Direct Costs (personnel, equipment, consultants, materials & supplies, travel, subcontracts)
Other Directs Costs (publication, copying & printing, computing services, telephone & fax charges, etc.)
Indirect Costs (also known as F&A costs)
The budget can be a very complicated section to tackle when writing your proposal. OSP and the Controller's Office are ready to assist you in preparing your project's budget. This section examines the basic components of a budget to give you a general understanding of what should be included and why.
NOTE: Most program sponsors specify how the budget should be presented, with the exception of fellowships. The fiscal policies of sponsors as well as the University change periodically, so OSP should be consulted early in the budget planning process.
The budget should reflect all the anticipated costs of the project. Proposal reviewers generally use the budget as one criteria to determine whether or not the investigator is fully aware of the requirements of the program. Agencies are unlikely to fund a proposal that purports to do too much with too little money and vice-versa. If the agency has a limit on grant requests, adjust the scope or target of your proposal to fit the resources you may obtain.
The items in a proposal budget can be divided into three broad categories: Direct Costs, Indirect Costs, and Matching Contributions.
Direct costs are the costs directly attributed to the project (i.e. salaries, travel, supplies) and must be covered in any research project. Following are the main categories of direct costs, and Bradley policies concerning them.
Personnel
Compensation requested for personnel from the funding agency must be for actual time devoted to the activity.
Faculty (Senior Personnel)
Your department may consider your participation in sponsored program activities as part of your normal or reasonable faculty load, in which case your salary is your compensation for sponsored program activities during the period of appointment. If your participation in such activities is considered beyond a normal load, you may seek compensation through a variety of mechanisms as described below. When compensated for a sponsored project, the project directors are expected to be in full time residence at Bradley, unless otherwise indicated in the proposal.
Release time from normal duties during the academic year. Release time refers to the freeing of a part of an individual's time from regular duties to carry out the sponsored activity. Release time can be budgeted for any employee, not just faculty members. It is the mechanism by which a department and the University can be reimbursed directly for faculty and staff time devoted to externally funded sponsored projects. Prior to budgeting release time, you need to contact your Department Chair for the appropriate arrangement.
There are two types of release time - that for which the sponsor pays and that for which the University pays (matching contributions). Sponsor-paid release time funds are shared by the department and college.
To calculate the amount to be budgeted for your release time, you need to determine what percentage of your time will be devoted to the activity. For example, if you need to be released from one course during each semester (1/4 or 25% release time), then you need to ask for 1/4 of your academic salary in your budget. This example assumes a 4 course teaching load each semester.
Funds generated as a result of faculty release time are returned to the particular college and department from which the proposal was submitted. See Section 3 for the "Distribution Procedure for Released-time Funds."
Summer support. For federally funded projects, the monthly rate of compensation is 1/9 of the 9 month contract total, if you are on an "academic year" (9 months) appointment, and 1/12 of the full-year contract total, if you hold a 12-month appointment. Other agencies may have different policies and in those cases the University policy on extra compensation will apply.
Extra Compensation. Supplemental compensation from a sponsored project account must be approved by the Department Chair and the Dean. If the request is greater than 200% base pay, it must be approved by the Provost.
NOTE: The Faculty Handbook describes the University's Extra Compensation Policy.
Student Research Assistants
Salaries and stipends for graduate and undergraduate student assistants must be identified in the budget. To budget for student help you need to specify:
. the total number of hours for the project, or the percentage of time (full or part time) for each student.
. rate of pay for each student, noting that salaries must be at least minimum wage.
Students may receive stipends and tuition from a sponsored project. The sponsored project duties are in addition to their course and thesis work as students. Undergraduate students typically are not assigned work loads of over 10 hours per week during the academic year. Graduate students may be classified as full-time (20 hours) or part-time (10 hours). Graduate student assistantships generally are a combination of tuition remission and stipend. Graduate student stipends are generally set by departments or colleges, and you should budget accordingly. Contact the Graduate School for graduate tuition and stipend amounts. Depending on the sponsor guidelines and indirect cost policy, a graduate student may have to pay tuition and fees or may receive a fee waiver.
Secretaries and Technicians
Secretarial and technical assistants are generally compensated on an hourly basis. If they are Bradley employees, their compensation rate is governed by the applicable University policy.
Fringe Benefits
For every salary charged to the sponsor for Bradley University personnel, related fringe benefit charges must be budgeted as well. Employee benefits include such items as FICA, insurance, retirement plan contributions, etc. These amounts must be charged to the grant in relation to the salaries that are given. Fringe benefits are currently calculated at 24% for Full-time employee wages (including grants, contracts, etc.) and 10.0% for Part-time employees and extra compensation/summer and winter interims for full-time Bradley University employees. Fringe benefits are not calculated against undergraduate and graduate student salaries, and are not waived in grant proposals where they are an allowable cost.
Each major item of equipment should be described in the budget and justified in the proposal. Equipment is defined for us by federal regulations. To be classified as equipment, an item must meet all of the following criteria:
have an acquisition cost of at least $1,000
have an expected service life of more than two years
not be expended or consumed in research
be complete in itself and retain its identity as a separate item
Allowable equipment is equipment not already available through the University. Freight charges should be included in the purchase price of the equipment. Maintenance, lease and rental contracts, equipment repair and fabrication should be budgeted separately. If any equipment requires special space needs, maintenance and/or staffing beyond the grant period, permission for continued support for these needs must be obtained before submission of the grant. Title to equipment purchased for sponsored projects should remain with the University.
Consultants' or lecturers' expenses, including fees, travel, per diem, lodging, and other expenses while staying in Peoria on Bradley business, should be included in the budget. Consultants should be named and their organizational affiliation identified. The nature and extent of their service to the project may have to be justified in a written narrative. Federal and University regulations generally do not permit payment of consulting fees to our own employees from sponsored projects. If University faculty and staff are needed on a sponsored project, they should be considered part of the personnel budget and their salaries budgeted accordingly.
The types of expendable equipment and supplies required should be indicated, with estimated costs. If substantial funds are required for supplies, you should offer a detailed breakdown of these items in the proposal, and give justification. Examples of items to include in this section are:
. Lab supplies such as chemicals, glassware, disposables, histology
supplies;
. Office supplies, questionnaires, and test materials;
. Animals: including purchase, shipping, housing and maintenance;
. Small equipment items such as hot plates, power supplies, water baths;
. Materials for equipment fabrication; and/or
. Instructional materials.
Travel, both domestic and foreign, is often a necessary part of a sponsored project. Transportation and per diem costs should be budgeted in accordance with the University's approved travel reimbursement rates, but also take into consideration any special sponsor requirements (for example, that a US airline should be used for foreign travel if possible).
Clearly state the reasons why travel is necessary for the project. Special permission from agencies may be needed for foreign or out-of-state travel. Allowances for air travel normally will not exceed round-trip jet economy-air accommodations. In general, only people directly involved with the project may travel on grant funds. Examples of expenses to include in this section are:
. Attendance at professional meetings, including air fare or mileage, hotel
and meal costs, and registration;
. Field work, including vehicle, mileage charges, field station fees and living
expenses;
. Travel to sponsor-required meetings or to consult with experts; and/or
. Local travel for interviewers, outreach personnel.
If some part of your project must be performed by colleagues at another university or by an outside company, a subcontract will be issued for the work.
A complete proposal (budget and technical information) should be requested from the prospective subcontractor. This proposal should be signed by an official authorized to enter into contractual agreements for the subcontractor. It may be necessary to solicit subcontract bids from several firms or organizations, including minority-owned or small business firms. If it is necessary to consider only a single source, a sole source justification may be required before the University can enter into an arrangement with that firm.
The subcontract proposal will be incorporated into your proposal to the sponsor. At no time before receipt of the award should a commitment be made or implied to a subcontractor. Commitments will be negotiated with a subcontractor only after the sponsor has awarded Bradley the contract or grant.
If you are contacted by someone at another institution about being a subcontractor on a project, talk with OSP before sending a proposal to the prime contractor. Subcontract proposals are treated in exactly the same way as any other proposal to an off campus sponsor, and the university routing procedure must be followed.
Costs that do not seem to fit into any of the above categories may be listed here. Examples of such costs include:
Publication Costs
Publication costs are not allowable as a direct cost of grants or contracts unless formally approved by the awarding agency. Costs for typing, editing, graphs, illustrations, tables, reprints, and other costs incurred prior to printing are not costs of publication and should be budgeted in other appropriate categories.
Copying and Printing Costs
Computing Services
The cost of computing services, including computer-based retrieval of scientific and technical information, must also be budgeted as a direct cost. Cost estimates should be based on established computer service rates. The budget also may request costs for leasing automatic data processing equipment. The costs for University-based services must be budgeted at rates approved by the University.
Telephone and Fax charges
Long distance telephone costs incurred by sponsored projects should be budgeted. However, in most cases, basic monthly telephone service charges, as well as installation charges, are considered indirect costs and need not be included.
Equipment maintenance, repair, and service contracts
Human subject fees, mileage, parking and meal reimbursements
Space and equipment rental
Machine shop charges
Trainee or Participant Costs
Trainees have no responsibilities except their course work and education. If a trainee is supported on a sponsored project (usually intended specifically as a training program) the actual tuition and fees must be budgeted. Allowable costs include:. Stipends and allowances
. Tuition and fees
. Travel
. Project supplies
Indirect Costs (top of page) (also known as F&A costs)
Along with the identifiable direct costs of a project (salaries, supplies, etc.) there is another set of costs not as easily associated with the sponsored project. Indirect costs are costs charged by Bradley for general support services, management, use of facilities, etc. They are sometimes referred to as "pooled costs" or "overhead costs." These are real costs absorbed by Bradley.
In general, the following categories comprise indirect costs :
General administration and general expense: accounting, payroll, administrative offices, etc.
Research administration: personnel and other costs of offices whose responsibility is the administration of research.
Plant operation and maintenance: utilities, janitorial services, routine maintenance and repairs, etc.
Library expenses: books, library staff, etc.
Departmental administration expenses: administrative cost at the college and department level.
Depreciation or use allowance: for buildings and equipment, excluding those paid for by the federal government.
In order to recoup these real costs, the university adds an indirect cost to each sponsored project. Indirect costs are assessed at a rate which is negotiated with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
NOTE : The current indirect cost rate is 50%. This indirect cost rate is applied only to direct personnel costs (excluding fringe benefits) for Bradley project personnel. This is called the indirect cost "base."
Although Bradley's indirect costs are assessed only on wages, many other universities' rates are assessed on the entire project cost. This distinction is important because the same rate (i.e. 50%) could result in significantly different amounts of indirect costs, depending on the base (i.e. wages only, total project costs, or MTDC) on which it is assessed.
Most funding agencies understand and expect that indirect costs will be included in funding requests. However, some agency guidelines specify indirect cost rates that are in exception to Bradley's requirement for full indirect cost recovery. These include:
Private, non-profit agencies that have a written policy of paying all their grantees a standard rate lower than the University's negotiated rate.
Awards from Federal or State agencies that pay all of their grantees an indirect cost rate lower than the university's negotiated rate.
There are a few agencies, such as the Illinois Humanities Council, which do not allow any indirect costs to be included in a funding request. Because every agency handles this area of the budget differently, it is important to be familiar with their guidelines.
NOTE: Since indirect cost payments are literally reimbursement for expenditures already made by the University, such payments should not be considered undesignated income available for discretionary allocation. For a breakdown of how different University units are reimbursed, see Section 3 for the Procedure for Sharing Indirect Costs.
Increasingly, funding agencies are requiring applicants to provide for a portion of the project funding through matching funds. This can be very frustrating, particularly when you know your department does not have the discretionary funds. For example, often the matching requirements for an equipment grant will exceed the entire annual capital budget of a department.
You should not give up such funding opportunities! In most cases there are ways to satisfy agency matching funds requirements.
In many cases, matching support can be provided over several years. You do not have to secure all the required matching funds before the proposal is submitted. In most cases, the matching funds are required to be provided over the course of the grant period. For example, this means that you only have to come up with 50% of the match on an annual basis for a two year grant. Therefore, if you have the option, you may want to consider asking for a longer grant period.
In many instances, matching contributions do not have to be cash. There are many legitimate sources of funds available that may satisfy match requirements, such as personnel time and facility usage. Faculty released time can be a major contribution. For a faculty with a salary of $40,000 per academic year, release from a single course each semester for the year (quarter released time) is equivalent to $10,000. Added to that is fringe benefits of $2,240 (22.4%). Some agencies also allow the indirect costs as a legitimate source of matching funds, adding an additional $5,000 (50% of salaries) for this example.
Graduate assistants can also be a matching contribution. If a graduate student assigned to a particular department by the Graduate School works on the project, the cost of that graduate assistant to Bradley is a valid matching contribution.
Under special circumstances, the University may consider providing a portion of indirect costs as matching funds. For projects that directly contribute to Departmental, College, or University goals, a portion of indirect costs may also be provided by the University. Direct your request to the Managing Director of OSP, who will forward it to the Provost.
Already budgeted personnel time (including fringe benefits and possibly indirect costs) of staff who assist with the grant may qualify as matching funds. Such personnel may include technical support staff (technician, computer personnel, consultants) and clerical staff. Computers used for research can be used as an in-kind match for some agencies.
If none of these sources of matching funds is appropriate or the funding agency has special restrictions on matching funds, do not give up. There are many other sources of matching funds. Departments may be able to contribute in various ways from their own operating budgets. Department funds that are already being provided for capital, travel costs, or supplies may be count towards as a match if they are related to the grant's objectives. Internal grants, such as Teaching Excellence Awards and Research Excellence Awards, can also be used as a cash match. In some instances, there is a possibility of obtaining corporate or foundation sponsors by working with the University Advancement Office.
NOTE: In all cases, matching funds cannot be derived from funds that were expended prior to the start date of the grant activities.
NOTE: State-funded grants may qualify as match on federal grants related to similar research or academic program objectives. However, federal government funds cannot be used as a match for other federal grants.
With a little planning, matching funds typically are available and should not prevent you from pursuing your objectives. If you need to have matching funds to obtain an external grant, it is essential that you receive support and commitment from your Department Chair and College Dean. Exhaust these routes before approaching the Provost for match. The University will do its best to help you find ways to meet matching funds requirements, so don't let such requirements stop you from seeking external funding. The Controller's Office can also be of assistance in outlining the procedures used to calculate the value of matching contributions.
