To the Attention of the University Community

New policies regarding externally funded research

October 12, 2004

Page 1

TO THE ATTENTION OF THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY

M E M O R A N D U M

To:Deans, Directors, Chairs, and Principal Investigators

From: Mark B. Rosenberg and George E. Dambach

Date:October 12, 2004

Subject: New policies regarding externally funded research

As you may know, the Division of Sponsored Research and Training (DSRT) published revised and updated policies and procedures for externally sponsored projects on February 11, 2004 (http://www.fiu.edu/~dsrt/policies.htm). The authority for policies and procedures contained in this guide are Florida Statute Section 1004.22 and FIU Academic Affairs Policies and Procedures Manual, Section 1.12.2.

The DSRT guide contains detailed policies and procedures for the administration of sponsored projects. Below we provide an abstracted version of the 117 page document.

COMPLIANCE AND TRAINING

The Vice President for Research is responsible for the overall administrative oversight of the University's mission relating to research and externally-funded projects, and is responsible for ensuring that the University community receives proper training and education on the research-related policies and procedures.

Many University units are available to the Principal Investigators (PIs) and departmental/center staff to ensure compliance with their responsibilities. DSRT is available to answer PI and staff questions. Additionally, applicable policies, procedures, laws, and regulations are reviewed with the PIs when each individual account is set up. Such review shall include budgetary issues such as what charges are allowable, what are direct and F&A costs, an overview of University policies and procedures on items such as purchasing, subcontracting, consulting agreements, budget transfers and no cost extensions, and an overview of OMB Circular A-21. All faculty and departmental staff involved in the administration of sponsored projects must be familiar with policies and procedures in order to ensure full compliance.

PI HAS PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY

The PI is the person who bears the primary responsibility for the scientific, technical, and fiscal administration of the project in accordance with the award document, the sponsor's guidelines, applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations, and FIU's policies and procedures. Although the PI may delegate certain functions to others, he/she may not delegate the responsibility for those functions. The PI bears the primary responsibility because he/she is the person best familiar with the requirements and progress of the project, and can best determine if the technical requirements are being met and the expenditures posted to the sponsored account are accurate and necessary.

DEAN/CENTER DIRECTOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Deans must also establish procedures to ensure that their faculty and staff are adhering to the University policies and procedures relating to sponsored projects, including allowable charges on sponsored accounts, and the laws and regulations pertaining to the same. Additionally, should sponsored accounts under the direction of faculty or staff in their colleges or centers incur disallowances for which the sponsors do not provide additional funding, the funds to cover those disallowances shall be transferred from the applicable college's or center's F&A account to the overdrawn sponsored account.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

Persons wishing to submit proposals to external sponsors must have those proposals approved by DSRT prior to forwarding the proposals to the sponsors. Complete proposal packages must be sent to DSRT for review at least one week prior to the sponsor deadline to allow for a complete review by DSRT. However, if the PI seeks to direct charge items normally allocated to F&A costs, then the PI must provide the complete proposal, together with the Direct Charge Exemption Form, to DSRT at least two weeks prior to the sponsor deadline.

Occasionally, a sponsor will limit the number of proposals that may be submitted by a university. In those instances, if DSRT receives more preliminary proposals than may be submitted to the sponsor, an internal competition will be held to determine which proposal(s) may be submitted.

DSRT forwards to the Office of International Studies proposals and/or awards that contain a substantial international component involving foreign educational institutions for review and determination, if the Office's involvement in the international project may further the University's mission and the externally-funded project.

AWARD AND POST-AWARD ADMINISTRATION HIGHLIGHTS

All awards from external sponsors for any FIU research, training, or community service project, other than gifts (which are administered through the FIU Foundation), must be negotiated and administered through DSRT, in conjunction with the PI and other FIU units such as Purchasing, Property Control, etc., as DSRT determines is necessary. PIs may not sign award contracts for sponsored projects on behalf of the University.

If a project is funded, the PI will be responsible for ensuring that the cost sharing is fulfilled, tracked, and documented for future reporting to the sponsor.

It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to make sure errors in charging a grant account are promptly corrected via cost transfers through DSRT, Post-Award.

The foremost responsibility for transfers of costs is with the PI, who must certify that the costs being transferred are applicable to the sponsored project. The PI's signature is required on all cost transfers. In order to meet federal and agency guidelines, all cost transfers to contracts and grants must be timely, appropriate, consistently treated throughout the University, and adequately documented. To ensure consistency in the treatment of cost transfers, there must be campus-wide awareness and training at the departmental level, where costs are incurred and first recorded.

While the DSRT Post-Award Section is responsible for invoicing the sponsor per the award document, the Principal Investigator must carefully analyze the PantherSoft budget to ensure that all items charged to the project are correct and that appropriate funds are budgeted and available for completion of the project. The PI also has the responsibility of initiating appropriate adjustments in the budget categories as each situation dictates.

TIME AND EFFORT CERTIFICATION

Each semester, an effort report will be sent by the Post-Award Section to each FIU employee listing the compensation that the individual received from FIU for the reported period, listed by project or department Identification number and amount, and expressed as a percentage of effort for all of that individual's FIU-related work activities. The employee must certify whether the report is an accurate estimation of the time he/she devoted to the listed activities in the preceding semester.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Any intellectual property developed by FIU faculty, staff, or students is also administered through DSRT. DSRT is also involved in the post-award administration of projects, reviewing such items as budget transfers and no-cost extension requests, preparation of subcontracts and consulting agreements, invoicing sponsors, and trouble-shooting administrative issues.

ALLOWABLE DIRECT CHARGES ON FEDERAL AWARDS

OMB Circular A-21(http://www.fiu.edu/~dsrt/useful_links.htm), which applies to Federally-Funded Projects and "Federal Flow-Throughs”, provides that only allowable direct costs may be charged to federally-funded projects. For direct costs to be allowable, the costs:

a)must be reasonable;

b)must be allocable to the sponsored agreement;

c)must be given consistent treatment;

d)must conform to any limitations.

OMB Circular A-21 provides guidelines on what may be directly charged to federally-sponsored projects, what costs must be recovered from the F&A costs attributable to the project and what charges may not be directly charged. Therefore, PIs and their staffs should ensure that they are familiar with these guidelines and consult with DSRT staff, should they have any questions.

For example, OMB Circular A-21 provides that no faculty or staff member may be reimbursed for more than 100% effort in any given time period, without a special justification and permission. Only long distance telephone and fax charges may normally be direct charged to federally-sponsored projects. Local telephone charges are normally not permitted, as they are recovered as part of the F&A costs. Government agencies will normally not approve purchase of general office equipment or furnishings (e.g., calculators, typewriters, desks, chairs, copy machines, and air conditioners).

Any limitation or waiver of F&A costs must be approved by the Vice President of Research and the PI's dean or center director (for independent centers) before the proposal is submitted to the sponsor. For particular F&A rates statutorily set or negotiated by FIU with other sponsors, see the Frequently Asked Questions section of the DSRT website at http://www.fiu.edu/~dsrt/faq.htm.

The allocation of F&A revenues is at the discretion of the Vice President for Research.

In limited circumstances, charges that are normally included in F&A costs may be directly charged to an award, if approved in writing by DSRT. To directly charge administrative or clerical salary or wages to a sponsored project, ALL of the following must exist with reference to the administrative and clerical salary and wages budgeted to the project:

• They must be explicitly budgeted in the proposal for the project and explained in the budget justification;
• They must be measurable and identifiable;
• They must go beyond the normal administrative departmental support as described above;
• They must be specifically identified with the project or activity directly (i.e., the project's technical mission).

FIU POLICY ON COST SHARING

It is FIU's policy that only mandatory cost sharing from FIU may be permitted on sponsored projects.

If cost sharing is permitted on a proposal per the FIU policy, the PI must complete a Cost-Sharing Form found on the DSRT website at www.dsrt.fiu.edu, listing all the cost sharing pledged to the project, per year, and with a cumulative amount. All cost sharing that is pledged on the project must be listed on the Cost-Sharing Form; this includes any commitment for cost sharing described in the text of the proposal.

Note that only allowable direct cost items may be used as cost sharing; therefore, if the cost is not allowed to be charged as a direct cost, it cannot be used for cost sharing.

The most prevalent form of cost sharing is salary or wages, as these may be more easily tracked. An example of cost sharing of salaries is when an employee is working on a funded project but is not paid from that grant account; the value of the employee's time spent working on the project including salary, fringe benefits, and indirect costs associated with such salary may be used as cost sharing. Any percent effort of personnel identified within the current proposal being submitted, for which no funding is requested from the sponsor, is considered cost sharing and

Appropriate approvals are required on DSRT's Cost-Sharing Form.

The Post-Award Section of DSRT is responsible for monitoring compliance with cost- sharing requirements and for ensuring that documentation is maintained to track the cost sharing that has been met. This is an after-the-fact review and should be seen as a stop-gap precaution. The PI is primarily responsible for ensuring that unallowable costs are not charged as cost sharing.

A plan for meeting the cost sharing required must be proposed by the PI or the PI's dean or center director. Failure to meet the cost-sharing agreements may result in penalties and or repayment of sponsor funding.

RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM

The Research Supplement Program (RSP) guidelines for the 2003-2005 fiscal years provide that the Program's objectives are: to increase the resources available to FIU for its academic programs by offering salary supplements to regular faculty and staff supported by E&G funds; to recognize their efforts in attracting and managing contract and grant support for FIU's research, training, and service programs; to increase grant-based activity; and to recognize outstanding levels of excellent scholarly and creative activities.

SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT

Upon receipt of an allegation of scientific misconduct, the Vice President for Research shall immediately begin an inquiry and shall so inform the Provost, identifying any outside funding source(s) for the research that is the subject of the inquiry. This inquiry is to determine whether a formal investigation is warranted. The Vice President for Research's inquiry and, if called for, the investigation may be carried out personally or through such standing or ad hoc arrangements as the Vice President for Research deems appropriate.

RECORDS RETENTION

PIs must ensure that they retain the programmatic and fiscal records related to their projects, as required by regulation. Generally, for federal awards, financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other records pertinent to an award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or for awards that are renewed quarterly or annually, from the date of the submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, as authorized by the Federal awarding agency. Records retention requirements for non-federal awards and exceptions to the federal award requirements are set forth in the DSRT guide on the DSRT web site.

Office of the Provost

University Park.Miami, FL33199.Tel 305-348-2151 . Fax 305-348-2994 .www.fiu.edu

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