Routing & Approval
WISPER Record
A WISPER record (electronic T-form) is a mechanism by which a PI is able to communicate with collaborators, deans, chairs, and RSA regarding a wide variety of research or sponsored project activities. During the proposal submission process, for example, documents such as the scope of work and budget forms can be attached to this record and sent to co-investigators, chairs, and/or RSA for approval. After the PI electronically signs off on the proposal and routes it to the Dean's office for signature, the Dean's office signifies its support for the project by forwarding it to RSA, and RSA will then submit the proposal or process the request.
The Principal Investigator or Project Director is responsible for completing the WISPER record, and ensuring its accuracy with regard to the information provided, cost sharing and/or other commitments by the institution, and for routing it to the appropriate Dean's office.
The WISPER record allows multiple types of agreements to be tracked and related to each other in the Grants system. A WISPER record is created for all of the following document types by selecting the appropriate "Document Type" in the Basic Info Section on the General Tab.
Document Types
| Code | Description | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| CDA | Confidential Disclosure Agreement Non-disclosure Agreement Confidentiality Agreement |
|
| CoopAgreement | Cooperative Agreement | Application for funding which if awarded by the Sponsor will be a Cooperative Agreement. Commonly used by USDA. |
| CosReimCon | Cost Reimbursable Contract | Application for funding which if awarded will be an agreement between the University and the Sponsor that requires RSA to invoice at some frequency for the funding. Actual costs incurred by the project will be reimbursed by the Sponsor. |
| FixPriceCon | Fixed Price Contract | Application for funding which if awarded will be an agreement between the University and the Sponsor that involves payment of fixed increments of funding at fixed time periods or completion of deliverables. |
| GIK | Gift in Kind | Non-Monetary contribution of personal or real property which requires annual reporting by the institution. |
| Gift | Gift | Monetary contribution to provide general or unrestricted support for broadly defined activities in one or more program areas, such as research, public service, instruction, fellowships/traineeships, etc. where there are no reports required, provisions imposed by donor, copyright or patent rights, or time limits on expenditures of funds |
| Grant | Grant | Common name for “PROPOSAL” or “APPLICATION.” Most applications for funding should use this type. |
| IPA | Intergovernmental Personnel Assignment | Agreements under which a UW employee is detailed to work for the Sponsor for a defined period of time. |
| Internal | UW System | Application to a UW System Entity which will not be funded via a Fund 133 or 144 project. |
| MTA | Material Transfer Agreement | |
| Master | Master Agreement | Agreement which itself doesn’t provide funding to the University, but provides the terms under which subsequent tasks or addendums may be executed to efficiently pass funding to UWM. |
| NFA | No-Fund Agreement | Any agreement where no funding is being provided to the University; however, in course of the Research mission, it is necessary to agree to additional terms. Examples include: Memorandums of Understanding, Collaboration Agreements, Licensing Agreements, Software Agreements, and Data Use Agreements. |
| Other | Other | If you are unable to determine the type of document you are working with or believe that your document is not represented above, please select other. |
Signature Authority for Accepting Awards
All award documents requiring signature must be signed by an authorized institutional signatory. Please bring any grant/contract agreements you may receive to RSA for institutional acceptance, even those that request your signature. Signing of legal documents by an unauthorized individual can have adverse legal consequences for the university and possibly for the unauthorized individual.
As a legal entity authorized by Chapter 36 of the Wisconsin Statutes, the UW System can act only through its duly authorized officers and agents. The authority of the System to sign legally binding documents is detailed in a periodically updated Board of Regents' resolution. A document listing UWM officers with signature authority is maintained by Finance and Administrative Affairs.