Industry Agreement – Realistic Start Date Guidance

When working with an industry sponsor, it can be difficult to select an appropriate start date. Therefore, SPARCS has offered the following guidance on appropriate timing and items to keep in mind. Please utilize this guidance to manage industry expectations.

Regarding timing and under normal circumstances:

• Proposing start dates 3-4 months out for established industry sponsors (i.e., sponsors who have a master agreement, have some other type of established agreement template routinely used, or have agreed to use a standard NC State agreement template).
  • This will allow 1-1.5 months for sponsors to review the proposal, a half a month for the proposal records (PINS or PD) to be approved, and 1-2 months to process the agreement.
• Proposing start dates 6-9 months out for new industry sponsors (i.e., sponsors that NC State has never worked with or have only worked with one or two times prior).
  • This will allow 1-1.5 months for sponsors to review the proposal, a half a month for the proposal records (PINS or PD) to be approved, and 4-6 months to see if NC State and the new sponsor (or mostly new sponsor) can find mutually agreeable terms.
  • Please note: If NC State is presented with fair terms, SPARCS can finalize terms in less than 4-6 months. However, if sponsors offer and/or require more complex and works-for-hire type terms, then negotiations can take longer than 4-6 months.

It is also important to note the Industry Team’s busier times of the year (in order of busiest first):

• December
• August
• November
• January

Thank you for your partnership!