Chapter 17-400: Minimizing Externally Imposed Paperwork Burdens

Paperwork burdens imposed on the University's administrative systems by external sponsors through contract and grant terms and conditions should be minimized.

Paperwork burden is the total time, effort, and cost required to satisfy an information collection requirement or request. The burden goes beyond the effort required to complete a particular form, and includes the effort required to review and understand the requirement or request, to develop systems for collecting and locating materials or information, to carry out inspections or observations to obtain information, to organize and format information, to maintain, update, report, and store the information, and to review the accuracy of information. Such burdens appear not only as clearly identified reporting requirements, but as regulatory requirements to develop and maintain information systems.

17-410 Contract and Grant Officer Responsibility to Minimize Externally Imposed Paperwork Burdens

It is the responsibility of Contract and Grant Officers:

a. to be aware that externally imposed paperwork burdens, as defined in Section 17-400, are a significant consideration in carrying out their duties in various procurement and assistance processes;

b. to minimize such burdens imposed upon the University and its personnel by external sponsors; and

c. to preclude the imposition through extramural awards of any such burdens with which the University is unable or unwilling to comply.

In order to carry out these responsibilities, Contract and Grant Officers should review all documents related to proposed procurement or assistance awards to determine the extent and acceptability of the related paperwork burden, and as appropriate, exercise all reasonable efforts and rights available to the University to minimize such burdens. (See Section 17-F01.)

In addition, OP RPAC responsibility for reviewing and developing responses to Federal Register items, described at Chapter 10-413 of this Manual, includes consideration of the related federal paperwork burdens.