Cost Sharing Try our budget outline to organize your proposal budget.
Need help? Have questions?
Contact Franci Farnsworth at x5889 or e-mail farnswor@middlebury.edu
Please note:
*Budgets must conform with both agency regulations and College policies. The Faculty Handbook states that all direct costs of a research project must be included in the proposed budget.
*Any grant proposal that requires a signature by a College official or any commitment from the College (including equipment acquisition, financial administration, teaching a course, or cost-sharing) must go through an internal endorsement procedure that requires the signatures of the Department Chair, the appropriate academic official, persons who will have the budgetary responsibility for any cost-sharing or equipment maintenance required by the proposal, and a grants officer (either the Sponsored Research Office or the office of Corporate & Foundation Relations). Other signatures may be required depending on the nature of the proposal. The Controller (or designee) is the authorized institutional official to sign grant proposals for the College and must sign all Internal Endorsement Forms ("blue sheets"), after all other signatures have been obtained.
Use the current gross academic year salary as a base for calculating salaries to be included in budgets. The Budget Office recommends that budgeted salaries be adjusted by 5-6% per year to allow for future increases. (Note: This is only a projected figure; grant-funded salary will be based on academic base salary at the time it is paid. Faculty may not be paid more than is available in the grant budget.) If you have questions about salary figures, check with the Payroll Manager (ext. 2008).
Academic year salary may not be included unless the faculty member is scheduled for leave or has permission from the Dean of Faculty (DOF).
If the budget involves the creation of new faculty (or other postdoctoral) positions, you will need approval from Educational Affairs Committee (EAC); contact the DOF for more information. Depending on the situation, you may also need to consult the Human Resources Office. There are specific policies relating to hiring procedures and salaries for these positions.
Leave Salary
Faculty members scheduled for leave during the period of a proposed grant budget are expected to include leave salary in the budget. College policy allows you to receive income during your leave up to the amount you would have been paid by the College; some grants limit salary to the level for the year in which the grant application was submitted. The leave policy states that "the level of support from the College is understood to be 75% for a semester leave and 55% for a year's leave" (these amounts should be prorated for grant periods that are less that your leave period).
Summer Salary
Budgets may provide for up to two months of extra work during the summer. Each month of summer salary is calculated at a rate of one-ninth of the previous academic year's salary (for a maximum of 2/9 per summer). Exceptions to this policy must be approved by the VPAA. Summer salary figures may be adjusted by 5-6% per year in multi-year budgets. (Note: This is only a projected figure; grant-funded summer salary will be based on your academic base salary for the previous academic year.)
Consult the Faculty Handbook for College policies about receiving income from consulting, lecturing, teaching at other schools, etc.
If specific individuals (technicians or administrative support people) are named in the budget, use their current salary or wage as a base for calculations. The Budget Office recommends that budgeted salaries/wages be adjusted by 3% per year (to help ensure that there will be enough money in the budget to pay for the positions). Note: This is only a projected figure; actual grant-funded salary must be consistent with the College's compensation program and grant-funded employees are governed by the same Human Resources policies and procedures as regular employees.
If the budget involves the creation of new positions (even temporary ones) consult with Cheryl Mullins at HR (ext. 5465) to determine the appropriate wage/salary. All compensation must be consistent with the College's compensation program. No personnel may be hired without following Human Resources Office procedures, even if the positions are included in funded grant budgets.
Student job categories and wages are set by Human Resources and administered by the Student Employment Office. Student job categories and descriptions can be found on the web. There are a number of job descriptions relating to faculty research assistance, at different pay levels depending on the level of responsibility and the technical expertise required for the research.
Faculty research assistants are considered SKILLED positions. The Fall 2008 rate for these positions is $8.50/hour . A Summer Research Assistant Authorization form is required in order to pay weekly stipends during the summer instead of hourly wages; the SRAA form must be signed by the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Research (Pat Manley). Use the following estimated stipends: $390 for Summer 2009, $400 for Summer 2010, $410 for Summer 2011.
College policy for the summer of 2008 did not allow college funds to be used for room or board expenses. Faculty who wish to cover room and/or board expenses for their summer students from their grants must request and justify such funding in their grant budgets or have explicit permission from the funding agency.
No student may be hired without following Student Employment Office procedures, even if the position is funded by a grant.
Summer employment of Middlebury College students who have just graduated in May, students from other colleges, and high school students doing grant-funded research will be coordinated by the Student Employment Office. Recent grads may be paid the same rate as undergraduates if they are filling jobs originally budgeted for undergrads or if the job description and goals are similar.
Language School students may not be hired without the approval of the Director of the Language Schools.
Middlebury College has a fringe benefit rate that has been negotiated with the federal government. This is the rate that is charged to active grants and is to be used to estimate fringe benefits in grant proposal budgets. The rate as of 7/1/08 is 34.6% of salaries & wages. Fringe benefits must be included as a direct cost of all grant proposals. This is a blended rate and is not intended to represent the actual costs of fringe benefits for specific employees in any grant proposal or working on a grant; a blended rate is based on the assumption that over a period of time the College will recover the full costs of fringe benefits for all employees paid from grant budgets during that period.
The Controller has authorized the use of a lower rate for all student wages (currently 10% of wages). The Controller will also allow the use of reduced fringe benefit rates in other situations on a case by case basis (such situations include temporary employees and faculty summer salaries for faculty waiving their rights to retirement plan contributions based on summer salary). Contact Franci Farnsworth at the Sponsored Research Office for details.
Some granting agencies allow for the payment of fringe benefits but not for overhead or indirect costs. The fringe benefit rate for these applications depends on the specific situation; contact Franci Farnsworth at the Sponsored Research Office for details.
There are "fringe benefit" costs associated with nearly all salaries and wages paid. These are a direct cost to the College and are often referred to as "mandated benefits" or "payroll taxes" (employer share of FICA, Workers' Compensation, unemployment insurance); the current rate for mandated benefits is 10% of salaries and wages. The College will assume that the salary or stipend line includes this amount if it is not separately budgeted as "fringe benefits.
Effective May 5, 2008 Middlebury College's official rate for F&A (negotiated with DHHS) is 63% of salaries and wages.This rate is used for all grant proposals to the Federal Government (unless another rate is specified in the program guidelines). Some private sponsors will also pay for "overhead" or "administration" (or even for "indirect costs") but the rates vary according to the funding source. Many private sponsors will allow us to include some administrative expenses as a direct cost; the Sponsored Research Office can provide assistance in estimating these costs. Some federal sponsors will not pay indirect costs but allow us to use our negotiated rate in calculating cost-sharing.
F&A (or indirect cost) payments represent a "grant" from the federal government to the host institution that provides the space and the support for scholarly research. In effect, F&A payments reimburse the institution for all of the costs that are not directly supported by the grant and for all the hidden costs of sustaining a supportive environment where good research can be undertaken. The F&A payments are factored into the College's budgeting process as unrestricted income that assists the College in providing up-to-date facilities and programs for our students and faculty. F&A (indirect cost) reimbursements support the "matching fund," maintenance of equipment, library needs, start-up funds for new faculty, purchase of new instructional equipment, science technical support staff, computer costs, etc.
The Faculty Handbook states that all grant applications must include for indirect costs the maximum amount allowed by the granting agency. If the grantor does not allow indirect costs or mandates a rate other than the federally negotiated rate, attach a copy of the pertinent regulation to your blue Internal Endorsement Form. Use of any rate other than the negotiated rate must be authorized by the Controller or designee.
Travel costs include transportation to the destination, lodging, and expenses for meals, local transportation, tips, etc.
The College will allow you to charge actual expenses to your grant budget. If allowed by the granting agency and your approved budget, the College will allow you to base your request for reimbursement (lodging, meals, and incidentals) on the Federal per diem rates. Other expenses will depend on actual needs. Most grantors require that travel arrangements be the equivalent of "economy class" and may scrutinize this section of the budget for reasonableness. As of 7/1/08 the College reimbursement rate for use of personal cars on College business is $.58 per mile. For up to date domestic per diem rates, see the link to the US General Services Administration on our rates page. All travel on College business (including grant-funded travel paid through the College) must be arranged according to college travel policies.The College's designated travel agencies are a good source of information for proposed costs. You could also talk with people who have recently made trips to the proposed area. Adjust your estimates for inflation and other cost increases between the time you submit your budget and when the travel will take place.
Foreign Travel
The U.S. State Department publishes rates for per diem and monthly living expenses for various places around the world. In most countries there is a value-added tax on hotels and food which can add substantially to advertised costs. Most funding agencies require that foreign travel be specifically authorized through the awarded budget, contract or post-award memo. Foreign travel paid for with federal funds must be on U.S. flag carriers (with certain exceptions). Check the guidelines for other restrictions on federally funded travel.
Consult the program guidelines carefully to see what other costs are allowable. Costs which customarily may be charged to a research grant include photocopies or communication costs unique to the project, supplies, field expenses, and expendable laboratory equipment. Some grants allow software, computers, publications related to your research, purchase of equipment (see Section 8 below) and journal page charges.
The College requires that all direct costs (comprehensively defined) be included in grant application budgets; allowance is made for granting agency policies and funding limits. Multi-year budgets may be adjusted by 3% per year to allow for inflation.
If equipment maintenance is an allowable cost, you must include it in your budget. If guidelines allow for an allocation to the department or College or a payment "in lieu of overhead" this must be included in your budget.
If your proposed budget includes any equipment you must fill out the equipment section of the blue Internal Endorsement Form, providing information about the cost, maintenance provisions and installation requirements. You must estimate the annual maintenance cost for the equipment and provide College budget numbers (and authorizing signatures) for the accounts that will be charged for any maintenance costs of the equipment during the grant and after it expires. Contact Dean of Curriculum Bob Cluss by email at least six weeks before your deadline to discuss these issues. He must sign the blue Internal Endorsement Form for any proposal that includes a budget request for equipment.
For the purpose of federal grant proposals, equipment is defined as items with an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more and a useful life of more than one year. These are the only items of equipment that should be included in the "Equipment" section of a federal grant budget; items that don't meet this definition should be included in the "Other" section, as supplies or as "other."