Contracts and ISAs

Some sponsored funding comes in the form of a contract with the funding organization. Grants are awards of financial assistance, usually from a governmental agency or foundation, primarily for carrying out a public purpose of support or stimulation. In contrast, a contract is used to acquire property or services for the government or organizations' direct benefit or use. In cases where the proposal is not being submitted in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP), there may be a period of informal negotiation before the sponsor sends a contract for signature. If during this process the sponsor requests a budget, be sure to reach out to OPAS for guidance before submitting any budget information to the sponsor. Submitted budgets can become binding commitments for the university, therefore they require institutional review and submission. 

Federal Contracts including IDIQ 

All federal contracts should follow the same process as federal grant submissions. Do not send budget documents that have not been vetted by OPAS, as the federal sponsor will consider them a binding part of the contract. IDIQ stands for Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity. In layman's terms, this means the quantity of products or services that the contractor is delivering is not yet determined. OPAS must review IDIQ proposals because the university will be bound by the rates set by the IDIQ for future contracts.

Industry Collaborations

Please reach out to UMII when starting this process. Involving UMII will make the negotiation and contract approval process go more smoothly. 

Commonwealth of MA

Commonwealth of MA contracts are usually issued in the form of an ISA (Interagency Service Agreement). If the agency is requesting a budget, then the proposal should be routed to OPAS for submission. In some cases an ISA is sent even though a proposal has not been submitted. These should be routed to OPAS for an internal review and for further processing by OPAM. See sponsor-specific guidance for more information on Commonwealth of MA proposals. 

OPAS ISA Guidance Questions

1. Who generated the ISA? (who filled out the form?) 
2. For the budget in the ISA: 
   • Is there a capped amount the sponsor will fund? 
   • Has the sponsor approved the line item budget or can budget changes be made if necessary? 
   • If there are cost centers in the budget, have cost center rates uploaded to Kuali in attachments?
3. What indirect cost rate is being used? 
   •  If there a federal prime sponsor, the indirect rate should be the full federal rate unless there is a posted sponsor limitation on indirect costs loaded to Kuali in attachments.
   • If the indirect cost rate is less than 26% and there is not a limitation in the RFP, please upload supporting documents to the Kuali record for the rate used. Example: cooperative agreements.
4. What is the earliest date that expenses will be charged for this project? 
   • ISAs are effective only on the date of last signature—if they arrive after the projected start date costs before the effective date will not be allowable unless stipulated in the terms of the ISA and agreed on by all parties. UMass needs to know about Pre-Award spending on an ISA prior to signature to make this happen. 
   • The ISAs are signed by the “Seller” (UMass) first and then the “Buyer” (Sponsoring Agency).
   • If the ISA funds a multi-year project, is carryforward allowed from one year to the next? 
5. If the sponsor is not requiring a budget justification, has an internal budget justification has been loaded to Kuali as an attachment?
6. Are we submitting the unsigned ISA and other proposal documents to the sponsor? If no, has the sponsor already seen and approved proposal documents? 
   • Has the PI verbally agreed to terms & conditions of the ISA? 
   • Has the agency given us any instructions on how they want the ISA signed (original signatures, wet signatures, hard copies, electronic signatures, email?) 
7. If the ISA is internal and to be reviewed by OPAS/OPAM, please: 
   • Do not put internal as proposal type under proposal details. Please use new, revised or supplement. 
   • If revised is selected, please enter the original institutional proposal ID number under basics, sponsor & program info. 
   • If supplement is selected, please enter the original award ID number under basics, sponsor & program info. Please note, this number must end in -00001. 
   • Please put "Internal to OPAM" under basics/delivery info/submission description.