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Division of Sponsored Programs > Award Management > Personnel Management > Outgoing UF Personnel

Outgoing UF Personnel

On this page:

Disposition of Awards
Disposition of Lab Assets
What Else Needs Review?

As soon as you are notified that an investigator is leaving UF: 

  • Use the Personnel Report in Enterprise Reporting>Sponsored Programs Information to pull a list of all of the investigator’s open records. Under “Report Behavior”, select “Open Items – Departing Personnel”.
  • Use the Notification of Departing Researcher Form to notify the UF Office of Research of a departing investigator. Once the form is submitted, a member of DSP will reach out to assist you with this process.

Other than certain fellowships, most awards are made to the University of Florida, not to individual faculty or staff. Therefore, when a faculty member leaves UF, a joint decision should be made between the Department Chair/Center Director, Research Dean, Sponsor, and faculty member as to the disposition plan for each award.

To facilitate a conversation about which awards will remain at UF and which will be transferred to a new institution, faculty should notify their department grants support and DSP as soon as they decide to leave UF. Non-faculty positions who are listed as key personnel or have effort commitments on awards, or are listed on protocols, should also notify their department grants support and DSP as soon as they decide to leave UF.

When a Principal Investigator leaves UF, they are responsible for closing out the sponsored project just as if the award had run to its natural end. This includes approval of effort reports and submission of final progress, invention, and property reports.

Options for what may happen to an investigator’s awards:

  • UF or sponsor may name a new PI and keep the entire award.
  • UF may name a new PI, keep a portion of the award, and subaward a portion to the new institution.
  • UF may relinquish the award to the sponsor.
  • The entire award may transfer to the new institution. There may be an expectation that the new institution will issue a subaward back to UF.

Disposition of Awards

If the University of Florida is transferring or relinquishing an award, the grants team will need to work to “closeout” the award in a timely fashion just as if the grant were fully ending. Failure to take any of these steps could result in the unit being responsible for many transactions that can no longer be paid from the sponsored project.

  • All pending invoices, travel reimbursements, and other expenditures need to be processed and paid from the appropriate projects.
  • Subawards need to be notified of the termination of the project at UF. The department grants support team will need to work with the DSP Outgoing Subawards team to confirm that the appropriate modifications are made to the subaward to ensure all subaward invoices can be paid from the award.
  • The PI must approve all effort reports and submit all final progress reports.
  • All final invention and property reports must be submitted.

Disposition of Lab Assets

Assets in the lab were provided to the University of Florida and not to individual investigators. As with awards, the decision to keep, transfer, or return assets to the sponsor is a joint decision. The assets in the lab need to be inventoried in coordination with the department’s Property Custodian and Asset Management before the departing faculty member leaves the institution. The appropriate disposition of the assets of the lab is necessary to ensure that the University of Florida can meet its legal obligations to the sponsor by making sure items entrusted to the University are handled appropriately.

Transferring Equipment Purchased on Sponsored Awards

Relinquished Awards:

Equipment purchased on sponsored awards that are still active and will be transferred to the faculty’s new institution may be transferred without reimbursement for the cost of the equipment. The PI may be charged for ancillary costs such as dismantling or shipping and handling costs which should be paid for by the new institution. If the equipment was purchased using funds from multiple awards, the determination will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Expired Awards:

Equipment purchased on sponsored awards that are expired or on any other funds will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis with the PI, Chair, Center Director, Dean and Asset Management.

  • If equipment will be transferred to the new institution without reimbursement for the cost of the equipment, ancillary costs such as dismantling, shipping and handling costs should be paid for by the new institution.
  • If equipment will be sold to the new institution, the sponsor may have to approve the sale. Coordinate with Asset Management and Contracts & Grants  Accounting.

Submitting an Asset Disposal Request

Review the information under “Donating to Another University” and submit the Disposal Request with the required information.

Disposition of Specialty Materials, Chemicals, and Animals

Sometimes, the departing faculty member has access to certain specialized items including data sets, tissue samples, or proprietary items from sponsors, etc. These items need to be reviewed to determine whether they should transfer with the departing faculty member, be retained by the University of Florida, or be returned to the sponsor. There also may be restrictions on how the items are transferred to ensure the privacy of the material and items is properly maintained.

The departing faculty member’s research should be reviewed for any special chemicals or materials. Environmental Health and Safety and Animal Care Services need to be notified that the lab is moving to make sure that any special chemicals are either transferred or disposed of properly and that any animal colonies are transferred or cared for appropriately.

What Else Needs Review?

Last updated 1/14/25