Texas Engineering Experiment Station

Occasionally the scope of a research project requires expertise that is not availiable at the institution. In these cases it is sometimes necessary to use the services of a consultant, subcontractor or a subrecipient. The TRS Sub-Award Information Request form is designed to assist the Principal Investigator and the TRS Proposal Administrators in obtaining necessary sub-award information.

Standard budget categories

[Salaries and Wages] [Fringe Benefits] [Capital Equip] [Non-capital Equip]
c [Travel] [Participant Costs] [Other Direct Costs] [F&A Costs]

TEES Research Services (TRS) will prepare the budget based on information provided by the PI. If the PI chooses to prepare the budget, TRS will review the budget to make sure it is prepared in accordance with TEES and sponsor guidelines. Download the TEES Researcher Handbook.

Salaries and Wages

For each person listed on the budget, the detail should include:

• name and position title
• percentage of time/number of months
• summer or academic designation.

If a specific technician, graduate student or other student worker has not been identified at the time of budget preparation, the salary amount for these categories should be consistent with those normally paid by the PI¿s division.

Salary calculations: An annual escalation factor is added to all salaries each September 1st. Check with TRS for current escalation factor. Maximum amount of time students are allowed to work during the academic year is 50%.

Fringe Benefits

Fringe benefits are calculated according to the Texas A&M University System's Indirect Cost Rate Agreement negotiated with the Department of Health and Human Services (our cognizant federal audit agency), and include FICA, unemployment and workman's compensation, retirement and group health insurance. Beginning July 2000, the State no longer has to pay Social Security and Medicate for students who meet certain criteria. http://sago.tamu.edu/soba/TaxManual/AppendixC.htm for those criteria. For the purposes of fringe benefits budgeting, students that meet the criteria will be called FICA Exempt Students. For students that do not meet the criteria, choose the employee category that applies to them. Your TRS Proposal Administrator can provide you with the current rates.

Capital Equipment

Capital equipment is defined as an item of property having an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more and a useful life of two years or more. Any major equipment purchase ($5,000 or more) must be listed separately in the budget. Do not forget to include any applicable shipping and handling and installation charges. (An additional 10% is usually sufficient to cover these costs.)

The need for the equipment should be adequately justified on the budget explanation page. General-purpose equipment, such as computer equipment, is not eligible for support unless primarily or exclusively used in the actual conduct of scientific research.

Travel

Travel expenses must adhere to the TEES Research Travel Guidelines in order to qualify for reimbursement. Guidelines are available from the TEES Fiscal.

The purpose of the travel should be adequately justified on the budget explanation page. Foreign travel must be budgeted separately, and usually requires prior approval from the sponsor. Communicate who, what, when, where and why of proposal travel to your Proposal Administrator.

Proposed travel should include:

• number of trips planned
• number of persons for each trip
• conference name
• location
• purpose and
• estimated cost
• transportation (airfare, mileage and/or automobile rental expenses)
• subsistence (per diem and hotel expenses).

Participant Support Costs

The participant support category refers to costs of transportation, per diem, stipends, and other related costs for participants or trainees but not employees. Generally, NSF does not allow F&;A to be charged on these costs.

Other Direct Costs

Other direct costs include materials and supplies, publication costs, consultant services, computer services, long distance telephone/fax, subcontracts and tuition. All direct costs should be itemized. The following paragraphs explain the most common other direct costs.

Materials And Supplies

Indicate in general terms the type of expendable materials and supplies required along with their estimated costs. The breakdown should be more detailed when the cost is substantial. General-purpose office supplies are not to be included in this category as they are covered by indirect costs.

Equipment under $5,000

Laboratory equipment, computers, and other equipment items whose individual unit cost are less than $5,000 are budgeted under other direct costs. Facilities and Administrative Costs are charged on items in this category.

Publication Costs

Funds may be requested for the costs of preparing publishing or otherwise making available the findings and products of the work conducted under the research project, including costs of reports, reprints, page charges, or journal costs.

Professional/Consultant Services

Anticipated professional/consultant services should be justified and information furnished on each individual¿s expertise, primary organizational affiliation, daily compensation rate, and number of days of expected services. Consultant travel costs and per diem allowances should be listed separately under Travel Category in the budget.

Required: A letter from the consultant stating their willingness to participate, as well as their actual daily rate with proper documentation needs to be submitted to TRS.

Conference Fees/Registration

The TEES accounting system requires that conference fees or registration cost be a separate line item under Other Direct Costs instead of travel.

Computer Services

The use of departmental computers is already included in the Facilities and Administrative Costs calculation and is NOT charged as a direct cost to the project. Use of the campus supercomputer can be charged as a direct cost.

Sub-Awards (Subcontractors and Subrecipients)

When TEES is the lead institution and is collaborating with another institution(s), that institution is considered to be a sub-awardee. TEES will issue a subcontract document to the sub-awardee to provide their portion of the funding to them. Sub-awards should be disclosed in the technical section of the proposal to show a clear delineation of the work to be performed by each organization. The total amount for proposed sub-awards should appear under "Other Direct Costs" in the master budget for the project.

Sub-awardee Information Needed
Certain information is required from the sub-awardee. Other information may also be required in the RFP. You as the PI can request this information or your TRS Proposal Administrator can assist.

TEES Sub-awardee Certifications which included certifications for the following:

• Debarment,
• lobbying,
• drug-free certification,
• conflict of interest,
• human and animal subjects,
• recombinant DNA,
• selective agents
• Statement of Collaboration (Commitment Letter)
• Statement of work to be performed by sub-awardee
• Budget in format required by sponsor
• Other items that may be required are Vitae of key personnel, IDC Rate Agreement, if applicable

When a proposal indicates a ¿sub-award,¿ a determination shall be made whether a Sub-recipient or a Subcontract (vendor) relationship is being proposed. Typically, when TEES is submitting a collaborative effort proposal where other institutions are named as collaborators in the proposal they are considered subrecipients. F&A is charged on the first $25,000 of each subrecipient. If the relationship can be characterized as vendor relationship, then this is a subcontract and F&A is charged on the entire amount of the subcontract. The following guidelines are to be used to determine whether a sub-award is a Sub-recipient or a subcontractor.

Subrecipient

• The Sub-recipient will be included as a co-author on any publications, reports, etc.
• Formal proposal signed by authorized representative w/(statement of work and budget) are required to be submitted to TRS.
  

Subcontractors

• The subcontractor is providing goods and services.
• Formal quote for services should be enclosed.

Tuition

Tuition for graduate students is normally included in the budget unless the PI instructs the Proposal Administrator not to include it. For proposals to federal, state and non-profit sponsors, overhead is not charged on tuition.

Facilities & Administrative Costs (Indirect Costs)

Facilities & Administrative Costs (F&A) are calculated according to the F&A Cost Rate Agreement for The Texas A&M University System negotiated with the Department of Health & Human Services (our cognizant federal audit agency). The appropriate F&A cost rate is applied to the modified total direct cost (MTDC) base. MTDC consists of direct costs except capital equipment over $5,000, Computing and Information Services computer charges, scholarships and fellowships, tuition, and that portion of each sub-award in excess of $25,000.

Activities conducted outside university premises are considered off-campus, provided that one of the following is true and that the facility being used is not owned and operated by the university.

1. Project period - the off-campus activity covers more than 50% of the total project period.
2. Major share of expenditures - more than 50% of the project performance (total expenditure) is related to the off-campus activity.