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  • Open Comment Period: March 9 - March 23, 2015

    Mar 9, 2015 8:30 am by OBFS Policy Administrator

    In this Open Comment: Section 8 - Determine the Allowability of Specific Expenditures

    Campus administrative and other units are requesting policy and procedures that would authorize the University to make sponsorship payments and financial assistance awards to outside entities under certain circumstances. Current policy addresses gifts, donations, fundraising, and membership payments, but does not cover sponsorships or grants of University funds to outside entities. We are adding a new language to Section 8 - Determine the Allowability of Specific Expenditures that will clarify the circumstances in which these payments will be permissible.

    Please take a few moments to review this policy and submit your feedback. Thank you!

    Read the policy, below...

    Financial Assistance and Sponsorship Payments to Outside Organizations

    University funds may be expended in support of joint initiatives between the University and non-University entities only when the funds are used for public purposes and the supported initiative promotes or advances one or more of the University's missions. If University funds will be provided to non-University entities to support such initiatives, a written agreement, signed by each party's authorized signatory, must be entered into by the University and the non-University entity/entities outlining the terms of the transaction and describing the initiative and how it aligns with one or more of the University's missions. Approvals from appropriate administrative offices may be required prior to signing the agreement. Refer to Section 2.3 - Initiation, Review, and Approval of University Contracts and Leases for instructions on requesting a financial assistance award or sponsorship agreement.

    After the agreement is fully executed, the unit processes the payment and includes the contract number in the payment request in TEM using account code 186550.

    Allowability/Funding: When allowable, must be funded from only institutional, gift, endowment income, or self-supporting funds (when directly related to generation of the fund's revenue).

    To leave feedback, please use the "Add Comment" link below. On the next screen, choose the "Sign in with my NetID" option and log in with your University credentials. Comment moderation is enabled. Your comment will not appear until approved.

    You may also submit a comment without posting to the feedback board by contacting obfspolicies@uillinois.edu.

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    pczarn2@uic.edu Jul 29, 2016 1:40 pm

    It is not always going to be feasible to have a contract for conference sponsorships. Typically a conference has a tiered system based on dollar amount of what benefits a sponsors would receive. These tiers and benefits are typically published either on the conference website or in a conference brochure. What would the contract that is needed per this policy detail that would not be provided by the list of benefits provided by the conference?

    pczarn2@uic.edu Jul 29, 2016 1:40 pm

    You may want to include whether we need to be specific about how the funds may be used, or if we can just generally donate to an event.

    pczarn2@uic.edu Jul 29, 2016 1:39 pm

    Perhaps having a tiered system like procurement that allows for different University administrative approvals and/or signatories in order to make the system and process more efficient and expedient.

    pczarn2@uic.edu Jul 29, 2016 1:39 pm

    only when the funds are used for "public purposes" - what constitutes public purposes? Faculty want funding for conferences they organize, or co-organize with other institutions which supports their research (but held at another institution). In the past, we obligate to pay specific expenses as our support. What other situations would this cover?

    pczarn2@uic.edu Jul 29, 2016 1:39 pm

    How does this relate to conference sponsorship? Many times we are asked to sponsor conferences from regional or national organizations of which we have an organizational membership such as the National Rural Health Association or the Illinois Rural Health Association. Conference sponsorship provides recognition and exposure for our organization at the conference maybe by way of exhibitor space or an ad in the printed program or possibly conference registration for one or more of the organization members. In fact, conference registration is a line item written into the budget of one of our federal grants. In the past, depending on the amount of the sponsorship, I have processed these as either a PO, a P-Card charge, or through TEM as a vendor payment for conference registration with no problems. No contract was needed. The cost has never been over $5,000 (usually $1K to $1.5K). In the future are we going to have to have a contract developed between us and each organization whose conference we wish to sponsor?

    pczarn2@uic.edu Jul 29, 2016 1:39 pm

    Perhaps adding language regarding threshold or lack of threshold i.e. "financial assistance or sponsorship of any amount may require administrative approvals, " or designate a dollar threshold. Also may want to clarify if the intent is only funds ? can it be purchasing goods for the outside organization ?