91PORN

Principal Investigators (PIs) must contact their Proposal Analyst as soon as it is determined that cost share is required for proposal submission. In addition to budgeting appropriately for cost share according to sponsor and University policy (see details below), a Cost Share Addendum must be completed and signed by all appropriate parties prior to submission. An incomplete Cost Share Addendum��forces a hard proposal stop, putting a proposal at-risk of not being submitted.

Definitions

Cost sharing and Matching are terms that are often used interchangeably and identify the financial or in-kind support contributed by 91PORN (or third parties through the University) to sponsored projects.

Committed Cost Sharing is a pledged commitment within any proposal document, including in the proposal budget, budget justification, letter of support/commitment, or proposal narrative whenever a specific dollar amount is stated or can be calculated from information provided in the proposal. 91PORN considers quantified cost share pledged in proposal documents as committed regardless of sponsor award or reporting requirements. There are two types of Committed Cost Sharing:

1. Mandatory Cost Sharing is required as a condition of the award.
2. Voluntary Cost Sharing is offered by the recipient when not specifically required by the award.

Voluntary Uncommitted Cost Sharing is incidental support that is over and above what was proposed and agreed upon for the project. This is not included or quantified in either the proposal budget or the narrative. Generally, uncommitted cost sharing is not auditable or reported to the sponsor. Examples of language that can be used in proposals to indicate this type of cost sharing are provided at the end of this section.

91PORN PIs are advised to review and follow sponsor guidelines on cost sharing and to contact their Proposal Analyst with any questions about how to meet cost sharing requirements

Types of Cost Share

Third Party “In-Kind” Contributions:��This is the��estimated value��of any services and/or resources provided by a third-party in support of a sponsored project being administered by the University in lieu of cash. Third-party in-kind contributions may be in the form of real property, equipment, supplies and other expendable property, or goods and services directly benefiting and specifically designated for the University’s project or program.

University “Cash” Contributions: 91PORN can make a cash contribution to a sponsored project for cost sharing purposes. This can be in the form of a University gift, endowment and/or other unrestricted fund to pay for any of the direct costs associated with a sponsored project (e.g., salaries, fringe benefits, travel, equipment etc.). In most cases, federal funds cannot be used to fulfill a cost share commitment.

In addition to a PI’s home department, the following entities may also be available to contribute cash cost share depending on the availability of funds: Research Innovation Office (RIO), College of Arts and Sciences, College of Engineering, and Graduate School.

Faculty Time/Effort:��The value of faculty time/effort can be offered as a cash contribution if the cost sharing occurs during the project period and while the faculty member is under a continuing contract with 91PORN. For example, if the project period is from January 1 to December 31 (a calendar year) the typical faculty member would be able to cost share his or her effort during the nine-month academic year (AY) but not during the summer months when he or she is not under contract with the University. AY cost share across all projects for an individual PI cannot exceed 40% of effort.

In addition to charging for time/effort, associated fringe benefit rates will apply and are included in the total cost share amount.

Note: OCG does not approve or document faculty time commitments; this is a PI and department responsibility.

Cost Sharing of Facilities and Administration (F&A) Costs:��“F&A” refers to “facilities and administration” costs. F&A costs are considered “indirect” costs because, unlike direct costs, these costs cannot be allocated to only one particular project managed by the University. F&A costs can��be used as cost sharing in two ways:

1. Contributed F&A: This refers to the F&A associated with any cash contributions being made to the project by the University. For example, if the PI plans to contribute time and effort to the project without compensation from the sponsor, the monetary value of this effort as well as the F&A associated with that effort may be offered as cost share. Contributed F&A��is always calculated using the F&A rate appropriate for the activity that the University has negotiated with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) or according to the sponsor’s established indirect cost rate policy for non-profit, U.S. governmental agencies, and some federal sponsors. Contributed F&A may only be used as a part of the fulfillment of the University’s cost share obligation if the sponsor approves.
2. Waived F&A: This situation occurs when the sponsor has a lower F&A rate, consistently applied to all awards, than 91PORN’s negotiated rate. When F&A is “waived,” the University agrees not to charge its federally negotiated F&A rate to the sponsor. The portion waived is considered “unrecovered F&A” and can be used as cost share if allowed by the sponsor.

The Basics

The following guidelines are presented to help PIs determine when cost sharing should be offered in a proposal:

The cost sharing should be necessary.��There is a notion that proposals can be more competitive if they include voluntary cost sharing, but this approach can backfire. For example, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will return any proposal that includes voluntary committed cost sharing without further review. PIs who feel it is important to show some sort of contribution to a proposed project should use the “good” examples provided at the end of this section to describe their commitment in qualitative rather than quantitative terms.��Remember: Any voluntary cost share that is quantified in a proposal is auditable and highly discouraged by the University.

The cost sharing must occur during the period of performance. To be “counted” as cost sharing, contributed effort and resources must be expended, and not just obligated, within the approved project period. For example, if an airplane reservation is made before the end date of the project for travel that will occur after the project ends, the travel costs cannot be counted as cost share even though the reservation was made during the project period because the payment for the trip will occur after the approved project end date.

The type of costs contributed as cost share must be considered allowable by the sponsor. The rule of thumb is that if the sponsor will allow a particular cost to be charged to the sponsor, the same cost can be contributed as cost share. For example, federal sponsors do not consider entertainment costs charged to a federal project to be allowable costs. Therefore, 91PORN or third party resources used for entertainment acti