Grant Budgets-Procedures and Policies
1. Personnel-Faculty
Summer salary
2. Personnel-Non-Faculty College Employees
3. Personnel-Students
4. Fringe Benefits
5. Facilities & Administration Costs
6. Travel
Foreign travel
7. Other Costs
8. Equipment
9. Cost sharing
Please note: Budgets must conform to both agency regulations and University policies. The Faculty Handbook states that all direct costs of a research project must be included in the proposed budget.
Any grant proposal requires the signature of the Authorized Institutional Official. The proposal must also go through an internal endorsement procedure that requires the signatures of the department chair, dean and persons who will have the budgetary responsibility for any cost-sharing required by the proposal. Other signatures may be required depending on the nature of the proposal. If the proposal requires new or additional space for a project, the Director for Campus Planning must approve and sign the routing form. If the proposal requires any type of renovation to existing space, the Director of Architectural and Construction Services must approve and sign the routing form. All of this information is found on the routing form.
1. Personnel - Faculty :
Use the current gross academic year salary as a base for calculating salaries to be included in budgets. The Comptroller's office recommends that budgeted salaries be adjusted by 3% per year to allow for future increases. (Note: This is only a projected figure; grant-funded salary will be based on academic base salary at the time it is paid. Faculty may not be paid more than is available in the grant budget.) Faculty may not be paid more than they are paid at NKU.
Academic year salary may not be requested unless the faculty member is scheduled for leave or has permission from the department chair.
If the budget involves the creation of new faculty positions, approval from the dean of your college and the Provost is required.
Summer Salary:
Budgets may request up to 2.5 months of extra compensation for work during the summer. Each month of summer salary is calculated at a rate of one-ninth of the previous academic year's salary (for a maximum of 2.5 months per summer). Exceptions to this policy must be approved by the Provost's office. Summer salary figures may be adjusted by 3% per year in multi-year budgets. (Note: This is only a projected figure; grant-funded summer salary will be based on your academic base salary for the previous academic year.)
Consult the Faculty Handbook for University policies about receiving income from consulting, lecturing, teaching at other schools, etc.
2. Personnel - Non-Faculty College Employees:
If specific individuals (technicians or administrative support people) are named in the budget, use their current salary or wage as a base for calculations. The Comptroller's office recommends that budgeted salaries/wages be adjusted by 3% per year to help ensure that there will be enough money in the budget to pay for the positions. (Note: This is only a projected figure; actual grant-funded salary must be consistent with the University's wage and salary program and grant-funded employees are governed by the same Human Resources policies and procedures as regular employees.)
If the budget involves the creation of new positions (even temporary ones), salary must be consistent with the University's wage and salary program. No personnel may be hired without following Office of Human Resources procedures, even if the positions are included in funded grant budgets.
3. Personnel - Students:
Student job categories and wages are set by Human Resources and administered by the Student Financial Aid Office. Student job categories and descriptions can be found on the Student Financial Aid web site.
No student may be hired without contacting Student Financial Aid, even if the position is funded by a grant.
The Human Resources Office sets policies relating to students who are not enrolled at NKU. NKU students who have graduated are not considered student workers and must be hired through Human Resources.
4. Fringe Benefits:
Faculty-
Fringe benefits must be included as a direct cost on all grant proposals to agencies and organizations that honor the negotiated rates. Details on calculations may be obtained from the RGC Staff.
Staff-
The fringe rate for staff as of 11/1/2008 is 15% of salaries and wages plus $5,600 for health benefits. Fringe benefits must be included as a direct cost on all grant proposals to agencies and organizations that honor the negotiated rates.
5. Facilities & Administration Costs (F&A; formerly known as "Indirect Costs"):
Effective 07/01/2009, NKU's negotiated rate for F&A is 35.4% of modified total direct costs for on-campus programs. This rate is used for all grant proposals to the Federal, State and local government (unless another rate is specified in the program guidelines). Some private sponsors will also pay for "overhead" or "administration" (or even for "indirect costs") but the rates vary according to the funding source. Many private sponsors will allow the inclusion of some administrative expenses as a direct cost; RGC will provide assistance in estimating these costs. Some federal sponsors will not pay indirect costs but allow the waived F&A to be used in our negotiated rate in calculating cost-sharing.
F&A (or indirect cost) represents a payment from the federal government or other sponsor to the host institution that provides the space and the support for scholarly research.
In effect, F&A payments reimburse the institution for all of the costs that are not directly supported by the grant and for all the hidden costs of sustaining a supportive environment where high quality research can be undertaken. The F&A payments are factored into the budgeting process as unrestricted income that assists NKU in providing up-to-date facilities and programs for our students and faculty.
6. Travel:
Travel costs include transportation to the destination, lodging and expenses for meals, local transportation, tips, etc.
You may charge actual travel expenses to your grant budget. If allowed by the granting agency and your approved budget, the University will allow you to base your request for reimbursement (lodging, meals and incidentals) on the Federal per diem rates. Other expenses will depend on actual needs. Most grantors require that travel arrangements be the equivalent of "economy class" and may scrutinize this section of the budget for reasonableness.
All travel on University business (including grant-funded travel paid through the University) must be arranged according to university travel policies. The university's designated travel agencies-(should be link)are a good source of information for proposed costs. You could also talk with people who have recently made trips to the proposed area. Adjust your estimates for inflation and other cost increases between the time you submit your budget and when the travel will take place.
Foreign Travel-
The U.S. State Department publishes rates for per diem and monthly living expenses for various places around the world. In most countries there is a value-added tax on hotels and food, which can add substantially to advertised costs. Most funding agencies require that foreign travel be specifically authorized through the awarded budget, contract or post-award memo. Foreign travel paid for with federal funds must be on U.S. flag carriers (with certain exceptions). Check the guidelines for other restrictions on federally funded travel.
7. Other Costs:
Consult the program guidelines carefully to see what other costs are allowable. Costs which customarily may be charged to a research grant include photocopies or communication costs unique to the project, supplies, field expenses and expendable laboratory equipment. Some grants allow software, computers, publications related to your research, purchase of equipment (see Section 8 below) and journal page charges.
NKU requires that all direct costs (comprehensively defined) be included in grant application budgets; allowance is made for granting agency policies and funding limits. Multi-year budgets may be adjusted by 3% per year to allow for inflation.
If equipment maintenance is an allowable cost, you must include it in your budget.
If guidelines allow for an allocation to the department or University or a payment "in lieu of overhead" this must be included in your budget.
8. Computers & Media Equipment:
Contact Associate Provost for Information Technology (Gary Pratt) if you are requesting funds for (or committing the use of) computers or media equipment. The Associate Provost for Information Technology must verify that the estimated cost is reasonable, equipment selected is compatible with our systems, and maintenance costs can be handled by NKU or have been included in the budget. The Associate Provost for Information Technology may provide this verification by a signature on the routing form.
For the purpose of federal grant proposals, equipment is defined as items with an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more and a useful life of more than one year. These are the only items of equipment that should be included in the "Equipment" section of a federal grant budget; items that don't meet this definition should be included in the "Other" section, as supplies or as "other."
9. Cost-Sharing:
If your grant proposal includes a cost-sharing (should be link) ("matching") commitment you must indicate on the routing form what accounts will be charged for these costs and obtain a signature from the account director.
There is a University fund to assist with cost-sharing on equipment and faculty research grants. (see policy)
Cost sharing indicates that there are costs associated with completing the project that the funding agency does not cover. Documentation is required for all cost sharing.