Faculty, employing staff members who will be paid on a grant/contract, whether part-time or full-time, must follow the procedures of Human Resources. Hiring a new full-time staff member requires the approval of the Chair, Dean and Provost. Forms can be found at Forms on the Research Services web site under Human Resources.

Faculty are responsible for initiating the process to charge staff to grants and contracts. Similarly, they are responsible for removing their payroll at the end of a project or earlier, if their employment is ending.

Information on faculty salary charges on externally funded projects is available Here.

According to IRS rules, payments can either be made to employees, independent contractors (IC) or human subjects. There is no other type of individual that can be paid. Thus, invited speakers, outside consultants of any type, outside advisors, outside paid reviewers, etc., must be paid as an IC.

If the Principal Investigator (PI) is buying a one-time service, and the cost of the service is less than $600, then the IC will perform the service and submit an invoice. A consulting agreement is typically not required in such circumstances. If the service is recurring and/or costs $600 or more, then a consulting agreement should be in place to protect both parties in case something doesn't go according to plan.

CONSULTING AGREEMENTS COSTING LESS THAN $5,000

A model consulting agreement that can be adapted for a given situation can be found here. In addition to a consulting agreement, two forms are needed before payments can be made to a consultant under a grant: the Independent Contractor Review Form (click on “Independent Contractor Review” to bring up Formatta form) to be filled out by the PI, and, if necessary, a W-9 form to be filled out by the person/organization receiving the payment. The following steps should be followed:

1. Prior to making arrangements with a potential IC, contact Research Services to initiate preparation of the consulting agreement (if needed) and to make sure the payment is allowable under the terms and conditions of the grant, especially on federal and federal flow through awards. Once the consulting agreement is fully executed, Research Services will upload a copy to the PTAP and notify Sponsored Program Accounting (SPA) that a new consulting agreement for that grant has been executed.
2. Upon making arrangements with the IC, immediately obtain a W-9 form and provide it to the contractor requesting that the IC sign and return the W-9 form as soon as possible to assist in the speed of processing payments. NOTE: A W-9 form is not required if Accounts Payable already has assigned a vendor number to the IC: contact the Accounts Payable manager at (312) 915-8748 to see if a vendor number has already been assigned.
3. Submit an Independent Contractor Review Form on-line (click on “Independent Contractor Review” to bring up Formatta form). If applicable, be sure to check “yes” in item 7 and attach a copy of the consulting agreement.
4. Upon receipt of a request for payment from the IC, submit a check requisition, signed W-9 form (if necessary), and supporting documentation (original invoice, flyer or brochure with speaker's name, etc.) to Sponsored Program Accounting (SPA) for approval and processing through Accounts Payable.

CONSULTING AGREEMENTS COSTING $5,000 OR MORE

[NOTE: If the consultant or consulting firm is named in the grant award and/or in the proposal that is subsequently incorporated into the award, competitive bidding is not required so long as a sole source justification was provided in the ORS PTAP system; use the procedure above for consulting agreements costing less than $5,000.]

First follow the 8-step “Consulting Agreement Sourcing Procedure” that has been developed by the LUC Purchasing Department:

1. Consulting Agreement Request for Proposal (RFP) - As early as possible in the process, a one or two page RFP outlining the scope and requirements of the position must be completed. The PI should contact the Purchasing Department (Sam Perry) for assistance in the creation and review of the RFP.

2. Advertise the Consulting Position - Upon completion/approval of the consulting RFP, the Purchasing Department will post the position with the Loyola Career Development Center, the AJCU Job Bank, and any other available or recommended sources.

3. Position Responses - Cover letters/résumés of interested parties will be electronically forwarded to the Purchasing Department and Purchasing will forward same to the appropriate PI. The Purchasing Department will retain a copy of each submission to include with the electronic file of all documents pertinent to the consulting position.

4. Review Responses/Interview Selected Candidates - the PI reviews all responses and selects at least two viable candidates to interview for the position.

5. Candidate Selection - based on proposals received, interviews, and associated selection criteria, a candidate is selected.

6. Purchasing Checklist and Bid Summary Form - The Checklist is completed by the PI or their designee. A minimum of two proposals must be submitted to establish competition, an explanation of the selection criteria for consultant selected, and a price/cost analysis (method to determine price reasonableness) must be completed on the Checklist. The name of the person preparing the document must be printed out on page two, a Department Approval signature (other than the preparer) must be included, and after Purchasing Department review, a Purchasing representative signature is required. Any missing information on the Checklist will be communicated to the PI.

7. Finalize/Execute Consulting Agreement - the Office of Research Services will be asked to draft a Consulting Agreement. [A model consulting agreement that can be adapted for a given situation can be found here. See step #1 as described above in the section for “Consulting Agreements Costing Less Than $5,000,” In addition to the reviews listed in the above step #1, Research Services will also obtain a copy of the fully-approved “Purchasing Checklist and Bid Summary Form.”]

8. Scan and Store Documentation - Upon approval and execution of the Consulting Agreement by both parties, the Purchasing Department will scan and store all documentation for the Consulting position for future reference or audit.

Then follow the steps numbered 2-4 as described above in the section for “Consulting Agreements Costing Less Than $5,000.”

For policy and procedure guidance on payments to research subjects, click here.