VA MOU’sThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Chris G. Green, CPADirector, Sponsored Programs

Topics

• Joint Appointment History• What makes a faculty joint appointment?• Why is a VA Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

required?• How to handle joint appointments on proposals• How is VA effort recorded and tracked?• How are VA 8/8ths appointments handled?• VA Contacts

History – (The Good)

1946Public Law 79-293 provides legal basis for affiliating VA hospitals with Academic Medical Centers (AMCs)

Purpose: Address physician shortages at VA and provide AMCs with new patient populations for graduate medical education

– VA retained full responsibility for patient care– AMC’s retained full responsibility for education and

training

History

1972VA Medical School Assistance and Health Manpower Training Act–Expanded existing medical education programs–Establish five new medical schools next to existing VA medical centers–VA’s construction policy continues to favor sites near existing medical schools

Audie L. Murphy Hospital opens in November 1973

What makes a Joint Appointment?

Faculty member performs activities at both the VA and the HSC.– Clinical Care– Research– Administration– Teaching

Constitutes 100% of his/her total professional responsibilities.

Defined in faculty member’s appointment letter.

MOU

Why is a MOU required?

– It is a requirement of NIH

National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires that investigators with joint University and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) appointments maintain a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

MOU

What is the intent of the MOU?

–Outlines the duties and effort of individual at both the HSC and the VA –Certifies that there is no possibility of dual compensation for the same work–Certifies there is no apparent conflict of interest regarding such work

MOU

What must be included in the MOU?

– Appointment titles (for both organizations) of the jointly appointed investigator

– Responsibilities (for both organizations) of the jointly appointed investigator

– Percentage of effort available for research (for both organizations) by the jointly appointed investigator

MOU

What is the MOU routing process?

– MOU first signed by HSC investigator and Department Chair or Institute/Center Director

– Forward MOU to Jacqueline Pugh, M.D., Associate Chief of Staff for R&D (ACOS) at the VA

– Forward to the Office of Sponsored Programs

MOU

When must the MOU be updated?

– Must be updated not less than annually. The DATE on the MOU is used for this purpose

– When a significant change occurs (e. g. changes in VA appointment or 25% change in research effort) of the investigator's responsibilities or distribution of effort

MOU – (the Bad)

Universities and the VA record time differently

– The VA defines a full workweek as 40 hours or 8/8ths (VA does not allow overtime)

– HSC falls under OMB Circular A-21. Based upon percent of effort. This is the method that the HSC must use for effort certification

Note: This fundamental difference creates inconsistencies between how an investigator tracks their effort at the VA versus the Health Science Center.

MOU

Since the VA uses 40/hour work week and the HSC uses percent of effort, what does the MOU use?

–For the MOU only, the HSC has established a total professional effort limit range of sixty (60) hours a week

Note: On rare instances, individuals, such as those with a large clinical practice, may be granted an exception and allowed a greater combination of FTE and 8ths each week, but their total professional effort must be reasonable (e.g. 65 hours).

MOU

MOU Example:

Dr. U.R. Right is a VA HSC joint appointed faculty member. He has a 5/8 VA appointment. Under his VA appointment, Dr. Right spends 25% on research activities. Under this HSC appointment, he expends 25% for research activities.

VA MOU

Proposals

What compensation rate should be used on the proposal and why isn’t my VA Salary included in my HSC Institutional Base Salary (IBS)?  

– The salary base used for proposals is only the faculty members HSC Institutional Base Salary. Therefore, the salary base used to request salary support must always exclude VA salary.

Note: The NIH sets guidelines for the determination of Institutional Base Salary (IBS) in its Grants Policy Statement. Because VA salary (stated in 8ths) is paid through a separate federal paycheck, this compensation does not meet these guidelines.

Proposals

HSC HCM Employee/Position Funding panel:

Proposals

UTHSCSA faculty who hold a VA appointments should include the standard statement (below) to disclose to NIH the basis for the effort percentage and salary requested.

Dr. Right has an appointment with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) and the Veterans Administration (VA).  This arrangement is defined in a formal UTHSCSA-VA Joint Appointment Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).  The institutional base salary used in this application represents only the salary from UTHSCSA.  Dr. Right’s university committed effort on this proposal is 0.6 calendar months, of which salary has been requested.  It is further clarified that Dr. Right receives salaries from both the UTHSCSA and VA and that there is no dual compensation from these two sources for the same work nor is there an actual or apparent conflict of interest regarding such work.  

Proposals

For those cases in which a portion of the VA appointment will also be committed to the NIH project, the following statement should also be inserted in the budget justification: Dr. Right’s VA effort commitment on this proposal is 0.6 calendar months of his/her VA appointment for which no salary is being requested.   

Note: No salary support may be requested for the VA effort portion of the joint appointment.  

Effort Commitments

When I certify my HSC effort certification in ECRT, do I certify commitments for HSC awards devoted to my VA appointment?  

– No, the Office of Sponsored Programs will track VA committed effort that is expended on HSC awards outside the effort certification system (ECRT) and will confirm such effort was devoted to the project on a semi-annual basis by written confirmation with the HSC investigator

Note: VA effort will not be included in the salary cost sharing data that is prepared and reported annually by the Office of Sponsored Programs.

Effort Commitments

Where can I find where VA faculty effort commitments are documented?

In the HSC Portal as follows:

8/8ths Appointments (the Ugly)

Can VA 8/8ths faculty member that receives HSC compensation commit effort and/or apply for awards thru the HSC?

– Yes; however, an 8/8ths faculty member’s HSC commitments should not exceed 20 hours per work. Any commitment to the HSC exceeding 20 hours per week requires special approval of the Office of Sponsored Programs

8/8ths Appointments (the Ugly)

Can VA 8/8ths faculty member that has an unpaid HSC appointment commit effort and/or apply for awards thru the HSC?

– The HSC has an Interim Policy regarding the processing of 8/8th appointments for which have an unpaid HSC appointment.

8/8ths Appointments (the Ugly)

The following two options can be used:

1) Propose a formal subaward with the Biomedical Research Foundation of South Texas (BRFST).

2) Include the faculty member on the proposal budget as an HSC employee with salary requested.

–If the individual does not already have a faculty appointment, a written letter from the Department Chair/Center Director must be submitted to OSP stating that the individual will be receiving a research appointment should the proposal be funded –Letter must provide the estimated HSC base salary for proposal calculation purposes–An executed MOU must be received by the OSP before proposal submission

VA Contacts

VA Contacts:

Jacqueline Pugh, M.D. ACOS for Research Email: Jacqueline.Pugh@va.govPhone: 210-617-5300 ext 15969

Michelle M. Trimble, MBAExecutive Director, Biomedical Research Foundation of South Texas Email: Michelle.Trimble@va.govPhone: 210-617-5376

Note: Should consult with your department administrator before contacting the VA.

Questions about VA MOU’s?

• Contact Chris Green in OSP at 567-4938 or via email at greenc@uthscsa.edu.