Research Contracts and Agreements Under The University of Winnipeg’s “Contract Administration Policy,” there are two types of contracts:
The Research Contracts and Agreements Review & Development (Drafting) Process:
Personal contracts or private consultancies: For research and other services negotiated between an individual and an external individual, agency or organization, which are not administered by the UWinnipeg and are not approved by the Research Office. These contracts cannot use University resources and are not eligible for career progress. Researchers should review their Collective Agreement and speak with the Dean if they are seeking a personal contract or private consultancy.
1. Researchers must submit a request through a Research Starts Here (RSH) form, which helps track the contract drafting/reviewing process from request to approval.
Research contracts or University contracts: Which are administered by the University and are recognized for career progress. Any activities outside the normal teaching load and normal research which involve the use of the University name, University facilities (equipment, space, services), Universitysupported time, University-supported personnel, or the University accounting system and which meet the definition of “contract” as outlined in the institutional policy are considered contract activities. As such, they must be approved by the Office of the Vice-President (Academic) and are subject to indirect cost charges.
2. The Legal and Administrative Assistant in the Research Office starts the process on their end, and the Legal Counsel – Research advises the researcher(s) and UW regarding the red flags of the agreement/contract. 3. The final decision/signing authority rests in the hands of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation and the Associate Vice-President, Research and Innovation. This process usually takes 6 to 8 weeks and requires great attention to detail.
Contract Review vs. Contract Drafting There are two main ways researchers engage with contracts and agreements when it is determined that they are a research or University contract: Seeking support for contract/agreement review These involve contracts that are initiated by a Third Party, who is often providing funding or requiring a researcher to prepare a number of research deliverables. Asking the RO to help draft a new contract/agreement These often involve contracts where researchers are looking to contract out work funded by a grant they currently hold, or are prepared as requirements related to intellectual property or agreements where there is no third party institution involved. Note: Every contract/agreement is unique and requires Legal Counsel – Research to review it from a legally exclusive/unshared lens. No set rule can be followed when drafting/reviewing different contracts/agreements, as they are often case specific.
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