- Account Establishment: Creating a chartfield string (PeopleSoft term for key data elements of the
University's chart of accounts) to record the budget and track costs associated with
a sponsored project. It includes a fund, department, program, and project/grant. The
project/grant chartfield, beginning with 鈥�80鈥�, is the unique identifier for a sponsored
project.
- Administrative Law: A body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of the government.
In the United States, it includes the codification of all general and permanent rules
issued by federal executive departments and agencies, which are published in the Code
of Federal Regulations following their appearance in the Federal Register.
- Allocable Cost: A cost that is assignable to a particular award in accordance with the benefit received
by the award. Costs allocable to one award may not be charged to another award to
overcome fund deficits, or to avoid restrictions imposed by the sponsor. If the cost
benefits two or more awards, the cost should be charged to each award in proportion
to the benefit received by each award.
- Allowable Cost: Any cost that is necessary and reasonable for the performance of the award and that
conforms to any limitations or exclusions set forth by regulation or the award agreement.
- Applied Research: Efforts that attempt to determine and exploit the potential of scientific discoveries
or improvement in technology such as new materials, devices methods, and processes.
- Assistance Agreement: A legal instrument used to transfer funds for a public purpose, such as a grant
or a cooperative agreement.
- AOR: Authorized Organization Representative
- Authorized Organization Representative: Certifies (is the individual(s) authorized to act and obligate an institution) and
legally binds the institution and assumes responsibility for adhering to all grant
and contract administration, the obligations imposed by laws, regulations, requirements,
and conditions that apply to grant and contract applications and awards.
- Award: Funds provided by an external sponsor to support a project.
- Basic Research: The systematic study directed toward greater knowledge or understanding of the fundamental
aspects of phenomena and of observable facts without specific applications towards
processes or products in mind. It includes all scientific study and experimentation
directed toward increasing fundamental knowledge and understanding in those fields
of the physical, engineering, environmental, and life sciences.
- BAA: Broad Agency Announcement
- Broad Agency Announcement: A competitive solicitation of proposals for basic and applied research.
- Budget: A financial plan or estimate with expense categories and dollar amounts required
to execute a project's objectives.
- Budget Category: A budget section comprising a type of expenditures, e.g., salaries, travel, commodities,
equipment.
- Budget Period: An interval of time by which the project period is divided for budgetary purposes.
- CFDA: Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
- Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance: An e-gov initiative managed by the General Services Administration. It contains
financial and nonfinancial assistance programs administered by departments and establishments
of the federal government. As the basic reference source of federal programs, the
primary purpose of the Catalog is to assist users in identifying programs that meet
specific objectives of the potential applicant and to obtain general information on
federal assistance programs. The CFDA describes major funding programs, not individual
opportunities.
- Carryover (Carry Forward): The remaining available budget balance that may be added to the next
budget period. Carryovers are not always automatic or allowed by the sponsor.
- Co-I: Co-Investigators
- Co-Investigator(s): Key personnel who have responsibilities similar to that of a PI on research projects.
While the PI has ultimate responsibility for the conduct of a research project, the
Co-I is also obligated to ensure the project is conducted in compliance with applicable
laws and regulations and institutional policy governing the conduct of sponsored research.
- Conflict of Interest: Any situation where personal, professional, financial, or other private interests
of an individual or institution compromise or can potentially compromise the exercise
of professional judgment or obligations. This also includes any situation that can
be perceived as a conflict of interest.
- Consultant: Someone whose expertise is required to perform an aspect of the project's objectives.
- Contributed Effort: The personnel time expended on a sponsored project that the sponsor does not compensate
for; a form of cost sharing or matching.
- CAS: Cost Accounting Standards
- Cost Accounting Standards: These standards require consistency in estimating, accumulating and reporting costs.
The University must comply with the following standards:
- CAS 501: (1) Requires consistency in estimating, accumulating, and reporting costs, and (2)
provides a basis for comparing such costs.
- CAS 502: Consistency in allocating: Requires the University to charge costs incurred for
the same purpose in the same manner, either as direct costs or indirect costs.
- CAS 505: Accounting for unallowable costs: Requires educational institutions to identify
costs
specifically described as unallowable under the provisions of law, regulation or contract
so that those costs are not included in costs charged to a federal award, including
cost elements included in an F&A rate.
- CAS 506: Cost accounting period: An educational institution must use either its fiscal year
or a fixed annual period approved by the government. 麻豆传媒 uses its fiscal year, which
is July 1 through June 30.
- Cost Reimbursement: A cost reimbursable agreement (contract or grant) stipulates that the University
is reimbursed for the actual cost incurred in fulfilling the agreement. Budgeted funds
must be spent within the budget or project period for the University to receive payment.
-
Consortium Agreement: Group of collaborative investigators/institutions; arrangement can be formalized
with specified terms and conditions.
-
Cooperative Agreement: A legal instrument of financial assistance between a federal awarding agency or
pass-through entity and a non-federal entity that, consistent with 31 U.S.C. 6302鈥�6305:
(a) Is used to enter into a relationship the principal purpose of which is to transfer
anything of value from the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity to the non-federal
entity to carry out a public purpose authorized by a law of the United States (see
31 U.S.C. 6101(3)); and not to acquire property or services for the federal government
or pass-through entity鈥檚 direct benefit or use; (b) Is distinguished from a grant
in that it provides for substantial involvement between the federal awarding agency
or pass-through entity and the non-federal entity in carrying out the activity contemplated
by the federal award; (c) The terms not include: (1) a cooperative research and development
agreement as defined in 15 U.S.C. 3710a; or (2) an agreement that provides only: (i)
direct United States Government cash assistance to an individual; (ii) a subsidy;
(iii) a loan; (iv) a loan guarantee; or (v) insurance.
-
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement: An agreement between a federal laboratory and a non-federal research partner to
cooperate on a joint research project where the parties share resources, personnel,
services, facilities, equipment, and intellectual property without the transfer of
funds from the federal laboratory.
-
Consortium Agreement: Group of collaborative investigators/institutions; arrangement can be formalized
with specified terms and conditions.
-
Covered Person: An individual subject to the training, disclosure, and other compliance requirements
outlined in an institution's conflict of interest policy.
- Cost Sharing (or Matching): Portion of a sponsored project鈥檚 cost that the sponsor requires the
University to provide, typically met by academic release time, cash, facilities and
administrative (indirect) cost differential, or a combination. Typically applies to
grants, not contracts.
- Cost Transfer: A direct charge expense transferred from one grant to another grant (one chartfield
string to another) after the charge has been posted in a financial accounting record
or system
- Deficit (Cost Overrun): Costs incurred and charged to a sponsored project in excess of the awarded amount.
- Direct Cost: Cost that can be specifically identified with a particular award with a high degree
of accuracy. Typical costs charged directly to an award are the compensation of employees
who work on that award plus their related fringe benefits, and materials and travel
required for project activities.
- Disbursement: Payment by the University for goods or services.
- DS-2: Short reference for the 鈥淒isclosure Statement for Educational Institutions.鈥� Institutions
receiving external funding in excess of $50 million annually must submit, and have
approved, a disclosure statement stipulating the institution's costing practices relative
to Cost Accounting Standards.
- Effort: The amount of time an employee spends on a sponsored project, usually expressed
as a percentage of the employee's total work time.
- Encumbrances/Obligations: The outstanding or unpaid dollar amount of items ordered, services
rendered, contracts awarded, etc. The University encumbers or sets aside funds for
sponsored projects salaries, estimated costs (greater than $200) noted on a Permission
to Travel Form, budgeted facilities and administrative (indirect) costs on sponsored
projects, and most instances in which a Purchase Order is issued.
- Equipment: Tangible, non-expendable items like furniture, instruments, or repairable machines
with a useful life exceeding one year and an acquisition cost of at least $5,000
(which meet or exceed the established thresholds defining equipment). Equipment is
not a replacement component returning a piece of equipment to its original condition.
If a component increases the capability of the original equipment and has an acquisition
cost that meets or exceeds equipment cost thresholds, it is considered a capital item.
- Expanded Authorities: Policy of some federal sponsors which delegates certain prior approval authorities
to grantee institutions; allows for internal University approval of administrative
and spending actions.
- F&A: Facilities and Administrative
- Facilities and Administrative Costs: Also called indirect costs, overhead, or administrative costs, they are actual costs
of conducting normal business activities, that cannot be readily identified with or
directly charged to a specific project or activity. The University's normal activities
include instruction, departmental research, organized research, public service and
others. F&A costs are real, auditable costs incurred by the University each time it
accepts an award for a sponsored project. If the University does not collect full
reimbursement for these costs, other University resources must be used to subsidize
them.
- Facilities and Administrative Cost Rates: The rates used to recover the F&A costs. Negotiated, approved rates are used for
all agreements with the federal government and for most non-federal projects, as allowable.
- FAR: Federal Acquisition Regulation
- FRA: Financial Reporting and Auditing
- Fixed Price Contract: Pays the University a fixed sum that is not subject to adjustment on the basis of
actual costs incurred; i.e., billings are not based on actual expenditures.
-
Funding Mechanism: Terms used to define how the financial relationship between the sponsor and the
recipient functions (i.e., Purchaser (Sponsor) - Procurement Contract, Patron - Grant, and
Partner - Cooperative Agreement)
- FOA: Funding Opportunity Announcement
-
Funding Opportunity Announcement: A publicly available document by which a federal agency makes known its intentions
to award discretionary grants or cooperative agreements, usually as the result of
competition for funds. Funding opportunity announcements may be known as program announcements,
requests for application, notices of funding availability, solicitations, or other
names depending on the agency and type of program. Funding opportunity announcements
can be found at Grants.gov, by accessing the Search Grants tab, and on the funding
agency's or program's website.
-
Fringe Benefits - Employee benefits paid by the employer (e.g., FICA, worker鈥檚 compensation,
withholding tax, insurance, etc.)
- General Purpose Equipment: Equipment not limited to research, scientific or other technical activities, e.g.,
office equipment and furnishings, air conditioning equipment, reproduction and printing
equipment, motor vehicles, and automatic data processing equipment.
- Governmental Donated Property: Property donated or transferred to the University by a municipality, county, state
agency, or the federal government.
- Government Furnished Equipment: Equipment provided to the University by the federal government or a government contractor;
title may or may not remain with the government.
- Grantee: Recipient of a grant.
- Indirect Costs: See Facilities and Administrative Costs.
- In-Kind Contribution: A non-cash commitment (e.g., donated effort, supplies, or other direct cost item)
to share the costs of a sponsored project. See also Cost Sharing.
-
Intangible Property: Property having no physical existence, such as trademarks, copyrights, patents,
and patent applications and property, such as loans, notes, and other debt instruments,
lease agreements, stock, and other instruments of property ownership (whether the
property is tangible or intangible).
-
Intellectual Property: Creative works or ideas embodied in a form that can be shared or can enable others
to recreate, emulate, or manufacture them. An intellectual property agreement is a
document executed between or among collaborating institutions that sets forth the
rights and responsibilities of each institution pertaining to the intellectual property
that may be created jointly by the collaborating researchers as well as intellectual
property created independently by each. Public Law 96-517, Bayh-Dole Act, is the law
that governs the rights to inventions discovered at educational institutions or small
businesses under projects funded in whole or in part with federal funds.
- Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement: Allows university faculty to temporarily be assigned to a federal agency while maintaining
their university status (usually less than 3 years). Salary, fringes, and travel are
usually covered.
- Internal Controls: A process, implemented by a non-federal entity, designed to provide reasonable assurance
regarding the achievement of objectives in the following categories: (a) effectiveness
and efficiency of operations; (b) reliability of reporting for internal and external
use; and (c) compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
- MTDC: Modified Total Direct Costs
- Modified Total Direct Costs: The portion of direct costs on which the facilities and
administrative costs are based, specifically: salaries and wages, fringe benefits,
materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to $25,000 on each subgrant or subcontract.
- Modified Total Direct Costs Base: The total Direct Costs less budget items excluded by
agreement with the audit oversight agency: equipment, construction, alterations and
renovations, hospital or clinic charges for patient care, space rental or lease, tuition
and fee remission, scholarships, and the amount of a subcontract exceeding $25,000.
- No-Cost Extension: Extends the period of performance to accomplish project goals without adding additional
funding. Make sure to contact your assigned Contracts and Grants Administrator /Coordinator regarding no-cost extensions.
- NDA: Non-Disclosure Agreement
-
Non-Disclosure Agreement: A written contract that officially recognizes a legally binding relationship between
two parties (i.e. the Disclosing Party and Receiving Party). Upon signing an NDA,
the two parties agree not to disclose certain proprietary or confidential information
explicitly outlined in the NDA agreement.
- NOA: Notice of Award
-
Notice of Award: The official, legally binding document that notifies the recipient of the award
of a grant, contains or references all of the terms and conditions of the grant, and
provides the documentary basis for obligating federal funds for the award.
- Off-Campus Projects: Activities performed in facilities not owned by the University.
- OMB: Office of Management and Budget
- ORA: Office of Research Administration
- OTA: Other Transaction Authority
- Other Transaction Authority: Used primarily by certain federal agencies (e.g., Department of Defense, NIH), OTAs
are flexible funding instruments that are not governed by standard procurement regulations.
They are typically used for research and development activities where traditional
grants or contracts are not suitable.
- Pre-Award: Pre-award activities refer to all actions taken prior to the formal funding of a
proposal. At 麻豆传媒, the Proposal and Award Management team supports faculty and staff
in identifying funding opportunities, developing proposals, and coordinating the submission
of contracts and grant applications to sponsors. Once funding is secured, the team
also assists with actions such as requesting prior agency approval for budget revisions,
programmatic changes, no-cost extensions, and changes in the designated PI.
- Pre-Award Costs: Costs incurred prior to the effective date of an award. Authorization to incur pre-award
costs must be obtained from ORA. Such costs are incurred at the institution鈥檚 risk
and must be allowable under the anticipated terms of the award. Guidance for pr
- Pre-Award Spending Accounts: An account established to allow project-related expenses to be incurred and charged
prior to the full acceptance or execution of an award from the sponsor.
- Preliminary Proposal (Pre-Proposal): A brief description, usually 2-10 pages, of research plans and estimated budget
that is sometimes submitted to determine the interest of a particular sponsor prior
to submission of a formal proposal.
- PI: Principal Investigator
- Post-Award: Activities beginning with funding the award and continuing until it is closed.
- Principal Investigator or Project Director: Employee with direct responsibility for carrying out a
sponsored project, the final technical report, any required deliverables, and stewardship
of the sponsored funds.
- Program Income: Gross income earned by a grant recipient that is directly generated by a funded
project or earned as a result of an award during the period of performance. Examples
include income from fees for services performed, the sale of items created or fabricated
under an award, and license fees and royalties on copyrighted materials.
- Project: Services or activities the awardee will provide for a specified period of time.
- Project Award: The approval and funding of a project as detailed in the award document. Specifies
the amount of funding, project period, and any special requirements or restrictions.
- PD: Project Director
- Project Period: Period of total time for which support of a program has been approved, initially
or by a renewal award. Project periods usually consist of one or more annual budget
periods.
- PAM: Proposal and Award Management
- Rebudgeting: Process by which funds available for spending are reallocated between budget categories
to allow best use of funds to accomplish project goals. Sometimes the sponsor's prior
approval is required.
- RFA: Request for Applications
- RFP: Request for Proposals
-
Research: Creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge, including
knowledge of humans, culture, and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge
to devise new applications. This higher purpose for research requires knowledgeable,
skilled, and dedicated research administrators to achieve its goals.
-
Research and Development: Any activity which is: (a) a systematic, intensive study directed toward greater
knowledge or understanding of the subject studied; (b) a systematic study directed
specifically toward applying new knowledge to meet a recognized need; or (c) a systematic
application of knowledge toward the production of useful materials, devices, and systems
or methods, including design, development, and improvement of prototypes and new processes
to meet specific requirements.
- Salary Verification (Time or Effort Certification): 麻豆传媒 process by which PIs and PDs review and verify that all salaries and wages charged
to a sponsored project are reasonable and correctly charged.
- Site Visit: A sponsor-initiated review of a proposed project; conducted at 麻豆传媒; can encompass
a fiscal or programmatic review or both.
-
Small Grant: A special type of award, often limited to a beginning researcher. Typically, such
an award may be obtained for one year only.
-
Termination: A clause that defines the cancellation of remaining work under a contract.
-
Time and Materials: A pricing model wherein the sponsor pays for allowable 鈥渢ime鈥� or salary/fringe costs
and 鈥渕aterials鈥� or the other direct costs necessary for the work with an established
maximum cost that the contractor may not exceed without prior sponsor approval.
- Sole Source Acquisition: A procurement that does not involve full and open competition because only one source
is available. Documentation justifying the use of single source acquisition is required.
- Solicitation: An announcement from a sponsor that describes a funding opportunity and invites
eligible entities to submit applications. See BAA, FOA, RFA, RFP.
- Special Purpose Equipment: Equipment which can be used only for research, scientific or other technical activities.
- Sponsor: An entity that funds a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement.
- Sponsored Agreement/Award: A contract, grant, or other agreement where the use of funds is restricted by the
sponsor and some action required by the University.
- Stipend: Payment made to a participant (not a university employee) in a sponsored project,
typically for participation only or to defray living expenses while engaged in instructional
or research activities.
- Subcontract/Subaward: An agreement issued under a prime contract, purchase order, grant, or other agreement,
for the procurement of services or program-related tasks.
- Supplies: Expendable items with a purchase price less than $5,000 and will wear out, deteriorate,
or be consumed in less than two years.
- The White House Office of Management and Budget: it establishes federal policy regulating grants and agreements.
- Time or Effort Certification: See Salary Verification.
- TDC: Total Direct Costs
- Total Direct Costs: The total of all direct costs budgeted for a project.
- Total Project Cost: The total of direct costs and indirect costs budgeted for a project.
- Unallowable Cost: For purposes of OMB Uniform Guidance, an expense that cannot be included in the
facilities and administrative cost rate proposal and cannot be charged as a direct
cost to federal sponsored agreements.
- Uniform Guidance: The OMB's "Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit
Requirements for Federal Awards" ().
- Unit Cost Contract: A particular type of Fixed Price Contract that pays the University based on services
provided for a particular unit or units produced; not subject to adjustments based
on the University's actual costs incurred.
-
Unilateral Award: An award made by a sponsor to an organization without considering competitive proposals.
Unilateral awards are most often made when unsolicited proposals receive favorable
treatment.
-
White Paper: Examples include informal proposals, Letters of Intent, Expressions of Interest,
or pre-proposals.
