Concurrence Letter
Gifts vs. Sponsored Projects
A sponsored project is a project that receives external support (including research, scholarly work, training, workshops, and services) and includes defined performance requirements. Awards from government agencies are always considered sponsored projects, not gifts.
A gift is the voluntary provision of external support by a donor to the University, without any requirement for receipt of any economic or other tangible benefit in return.
Types of Awards and Requirements
Concurrence Letter
Description
After a grant or contract has been awarded, the approved budget, time frame, other project implementation or other administrative requirements are not always consistent with actual project needs. Many funding agencies require prior approval for these kind of changes, which can be formally requested in the form of a concurrence letter.
Overview
A concurrence letter is written in reference to a particular approval or notification. Sample letters refer to:
- no-cost extensions: notices of an action to extend, or to approve an extension on a project.
- re-budgeting funds: include percentage changes from line-item budgets, and address related changes in methodology
- confirming information:provide updates for human subjects approval, other support pages, budget justification details, etc.
Sponsors may require that the UW central office review requests or notices and provide evidence that it performed a review and approves.
PI/Staff Procedures
A concurrence letter should:
- carry the university letterhead
- be drafted by and signed by the principal investigator
- be counter-signed by an institutional representative (i.e., Office of Sponsored Programs director or another approved signer)
Note: The NIH now accepts email concurrences, and NSF Notifications can be done entirely through Fastlane.
Contacts
Please send your concurrence request to osp@uw.edu and it will be triaged to the correct team member.
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