DEFINITIONS

Associate Provost for Academic Affairs: The person whom the Provost designates as having decision making authority on matters pertaining to grants and research administration. This individual is also the supervisor of the Grants Office (among other areas) and to whom the Director of Sponsored Programs and the Director of Grant Fiscal Administration report.

Consulting: Professional activity related to a faculty member's field or discipline where a fee-for-service or equivalent relationship with a third party exists.

Department or School: Refers to the departments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Schools of Business, Education and Law. May also refer to other academic or administrative units such as centers, programs, or offices.

Director of Grants Fiscal Administration: Supervisor of post-award activities in the Office of Grants and Research Administration.

Director of Sponsored Programs: Supervisor of pre-award activities in the Office of Grants and Research Administration.

Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs: Real costs related to sponsored projects that are not easily attributable to individual projects, such as maintenance, security, heating, cooling, lighting, space, disposal of hazardous waste, secretarial support, the library, and cost of compliance with government regulations.

Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Rate: The rate used to calculate the amount of F&A costs to be charged to each sponsored projects to fairly reimburse the College for its F&A expenses.  Instead of determining how much F&A costs individual projects incur, each project must use this flat average rate.  The rate is developed according to federal rules and is approved by the Office of Naval Research (ONR).  State law demands we use this rate whenever possible.

Fixed-Price Awards: Awards in which a set dollar amount has been agreed upon for work to be performed that will be paid regardless of actual expenses.

Fixed-Price Pool Account: An account into which residual funds from a fixed-price award are deposited. Funds in such an account can be used to support research efforts at the discretion of the PI who held the fixed-price award.

Full-time: Forty hours per week of work or the equivalent of a full-time faculty member

Indirect Costs: See Facilities and Administrative Costs

Overhead: See Facilities and Administrative Costs

Part-time: Less than than forty hours per week of work or less than the equivalent of a full-time faculty member

Principal Investigator (PI) or Project Director (PD): The person responsible for the programmatic and financial oversight of a sponsored program.  The term PI is used throughout this document but the terms PI and PD are synonymous.

Provost or designee: In most instances the Provost delegates decision making authority on matters pertaining to sponsored programs to the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, supervisor of the Office of Grants and Research Administration.

Sponsor: An organization or individual, external to the College, that provides funds to carry out programs or projects.

Sponsored Programs or Projects: An award from an external source (the "sponsor") for an agreed purpose with sufficient custodial responsibility to warrant unique administrative  accountability. It is established by an agreement, usually called a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, between the College and the sponsor. It generally requires that the College do some or all of the following: 

1. provide a fiscal report subject to audit, which implies formal liability for the College
2. return funds/goods not consumed
3. perform a defined scope of work 
4. maintain confidentiality of information
5. submit a detailed report of performance
6. provide something of value to the sponsor; and
7. comply with terms/conditions set by the sponsor.