Cost sharing is defined as project costs not borne by the sponsor .

Cost sharing is accomplished through:

• Project costs funded by the University (faculty salaries, fringe, travel, supplies, etc.)
• Project costs funded from other non-federal sponsored agreements
• In-kind contributions donated by third parties (equipment, supplies, etc.)

Federal regulations require full accountability for costs committed in the fulfillment of sponsored programs. Cost Accounting Standards require that costs proposed on a sponsored application be accumulated and reported on completely and accurately .

The University of Delaware chart of accounts carries a ProjectID for all contracts and grant codes; including the ProjectID on a non-CandG code will indicate to the system that there exists a relationship between the NON-CandG code and the award. In this way, the transaction is funded by a NON CandG code, but cost-shares a CandG Code. This method does not work when matching CandG Codes to CandG Codes.

Cost sharing may consist of direct expenses such as faculty effort (and thereby related salaries and fringes), lab supplies, equipment, and travel.

Any expense that the University has defined as an indirect cost, such as administrative salaries, office supplies, and operations and maintenance expenses, may not be cost shared. Unallowable costs as defined in Section J of 2 CFR parts 215-220, Cost Principles for Educational Institutions (OMB Circular A-21) may not be cost shared. For a pdf click here

Mandatory cost sharing is required by the sponsor as a condition of the award. Ordinarily this requirement will be indicated in the program announcement. Voluntary cost sharing is not required by the sponsor but is nevertheless offered in the proposal by the investigator; ordinarily this is in the form of contributed effort. Cost sharing that is proposed voluntarily by the investigator becomes mandatory (or also known as 'voluntary committed' cost sharing) once the award is made. One other kind of voluntary cost sharing occurs in the case of over-expenditures, if the additional costs are covered by University funds. All committed cost sharing, whether mandatory or voluntary committed, must be accounted for and tracked.

The following statements in the proposal budget or budget justification would be considered cost sharing:

• Dr. Dots will devote 20% of her time to the project at no cost to the agency.
• The department will purchase a data widget (cost $10,000) for exclusive use in support of Dr. Dots' project.

The following statements would not be considered cost sharing:

• Dr. Dots will be providing expert advice and consultation to the project.
• Dr. Dots' laboratory is 1200 square feet. She also has access to the departmental data widget.

If the award funding is reduced, under many circumstances, the cost share will be reduced proportionally. If the award was reduced so significantly that the scope of work cannot be performed with the available funding, and therefore additional funding from University resources is needed to complete the project as described in the original proposal, a request for additional cost sharing funds should be made to those potential resources. The committed cost share, however, will remain as it is written in the agreement.

Any cost of the project not borne by the sponsor is cost sharing and to that end our system neatly and easily allows for the tracking/itemization of non-sponsored funded cost share (through use of the ProjectID field, see above). When cost share is provided by another Research Office code, however, our system is more complicated. This type of cost share presently requires either the creation of a new Purpose (such that the expenses can be easily identified) or in the case of effort certification, a user can link the Cost Share Research Office ProjectID to the related Research Office ProjectID by use of a special column.

Regardless of source, it remains the responsibility of the individual Principal Investigator and department to ensure that other sponsored funds used as cost sharing on sponsored projects are:

1. Allowable,
2. Not offered as cost sharing for more than one project,
3. Verifiable through auditable documentation, and
4. Accumulated at the end of the project and reported to the Research Office for the completion of the close out audit.

The UD Grants System will calculate the rate for each of the budget items entered into the budget. The rate is multiplied by the direct costs being cost shared on the expenses (accounts) that would bear FandA if charged directly to the grant. These items do not bear actual FandA costs (SFA), but bear Cost Shared FandA (CFA). There is also the matter of Waived FandA (WFA) which is the calculation of the institutions current FandA rate minus that which is charged as CFA or SFA.

Itemizing each budget entry on the proposal budget will capture the details needed to fulfill the cost share documentation for proposed budgets.

The Research Office equipment cost share dollars are available when proposals either require equipment cost share or the project budget exceeds the available funding in the area of equipment. The Research Office policy allows for one-time requests up to $50,000 with assistance from the college and/or unit requires an equal $50,000 of the requested amount (i.e., 50K from the Research Office, requires an equal $50K from the college/unit). This funding applies to individual P.I.(s) projects. Approval for cost share should occur at the time of the proposal submission through inclusion in the grant budget. The Proposal Approval Form will automatically be routed to those responsible for the cost share approval. Please refer to the policy for more information. Equipment Cost Share Policy

Effort administrators are able to "relate" projects via a textbox in a separate (pop-up) window. The window will allow the Effort admin to type the project id(s) that relate to the project on the page.

The link to the pop-up window should go in the "*"-headed column. This relationship is purely representative -- there is no logic linking the projects together.

Yes, the system will allow effort administrators to route a copy to another administrator for their viewing needs, once the form is in completed status.

IBS is the Institutional Base Salary. The accounts included in the UD IBS are as follows:

[120200 - 120299]
[120300 - 120399]
[120800 - 120899]
[121000 - 121099]
[121100 - 121199]
[121200 - 121299]
[121300 - 121399]
[121600 - 121699]
[121700 - 121799]
[121800 - 121899]
[122300 - 122399]
[122500 - 122599]
[122600 - 122699]
[122700 - 122799]
[123000 - 123099]
[123600 - 123699]
[126900 - 126999]

Other accounts will not be included in the effort analysis.

See the flow chart downloaded here - (DOC format) for a full explanation of how routing works in the effort certification process.

Cost transfers for periods originally certified on the old (paper) SAR system, must be revised on the old paper forms. Journals for this salary activity are permitted on the journal for effort prior to 9/1/04. Any activity certified in the web-enabled effort certification system must be updated, adjusted or revised in the originating system.

Sample Application for Federal Assistance SF 424 (RandR) Form

PDF Link

1. The University of Delaware is already registered with grants.gov, so it is not necessary for you to register; however, if you do not have an eRACommons account, please notify your assigned Contract and Grant Administrator as soon as possible.
   
   
2. When searching for your application package, use the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) number—not the CFDA number. When completing your application package, please leave any field or reference to a CFDA number blank; NIH will fill in this information for you as appropriate.
   
   
3. After you have searched for your application package in grants.gov, download it and save it to your computer. When naming your application file use the following naming convention:
   UDEL PROPOSAL# PILASTNAME
   The PROPOSAL# is UD’s internal number assigned when your proposal information is entered into PeopleSoft for your webform routing and approval. This naming convention should also be used on the first page of the application, which is identified with a yellow box and titled, “Application Filing Name.”
   
   
4. When preparing your application, the NIH guidelines on font-size, font-type, and ½ -inch margins apply to the entire application package including ALL uploaded attachments. The guidelines state: “Use an Arial, Helvetica, Palatino Linotype or Georgia typeface and a font size of 11 points or larger. Type density, including characters and spaces, must be no more than 15 characters per inch. Type may be no more than six lines per inch.” Please note that Times Roman is not listed as an acceptable type font per NIH guidelines.
5. Although you are to follow all NIH proposal guidelines when preparing your application, remember that Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) guidelines will always supersede any in the NIH proposal guidelines.
   
   
6. All attachments should contain no headers and/or footers. NIH will generate those for you when it compiles your application image (this includes page numbers and PI name in the header).
   
   
7. Only use .pdf platform for all your attachments. .doc platforms will not be accepted.
   
   
8. In the SF424 (RandR) form, use the following emails as appropriate:
   For Box #5: Your CandG Administrator’s email address
   For Box #15: PI’s email address
   For Box #19: udelaware-awards@udel.edu.
   
   
9. Also when completing your SF424 (RandR), the UD Congressional District should be filled in with DE-001 in both fields; it is no longer “at large” or “1.”
   
   
10. When completing an application package that involves multiple-PIs, please consult the definition of a PD/PI from the NIH guidelines at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-017.html. Please note that it is required by NIH that you include an attachment justifying multiple PD/PI’s in box #14 of the PHS398 Research Plan form of the application package. Please note that NIH does not recognize Co-PI’s, so do not use that field description in the Senior/Key Person Profile form or in the budget or budget justification.
    
    
11. Also in the Senior/Key Person Profile form, the completion of the “Credential, e.g., agency login” field is required by NIH and if left blank, will be caught as an error when it reaches NIH validation. Completion of this field is required for all PD/PI’s, and the information that goes in the field is the PD/PI’s eRACommons login name. This is not required for other key personnel, just the PI/PD.
    
    
12. When completing your Research Plan, NIH requests that it should be organized as a whole 25-page document first, and then chopped up into its individual sections and uploaded as attachments in the PHS 398 Research Plan form. Once the Research Plan is in its individual attachment format, NIH will accept it as a 27 to 28 page document due to white space from chopping it up into sections; although the PI will receive an email with a warning they can disregard that warning.
    
    
13. Please remember to select one budget form to use from the “Optional Forms” box of the application. For example, if you are doing a modular budget, then you should select and complete the modular budget form. Do not use both forms. Note that your budget justification should be included as an attachment in the budget form.
    
    
14. When preparing the budget, many PIs will leave the field for the “Cognizant Federal Agency” information blank. If left blank, NIH validation will catch this and stop your application package submission with an ERROR message. Please remember to complete this field. The information is as follows:
    Office of Naval Research, Attn: Joanne Elkowich, (703) 696-7742.
    
    
15. If your application will include a consortium (subcontractor) organization, then NIH requires that you download the budget form titled, “RandR Subaward Budget Attachment” from the application package and email the form to your consortium PI for completion. This form is not a .pdf file. It is a pure edge viewer file so the consortium PI or their administrator must have pure edge viewer loaded on their computer. Once the form has been completed by the consortium PI, along with their budget justification attachment, then upload the form as a pure edge viewer attachment to the grants.gov package within the RandR Subaward Budget section. Please contact OVPR if this procedure isn’t clear, or if you will need further instructions.
    
    
16. A Cover Letter is not mandatory for a “new” first submission, but if your application contains errors at the NIH validation, then a cover letter must accompany the corrected application stating reason(s) for submitting a “corrected” application. Also note that Cover Letters are required for all renewals, supplements, and competing continuations. Note that each time you revise a Cover Letter in grants.gov, you have to upload all previous Cover Letters, along with the revised Cover Letter, as one .pdf file in the attachment.
    
    
17. After you have completed your grants.gov package, please “Check Package for Errors” before emailing it to RGS for submission. When RGS receives your package, the first thing that is done is to push that “Check Package for Errors” button, and if there are errors, the application package will be returned to you for correction, without review.
    
    
18. Please note that the “Check Package for Errors” is only a grants.gov validation; this tool does not check errors for the NIH validation. NIH validation will take place by eRACommons when NIH receives the application package from grants.gov.
    
    
19. Please note that when your application reaches NIH validation, “warnings” will not stop the acceptance of your application and will generate an image of your application; however, any applications with “errors” will not be accepted by NIH and will not generate an image of your application. Please be certain you take all measures to assure your application is not submitted with errors.
    
    
20. For further information and training on NIH grants.gov SF424 (RandR) process, please go to the following website http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt.
    
    
21. Don’t forget OVPR’s 72-hour deadline as posted on UDaily. This deadline includes receipt of the completed application package, as well as an approved webform and any other documents, such as Conflict of Interest and certifications for Recombinant DNA, human subjects (if not pending), IACUC, and radiation.

Yes, the University of Delaware is registered in Grants.gov. Individuals cannot register to submit proposals on behalf of the University. Only the Contract and Grant Administrators in the Research Office can submit proposals as the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) for the University of Delaware.

To request a letter of support from one of these individuals, please follow this procedure:

• Draft the letter of support
• E-mail the letter to your contract-and-grant administrator in UD Research Office. To locate the correct staff member, see the Department Administrator directory in the Staff Directory.
• If changes to the letter are required, you will be notified.
• The Research Office will shepherd the letter and proposal to the appropriate UD administrator for signature and provide a copy to you for your files.

Any time a new proposal is submitted to a sponsor, or an increase in the funding or University resources occurs (in the case of a re-budget or renewal) a Proposal Approval (web) Form must be routed. In the case of a renewal where the resources are less than expected, or there is NO change, a form NEED NOT be routed.

A Pre-proposals to a sponsor must go through the Research Office routing for approval and official submission through institutional signatures. Any time the University is obligating resources or requesting funds, the Research Office must be included in the submission.

Letters of Intent (LOI) that do not address funding amts. or UD commitments (ie; time commitments/match etc.) do not require signature of the Research Office (unless required by sponsor). However, the Research Office should be copied on the LOI. Typically, the purpose of this type of intent is for sponsor to determine the amount of man hours required for review process. Keep in mind that it is helpful to notify your Contract and Grant Administrator when you become aware of any proposal submissions.

Send PI's name, birth date, type of degree and the year it was received to your CandG Admin with a request to add the PI to FASTLANE. Please note Fastlane will provide the PI with a NSF login number that will become part of their personal logon process.

Authorized Representative	Proposed First Year Total
Contract and Grant Administrator	Up to $250,000
Trudy M. Riley, Manager Sponsored Program Administration	Up to $500,000
Cordell M. Overby, Associate Provost for Research	Up to $1,000,000
Daniel Rich, Provost	Over $1,000,000
Patrick T. Harker, President	Over $2,000,000

Send an E-mail to ovpr-access@udel.edu. Provide the following in the body of the e-mail:
Name: Employee Name
EMPLID: XXXXX
User ID:
Role Name: Identify Role Name*
Instance: FIPRD
DepartmentID (numeric):
*Access roles (indicate which one(s) needed): Grants - Research Administrators (Proposal entry and inquiry)
GM_RESEARCH_ADMIN
Grants - Proposal Data Entry only GM_DATA_ENTRY
Grants - Proposal Inquiry only GM_PROPOSAL_INQ

To determine which type of service is required, evaluate the subtle differences between the three categories below. Your Contract and Grant Administrator can also help you determine the proper category.

Characteristics of a Subcontract are as follows:

• Performs substantive programmatic work under a grant or contract.
• Bears responsibility for programmatic decision making and measurable performance requirements.
• Must adhere to Federal compliance requirements if the source is a Federal award.

Characteristics of a Vendor (PO) are as follows:

• The procurement of goods or services from an organization which provides the goods and services to many different purchasers as part of its normal business operations within a competitive environment Not subject to the same compliance requirements as a subcontractor (if the source is a Federal award).

A consultant is an individual or company with the following characteristics:

• Not an employee of your institution.
• Proven professional or technical competence and provides this to your organization.
• Is not controlled with regard to the manner of performance or the result of the service.
• Considered a work for hire and does not retain any rights to the end product.

Subcontracts are charged overhead on the first $25,000 budgeted. The vendor or consultants are charged overhead for all expenses related to the work. It is helpful to get this distinction in your budgets at the time of proposal so that your budget need not be revised due to a change. These changes may require approval from the sponsor.

The Department prepares the requisition and attaches scope of work, budget and the completed Provider Category Determination Worksheet - (DOC format) to justify the subcontract to Procurement Services and the Research Office.

When all entities have worked together in the past, or when it is a University, it is usually quite swift. The delays can occur when it is an industrial contact that may be unfamiliar with our terms and conditions. Delays in the process should be discussed with your Contract and Grant Administrator.

The Principal Investigator is responsible for evaluating the merits of the invoice and determining whether the work has indeed been performed as noted. The invoices should include a summary of expenses by category, dollar amount, date of services provided, and subgrant #. The invoices are not paid until the PI has signed and approved the payment and availability of funds have been verified.

You must complete and route for signature, a University of Delaware Contractual Agreement for Consulting Services form. The form may be obtained from the Research Office. Consulting agreements greater than $25,000 must be accompanied by a Debarment Statement signed by the Consultant.