Pursuant to 1989 Montana legislative intent, the following applies to MSU F&A policy:

". . . grant [F&A's] retained at the various units of the University System . . . must be expended for the enhancement of existing research programs, assistance to and encouragement of new research programs,

and the general support of research."

A. Philosophy

The philosophy guiding the use of F&As at MSU include:

• the intent of the Legislature as stated above.
• the distribution of F&As using a merit driven system aimed at maintaining or making competitive the research and creative programs of the faculty;
• the distribution of F&As whenever possible on a competitive basis through set procedures and known guidelines;
• having the Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) advise the Vice President for Research, Creativity and Technology Transfer (VPR) on all matters related to these guidelines.

B. General Guidelines

An appropriate share of F&As will be returned to the local academic departments which generate them and the remainder administered centrally. Academic departments are defined to be those that administer academic degree programs. This return policy applies only when the university is collecting the FULL F&A rate on the contract. When the F&A collection is less than the full rate, the return will be negotiated with the Vice President for Research.

F&As generated by local academic departments will be returned in the following proportions:

Principal Investigator 9%

Department 27%

Dean 9%

Vice President for Research 55%

in order to enhance their research programs, to help cover the facilities and administration costs of doing research, and to ensure that each remains competitive. These returned F&As are to be used for such things as research support personnel, maintenance and repair of research equipment, computers, renovations, operations, graduate student stipends and fees, travel, matching, research or adjunct faculty, speakers, carry-over funding, support facilities, and support of new faculty members, including start-up costs. Returned F&As should not be used for 'entertainment' related expenses such as theater/show tickets, all sporting events, gondola or sleigh rides, etc. For any concerns regarding the appropriate use of F&A funds or specific questions regarding entertainment related expenses, contact the Office of Sponsored Programs Fiscal Manager that is responsible for your department.

F&As generated by a Board of Regents approved Center/Institute, federal earmark or other non-competitive awards will be negotiated with the Vice President for Research on a case by case basis. If possible F&A returns will be used to assist in sustaining the Center. The standard policy is to not return F&As generated on these types of grants to either departments or to PIs. Historically, Centers have received a 40% F&A distribution in order to establish a level of sustainability.

Eligibility: In order for a Principal Investigator to be eligible for a return of F & A funds, he/she must be a current employee of Montana State University. Persons holding only an affiliate appointment, professor emeritus status or retired faculty not on a post-retirement contract are not eligible for F&A distributions. Once a PI terminates from their position at the university, any unexpended funds in the PI F&A return fund will revert back to the department IF there are ongoing obligations, otherwise the monies will be returned to the Vice President for Research Office. It will be the responsibility of the department to request retention of these funds by supplying an outline of how the funds are to be utilized. The decision to release these funds to the department will be made at the Vice President for Research level.

F&As held centrally will fund major projects and will assist through campus-wide programs, those faculty who either are not grant competitive or who require support to succeed in their creative activities. Often in combination with local departmental funds, these F&As will support special projects, MONTS, block grants, department improvement grants, recruitment and start-up funds, research initiative awards, technology-transfer activities, library, computing center, campus-wide facilities, research facilities and centers, federally mandated regulatory activities, and major equipment purchases.

Non-academic departments may request from the Vice President for Research, Creativity and Technology Transfer some F&A return to supplement or match a grant or contract or to support the administration of a program. This is done in writing at the time of submission of the proposal.

C. Detailed Guidelines

F&As will be distributed monthly as earned from the generation grant as expenditures occur. Separate fund/index numbers can be established for each PI to receive the monthly distributions. Balances carry forward month to month and year to year.

Block grants may be available from the VPR for those academic departments that do not generate reasonable F&A returns. These funds must maintain a positive cash balance.

Full MSU F&A rates will be charged unless the funding source has a lesser rate that it charges uniformly to all grantees. If the PI requests an F&A rate which is less than that allowed by the policies of the funding source, then approval of the department head, dean and Vice President for Research, Creativity and Technology Transfer is required and no F&As will be returned to the PI, Dean or Department Head.

Cost sharing (See 440.00) will be primarily the responsibility of the local departments and will be discussed and/or negotiated on a case-by-case basis among the PI, Department Head and Dean, i.e., the proportion of the fifty percent return to the local departments that will be committed. The VPR will only be involved on those occasions where substantial cost sharing is required.

For PIs that are 100% funded from soft money, the F&A are currently being returned in the following proportions: 30% Departments; 30% PI; 10% Dean; and 30% VPR. These funds, together with the direct costs of the project, must fully fund the PI's research program.

When there are multiple PIs on a proposal, and the proposal is awarded, they must agree on a split of the 10% return to the PI, and inform the Office of Sponsored Programs in writing of this agreement.

For grants and contracts with Principal Investigators with split appointments, the F&A return will be split among the local departments in the same proportion as the FTE split, consistent with other elements of this policy.

For awards that involve more than one department, the principals will decide how to distribute any F&A return. The PIs will inform the Office of Sponsored Programs in writing of the agreed upon split.

Requests from faculty for funding, particularly smaller amounts for travel, student fees, operations, speakers, etc., are best handled at the local department level where priorities can guide decision. Therefore, the VPR will refer such requests to the appropriate department head and dean. Local departments must budget for contingencies and the future and not commit all of their funds at the beginning of the year or at one time.

Return to regular view	Text-only	Updated: 03/25/08