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SPONSORED CONSULTING AGREEMENTS

The University uses the same procedures and documentation for hiring consultants as those used for establishing subawards. These procedures are applied consistently to all outside sponsored awards regardless of the purpose or the source of funding.

A consultant is an independent contractor and not an employee of the University. A Sponsored Consultant is defined as any person hired in a professional capacity to provide specific expertise in the technical area of the project for a specified period of time under a sponsored agreement (grant, contact, cooperative agreement, etc.). The expertise the consultant is hired to provide is typically not available within the institution. Consulting arrangements are not a substitute for subawards and are not intended to be used when part of the project is performed at another institution.

A Sponsored Consulting Agreement may not be executed if the individual is an employee of The University of Chicago in any capacity. If an individual is a former University of Chicago employee, you must obtain approval of the Payroll Department of the Comptroller’s Office prior to any form of compensation [former employees must be not have been employed at the University for a minimum of one year to be paid as a consultant].

A consultant hired under a sponsored project may be compensated for services, and reimbursed for travel (including meals and lodging) and other miscellaneous expenses. Any payment made to consultants must comply with the University’s and the sponsoring organization’s regulations on compensation and travel.

When engaging a consultant under a grant or contract, a Sponsored Consulting Agreement should be prepared prior to any services being performed:

  • The Sponsored Consulting Agreement must include a statement of work and a budget that breaks down the costs to complete the statement of work. The work must be conducted and completed during the performance period of the award.
  • The Department Administrator sends the electronic version of the SCA to the URA Subaward Manager (outgoing-subs@uchicago.edu) for review. Comments will be provided for revision/updates to the agreement if required or other documentation is required to proceed with the agreement. The Department Administrator revises the agreement and/or provides requested documentation to the Subaward Manager.
  • The Subaward Manager will approve the SCA by email and request the Department Administrator obtain the PI’s signature on two hard copies. Those two hard copies with PI signature should be delivered to the Subaward Manager at URA for institutional endorsement.
  • The Subaward Manager will notify the Department Administrator when the institutionally endorsed agreements are ready for pick up at URA.
  • The Department Administrator sends the consultant the two hard copy originals, cover letter and attachments outlined in the cover letter (Consultant Questionnaire, Debarred Vendors Form, and W-9- link to the PDF of those forms).
  • If necessary, URA will negotiate terms of the Sponsored Consulting Agreement for the Principal Investigator.
  • The Consultant returns one original agreement with the completed forms (Consultant Questionnaire, Debarred Vendors Form, andW-9).
  • URA keeps the returned original fully-executed Sponsored Consulting Agreement for the file.  The Subaward Manager distributes the fully-executed Sponsored Consulting Agreement by email and provides a copy with original attachments (if provided - Consultant Questionnaire, Debarred Vendors Form, and W-9) for the Department Administrator to pick up for payment processing.

For paying consultants, Department Administrators please refer to AdmiNet.

To prepare the Sponsored Consulting Agreement:

Sponsored Consulting Agreement Package (DOC)

  • Use the Sponsored Consulting Agreement package – includes cover letter, Agreement, page for Exhibits A&B, Exhibit C (invoice). The document is password protected.
  • Tab through all of the fillable portions of the document using spaces allotted.

Cover letter (for U.S. citizens or resident aliens)-use consultant home address (use hard return if you need additional address lines); fill in URA manager contact information on top right of page and name and title under signature line