Pitt faculty with joint appointments at the Veterans Administration (VA) hospital may be required to have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on file with the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP). It is important for faculty to keep these MOUs active and up to date to ensure compliance with VA and sponsor policies.
For example, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) require investigators with joint VA appointments to have an MOU, signed by both institutions’ officials, that specifies the distribution of compensation, responsibilities, and the percentage of effort available for research at each institution.
Dually appointed Pitt/VA faculty are encouraged to review and follow internal VA policies and sponsor requirements. If an MOU needs to be initiated or updated, research administrators can submit an MOU request in myra.pitt.edu as a “Not Sure/Other” agreement type for OSP to review and sign.