance with the school, college, institute or center's mission;

b.   verify that the school, college, institute or center has demonstrated the capacity to meet any financial, space, personnel, equipment or other commitment that may be necessary to carry out the contract or grant or that the University will provide the resources necessary to meet those obligations;

c.    assure the adequacy of the proposed budget;

4.0  Procedures To Seek Approval To Solicit Gifts Not Involving A Written Proposal

4.1     University entities or persons proposing to cultivate prospects and solicit gifts that do not involve written proposals, such as mass mail appeals or telephone solicitations, shall seek approval from the vice president for development and alumni affairs prior to the proposed cultivation and solicitation.

4.2     University entities or persons proposing to schedule special events for fundraising purposes, such as dinners, concerts, raffles, auctions, shall submit written requests for approval to the vice president for development and alumni affairs.

4.3     In the case of student groups soliciting any other students for support of campus programs no prior approval from the vice president for development and alumni affairs is necessary; but prior approval is required from the dean of students, or his/her designee.

4.4     Any offers of real property must be referred to the Office of the vice president for finance and business operations for appraisal and approval before the property can be accepted.

5.0  Procedures To Seek Approval To Solicit Gifts Or Grants Involving A Written Proposal From Private Sources

5.1     To expedite processing, the proposal initiator shall seek approval from the vice president for development and alumni affairs in advance of submitting a written proposal, so that the funding prospects have been approved before effort is expended for preliminary research and proposal writing. In all cases, the departmental chair and dean must have already granted approval through the signing of the Form for External Support (Form #10-404) prior to any action on the part of the vice president for development and alumni affairs.

5.2     Decisions on submissions under section 5.1 should be granted by the vice president for development and alumni affairs within fifteen working days. However, under rare circumstances, e.g., for legal review or adjudication of patent rights or if problems are encountered necessitating further review beyond fifteen working days, the vice president shall notify the requester that more time is required. The vice president may reject requests for clearance to solicit if the project does not conform to the financial and/or programmatic standards of the funding source or to the established priorities of the University.

5.3     A written explanation for rejection of a submission will be given at the   request of the applicant.

5.4     If the proposal is rejected by the funding source, copies of the notification/correspondence of rejection are to be sent by the applicant or other recipient of this notice within 15 working days to the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations in Development and Alumni Affairs and to the vice president for research.

5.5     When several proposals seeking grants and/or gifts from the same private source are submitted to the vice president for development and alumni affairs for approval, the vice president may call upon the president or his/her designee to jointly identify priorities and determine which proposal(s) shall be submitted.

5.6     Development and Alumni Affairs may grant exemptions from all prospect clearance procedures from private sources. These exemptions will be noted in a separate memo to appropriate units and may be subject to change. When exemptions are granted, any written proposal must be approved by the vice president for research, in accordance with standard procedures, in advance of submission.

6.0  Procedures To Seek Approval To Solicit Contracts From Private Or Public Sources Or To Solicit Grants From Public Sources

6.1     To expedite processing applications for grants from public sources or for contracts from public and private sources, the approval of the vice president for research is necessary.  Approval shall be sought by submission of the appropriate standard documentation and Form for External Support (see Form #10-404) to the Vice President’s office.

6.2     The vice president for research shall transmit notice of approved applications to and awards from private sources to the  vice president for development and alumni affairs  in a format they shall mutually agree upon, so that all private sector involvement by the University is documented in one office.

6.3     The vice president for research shall review and act upon proposals for contracts from public or private sources and for grants from public sources within fifteen working days after receipt of those applications. The vice president may reject proposals that do not conform to financial or programmatic standards of the funding source or the University. If the vice president rejects a proposal, he/she shall give reasons to the proposal writer upon request.

6.4     When a grant or contract application involves both public and private sources in such a way that the receipt from one is contingent upon the receipt from the other, both the vice president for research and the vice president for development and alumni affairs shall act on the application.

7.0  Stewardship

7.1     The vice president for research or his/her designee shall be responsible for assuring financial accountability by all persons or entities holding contracts and/or specific grants from private and/or public sources and the financial integrity of those funded projects.

7.2     The vice president for pesearch shall be responsible for assuring the satisfactory execution of all contracts and grants from public sources in conformance with the conditions, stipulations, and other specifications that were agreed to by the University upon acceptance of those awards.

7.3     The vice president for development and alumni affairs shall be responsible for assuring the satisfactory execution of all conditions, stipulations, and other specifications that were agreed to by the University upon the acceptance of gifts from private sources and upon the acceptance of non-specific private grants.

7.4     The vice president for finance and business operations shall be responsible for performing all of the University's fiduciary duties relating to gifts, grants and contracts.  These duties include, but are not limited to: 1) management of all funds, including charitable gift annuities, pooled income funds, charitable remainder trusts, insurance policies and other types of planned gifts; 2) timely payment of income or principal to beneficiaries in accordance with donor wishes or University policy; 3) fulfillment of the reporting requirements to proper University and external authorities regarding the administration of these gifts; 4) assurance that all non-consumable gifts in kind which are received with a value of over $200 are subject to existing inventory control policies and procedures.

8.0  Reporting

8.1     When any gift or private non-specific grant (as defined in Section 2.1b) is received, a Notice of Receipt of Gift (NRGM) must be completed. The NRGM form and the gift, check, securities, or other easily transferred document, must be processed through the Development and Alumni Affairs and in accordance with Executive Order 84-2.  Cash gifts must be deposited directly with the university’s cashier’s office.  After depositing the funds, the NRGM and cashier’s receipt must be forwarded to Development and Alumni Affairs (Fund Office) for gift processing.

If the gift or grant is the result of a written proposal, the proposal I.D. number on the Form for External Support (Form # 10-404) must be entered in the appropriate space on the Notice of Receipt of Gift (NRGM). This expedites the depositing of the gift into the appropriate account.

8.2     The vice president for research shall be responsible for the preparation of such internal financial and programmatic reports pertaining to contracts from public and private sources and pertaining to specific grants from private sources administered by the Sponsored Program Administration office as may be required by the President.

8.3     The vice president for development and alumni affairs shall be responsible for the preparation of internal financial and programmatic reports pertaining to all gifts and grants from private sources as may be required by the president.  

8.4     The Board of Governors shall receive regular reports on gifts, grants, and contracts from public and private sources.

8.5     The vice president for finance and business operations shall fulfill all reporting requirements to proper external authorities regarding the financial administration of gifts, grants and contracts and the Wayne State University Foundation.

9.0  Duration

9.1     This University Policy is revocable at any time at the discretion of the president and without notice.

10.0      Effective Date

10.1    This University Policy is effective upon issuance.

10.2    Executive Order 87-2 is hereby revoked, effective immediately.

 

Signed by President Irvin D. Reid April 29, 2004