BT天堂

Because a sponsored proposal is a legal and financial commitment by UCA, not just an academic document. ORSP review ensures: 1) compliance with federal regulations, sponsor rules, and BT天堂policy; 2) correct calculation of effort, salary, fringe, IDCs, and cost sharing; 3) accurate institutional certifications and approvals, and 4) that BT天堂can accept, manage, and audit the award if funded. Proposals submitted without ORSP review risk rejection, delayed awards, or post-award compliance findings that cannot be corrected later.

UCA鈥檚 budget spreadsheet is the internal review tool ORSP uses to verify that salary/effort, fringe, and indirect costs are calculated correctly and consistently with UCA鈥檚 negotiated rates and policies before routing/approval. It also helps ORSP confirm the budget aligns with what BT天堂can actually pay, track, and audit under BT天堂systems and federal cost principles. Because professionals in several different offices review the budget, having categories placed consistently makes streamlines the review and routing processes.

Total direct cost (TDC) includes all allowable direct project costs (salaries, fringe, travel, equipment, supplies, tuition, subawards, etc.). Modified total direct dost (MTDC) is the subset of direct costs used to calculate indirect costs (IDCs or F&A). MTDC excludes certain categories required by federal Uniform Guidance, including the following: equipment, capital expenditures, tuition remission, participant support costs, subaward amounts over $25,000. Indirect costs are applied to MTDC鈥攏ot TDC.

Effort = the percentage of your total UCA-compensated work (100%) devoted to the project鈥攏ot a 40-hour week. BT天堂defines 100% effort as your total university-compensated activities (teaching, research, service, admin, etc.). To calculate: estimate the percent of your total BT天堂work that the project will require (e.g., 10%, 25%), then apply that percent to the relevant salary period.

Fringe benefits are the employer-paid costs tied to payroll (benefits like retirement, insurance, FICA, etc.). Under Uniform Guidance, fringe is part of compensation costs and is treated separately from salary.

At UCA, yes鈥攆ringe must be budgeted/charged on salaries and wages using UCA鈥檚 published fringe rates (see “Frequently Used Information”), unless the sponsor has a documented cap/policy that limits it (in which case the difference may need to be covered as cost share).

Work backward: 1. Decide the salary dollars you want charged to the grant (based on effort % and the salary period). 2. Add fringe using the correct BT天堂rate for that employee/term. Total personnel line = Salary + Fringe. ORSP can help you translate a target dollar amount into an effort % that fits your appointment period and the sponsor鈥檚 rules.

IBS is the salary that corresponds to your 100% BT天堂effort for a given appointment period. For most 9-month faculty, 鈥�3-month summer IBS鈥� typically means the summer salary base equivalent to three months, often calculated as (9-month salary 梅 9) 脳 3 (i.e., one-third of the 9-month base), before applying effort %.

Uniform Guidance expects compensation charges to be reasonable and consistent with institutional policy. It is UCA’s policy to charge a 2% COLA raise on salaries every year after the first project period. If COLA raises are not issued, ORSP and Post-Award Grants and Contracts will work with the grantee and the awarding agency’s program officer to negotiate how the leftover funding will be expended.

UCA鈥檚 federally negotiated indirect-cost (IDC) rates are as follows:

• On-Campus Employees with Effort toward a Grant: 33.20% of salaries and wages.
• Off-Campus Employees with Effort toward a Grant: 14.64% of salaries and wages.

Because BT天堂receives federal funding, the US Department of Health and Human Services acts as the “cognizant agency,鈥� the watchdog for most educational institutions that receive federal grant money. HHS audits UCA’s receipts every four years to ensure we follow the guidance provided in聽, Subpart E, formerly known as OMB Circular A-21, and don鈥檛 overcharge for indirect costs.

In mathematical terms, the rate is determined by dividing the indirect-cost pool by direct costs based on the previous four year鈥檚 receipts:

The indirect-cost pool numerator accounts for institutional expenses that keep the lights on but cannot be cleanly assigned to a single, specific microscope or research paper. Federal auditors allow BT天堂to aggregate these into two main buckets.

Facilities: Building depreciation, interest on structural debt, equipment depreciation, operations and maintenance (utilities, janitorial services, campus security), and library operations that grant activities expend above normal, daily university operations.

Administration: General administration (payroll, HR, legal), departmental administration (the operational costs of administrative assistants and other support staff that manage purchase orders, personnel action forms, and quotes for services and equipment), and the Offices of Research and Sponsored Programs and Post-Award Grants and Contracts, which assure grants and contracts meet federal guidelines prior to award and monitor grant activities post-award, including research compliance with human participants and animal subjects.

The modified total direct cost base denominator includes the following example expenses:

• Direct faculty/staff salaries
• fringe benefits
• travel for conferences and project development
• lab supplies
• the first $25,000 of any subaward

Examples of costs that would be excluded from the denominator would be capital equipment (items over $5,000), student tuition remission, rental of off-campus space, and any subaward expenditures beyond the first $25,000.

So, in the previous negotiation, BT天堂spent $10,000,000 in MTDC on grant-eligible activities (paying researchers, buying pipettes, funding project travel).

After complex space-use studies (calculating how many square feet of buildings devoted to grant projects consume electricity and how many hours payroll spends processing grant stipends, for example), HHS agrees that BT天堂spent $3,320,000 in back-end support to sustain grant-specific activities.

The math translates to $3,320,000 / $10,000,000 = 33.20%.

It depends on the role and campus norms, but the big rules are: 1) pay must be reasonable for the work performed and consistent with UCA鈥檚 practices; 2) graduate assistants are often appointed at 20 hours/week with enrollment requirements (per Graduate School policy) and are paid through BT天堂payroll; 3) administrative graduate assistants must be paid an assistantship that is equivalent to $11/hour. 4) pay for teaching and research assistants should be discussed with chairs and deans. Undergraduate student workers are paid at least minimum wage. In Arkansas, that is $11/hour for non-tipped employees. For a specific budget, ORSP can help you select an appropriate pay rate consistent with the unit鈥檚 typical GA/student worker pay.

Follow UCA鈥檚 written travel practices which are inline with Uniform Guidance as follows: estimate by the components of transportation + lodging + meals/incidental/per diem + registration + local ground transit. Uniform Guidance allows travel to be charged on an actual cost, per diem, mileage, or a combination (applied consistently for the trip).

At UCA, these are separate budget categories/account codes: Individual Travel 鈥� Official Business (non-conference travel) and Individual Travel 鈥� Conferences (conference-related travel)

Budget a reasonable placeholder trip using a realistic estimate (e.g., one domestic conference): airfare, lodging nights, per diem/meals, registration, ground transit. In the justification, say 鈥渙ne national conference (TBD)鈥� and describe what the travel accomplishes (presenting results, required training, project coordination). Uniform Guidance focuses on travel being necessary, reasonable, and consistently treated.

Professional services are consultant/professional fees paid to individuals/entities with specialized expertise who are not BT天堂employees (e.g., evaluator, statistician, artist/performer as contractor, lab service provider). They must be reasonable, justified, and properly classified (contractor v subawardee when applicable).

Generally, no鈥攊f the person is a BT天堂employee, payment is normally handled as salary/effort or approved extra service/overload, not as a 鈥減rofessional service鈥� contractor payment. Extra service pay is tightly controlled: it must follow written institutional policy and, in many cases, be specifically budgeted/approved by the sponsor.

Indirect costs (F&A) are the university鈥檚 shared costs that support research and sponsored projects (e.g., facilities, utilities, administrative infrastructure) that can鈥檛 be assigned to one project with precision, so they鈥檙e recovered through a negotiated rate.

UCA鈥檚 IDC rates are negotiated with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (UCA鈥檚 cognizant agency) and documented in UCA鈥檚 federal rate agreement.

By university policy, grant applicants are required to apply the negotiated IDC rate when the sponsor allows it. If the sponsor has a published, consistently applied limitation (e.g., 鈥淚DC capped at 10%鈥�), BT天堂will honor the sponsor鈥檚 limit鈥攂ut ORSP needs that documentation during routing.

Usually, if it鈥檚 a BT天堂employee, compensation should be handled through payroll (salary/effort or approved extra service pay), not as a stipend. Stipends are generally treated as student/participant support and are restricted by sponsor and institutional rules. If you鈥檙e thinking 鈥渟tipend鈥� for an employee, talk to ORSP early so it鈥檚 classified correctly.

Scholarship: Typically a student aid/tuition-support mechanism supported by a funding opportunity such as the NSF Noyce Scholarship Program. Stipend: Money paid to a student/participant with no work obligation. Tuition remission: Project-paid tuition costs when allowable. Uniform Guidance allows certain tuition remission/support if consistent with institutional policy and treated appropriately.

Yes. While the university makes every effort to keep the cost of tuition down, hikes are inevitable. Applicants should include a 4% increase for every year of the project.

Cost sharing is required only when the sponsor explicitly makes it a condition of the award (usually in the program guidelines/NOFO). BT天堂defines mandatory cost share and requires documentation of the sponsor requirement before routing.

Functionally, yes鈥斺�渕atch鈥� is a common sponsor term for cost share (BT天堂treats them under the same policy umbrella).

A 鈥渕atch rate鈥� is usually expressed as follow: 鈥�1:1 match = BT天堂contributes $1 for every $1 sponsor provides 鈥�25% match = BT天堂contributes 25% of total project costs (or sometimes 25% of sponsor share鈥攁lways check the NOFO wording) ORSP will help you translate the sponsor鈥檚 language into a concrete required dollar amount and documentable sources.

UCA鈥檚 policy prioritizes: 鈥�Department/college resources first, then 鈥�Limited ORSP support (case-by-case), and 鈥�Allowable third-party contributions/intramural sources when permitted. Federal funds may not be used as cost share.

BT天堂policy does not allow voluntary committed cost sharing because it creates binding commitments that can reduce our indirect-cost rate agreement.