Many of you have been asking about ways to diversify your research and innovation portfolios. Service agreements can be wonderful mechanisms for supporting much of the scholarly work at the UW School of Nursing. A service agreement at the University of Washington is a formal contract where faculty or university resources provide specific, well-defined services to an outside entity. Unlike traditional sponsored programs, such as grants, which aim to generate new knowledge and contribute to academic scholarship and/or create intellectual property, service agreements are focused on delivering practical outcomes, typically in response to the needs and specifications of the requesting party. Learn more about the distinction between sponsored programs and services.
In the context of service agreements, the faculty member’s role is often to perform tasks such as data analysis, report generation, technical consulting or other specialized services. These services are provided without the expectation of creating generalizable knowledge or publishing findings. Instead, the deliverable might be a final report containing factual data, testing results or professional assessments tailored specifically for the external entity’s use.
Faculty should note that when external partners request reports or services requiring faculty expertise, it is essential to distinguish whether the activity constitutes a service agreement or falls under the scope of a sponsored program. Understanding this distinction ensures that projects are categorized correctly, enabling UW to meet compliance requirements and deliver impactful services to external partners.
Within the School of Nursing, service agreements are generally routed through the Impact Office, while sponsored programs are routed through the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP). If you are unsure how to categorize an incoming project, please contact the Impact Office at son-impact@uw.edu.