The School of Arts and Sciences & The School of Engineering Faculty Handbook

TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Tufts Faculty Handbook for Arts, Sciences and Engineering

Chapter 8: Research Administration

Tufts is a teaching institution where all faculty are expected to do research. The mission of the University includes extending the boundaries of knowledge as well as helping students to grasp what is already within that realm. Thus, faculty research activities contribute to a vigorous intellectual and scholarly climate. In pursuit of this mission, Tufts seeks to encourage creativity and invention among its faculty, students, and staff. In addition to making its own facilities, equipment, personnel, and information resources available for that task, the University actively seeks both general and specific support from public and private external sources.

Faculty wishing to seek grant funds are encouraged to consult the Grant Proposal Preparation Handbook from the Office of Research Administration at 20 Professor Row and to avail themselves of the assistance of this Office and the Office of Corporation and Foundations. Deans must be informed of grant ideas as they are developed.

CLASSIFIED RESEARCH

It is the policy of the Board of Trustees that faculty members and students should be free to decide when and how to publish the results of their work, and that, in general, grants and contracts involving classified research or involving U.S. or foreign intelligence are not appropriate.

Proposals involving classified information or relationships with intelligence agencies will be referred to the President's Office before submission.

PROPERTY ACQUIRED UNDER RESEARCH CONTRACTS AND GRANTS

The Board of Trustees has adopted the following policy with respect to University property acquired under research contracts and grants:

Tufts University assumes responsibility and accountability for any property to which it acquires title under a grant or contract.

Tufts University assumes responsibility and accountability for any property to which title is acquired under a grant or contract awarded to a staff member if that staff member uses the name and facilities of Tufts in acquiring or utilizing the property, unless the terms of the grant or contract specifically provide that use and ownership shall remain in the name of the individual who originated the award.

When title to property remains in the name of the awarding agency, Tufts will follow the procedures for a property accountability as specified by that agency, or by OMB Circular A 110, Attachment N.

When property to which Tufts has title or accountability is physically located off-campus:

The staff member accepts responsibility to insure property maintenance and safeguarding of this property.

The staff member notifies the Property Office whenever such equipment is moved off-campus.

Property is held only in off-campus locations where the University maintains a mutually agreeable working relationship.

A successor member can assume the above upon the departure of the original staff member.

The University reserves the right to take possession of the property.

Ordinarily, property which is acquired by Tufts with the intention that it will be utilized by a particular staff member or department shall continue in the cognizance of that staff member or department, but in unusual circumstances, when the best overall interest of the University would be served otherwise, a dean or other appropriate official may arrange for other utilization of the property.

RESEARCH, HEALTH, AND SAFETY

Human Subjects

Any research involving human subjects should be reviewed by the appropriate committee. The Human Subjects Committee, composed of faculty, the Director of Health Services, and the Director of Government Resources, is charged with the responsibility for insuring that experimentation conducted under the auspices of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences and Engineering at Tufts University does not violate the rights and welfare of human beings as stated under Department of Health and Human Services guidelines. The jurisdiction of the Committee extends to all externally supported Arts, Sciences and Engineering experiments or field studies that involve human subjects, new techniques, or educational and training procedures that involve human subjects, and surveys that involve the collection of records and data on participating human subjects. The Departments of Child Development and Psychology also have review committees. For information on review procedures, including the name of the current committee chair, call the Office of Research Administration at 20 Professors Row, 73417.

Animal Subjects

The Institutional Animal Care and Uses Committee (IACUC) is composed of the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, representatives from the faculty, Office of Research Administration, and local communities, and a doctor of veterinary medicine. The Committee is charged with ensuring that experimentation with, and care of, warm-blooded animals, except human subjects, conducted under the auspices of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences and Engineering at Tufts University, follow the regulations of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on this committee and the name of the current committee chair, consult the office of your School Dean.

Health Physics/Radiation Sources

The Radiation Hazards Control Group, composed of faculty from the Medford campus and the Health Physics Department of the Tufts New England Medical Center, has responsibility for insuring that research projects on the Medford campus satisfy the licensing requirements and the radiation protection standards of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as well as state and local agencies. This committee is charged with the continuing review of an adequate radiation protection program for personnel and facilities. For information on the committee and name of the current chair, consult the office of your School Dean.

Environmental Health and Safety Committee

The Environmental Health and Safety Committee, composed of faculty and staff from the Medford and Boston campuses and of external scientific and community members, has responsibility for insuring that research activities on the Medford campus satisfy the National Institute of Health and the Boston Biohazard Committee requirements and standards for research with recombinant DNA and pathogens. This committee is charged with the continuing review of an adequate biological safety program for personnel and the community. For further information and the name of the committee chair, consult the office of your School Dean.

GUIDELINES ON RIGHTS TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Frequently inventions, discoveries, and creative works developed by individuals at the University will have commercial as well as scientific and/or artistic value. The intent of these guidelines is to help assure that their rights to the various possible claimants to such value are protected.

The text of Trustee policy on Rights to Intellectual Property may be found in the appendix. Key points from the University guidelines appear below.

The University recognizes and reaffirms the traditional academic freedom of its faculty and staff to publish books, articles, journals, and other materials freely without restriction, and asserts no general copyright ownership claim or interest.
The rights of external sponsors, as articulated in grant or contract documents, must be respected.
The individual(s) responsible for a discovery, invention, or creative work are, in general, entitled to share in any commercial value which that intellectual property may generate.
In order to assure the rights of those involved, the University has a need to know when a member of the University has reason to believe that an invention, discovery, or other creative act may have commercial value.

Because there is such a variety of circumstances under which an invention or discovery or other creative work may arise, and such a variety of ways in which commercial value may be sought, this policy is stated as a set of principles to be interpreted in individual cases, rather than as a set of inflexible rules.

The President appoints an Intellectual Property Committee to review specific cases and to make recommendations to the officers of the corporation. The Committee will normally include the chairs of the Scientific Affairs or equivalent committees of the various schools. The Committee will also review these guidelines from time to time in light of specific cases which arise, and recommend changes where needed to the President and the Trustees. Final decisions with respect to specific cases will, as legally required, be the responsibility of the officers of the corporation. An individual who disagrees with the recommendation of the Committee may appeal to the President or his designee making the final determination.

Distribution of Royalties from Patents and Leases

The intellectual property policy adopted by the Board of Trustees calls for the Intellectual Property Committee to recommend a distribution formula for any royalties or other income which may be received from patents or licenses obtained in the name of the University. The policy recommends a set of formulas with the intention that they would form the basis of a stable long-term policy. The University must reserve the right to change the formulas from time to time with respect to subsequent inventions or other intellectual property; no such change, however, will reduce the inventor's share below that provided in the policy in effect at the documented and witnessed time of conception.

For information on the specific formulas for distribution of royalties from patents and license, see Guidelines on Rights to Intellectual property in the appendix.

Copyrights and Patents

Faculty are encouraged to consult the Office of Patents and Licensing for assistance in securing appropriate copyrights or patents for their work. Faculty should take note, however, of restrictions on unlicensed copying of materials.

For further information, go to
http://ase.tufts.edu/ten/property/patents.asp#copyrights

CONSULTANT SERVICES

It is the policy of the University to obtain services from consultants for sponsored projects only when essential services cannot be provided by persons receiving salary support or other direct compensation for their services under the project. Therefore, principal investigators are expected to anticipate consultant requirements and to indicate the use of proposed consultants in grant applications or contract proposals.

This policy applies to use of services by individuals, consultant firms, or research institutions with which contracts are placed to perform specific non-management services or tasks. All payments for services authorized under this policy must be made directly to the individual, firm, or research institution providing the services and not to a third party.

University employees should be engaged as consultants on sponsored projects for which the University is grantee or contractor only in unusual and compelling circumstances, and provided that:

The employee may not perform consultant services within the home department.

The Dean of the School (or the Dean's designee) has approved the use of a University employee as a consultant on the project.

The agreement conforms to the sponsor's policies concerning the employment of consultants.

Compensation paid to the employee will, for the purpose of withholding and payroll taxes, be considered as earnings from employment.

Specific guidelines and procedures for obtaining external consulting services are:

The applicant should describe the project with clarity and sufficient detail, so as to preclude questions on the scope of services to be performed.

The applicant should state whether the services include the review, inspection, or coordination of work performed by others.

The completion date of the consulting agreement shall be no later than the completion date of the grant or contract.

Compensation of an individual consultant at more than $100 per diem must be approved by the respective Dean before the execution of the agreement.

Requests for services over $200 should be covered by an appropriate formal contract executed for the University by the appropriate Vice-President or Dean. (Contact the Controller's Office for a copy of such a contract.)

Consulting agreements should contain an intellectual property clause that is consistent with the University's own policies and which will enable the University to comply with the patent policies of the sponsor.

Approval to use consultants will be obtained by processing the authorization form.

For a more detailed explanation of the University's consultant/sub-contractor policy, go to
http://finance.tufts.edu/accpay/poli_consultants.php

RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION PROCEDURES

The Office of Government Resources requires the completion of a Sponsored Research Project Coordination Form to ensure that a proposal makes no inappropriate commitments of faculty time, space, or institutional support; that the relevant research guidelines within the University have been followed; and that the cost estimates involved accurately reflect University direct and indirect costs. Completion of the form also ensures that the appropriate signatures, certifying the feasibility of the project at Tufts, have been obtained.

Grant Applications for Government Funds

Among the responsibilities of the Office of Government Resources, are the dissemination of information relating to areas for which federal or state funding is available and the provision for assistance and advice during faculty development of applications for government programs. Faculty members are encouraged to contact that office as they initiate projects for which such funding may be available. Grant applications for government-sponsored programs from faculty on the Medford Campus must be approved by the department chair, the School Dean, and the Sponsored Research Accounting Office before the Director of Government Resources can officially sign for the University. Assistance in managing fiscal and other aspects of a government grant/contract is provided by other relevant university offices.

Fund Raising and General Grants

The Development Office supports the solicitation and receipt of all private gift and grant income and some government grants to Tufts University. Detailed information concerning the solicitation of gifts and grants is provided in a policy statement adopted by the Board of Trustees and distributed to each of the deans and department chairs. Copies may be obtained from the Office of the Director of Development.

The Development Office encourages the widest possible solicitation of gifts and grants. If a faculty member wishes to obtain support for a project, or knows of an individual, foundations, or corporations that might be interested in sponsoring research or making a gift to the University, the faculty member should contact his/her Dean and the Office of the Director of Development. In particular, faculty are encouraged to work with the Development Officers for Corporations and Foundations in identifying and approaching potential donors.

Coordination of the proposed fund-raising plans through the Office of Development is important to avoid multiple solicitations of prospects to the detriment of the individual and the University.

Any faculty member who receives a gift or grant from a non-government source for research or for the University should forward the funds and all correspondence or related documents to the Development Records Office. The gift or grant will then be processed and credited to the proper account. Correct processing ensures that the money will be acknowledged, that it will be credited to the proper account, and that the University can confirm that the donor has made a tax-deductible gift to Tufts University.

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