Faculty Research Funds
Definitions
|
Research Funds |
Discretionary funds awarded to a faculty member are intended to supplement existing and available funds and can be used to fund any qualified University research expenditure. Such expenditures support the overall research activities of individual faculty members and the University community at large. |
|
Institutional Base Salary (IBS) |
Institutional base salary (IBS) is the annual compensation paid by the University for an employee's appointment (10-month or 12-month), whether that individual's time is spent on research, instruction, administration, or service. IBS excludes any income that an individual is permitted to earn outside of duties for the University. It may include salary paid from State funds, grants or contracts, gifts and endowments, and/or other funds. |
|
Indirect Costs (IDC) |
Also referred to as F&A, these are the costs incurred for common or joint objectives AND cannot be identified readily and specifically with a particular sponsored project, a particular university-funded research project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity. They represent the expense of doing business and are necessary for the general operation of the organization and the conduct of activities it performs. These include, but are not limited to departmental administration, plant operations and maintenance, and space-related costs. |
Guidelines
In recognition of the need for flexible funding to support a dynamic and active research program, the provost provides several mechanisms by which faculty members can earn discretionary funds for the support of their research programs. Non-sponsored research accounts allow faculty members to smooth out fluctuations in external funding, to initiate new avenues of research, to assist in funding cost sharing required by grants and contracts, and to engage in scholarly activities (such as attending international conferences) that cannot be charged directly to some external grants or contracts. While these discretionary funds may be used appropriately by individual faculty members, these funds are Kean resources, and the provost is ultimately responsible for them. Should the provost need to use these funds for any reason, she/he has the authority to do so.
Faculty Start-Up
Tenured and tenure-track faculty members hired at Kean University will each have an offer letter which details any startup funds to be provided to support the building and establishment of the faculty member’s research program. This letter will detail the sources of funds and the fiscal years in which the funds should be expended. Startup funds are designed to help faculty members initiate their research programs. Since startup funds are provided to get a new faculty member’s research program started, these finds are not intended to sustain research programs and will return to the Dean if not used as stated below. This faculty start-up account is usually housed in the faculty member’s primary academic department.
Typically, startup accounts will not last longer than three years from the date of appointment. An extension of the use of these funds for one year may be obtained by a written request with justification to the Associate Provost for Faculty. Four years after the appointment of the faculty member, any unexpended startup funds will revert to the dean of their college.
Research Reinvestment (RR) Funds
RR funds may be used for research purposes, equipment purchases, travel, student support, faculty summer salary support, or to cover cost share/cost overrun amounts. These funds may not be used in a manner that entails a long- range commitment by the University (for example, to create new faculty positions) or for purposes not related to research functions. If a faculty member leaves the university any unspent funds will revert to their dean. The departing faculty member may negotiate, with the approval of their Chair, with the Vice President for Research to use remaining funds for obligations to support Kean students.
Banking Salary
- 10-month faculty members – when they charge part of their (academic year) institutional base salary to sponsored projects, their dean may provide discretionary funding proportional to the budget relief provided by the external funding. This can occur once they have fully covered their two summer months.
- 12-month staff – when department chairs, program directors, or associate deans charge part of their institutional base salary to sponsored projects, their dean may provide discretionary funding proportional to the budget relief provided by the external funding.
Indirect Cost Allocation
- Granting agencies have regulations that restrict the use of federal funds. To give faculty some flexibility in research expenditures, Kean University provides each tenure track faculty member, research professor, and research staff member who leads an external sponsored awards with a discretionary account drawn from general funds. This “Research Reinvestment” (RR) is the equivalent of 5% of the F&A for on- and off-campus grants and contracts. Faculty members do not receive RR funds on grants that receive cost sharing (other than in-kind contributions) until the college or provost has recovered (through F&A) the amount of the cost share. For example, if the college provides a cost share of $50,000 on a grant, then $50,000 in F&A would need to be recovered before RR return begins on that award. This calculation will be done once a fiscal year.
Service Positions
TBD
Procedure
Distribution and Accrual of Research Funds
Distribution of discretionary funds to each faculty member’s research account is done by the Budget Office. Research Reinvestment funds are computed once the prior fiscal year budget has been closed. Course buy-out funds are added to the faculty member’s discretionary account during the semester it is accrued. Indirect cost allocations are based on a calculation of the F&A earned on sponsored research in the prior fiscal year. This is typically transferred in the late fall.
Funds are structured as individual restricted accounts because the IRS and the University restrict the use of these funds. Remaining balances will carry forward to the next fiscal year; these accounts cannot operate with a deficit balance. Purchases must be in accordance with all University procurement policies and procedures. All items purchased with discretionary funds are the property of the University.
Examples of eligible expenditures are:
- Travel to meetings of professional associations or for research activities
- Summer salary
- Subscriptions to professional periodicals
- Memberships in professional organizations
- Reference books
- Journal submission fees
- Specialized software, other than software routinely provided by the University
- Business-related postal or shipping charges (FedEx, UPS)
- Specialized databases and data collection costs
- Business-related meals or hosted professional functions
- Professional license or certification fees
Examples of items not allowable include:
- Personal expenses of any kind
- Home office costs such as furniture and equipment, maintenance expenses, and supplies
- Cell phone, Internet and telephone line charges unless approved by the University administration
- Charitable or political contributions
- Memberships in social clubs or airline travel clubs
- Wages paid to the faculty member during the academic year