Contracting Units and Associated Roles and Responsibilities
Signature Authority
The University of Oregon has specific signature authorities.
- Employees are not able to contractually bind the university unless they have contract signature authority.
- Any agreements signed by someone without appropriate signature authority could be considered null and void.
Signature authorities are tied not only to the type of contract/subject matter, but also come with monetary caps.
Delegations of signature authority are located through the Office of the Vice President for Finance and Administration (VPFA).
Contracting Units
Roles and Responsibilities
Industry, Innovation, and Translation (IIT) Roles and Responsibilities
IIT always handles:
- License agreements
- Option agreements
- Technology administration/inter-institutional intellectual property (IP) management agreements
- Royalty sharing agreements
- Project rules agreements
IIT sometimes handles:
- Sponsored research
- Other sponsored activity
- Material transfer agreements
- Nondisclosure agreements
- Unfunded collaboration agreements
- Data use agreements
- Data privacy agreements
Research Contracts in Sponsored Projects Services (SPS) Roles and Responsibilities
Research Contracts always handles:
- Sponsored research and other sponsored activities, including subawards and research services agreements, except for awards from the private sector
- Fellowships
- Teaming agreements
- Initial point of contact for memorandum of understanding — will route to appropriate contracting unit
Research Contracts sometimes handles:
- Nondisclosure agreements
- Unfunded collaboration agreements
- Data use agreements
Purchasing and Contracting Services (PCS) Roles and Responsibilities
PCS always handles:
- Contracts to procure products or services from a third party
- Facility use agreements
- Property loan agreements
- Research participation agreements
PCS sometimes handles:
- Material transfer agreements
- Nondisclosure agreements
- Data use agreements
- Data privacy agreements
Additional Details
Sponsored Research and Other Sponsored Activity
Entity type | Other points of differentiation | lead contracting unit | Consulting contracting unit |
|---|---|---|---|
Government entity, not-for-profit/foundation, subawards from same | No background IP | Research Contracts in Sponsored Projects Services | N/A |
Government entity, not-for-profit/foundation, subawards from same | With background IP | Research Contracts in Sponsored Projects Services | Industry, Innovation, and Translation |
Government entity, not-for-profit/foundation, subawards from same | No background IP, but unusual IP terms | Research Contracts in Sponsored Projects Services | Industry, Innovation, and Translation |
Private sector/companies | With or without background IP | Industry, Innovation, and Translation | N/A |
Private sector/companies | Other sponsored activity for which IP is not an output (e.g., cultural resource survey, consulting contracted with UO) | Research Contracts in Sponsored Projects Services | N/A |
Material Transfer Agreements - Inbound and Outbound
Entity type | Other points of differentiation | lead contracting unit | consulting contracting unit |
|---|---|---|---|
All entities | Procurement of commercial material for which UO is paying a fee | Purchasing and Contracting Services | Industry, Innovation, and Translation |
All entities | Not a procurement of commercial material | Industry, Innovation, and Translation | N/A |
Nondisclosure Agreements
Entity type | Other points of differentiation | lead contracting unit | consulting contracting unit |
|---|---|---|---|
All entities | For preparation and submission of a proposal | Research Contracts in Sponsored Projects Services | Industry, Innovation, and Translation |
All entities | Related to a potential procurement and all other NDAs | Purchasing and Contracting Services | N/A |
All entities | For discussing UO innovation or IP, a third party's innovation or IP, potential funded or unfunded collaboration between the UO and a third party | Industry, Innovation, and Translation | N/A |
Unfunded Collaboration Agreements
Entity type | Other points of differentiation | lead contracting unit | consulting contracting unit |
|---|---|---|---|
Academic institution, government entity, not-for-profit/foundation | None | Research Contracts in Sponsored Projects Services | Industry, Innovation, and Translation |
Private sector/companies | None | Industry, Innovation, and Translation | Research Contracts in Sponsored Projects Services (signatory) |
Data Use Agreements
Entity type | Other points of differentiation | lead contracting unit | consulting contracting unit |
|---|---|---|---|
All entities | Standalone agreement not tied to procurement of data for a fee | Industry, Innovation, and Translation | N/A |
All entities | Procurement of data in which UO is paying a fee | Purchasing and Contracting Services | Industry, Innovation, and Translation |
All entities | When data is being shared between UO and a third party, with one as the pass-through entity and the other the subrecipient under a funded grant, the data use agreement should be an attachment to the subaward agreement | Research Contracts in Sponsored Projects Services | Industry, Innovation, and Translation |
Data Privacy Agreements
Entity type | Other points of differentiation | lead contracting unit | consulting contracting unit |
|---|---|---|---|
All entities | Resulting from an option or license agreement of IIT-managed innovation | Industry, Innovation, and Translation | N/A |
All entities | All others not related to IIT-managed innovations | Purchasing Contracting | N/A |