Wellesley College
Frequently Asked Questions on Sponsored Programs:
Q: How will I know if a proposal has been awarded, and how can I begin
charging to that award?
All proposals should be submitted through a pre-award office or contact.
Faculty proposals should be submitted through Elizabeth Lieberman and
the Office of Sponsored Research. Women's Center grants should be submitted
through Kris Monahan and the Pre-Award office at the Wellesley Centers
for Women. Proposals for the Dean's Office should be submitted through
MaryPat Navins and/or Lori Friedman of the Dean's Office. Once an
award has been made, the pre-award contact will notify you of the pending
award.
Once we have all of the necessary documents needed to set the award
up in the system, you will be notified by the Controller's Office or
the
Accounting Manager at the Women's Center that your award is set up
in the financial
system and available to be charged. The
FOAPAL number, start and end
dates, reporting responsibilities, budgets, and other pertinent information
will be forwarded to you with this notification. Information regarding
Banner User Access, FOAPAL Access, and Fund Authorization will be included
as well. It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to
review
these
documents
and understand
the deliverables and deadlines involved, the maximum amounts that can
be charged to the fund, and to submit all forms for access and authorization
privileges.
Q: What are Indirect Costs?
Indirect Costs, Overhead, or Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs
(the official term) are costs that are incurred in conducting or supporting
research or other externally-funded activities that cannot be directly
attributed
or efficiently charged as direct costs to a specific sponsored project.
General categories of these types of expenses are general administration
costs (i.e. accounting, payroll, purchasing), sponsored project administration
costs, utility costs, depreciation, building maintenance, etc. The
amount of indirect costs charged to an award is based on a rate that
normally reflects Wellesley College's current
negotiated
and federally approved rate. This rate is periodically renegotiated
with the Department of Health and Human Services and is applied to
a specific pool of costs known as the indirect cost base to arrive
at
the indirect
costs charged on a grant fund.
Q: What is our current Indirect Cost Rate?
Our current federally negotiated and approved Indirect Cost Rate for
on-campus awards is 77% of Salaries and Wages. Our off-campus rate
is 15.40% of Salaries and Wages. Please note that these rates are our
federal rates and do not necessarily apply to all grant funds. Please
contact
the Controller's Office if you have a question as to what the rate
on a specific grant is.
Q: How long is the Indirect Cost Rate active?
Our current Indirect Cost rate agreement is a 3-year agreement and
is scheduled to end June 30, 2010. We are required to submit a new
proposal by
December
31,
2009.
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