Facilities and Administration Costs UPPS No.
03.04.05
(F&A
or Indirect) Issue No.
2
Effective
Date: 01/15/2008
Review:
September 1 EY
01. POLICY
STATEMENTS
01.01 The purpose of this UPPS is to establish
guidelines covering the allocation, management, budgeting, expenditures and
related restrictions associated with facilities and administration (F&A)
costs from sponsored programs. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is
responsible for establishing policies for F&A costs under federal grants
and contracts. Please refer to OMB Circular A-21 at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html.
Generally, the University follows the
OMB guidelines for all sponsored projects, regardless of the funding source.
01.02 Facilities and administrative rates are
established by the University’s cognizant agency, the Department of Health and
Human Services. A listing of the most recent rates can be found at http://www.txstate.edu/research.
02. BACKGROUND
02.01 Most funding sources allow Texas State to
charge to sponsored programs its federally approved facilities and administrative
rate. Many of the allowed F&A expenses are paid directly from the
University’s educational and general (E&G) funds; thus, it is appropriate
for Texas State to be reimbursed by the funder for the portion of those costs
associated with sponsored programs. It is the responsibility of the Principle
Investigator (PI), the department chair or school director, the dean, and the
Associate Vice President for Research to make every effort to recover as much
of the F&A costs as possible for each sponsored program.
03. DEFINITIONS
03.01 Facilities and Administration Costs: The term
“Facilities and Administration” refers to those costs that cannot be charged to
a grant or contract as a direct cost. These are the “overhead” or “indirect”
costs for operating the University that include, but are not limited to:
a. Electricity, water, natural gas, and other
utilities;
b. Payroll processing, accounts payable, human
resources and other support services;
c. Depreciation and use allowances;
d. General administration and general expenses;
e. Sponsored projects administration expenses;
f. Operation and maintenance expenses; and
g. Library expenses, departmental administration
expenses and student administration expenses.
03.02 Recovered F&A Costs – F&A costs that
have been collected by the University from funding sources, excluding amounts
billed, but uncollected.
03.03 Recovered Funds – For purposes of this policy,
Recovered Funds are local university revenues equal to the total F&A costs
recovered during a fiscal year.
03.04
Institutes and Centers - Institutes or
centers may be established at the department or school, college or
university-level in accordance with Academic Affairs PPS 1.14. For purposes of
this UPPS, only those institutes or centers that are formally established and
approved by current Texas State policy as “university-level” are qualified to
directly receive Recovered Funds. The current list of university-level centers
and institutes are listed on the Research homepage at http://www.txstate.edu/research.
04. PROCEDURES
FOR DISTRIBUTION OF RECOVERED FUNDS
04.01 Each year, as a part of the budget development
process, the Director of Budgeting, with the assistance of the Associate Vice
President for Research and the Director of Sponsored Programs, will make an
estimate of F&A costs to be recovered in the coming fiscal year. The
estimate will take into account Recovered F&A Costs in the current fiscal
year as well as trends in grants and contracts activity. The estimate will be
included as revenue in the annual operating budget.
04.02 Expenditures of Recovered Funds, in a total
amount equal to the estimate of Recovered F&A Costs included as revenue in
the annual operating budget, will be budgeted in the Designated Fund group in
the annual operating budget.
04.03 At least 25% of the total Recovered Funds
during a fiscal year (September 1 through August 31), will be distributed in
October of the following fiscal year by the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP)
according to the following methods:
a. When a single investigator, department or school,
and college are involved:
1) 30% to the college (7.5% of total recovered)
2) 30% to the department or school (7.5% of total
recovered)
3) 40% to the PI (10% of total
recovered)
b. When multiple investigators, departments or schools,
and colleges are involved:
1) 30% to the colleges on a pro rata basis
determined at time of proposal submittal (7.5% of total recovered)
2) 30% to the departments or schools on a pro
rata basis determined at time of proposal submittal (7.5% of total recovered)
3) 40% to the principal investigators on a pro
rata basis determined at time of proposal submittal (10% of total recovered)
c. When a university-level center or institute
is the generating unit:
1) 25% to the center or institute (6.25% of
total recovered)
2) 25% to the PI (6.25% of total recovered)
3) 25% to the college (6.25% of total recovered),
if applicable; if not, distributed equally to PI and center or institute; the
PI must indicate to OSP that the appropriate dean has been included in the
decision making process for how Recovered Funds are to be distributed.
4) 25% to department or school (6.25% of total
recovered), if applicable; if not, distributed equally to PI and center or
institute; the PI must indicate to OSP that the appropriate chair or director
has been included in the decision making process for how Recovered Funds will
be distributed.
Note: Distribution of
25% of the Recovered Funds for non-academic grants is handled on a case-by-case
basis.
d.
When a Mitte Chair is the single investigator, or when multiple investigators
including a Mitte Chair, departments or schools, and colleges are
involved:
1)
10% to the college (2.5% of total recovered)
2)
10% to the department or school (2.5% of total recovered)
3)
80% to the PI (20% of total recovered)
Note: Some of the
returned Recovered Funds should be used for clerical support.
04.04 The remaining Recovered Funds will be provided
to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs to be used as start-up
funds for new faculty and as discretionary
funds to support campus wide research and sponsored program needs. This will
include, but is not limited to, support for the federal legislative agenda,
funds to cover disallowed costs arising from sponsored programs, and to support
the research development efforts of the Associate Vice President for Research.
05. ACCEPTABLE
USE OF DISTRIBUTED RECOVERED FUNDS
05.01 It is the intent of Texas State that 100% of
Recovered IDC Funds be expended to further the University's research and
sponsored program efforts. Such expenditures are to be made only for valid
business purposes which may include, but are not necessarily limited to, the
following purposes:
a. Conducting pre-grant feasibility studies
b. Preparing competitive proposals for sponsored
programs
c. Providing carry-over funding for research
efforts to provide continuity between externally funded projects
d. Supporting new researchers pending external
funding
e. Purchasing capital equipment directly related
to expanding the research capability of the institution
f. Research administrative costs
05.02 Expenditures made under Section d. above will
not later be transferred to a sponsored program account (after formal approval
of an award.) [Contact OSP for establishment of a “provisional” account for
unusual situations which require expenditures prior to formal approval of an
award].
06. REPORTING
PROCEDURES
06.01 A written report to the Associate Vice
President for Research will be made annually (due October 30, one year after
receipt of funds) from each unit (PI, chair or director, and dean) that
received Recovered Funds. The report will briefly describe how funds were used
and how this funding has benefited research at Texas State. The AVPR will make
this information available for campus-wide review.
06.02 Failure to provide required reports may result
in non-allocation of future Recovered Funds.
07. RESPONSIBILITIES
07.01 Responsibilities associated with Recovered
Funds and Recovered F&A Costs are as follows:
a. Principal investigators:
1)
Developing proposals which include budgets
for the recovery of F&A costs at the rate approved by the University’s
cognizant federal agency.
2)
Obtaining prior written approval from the
Associate Vice President for Research for F&A rates that are lower than the
federally approved rate. [Refer to UPPS No.
02.02.01, Section 03.05 d. 1).
3) Assuring that Recovered Funds allocated to
them under this policy are expended in accordance with state, TSUS, and
university requirements.
b. Deans, department chairs or school directors,
and other administrators:
1)
Assuring that Recovered Funds allocated to
them under this policy are expended in accordance with state, TSUS, and
university requirements.
2)
Providing oversight to ensure that all
sponsored projects include the maximum allowable amount of F&A costs.
c. Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP)
1)
Assuring that Recovered Funds are maximized.
Interest earnings will accrue to the University for cash balances of sponsored
programs that do not earn the full federal F&A costs.
2)
Approving F&A rates that differ from the
federally approved rates.
3)
Distributing Recovered Funds in accordance
with this policy.
4)
Review of reports [per Section 06] to assure
Recovered Funds are expended in accordance with applicable policies and
regulations and determination of appropriate actions if reports are not
provided.
5)
Assuring that sponsored program expenditures
are recorded correctly, so as to achieve full and accurate recovery of F&A
costs. This includes some primary review of expenditures, as well as coordination
with other departments or schools to assure proper coding.
6)
Assuring that F&A costs are billed
accurately to the funding source and are collected, deposited, and recorded on
a timely basis.
7)
Working to distribute Recovered Funds.
8)
Coordinating with the Budget Office to
prepare budgeted F&A cost revenues for the annual university budget.
9)
Preparation (with input from appropriate
offices) of the F&A rate proposal for submission to cognizant agency.
d. Budget Office
1) Budgeting Recovered F&A cost revenue and
associated expenditures in the annual university budget.
08. REVIEWERS OF THIS UPPS
08.01 Reviewers of this UPPS include the following:
Position Date
Associate
Vice President for Research September 1
EY
&
Director of Federal Relations
Associate
Vice President for September
1 EY
Financial
Services
Director September
1 EY
Budget
Office
Director September
1 EY
Office
of Sponsored Programs
09. CERTIFICATION
STATEMENT
This UPPS has been
approved by the following individuals in their official capacities and
represents Texas State policy and procedure for the date of this document until
superseded.
Associate Vice President for Research &
Director of Federal Relations; senior reviewer of this UPPS
Provost and Vice
President for Academic Affairs
President