Research at Southeastern
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions below are those that are frequently asked of personnel in the Office
of Sponsored Research and Programs (OSRP).
Faculty are encouraged to send or share their questions with personnel in the OSRP,
so questions with broad applicability can be included in this FAQ Fact Sheet.
The information in this fact sheet is organized under the following headings. Choosing
one of the headings will take you directly to that portion of this FAQ Fact Sheet.
Internal Funding Opportunities
For a detailed listing, visit the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs – Research
Funding Opportunities webpage.Funds are available on a competitive, first-come, first-served basis. The
amount of funding for project budgets is dependent upon the funding opportunity program
and the availability of funds.
Non-College Funding Sources
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The Center for Faculty Excellence provides funding to professional enhance faculty.
Research Budgets
Where can I get assistance in preparing a budget for a proposal?
Contact your department head and/or your Grants Development Specialist in the OSRP.
Is there someone that will check my budget to ensure that it is correct?
Yes. Your Grants Development Specialist in OSRP must review all research budgets before
applications are submitted to the appropriate agency, foundation or organization.
What is the fringe benefit rate that should be used?
For up-to-date fringe benefit rates check the information provided on the OSRP web page.
What is the budgeted amount for graduate student tuition?
Tuition is based on the number of course credit hours a student is registered for
in a semester. A full time graduate student must take a minimum of 9 hours of graduate
coursework. A chart is available with the current tuition costs. To ensure that ample
tuition funds are available from a grant or contract from year to year, a 5% increase
is added to the tuition category of the budget to cover potential tuition increases
of multi-year grant or contract applications.
What is F&A?
Cost involved in conducting research is categorized as direct and indirect (currently
known as Facilities and Administrative, F&A) costs. Direct costs are defined as “those
costs that can be identified specifically with a particular sponsored project relatively
easily with a high degree of accuracy.” F&A costs are “those that are incurred for
common or joint objectives” and are those costs that would be too costly and burdensome
to include as itemized budget categories on research projects. F&A costs are real
expenses and should not be considered a tax on research or a windfall for the university
or college. “Facilities” is defined as depreciation and use allowances, interest on
debt associated with certain buildings, equipment and capital improvements, operation
and maintenance expenses, and library expenses. “Administrative” is defined as general
administration and general expenses (electricity and water), departmental and college
administration, sponsored administration, and all other types of expenditures not
listed specifically under one of the subcategories of Facilities. Therefore, F&A cost
are recovered as a percent of the direct costs of the research. The F&A cost rates
are determined through a long, detailed audit of space use in the University in conjunction
with auditors from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
If F&A costs are not recovered, then research must either be reduced in scope and
size or paid for from another budget source, in other words, the research must be
subsidized. If research is to be subsidized then another budget within the college
or unit must be cut or revenue must be generated from some other sources. Think of
not recovering F&A cost in this way. If you submit a proposal without including the
portion of your salary necessary for you to conduct the research and the proposal
is funded, then your salary is not covered by the award but is an expense to the state.
The funding agency or foundation gets the grant subsidized by Southeastern because
Southeastern pays your salary while you conduct the research. The same is true for
F&A costs, when no F&A cost is recovered or when only a portion of the F&A cost is
recovered (referred to in this case as waived F&A), the university or college has
the choice to subsidize the research (cover the F&A cost). The funds to subsidize
the research, i.e., to cover cost incurred indirectly, had to come from some other
budget source.
In summary, F&A costs are real expenses. If they are not recovered from the sponsoring
agency, the scope of the research must be curtailed or funds must be supplied from
some other source to cover the F&A costs. For more information on direct and F&A (indirect)
costs see OMB Circular A-21.
What is the F&A rate at Southeastern?
The F&A rate at Southeastern is 44% of salaries and wages. For example, a research
project that has $100,000 of F&A eligible cost would generate F&A in the amount of
$44,000. The total direct cost of the salaries and wages in the proposal would be
$100,000. The total cost of the project would be salary and wages ($100,000) plus
any other budgeted costs plus the F&A ($44,000).
What are F&A eligible costs?
Not all categories or items in a budget are eligible for F&A assessment. Some items
are not F&A eligible costs, for example tuition and equipment. In the case of subcontracts
only the first $25,000 is subject to F&A costs. As noted in the above question, Southeastern
only has approval to collect F&A on salaries and wages.
Am I required to include F&A costs on a grant or contract?
Yes. However, some agencies and foundations do not allow for full F&A recovery and
may limit F&A recovery to a specific percentage of the allowable research costs or
in some cases the foundation will allow no F&A recovery. Southeastern abides by the
written policy of agencies and foundations regarding F&A recovery. In cases where
the agency or foundation does not have a policy regarding F&A costs but does not agree
to allow for full F&A recovery, the Dean for Research and Graduate Studies should
negotiate, on behalf of Southeastern, with a representative of the agency or foundation
what the particular F&A rate (recovery) will be.
What happens to F&A once it is collected by the University?
The University has a policy of distributing F&A in the following manner: one-third
to the President’s Office, one-third to the academic dean of the college of the faculty
PI, and one-third is split with the Provost Office and the Office of Research. It
is up to the academic dean to determine how F&A recovered by the college will be distributed.
What is cost share?
Cost share refers to any budget item where 100% of the cost is not included in the
proposal application, e.g., personnel salaries, and some or all of the cost is shared
(supported) by the college or university. For example, if a PI indicates that 20%
of his/her time will be committed to a project but does not request salary support
from the sponsoring agency then the college will provide (share) all 20% of the PI’s
salary for conducting the research. If a PI indicates that 20% of his/her time will
be committed to a project and requests 10% salary support from the sponsoring agency
then the college will provide (share) the remaining 10% of the PI’s salary for conducting
the research. Cost share must be approved by an academic dean and the department head.
PI’s are urged to include salary for conducting research in proposals unless the agency,
foundation, or company has a written policy forbidding the inclusion of investigator
salaries.
What are matching funds?
Dollars supplied by the institution to match the dollars supplied by the sponsoring
agency are considered matching funds. Matching funds are required by some agencies
and foundations or for specific types of projects supported by an agency or foundation.
Each agency, foundation and program will have specific matching fund requirements.
For example, the matching fund requirement may be one institutional dollar for every
one agency dollar of support. In other cases there may be a requirement of one institutional
dollar for every two or three agency dollars of support. Matching dollars can be real
dollars that the institution may have to place in a research account for support of
the research or may be “in kind” dollars such as not charging the agency for personnel
salaries. Matching funds should not be included in a proposal where the agency or
foundation does not require a match commitment. Depending on the nature of the matching
funds,an academic dean and/or the appropriate department head may be involved. In
some cases cost-sharing may be considered matching funds.
What is considered contractual cost in a budget?
Generally speaking, contractual costs are for services rendered. For example, having
samples analyzed at a laboratory external to Southeastern would be a contractual cost.
Other contractual costs would be repairs to equipment or instruments, and purchasing
software. Although per diem charges for animal housing and care are for services rendered,
these charges are considered as a commodity and notcontractual cost. Because contractual
costs can be confusing, it is best if PIs provide budgets and budget explanations
to their Grants Development Specialist well in advance of submission deadlines so
the costs can be reviewed.
Proposal Preparation
Who in the University should I contact to assist in preparing a proposal applicationf
or submission?
Contact your Grants Development Specialist in the OSRP.
Should I inform the OSRP of my proposal submission plans?
Yes. This is critical to planning the workload and flow in the OSRP. The earlier a
PI notifies staff in Sponsored Research that he/she will be submitting a proposal
and the due date, the better we can plan our efforts for the PI. Priority is given
to proposals where the PI has alerted the OSRP staff in advance of the submission;
other proposals will be worked in as possible.
What portion of the proposalapplication is the PI responsible for preparing?
The PI is responsible for the body of the proposal application, i.e., proposed research
and other required components as determined by the soliciting agency. The OSRP will
complete all required form pages and boiler plate pages; however, the PI will be responsible
for supplying the information to complete these required pages. Budgets should be
proposed as early in the process as possible and submitted to OSRP for review.
Can I get writing assistance or training?
The University does not have a grant writer.If necessary the OSRP will have the proposal
reviewed externally prior to submission to a sponsoring agency.
Periodically on-site training sessions and workshops are planned for University faculty
to enhance proposal writing skills. In addition, funding is available to send faculty
to off-campus grant writing workshops.
Submitting Proposals
How much lead time is needed to have a proposal processed through the OSRP?
OSRP always works to meet all deadlines even when we get late notification of a submission
or late submission of the proposal to the office. It is imperative that the PI make
sure if the deadline for submission is a “postmarked by date” or “received by date.”
For submission of hardcopy proposals (via USPS, UPS, or FedEx, not electronic submission),
completed proposal applications can be given proper care and attention if the proposal
is in the OSRP three working days prior to “postmarked by date” deadline and four
working days prior to “received by date” deadline. Proposals submitted to the OSRP
with less lead time than requested will be processed. However, there is less chance
of detecting and correcting errors when adequate time is not allowed. Refer to question
below regarding grants.gov submission to determine timeline for submission through OSRP.
What is grants.gov?
Grants.gov is the worldwide website for submitting proposals in an electronic format to NIH.
This is a relative new system. Southeastern OSRP requires that any proposal being
submitted via grants.gov be received by the OSRP a minimum of three working days prior to the agency submission
deadline.
Do I need to register in grants.gov?
No, the University is registered. Individual PIs do not have to register.
Should pre-proposals and letters/notices of intent be submitted to the OSRP?
Yes. Please contact your Grants Development Specialist for agency specific guidance.
What is a Routing Approval Sheet (RAS)?
A Routing Approval Sheet is the Southeastern form for proposal submissions that is
routed with the proposal to OSRP. The RAS includes specifics regarding the proposal,
e.g., title, agency, investigators, due date, total direct, and total budget amounts,
and should be completed by the investigator. In addition, the RAS contains the signature
of investigators, department heads/directors, and deans/associate deans and special
instructions such as distribution of F&A.
Who has signature authority for the University regarding proposals and awards (grants
and contracts)?
All proposals are official when an RAS has been signed by the Director of Sponsored
Research and Programs. The proposal application is now ready for submission.
Contractual agreements for research (except those included in typical competitive
grants) must be signed by a university level authority, i.e., Director of Sponsored
Research and Programs.
What should I do when I receive an award document (grant, contract, etc.) for signature?
All awards should be routed to the OSRP. The Director of OSRP reviews the contract
and will have University counsel review the contract for legal purposes, if necessary.
If changes are required, the PI will be contacted. Otherwise appropriate University
signatures will be obtained.
What should I do with a confidentiality agreement?
The University cannot assure confidentiality of an agreement between a faculty member
and an agency, foundation, or business. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the
faculty member to sign a confidentiality agreement and the University to co-sign.
The Director of Sponsored Research and Programs signs the agreement on behalf of the
University. However, before signing a confidentiality agreement it is advisable to
allow the OSRP to review the agreement. Additionally,standard confidentiality agreements
are available online. A confidentiality agreement signed by appropriate parties must
be on file before work commences.
If an agency or foundation requires electronic submission of a proposal, can the PI
submit the proposal directly to the agency or foundation?
All proposal submissions must be processed through the OSRP. The PI may be allowed
to upload the application on the agency or foundations electronic site and click on
a submit button (in the case of NSF or NIH) but final authorization of the submission
occurs in the OSRP. Proposals to foundations that are submitted directly to the foundation
must be processed through OSRP, and it is preferred that OSRP personnel also submit
the proposal. In all cases a RAS must accompany all proposal submissions.
What is eRA commons?
eRA commons is a program for tracking a proposal submitted to NIH and tracking any
action related to the proposal application package.
Do I need to register in eRA commons?
If you plan on submitting a proposal to NIH you must register in the eRA commons.
To register, contact OSRP by e-mail and provide your full name, social security number,
birth date, e-mail address, and prior NIH support with account number (if you’ve had
NIH support). Once OSRP has sent your information to NIH, you will be prompted to
complete the registration process through e-mail instructions.
Post-Submission/Post-Award
How will I know if my proposal is funded?
Agencies differ in how they inform a PI regarding the outcome of a proposal submission.
In some instances an “unofficial” phone call is made or an e-mail is received that
notifies the PI that an award is pending. In some of these cases additional paperwork
may be required before the project is officially awarded. In all cases, awards are
not official until the OSRP has received notification of award and funding. Additionally,
in any event the PI should inform the OSRP as to the outcome of the submitted proposal.
Is there anything else that must be done or completed before a proposal application
can be officially awarded?
Yes, the PI must complete the applicable paperwork for IACUC, IRB, hazardous materials,
and radioisotope usage (regulatory compliance issues) and have approval from applicable
committees before a proposal is officially awarded and work is allowed to commence.
How do I track expenditures from my project funded award budget?
The PeopleSoft Financials module at Southeastern allows PIs to track expenditures
and view budget item balances on a “real time” basis. All PIs are required to complete
the mandatory PeopleSoft Financial training and assessment to receive access to this
information.For additional information, see http://www.selu.edu/leonet/financials/training_assessment/index.html.
