- Principal Investigator - The faculty member that directs a program/project. The Principal Investigator is the primary individual in charge of a research grant, cooperative agreement, training or public service project, contract, or other sponsored project.
- Departmental/Center Financial Administrative Officer - Administrative Staff at the departmental and dean's office level that provide administrative support for one or more sponsored projects.
- Department Chair or Center Director - Department Chair/Center Director is an academic leader with programmatic, managerial and fiscal responsibilities for a designated area, such as a department, division, school or center.
- Dean's Office (or designee) - Deans are academic leaders who have programmatic, managerial and fiscal responsibilities for a college or school, and
who report either to the Provost, to the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs.
- Compliance Officer - Includes the University Compliance Officer and the Compliance and Corporate Integrity Officer.
- Executive Administration - Executive Administration consists of the Chancellor, the Provost and the Vice Chancellors or their designee (such as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research for VUMC or the Associate Provost for Research for University Central). These individuals' responsibilities contain few, if any, direct responsibilities in research activities in the University. They act in an oversight capacity and resolve issues that do not or cannot occur in normal processes.