PrintAnnouncements
1) Fringe rates were updated in March: please see the Fringe Rate and Vacation Assessment page
2) New transfer policies:
A) Sponsored expense adjustment journals must be made using the original expense object codes. Do not use non-operating transfer codes.
B) When allowed by the sponsor, interest earned on sponsored funds may be transferred to a non-sponsored fund after the award ends. Adjustment should be made using object code 4531.
3) Travel: Open Skies Agreements are now an accepted exception to the Fly America Act. Please see the Federal Airfare Travel Reimbursement Exception Form, section IV and the General Services Administration (GSA) website for more information.
4) Revised Independent Contractor Classification Policy includes Summary of Differences: Employee vs. Independent Contractor, Employee/Independent Contractor Questionnaire, Payment Processing, and Consulting Agreement.
Research Appointments: Employee vs. Stipendee on Federal Funds
When individuals are being charged to federal sponsored funds, determining a correct research appointment is especially complicated and especially critical. Understanding the difference between an employee and a stipendee is an important consideration when determining the correct reseach appointment. Please see the Research Appointment Guidelines page for more information and a chart to help determine the difference between an employee and a stipendee.
Allocation Plans for Federal Expenditures
An expense may be charged directly to one or more federal awards if the expense is assigned to the award in proportion to the benefits the award receives. However, intertwined research sometimes makes this proportion hard to determine. Shared resources, such as laboratory supplies, are a case in point. Federal cost principles state that shared resources may be charged directly if an allocation plan is in place which assigns costs to the benefiting projects on a reasonable basis. Download the Allocation Plan Examples (.pdf) document to see a chargeback plan based on useage and two exampleas of allocation plans.
Stimulus (ARRA) Update
Summary of NIH Recovery Act Funding Opportunities includes a new NIH "P30" opportunity for new faculty. NSF is funding worthy unfunded proposals already in the pipeline. Sponsor websites and the Provost's ARRA website are updated daily.
Grants.gov continues to be backlogged. Sponsors are telling Principal Investigators to submit days before actual deadlines. All proposals, including requests for supplemental funding for existing awards, must still be submitted to sponsors by the Office for Sponsored Programs (OSP) and FAS RAS (where applicable).
Dean Smith wants to ensure that short-term funding doesn't have long-term implications.
ARRA Administrative Support Proposal
ARRA funding will come with an unprecedented amount of reporting and be subject to extraordinary oversight by the government and the public. A plan to budget administrative "Stimulus Project Specialists" is being vetted across the university. See Administrative Support for Awards Made Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) .pdf. The Stimulus Project Specialist Support page contains detailed information.
