Contracting Services, Current Timelines

New Agreement Requests

There is a high demand for contracting services at this time, with a number of agreements in the queue. Currently, it may take 10 to 15 business days for a contracting officer to be assigned to a new agreement request. Please rest assured that, once assigned, the contracting officer will engage on the new agreement as soon as possible and will work carefully and efficiently through the process at that time.

• For new NDA, DUA, or MTA requests, email [email protected]. 
• For other agreements, email [email protected].
• For any rush items with a firm submission deadline, please let Contracting Services know the particulars of the rush in the initial email or Agreements task request, to streamline the process.

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

1. I’d like to send a copy of ASU’s standard award agreement to a sponsor, in order to kick-off negotiations. Who should I contact?
   • If a sponsor has requested ASU’s template, or if the PI/Unit wish to encourage the sponsor to start from ASU’s standard terms (recommended), run the Notify PNT activity on the selected ERA Funding Proposal (FP). From there, the assigned Proposal GCO will obtain the appropriate sponsored project agreement template that can be provided to the sponsor with the proposal submission, or as a post-submission activity.
2. Is a Contracting Officer assigned when ASU’s agreement template is provided to a sponsor?
   • No, there is typically no action needed by Contracting Services until the sponsor has completed and/or redlined the ASU agreement template (preferred) or sent their draft agreement. Once the sponsor sends a draft agreement (whether based on ASU’s template or not), an officer will be assigned. Prior to that time, the PI/Unit are welcome to follow-up with the sponsor and/or reach out to the Proposal GCO in ERA with any questions related to the template.
3. Does the “ORSPA 3-Day Guarantee” apply to contract negotiations?
   • No, the 3-Day Guarantee is only applicable to the proposal review and submission process (see Sponsored Proposal Reminders). Currently, new agreement requests may take 10 to 15 business days for initial assignment and engagement. The timeline for contract negotiations may vary based upon factors such as GCO workloads, sponsor response times, complexity of the agreement and/or the need for additional internal or external reviews.
4. The funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for my proposal includes award terms and conditions. How far in advance should I request review of those provisions?
   • If/when a funding opportunity includes award terms and conditions, run the Notify PNT activity to request an “RFP review” as early in the proposal development process as possible, and no later than 5+ business days in advance of the sponsor deadline. The assigned Proposal GCO will perform an initial review and facilitate Contracting Services review, as needed.
5. How can I check on the status of an agreement?
   • RAs and PIs have access to the ERA Agreements module, where users can pull up a task by Task ID (if known), or search by FP ID, PI name, sponsor name, etc. to locate the Agreements Task.
   • Indicators of agreement status include:
     • A. “GCO Agreement Reviewer” assignment
       • On the Task Summary tab, the “GCO Agreement Reviewer” field denotes the Contracting Services officer. If an officer is not listed, then the task has not yet been assigned to one. Contracting Services monitors a queue of new task requests and will assign the next available officer to each task in the order received. No follow-up is usually necessary* as unassigned task requests are highly visible to the team and will typically be assigned within 10-15 business days.
       • * Exception: For rush items with firm submission deadlines, if the ERA Agreement Task does not reflect the rush/deadline, please follow-up by email to the listed “GCO Agreement Reviewer” know the particulars of the rush. 
     • B. Brief Task Status notes
       • A section at the bottom of each ERA Agreements Task includes a ‘Brief Task Status’ tab where Contracting Services provides notes and updates. Check here for the latest developments, as it is typically current and eliminates extra emails to Contracting Services as much as possible – freeing them up to process and negotiate agreements efficiently.
         • If there are no notes present, Contracting Services has not yet begun work on the task and will engage on it as soon as able to, based on other tasks in the queue.