PI and Co-PI Exceptions for No-Pay Academic Appointments

GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING REQUESTS FOR PI AND CO-PI EXCEPTIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH NO-PAY ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

(PI Eligibility and Requesting Exceptions | MSU Sponsored Programs Administration)

It is our goal to support all forms of research activity and collaboration and strive to be as flexible and inclusive as possible. However, we must also be mindful of all liability, compliance, and resource considerations. The purpose of this document is to outline applicable policy and processes for evaluating requests for PI exceptions for individuals who are not paid employees of MSU at the time of proposal submission. These guidelines exclude Henry Ford Health no-pay appointments. These individuals must submit under the HFH+MSU Partnership.

Requirements for consideration for PI exceptions for no-pay individuals:

1. Requests for PI exceptions for no-pay individuals should be received by the Office of Research and Innovation at least seven working days prior to the grant submission deadline.
2. The individual must be fully qualified for the proposed project.
3. The individual must have a commitment from a host unit to provide a paid appointment should the grant be funded.  On-call or Project Pay do not qualify as a paid appointment.
4. The individual must have a commitment for any office, lab, field, greenhouse, or other support needed to successfully complete the project (including regulatory compliance).
5. Provide evidence that the individual meets MSU employment standards and appropriate background checks have occurred. A history of paid employment at MSU will generally suffice. If not, the sponsoring unit is responsible for confirming that the appropriate background checks have occurred.

Requirements for exceptions:

1. PI Status
   1. Academic and clinical appointees: the proposal aligns with skills and experience of the individual and space, equipment, and other resources are available and documented.
   2. Blanket PI Exception Requests-blanket exceptions will not be considered for no-pay individuals.

Other considerations:

• For NIH submissions, individuals with a PI role must have a valid eRA Commons ID that is affiliated with MSU. The affiliation in eRA Commons will not be made until PI exception approval has been received.
• Access to KR: Individuals who have an active no-pay faculty appointment at MSU will have access to the university's research administration system, Kuali Research (KR). The Research Administrator may need to create a PI profile for the faculty member.
• Effort for Individuals Employed by Other Organizations: If a proposal requests salary support for the no-pay appointment faculty member from MSU grants, the individual must be formally appointed as an MSU employee with a paid appointment for the percent effort committed (e.g., 5%), or if no effort was committed, a minimum of 1% at the time of award. This appointment would require them to decrease their effort at their home institution accordingly (e.g., 95%). The challenge is that most individuals prefer to avoid this because it is an administrative hassle and may negatively impact their benefits package at their primary institution. Also, MSU does not support dual employment and therefore an exception to this policy has to be made (Provost approval).
  
  Even if the no-pay faculty will be named only as a Key Person with no salary requested (but with specific effort) on a grant, we will still need a letter from their home institution indicating their time would be protected for the work committed to the project, their biosketches, letters of support, and a COI form etc., depending on sponsor requirements.

Updated March 2026 (Review with CORD on March 19, 2026)