Pre-Award: 00: Sponsored Project Key Terms and Definitions

Scope

This document provides definitions for key terms concerning sponsored project policy and administration.

Exceptions

Refer to Uniform Guidance for additional acronyms, terms, and definitions relevant to sponsored project policy and administration.

Acceptance: Review and confirmation of the project terms and requirements by all parties.

Allocability: a direct cost is allocable to a sponsored project if it is incurred specifically for the sponsored project; or it benefits both the sponsored project and other work of the institution and can be distributed in proportions that can be approximated using reasonable methods.

If a cost benefits two or more projects or activities in proportions that can be determined without undue effort or cost, the cost should be allocated to the projects based on the proportional benefit. If a cost benefits two or more projects or activities in proportions that cannot be determined because of the interrelationship of the work involved, then the costs may be allocated or transferred to benefited projects on any reasonable documented basis. However, this allocation cannot be used to eliminate cost overruns.

Allowability: Direct costs must meet the following criteria to be considered allowable: are necessary and reasonable for the project; conform to limitations/exclusions listed in the UG; are consistent with related policies and procedures, and are consistently treated across projects; are in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP); are not used to meet a cost sharing requirement on another project; and are adequately documented. Questions regarding allowability should be directed to your SPARC Research Administrator.

Budget Detail Report: Monthly reports issued by the Finance Office concerning sponsor project expenditures.

Closeout: The act of completing all internal procedures and sponsor requirements to terminate or complete a research project. Specifically, closing out a sponsored project that has terminated includes the PI’s completion of the project, filing of non-financial reports, submission of final financial reports and invoices, final payment requests (for LOC drawdowns), submission of project deliverables, and meeting any other terms and conditions of the sponsored agreement. Most awards have strict deadlines for completion of closeout activities. Failure to complete closeout within the deadline can result in non-payment of the final amount due or may affect the ability to obtain another award from the sponsor.

Consistency: All costs must be treated consistently with respect to institutional policies that apply to sponsored and non-sponsored activity.

Contractor: A contract is for the purpose of obtaining goods and services for the non-Federal entity’s own use and creates a procurement relationship with the contractor. The contractor is providing goods and services within normal business operations and provides similar goods and services to many different purchasers. Contractors normally operate in a competitive environment and are not subject to compliance requirements of the Federal program as a result of the agreement.

Cost Sharing or Matching: Contributions that are funded by the University or by a third party above the amount funded by the sponsor to support the scope of work defined by the sponsored award. It includes all contributions, including cash, in-kind, and committed effort that a recipient makes to an award.

Data/Resource Sharing Plan: A commitment by the university to the sponsor that the information, analyses and/or other resources created under the project should be made available after the project has closed.

Datasets: Information or data collected during the project, in any form.

Direct Costs: Costs that can be identified specifically with a particular sponsored project, or that can be directly assigned to such activity relatively easily with a high degree of accuracy. Direct costs include personnel compensation, materials, travel, subaward payments, and equipment.

Effort Commitment: The total of all activities performed in connection with St. Mary’s University is 100% effort. Typically, these activities include all courses taught, including overloads, research and service to the institution, and are used as the basis for compensation. For faculty the overall effort is described in the Faculty Handbook; for professional staff effort is defined in position descriptions. These definitions must be the same for all individuals regardless of whether or not they are engaged in sponsored projects.

Faculty: Please see the Faculty Handbook for definitions of faculty appointments.

Final Financial Reports and/or Final Invoices: The accounting of expenditures and obligations incurred during the period of performance and/or at the conclusion of the sponsored project using the sponsor-mandated report format.  A financial report may also contain “cost share” expenditures and program income (reported and disbursed) for the sponsored project when applicable.

Final Letter of Credit Draw Down: Funding issued via a letter of credit must be drawn down within 90 days of the end of the award (some agencies allow 120 days from end date). These draw down requests are made by SPARC weekly (or monthly) and based on expenditures posted to the general ledger.

Financial Rough Draft Report: A draft of the financial report certified by the PI and/or department manager. Changes and/or adjustments are also included on this document.

Fixed Price Sponsored Award: This type of agreement is for a price agreed to up front and requires the University to successfully perform the work and deliver the product.

Funding Opportunity Announcement: A public or non-public solicitation inviting proposals.

Indirect Costs: Indirect costs are operating costs necessary to conduct sponsored activities that cannot be directly allocated to a single project. The University has a federally negotiated indirect cost rate with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and is used for all sponsored project where allowed. Budgets must apply the appropriate indirect rate unless otherwise restricted by the funding agency. Indirect costs represent an allocation of the real costs of the facilities and infrastructure that house University research and programs.

Indirect Recovery Funds: Funds recovered from indirect costs on sponsored projects that are used to advance research/training/faculty development-related expenses.

Institutional Base Salary: Annual compensation that the applicant organization pays for an individual’s appointment, whether that individual’s time is spent on research, teaching, patient care, or other activities.

Interim/Annual Financial Reports:  Many sponsors require the submission of annual and/or interim financial reports or invoices at the end of a budget period.  The expenditures reported on interim/annual reports represents expenditures that incurred within the specific budget period.

Key Personnel: the individuals identified in the proposal as being critical to the conduct of the project. Typically, these individuals are named and their credentials are described in the proposal to support reviewers’ assessment of the feasibility of the project. Salary for persons identified as Key Personnel need not be included in the budget or funding request.

Limited Submission Opportunity (LSO): An LSO is an external funding program that is open to all applicants but for which the funder will restrict the number of applications per institution. In some instances, there may be two or more individuals from St. Mary’s wishing to respond to an LSO. SPARC will facilitate a review of pre-application proposal materials to make a determination regarding which proposal(s) will be sponsored by the University for submission.

Mandatory Cost Sharing: Cost sharing required by sponsor as a condition of obtaining an award. It must be included or a proposal will receive no consideration by the sponsor.

Matching Costs: Funds from internal (non-award) sources that must be provided in an amount proportional to the award amount, as specified in the project agreement.

Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC): Means all direct salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to the first $50,000 of each subaward (regardless of the period of performance of the subawards under the award). MTDC excludes equipment, capital expenditures, charges for patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs, and the portion of each subaward in excess of $50,000. Other items may only be excluded when necessary to avoid a serious inequity in the distribution of indirect costs and with the approval of the cognizant agency for indirect costs.

No Cost Extension (NCE): A mechanism to extend the performance period of an award without adding additional funding. NCE’s typically must be requested before the award period ends.

Notice of Intent: The Notice of Intent (NOI) form communicates the intention of a PI to develop and submit a proposal for a sponsored project to relevant institutional stakeholders and also serves to document approvals from stakeholders during proposal development. The NOI can be accessed through SPARC’s Award Processes webpage on Gateway. PIs are responsible for contacting a SPARC research administrator for support in completing and routing the NOI. PIs may be required to submit additional information along with the NOI form as determined by SPARC before it can be submitted for the approval process.

Pass-through Entity: An institution that receives funds or establishes an agreement for a sponsored project and then executes a sub-agreement derived from it.

Primary Agreement:  A direct agreement between the external sponsor and a project implementing institution.  This document reflects any final terms, amendments or additions that are negotiated with the sponsor after a proposal was submitted.

Primary Awardee: An institution that receives funds or enters into a project agreement directly with an external sponsor.

Principal Investigator (PI)/Project Director (PD): An individual who is primarily responsible for the development, implementation, and reporting of an externally funded project. Note that while the role of a principal investigator can be distinguished from that of a project director, SPARC’s policies use principal investigator/PI as a shorthand for both.

Progress and/or Technical Report: Programmatic report of the project- includes the science/technical aspect of the project. This report is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator.

Project Budget: a description of all of the funds associated with a sponsored project, regardless of source, and their intended uses in project implementation.

Project Concept or Abstract: a high-level description of the project goals, scope, activities, outcomes, and other key features that supports assessment of the alignment of the project with sponsor and university goals and policies.

Project Performance Period:  The period, specified in the project agreement and any subsequent modifications, during which the project is active. This period typically begins with the execution of the award agreement and ends on the date specified in the final amendment to that agreement.  It does NOT include any close out period during which obligations are liquidated.

Project Records: The final report(s), notice of their acceptance and approval by the sponsor, along with the proposal, project agreement, interim reports, equipment inventory and any other documents required by the sponsor constitute the Official Project File. 

Proposal: The materials submitted to and accepted by a sponsor and the university that defines the project.

Reasonableness: A direct cost is reasonable if it passes the prudent person test: the nature and amount of the costs do not exceed what a prudent person would have determined when incurring the costs in the same circumstances.

Sponsored Project: An activity undertaken at the behest of, and with the approval of an external entity and formalized in writing through a project agreement, e.g., an award notice, memorandum of understanding, contract, etc., regardless of whether funds are also provided.

Statement of Work/Scope of Work: The description of the project to be accomplished as submitted and subsequently amended upon which the grant, cooperative agreement or contract is awarded.

Subaward: Subaward means an award provided by a pass-through entity to a subrecipient for the subrecipient to carry out part of a Federal award received by the pass-through entity.  It does not include payments to a contractor or payments to an individual that is a beneficiary of the Federal program. A subaward may be provided through any form of legal agreement, including an agreement that the pass-through entity considers a contract.

Submission: Formal certification and delivery of a proposal to an external sponsor that commits the university and its employees to compliance with external and internal policies and regulations.

Subrecipient:  Subrecipient means a non-Federal entity that receives a subaward from a pass-through entity to carry out part of a Federal program; but does not include an individual that is a beneficiary of such program. A subrecipient may also be a recipient of other Federal awards directly from a Federal awarding agency.

Unallowable Costs: The Uniform Guidance addresses selected costs in Part 200 Subpart E Cost Principles, providing guidance to determine allowability. Several specific cost items are identified as unequivocally unallowable on a sponsored project, either as a direct or an indirect cost, including alcohol as entertainment, bad debt, personal use of automobiles, and losses that could have been covered by insurance. Other cost items can only be charged with the prior written approval from the sponsor, including for example entertainment, buildings and land, and student activities. Individual sponsor and project requirements may identify additional unallowable costs; GMs and PIs must review sponsor policies and award documents for specific guidance.

Unliquidated Obligations: The amount of obligations incurred by the recipient that have not been paid. For reports prepared on an accrued expenditure basis, these represent obligation amount incurred by the recipient that has not been settled or paid.

Unobligated Balance: The portion of the funds authorized by the sponsor for expenditure under a Notice of Award (NoA) that has not been obligated by the end of a budget period.

Voluntary Cost Sharing: resources made available to a given project solely at the discretion of the grantee institution performing the research. These resources may be Committed or Uncommitted.