The Research Foundation
As defined by the Board of Trustees of the State University of New
York, the Research Foundation of the
State University of New York (SUNY) is the designated fiscal agent
for research and research-related programs, sponsored by extramural
sources with the exception of New York State appropriations.
This means that all grant applications and contracts must be administered through
the Research Foundation and its local office: Office of Sponsored Programs
1166 Weiskotten Hall
Phone: 315 464-5476
Before a grant application or contract is submitted to any agency or
industry sponsor for funding, it must be reviewed and approved for
submission by staff of the Office of Sponsored Programs to ensure that
the project conforms to all applicable policies and that appropriate
indirect costs and income fund reimbursable (IFR) provisions, such as
sale-of-service, are applied. Should funds be allocated to the grant
or contract request from an extramural source, pre-review and approval
of the proposal by the Office of Sponsored Programs will shorten the
time required to establish a valid account by the Research Foundation.
Under special circumstances, the campus President may give approval and
provide written waiver for an extramural research account to be
established by the Upstate Medical University Foundation or Faculty
Student Association. Under no circumstance should extramural funds for
a sponsored project be administered through a practice plan or other
unrelated departmental accounts.
All grant applications and contracts are submitted by Upstate as the
application organization on behalf of an Principal Investigator (PI) or
Project Director (PD) only if the PI/PD has faculty status. Under some
circumstances, a staff member or full-time graduate student may submit
an application, but the staff member's or student's faculty supervisor
will be regarded by the campus as the PI/PD who is responsible for
ensuring that the terms of the contract are met on behalf of the
applicant organization.
Since all applications are submitted and contracts executed by the
Research Foundation on behalf of Upstate, the Sponsored Programs Office
will obtain the signature of the official authorized to sign on behalf
of the RF/Upstate. Although PI/PD and/or department head signatures may
be required on grant and contract documents, these individuals are not
authorized to sign sponsored program applications or agreements as the
institutional official.
A contract between an applicant organization (RF/Upstate) and an
granting agency establishes fiscal responsibility for Upstate and the
Research Foundation. As an agent of Upstate, the PI/PD and his/her
department are responsible for knowing the fiscal policies and
limitations that are applicable to each account they are authorized to
administer within the applicant organization. All extramural funds are
regarded as "institutional funds" and their use is defined by
applicable accounting and auditing procedures of Upstate. The PI/PD is
obligated to follow additional policy limitations imposed by the funding
agency. Those limitations should be considered during the preparation
of the budget for application to the agency. Thus, it is essential that
the PI/PD discuss the budget items and agency policies, such as indirect
costs, equipment purchases, ownership, and salary support with the
Sponsored Programs Office prior to submission of the application. The
project must remain in compliance with all of the sponsoring agency's
fiscal policies, as well as those of Upstate and the Research Foundation
throughout its lifetime. Most sponsored projects require the submission
of a final report of expenditures at the conclusion of the project;
Upstate and the Research Foundation will be held accountable at that
time.
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