Chapter 2: Annual Review

FY 2020 was a major year for the Division of Research and Innovation. First, Mark McLellan joined UNT as vice president for research and innovation for the division. He has brought a wealth of experience, having served as a vice president of research for both Utah State University and Portland State University. He has provided the necessary stability, guidance and leadership to allow the division to serve its internal customers and expand services across campus. One of his first leadership decisions — merging research contracts with technology transfer and creating Research Commercial Agreements (RCA) — positively improved the division. This reorganization allowed the team to rethink how they worked and how to serve the UNT community more efficiently.

For contracting, the RCA team examined their past processes and then asked stakeholders what they liked or disliked. It became clear that two issues needed to be addressed: turn-around time and transparency. The turn-around time for contracting is a consistent issue at other institutions. The time spent on negotiating language to allow two parties to work together does not add much value to the actual work to be accomplished. However, without correct contract language, liability increases, and it can keep many projects from succeeding. The unit looked at these common problems and developed a methodology to address the concerns. First, all contracts now come through a triage email system, researchcontracts@unt. edu. Janis Miller, a certified paralegal, joined the team to be the first line of triage for all contracts. The goal was to have her log every contract into the system, determine its level of complication and then assign it to one of the team members so they can respond back quickly. RCA recommends that contracting offices at other universities also explore this approach as a best practice. Janis’s dedication to organization and procedure has paid huge dividends to RCA as she leads the triage, providing each team member with a manageable workload to help ensure a quick turnaround.

RCA is committed to serving the UNT community through a seamless, timesensitive approach to negotiating, executing and informing all stakeholders related to the contracts and licenses that RCA manages. To this end, RCA has organized projects into four separate categories with specific timelines for turnaround:

TYPE 1 — If a sponsor/external party agrees to standard UNT template agreement types ($5k SRA, CDA/NDA, MTA and UBMTA). Such template may not be altered for any business terms.

Expected turnaround time: 1 business day

TYPE 2 — Non-complex agreement templates that use alternative standard template language. These typically are edits to CDA/NDA, MTA, teaming agreements and other MOA/MOU that have minor changes and do not create a liability greater than $10,000 for the agreement type; agreements include sponsored research contracts for less than $10,000 and option license agreements.

Expected turnaround time: 2 business days

TYPE 3 — Agreements that utilize template language with minor edits outside of the standard template language. Justifications for acceptance should include validation for low financial risk (less than $30,000) to UNT and any written policy of the sponsor that requires such modification. Examples of types of agreements include complex CDA/NDA, MTA that have language creating any financial liability to UNT, option licenses, and sponsored research agreements that have liability less than the $30,000 limit.

Expected turnaround time: 5 business days

TYPE 4 — Agreements that are complex by nature and/or that require substantial deviation from UNT standard template language. Agreements that create a liability in excess of $30,000 automatically are Type 4, including the provision of intellectual property rights to another entity, cost-sharing requirements and requirements for UNT to assume liability related to the conduct of research or research results reporting. Typically, this will include master research agreements, research contracts that exceed $30,000, licenses and teaming agreements/ MOU/MOA that include terms outside of a strictly research function by UNT.

Expected turnaround time: 12 business days

So far, these deadlines have been met for most all projects, with the average turnaround for a draft being one day or less for Types 1, 2 and 3 and generally responding in less than 2 days for Type 4. RCA is developing a system to measure the time for all contracts as they come into the system and the response time, which will provide a level of transparency beyond any other research institution, providing greater service and confidence to internal customers.

Transparency is a prime concern for RCA. Faculty, deans and other administrators rely on the unit to get through the contracting phase so that they can perform the research and expend the research funding. RCA developed a monthly report to all active principal investigators (PIs) and their deans that explains the status of every contract with RCA, the time the last version came into RCA, what the next step is, including who or which office might have information needed, and when the next step is due. Not only has this been successful with our PIs and deans for establishing their comfort with our area and providing evidence that most of the delays in contracting come from RCA waiting on sponsor replies, we use this report inside the office weekly to ensure RCA meets or exceeds the service commitment. Going forward, RCA is experimenting with how to create a dashboard for each team member that will allow projects to move across the team to balance workloads.

Outside of research contracting, RCA’s other prime objective is the protection and commercialization of intellectual property (IP) developed by UNT faculty and staff. The technology transfer function was founded at UNT in December, 2015 when associate vice president, Michael Rondelli, was hired to restart the function at UNT. Although UNT had a 20-year history of the function, the unit had not been successful in generating IP disclosures or in licensing. Since December 2015, the unit continued its growth with 42 disclosures in FY 2020 and 12 licenses for that year, two fewer disclosures than the previous year, but two more licenses. With only four years to build the IP portfolio, generate faculty interest and trust in the team and build relationships with the local industries, RCA is proud of this success in such a brief time. AUTM is the industry association for university technology transfer professionals. They have reported that the average number of disclosures a university should expect is one for every $2 million in federal funding expenditures per year.

With less than $20 million in federal Commercialization of IP is a difficult expenditures, RCA outperformed that process. Staff spend a great deal of expectation by more than 420%. This time analyzing the technology, the over-performance comes from a few industries it can impact and the path activities. First, licensing staff have from lab to product. Most IP needs been working with several faculty additional development to make it since the unit started, commercially viable; and those faculty COMMERCIALIZATION IS NOT the team works with both have a strong LIMITED TO A FINITE SEGMENT OF the faculty to develop connection to the TIME; IT REQUIRES A CONSISTENT a plan to source corporate world and NURTURING TO ALLOW LICENSED companies that would are advocates of our TECHNOLOGIES TO DEVELOP AND be interested in the services. Second, RCA ADVANCE WITHIN COMPANIES IN license and are able staff have leveraged to collaborate in that those faculty to get ORDER TO MOVE A TECHNOLOGY additional research their peers interested FROM A LAB SETTING TO A and development. and open to our COMMERCIAL PRODUCT. EACH In some cases, the conversations. Third, YEAR BUILDS ON THE LAST, WHILE technology is better without its own ALLOWING THE OFFICE TO BE suited to a startup medical school, the READY TO STRIKE WHEN A SWEET company for licensing. cost per invention is SPOT ARRIVES THAT MATCHES THE This requires a great much lower for UNT TECHNOLOGIES FACULTY HAVE deal of work to source faculty: engineering, the entrepreneur software and plant DEVELOPED AND INDUSTRY’S and team to start the biology are less COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITY TO venture, develop the expensive to conduct LEVERAGE THAT TECHNOLOGY financial package fundamental research INTO COMMERCIAL SALES. to attract venture that leads to IP than funding and execute biomedical research. Additionally, on the plan. RCA sees this as a way UNT’s chemistry faculty have very for UNT to be an integral part of the strong ties with industry for their regional economy as it helps the funding, increasing the commercial startups with raising capital, sourcing focus of their research agendas federal (non-dilutive) funding for as they are focused on industrial research and development and utilize research questions. UNT students as part of the team