Office of Title III Programs

FloridaA&MUniversity

Office of Title III Programs

Meeting to Plan 2009-2010 CDP for Graduate Funding

March 4, 2009

Important information to remember when preparing the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for graduate funding:

There are three types of OPS categories—undergraduate students, graduate students, and OPS staff; make sure that funds are put in the correct category for which you are intending to spend.
Before preparing the proposal speak with a representative from Personnel concerning any position you are planning to put in the proposal so that the position would meet the needs you intent and the classification would be correct (i.e. A&P, USPS). This is important because the fringe benefits are different depending on the classification.
Graduate funding cannot be used for faculty development. Therefore, if you plan to travel it should be to attend a meeting/conference with the intent to enhance the curriculum. In the budget for travel we would need cost of ticket, per diem, hotel, incidental expenses, etc., for each trip. The name of the meeting/conference should also be listed in the proposal.
There is a category where fees for registration for meetings/conferencesshould be put. It should not be listed in the travel category.
If you plan to purchaseequipmentwhich cost $1000 or more it must be put in the OCO category. This equipment has to be $1000 or greater per item; however, if the pieces of equipment work together and the totalis $1000 or more, then it is also OCO. Be sure to complete an IRR form for all equipment.

Example: If you order a computer monitor for $800 and the hard drive for $300, each piece is less than $1000, but they work together, so you will have to code each one as OCO.

Example: If you purchase software at $10,000 and you plan to have 1500 users this software will be considered Expense and not OCO. The reason is that you have to take the total amount of the software and divide by the total number of users which will make this software less than $1000. A lot of labs purchase software, in which, there will be many users this in essence will be considered an Expense. Also, if the Title III Office purchases a piece of Software at $10,000 with 8 users, this will be coded as OCO, because when you divide the total cost of the software and users, your total is still greater than $1000. I would recommend that whenever you purchase a piece of software, that you contact the Title III Office if you do not understand the coding.

Funding for students who will receive stipends or scholarships should be put in the category “grant & aid.” When preparing your objective this statement should be used: Scholarships, fellowships and other financial assistance for ……..

If you plan to hire a consultant, you have two choices:

(1)OPS contract: If choosing this process you will have to complete an OPS contract and the individual will be paid biweekly. Most people use this process if the individual works for the University, but the proposed employee will have to complete an Extra State Compensation form.

(2)Requisition: In this process you will have to complete a requisition along with a Consultant Agreement Contract. With this process, the individual cannot be a current employee at FAMU.

Please check with Academic Affairs and Personnel before engaging a consultant if the person is currently employed at FAMU.