(A)
Policy statement
The university of Toledo (university)
is committed to consistent, accurate, reasonable and allowable cost projection
and allocation in sponsored program budgeting.
(B)
Purpose of
policy
This policy provides guidance for
budget development of proposals submitted on behalf of the university and
budget administration of awards received by university from external sponsors,
in order to comply with federal regulations as described in 2 C.F.R. 200
"uniform administrative requirements, cost principles, and audit requirements
for federal awards" (uniform guidance), university policy, state and local
law.
(C)
Scope
This policy is applicable to all
faculty and staff involved in budget development and budget administration of
externally sponsored programs from all sources (e.g., federal, state,
industry).
(D)
Definitions
(1)
Institutional base salary (IBS): The compensation paid
by the university for an employee's appointment whether that individual's time
is spent on research, teaching, administration, patient care, creative work,
service, or other activities. The compensation relevant in determining IBS is
the amount guaranteed and fixed in advance by the appointment letter or
employment agreement and paid through the university payroll system. IBS does
not include overload teaching, monetary awards, practice plan compensation paid
outside of the university payroll system, extra compensation, bonuses, one-time
payments, incentive pay, or compensation earned for services performed external
to the university, including consulting.
(2)
Academic year
base salary (AYBS): The portion of IBS paid during the academic year as defined
by the employee's appointment letter or agreement (e.g. nine, ten, eleven, or
twelve months). AYBS is the sum paid in consideration of the normal services
rendered by the university employee and determines the maximum rate that can be
charged to sponsored projects. AYBS includes the academic year (AY) portion of
IBS, administrative appointment salaries and stipends and/or the AY portion of
an endowed professorship and/or endowed chair appointment salary. AYBS excludes
summer (non-academic year) salary and non-AY portion of administrative stipends
and salaries. A twelve-month appointee's IBS will usually be equal to their
AYBS. When salaries are budgeted for sponsored programs, associated fringe
benefit costs must be included at the university-approved rate unless limited
by the sponsor.
(3)
Sponsored projects: Activities originated or conducted
by university faculty or staff supported wholly or in part by external
restricted funds awarded to the university. Definitions of activities are found
in rule 3364-70-23 of the Administrative Code (facilities and administration
costs). Such activities include, but are not limited to, sponsored instruction
and training, organized research and other sponsored
activities.
(4)
Research: Systematic investigation, including research
development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to
generalizable knowledge. Scholarship is the practice of advancing, preserving
and disseminating knowledge and thought through study, reflection, and
engagement that extends beyond traditional instructional activities. Research
and scholarship are used interchangeably in this policy.
(5)
Cost share:
University defines cost share, regardless of form (e.g., cash, effort and
associated compensation, in-kind, tuition remission, equipment time) as one of
three categories as described below.
(a)
Mandatory committed: Required by the sponsor with
commitments documented in the proposal, award or contract. Costs must be
documented as required by the office of research and sponsored programs (ORSP)
and grants accounting. Effort for this category is included in effort
certification.
(b)
Voluntary committed: Not required by the sponsor but
committed by the university to the sponsor as part of a grant proposal, award
or contract. Costs must be documented as required by the office of research and
sponsored programs (ORSP) and grants accounting. Effort in this category may be
included in effort certification.
(c)
Voluntary
uncommitted: Cost share is not required by the terms of the sponsored program
and is not included or budgeted for as part of the sponsored program. Effort
for this category may be monitored by departments for workload assessment but
costs are not budgeted or documented by ORSP or grants
accounting.
(E)
Allowable
costs
Expenditures associated with sponsored
projects must adhere to the most restrictive of the specific
university-approved award agreement, sponsor policies and university policies.
It is the principal investigator's (PI's) responsibility to ensure that
expenditures are allowable, reasonable, necessary, and reimbursable by the
sponsor.
Sufficient documentation to support
each expenditure should be retained as required by ORSP, grants accounting or
sponsor.
(F)
Compensation from sponsored projects
Compensation to university faculty or
staff from externally sponsored program grants, agreements or contracts must be
paid through the university payroll system.
Uniform guidance states that
compensation charged to a sponsored program should be reasonable and consistent
with earnings for similar work expected for that person's appointment, which is
defined by the academic year base salary. The maximum compensation that can be
requested in a sponsored project budget is the individual's AYBS multiplied by
the percent effort committed to the sponsored program.
(1)
Summer
compensation: Faculty and staff may request summer compensation from a
sponsored program if their appointment is less than twelve months. If permitted
by the sponsor, faculty may request up to three months for a nine-month
appointment, two months for a ten-month appointment, and one month for an
eleven-month appointment. Personnel will be required to complete effort
certification to confirm that they performed the work within the period covered
by the summer salary.
(2)
Part-time employment: For faculty and staff working
part-time or on reduced hours, AYBS will be calculated based on adjustment to a
one hundred per cent or full-time equivalent (FTE).
(3)
Sponsor salary
caps: If federal or nonfederal sponsors have a salary rate cap that would limit
the amount of AYBS that can be used as a basis for charging salary to their
projects, the requested salary support is determined by multiplying the
proposed level of effort by the maximum AYBS allowed by the
sponsor.
(4)
Emeritus faculty: Compensation for emeritus faculty
from sponsored programs shall use the academic year appointment rate, excluding
stipends, that was in effect immediately preceding retirement. Reasonable
cost-of-living adjustments may be allowed in conformance with university
practices.
(5)
Extra service pay (ESP), often referred to as extra
compensation: The university abides by all restrictions in uniform guidance,
sponsor guidelines, and university policy in determining if ESP is allowed for
sponsored programs. Extra compensation is also addressed in rule 3364-25-59 of
the Administrative Code (compensation and salary administration).
(a)
Faculty:
Full-time faculty members should not expect ESP for work associated with
research activities. Work on sponsored projects either within the department or
across departmental lines is expected to be undertaken as a university
obligation requiring no ESP. ESP for sponsored projects is not allowable in the
non-academic year period.
In unusual cases, charges from
sponsored programs for work representing ESP above the base salary may be
allowable only when all of the following conditions are met:
(i)
Documentation is
provided that the work exceeds the responsibilities covered by
IBS;
(ii)
When approval for ESP is required by the sponsor,
approval must be requested and received by ORSP directly;
(iii)
The aggregated
total of ESP from all sponsored program sources over the fiscal year does not
exceed twenty per cent of the employee's AYBS;
(iv)
The compensation
complies with collective bargaining agreement restrictions or
requirements;
(v)
ESP is approved by the dean, provost, and vice
president for research;
(vi)
In addition to the conditions above, for
intra-institutional consulting, the activities must include consultation across
departmental lines or involve a separate or remote operation.
(b)
Staff:
ESP is not generally permitted on funded projects, except under unusual
circumstances. Charges for work representing ESP above the base salary may be
allowable only when all of the following additional conditions are met:
(i)
Documentation is
provided that the work exceeds the responsibilities covered by
IBS;
(ii)
When approval for ESP is required by the sponsor,
approval must be requested and received by ORSP directly;
(iii)
The arrangement
complies with additional collective bargaining agreement restrictions and
requirements.
(G)
Committed effort
for faculty
Maximum committed effort for faculty
must consider activities not directly related to sponsored programs, such as
teaching, grant writing, advising, and service work. In most cases a maximum of
ninety-eight per cent effort may be allocated for sponsored projects. Effort
reporting responsibilities are defined in rule
3364-70-22
of the Administrative Code (principal investigator's responsibilities on
sponsored projects.
Replaces: 3364-70-18
