All proposals are routed electronically through Kuali Research, our electronic grants management system.

All those who hold faculty status or staff positions of Director or above may be named in leadership positions as Principal Investigator/Project Director on proposal submitted for external support. These positions include tenured or tenure-track faculty, clinical faculty, adjunct faculty with approval of the Vice President for Research and research faculty of the University at consortium hospitals and universities. Faculty and staff that hold term/temporary positions may serve as a principal investigator with the approval of the Vice President for Research and depending on the funding agency restrictions. In this case, a Fiscal Agent Form must be completed, naming a full-time permanent employee as the fiscally-responsible party.

Please notify ORSP as soon as you decide you intend to submit an application so we may assist you with the process but please notify us no later than 10 business days prior to the submission deadline. You should allow at least five business days for ORSP review and approval of your proposal. If you have compliance related components, e.g., animal subjects, human subjects, recombinant DNA, biohazardous materials, isotopes, please allow additional time because an abbreviated review by the relevant compliance committee(s) is also involved.

In order to expedite the review and approval process, the budget and proposal documentation should be in close to final form when submitted by ORSP through Kuali Research for internal review at least five (5) business days prior to the agency deadline. All proposal documentation should be finalized at least two (2) business days prior to agency deadline.

In addition to the proposal narrative and budget, the forms required for proposal applications are determined in working with your ORSP contact based on the funding opportunity:

When your proposal is assigned to an ORSP representative, s/he will review the guidelines with the investigator(s) to determine the application requirements. Proposals typically require:

• Summary
• Narrative/Research Plan
• References/Bibliography
• Budget and Justification
• Biosketch/CV
• Subaward documentation (if subs on project)
• Facilities/Equipment

No, the Principal Investigator and other investigators must personally complete the certifications and questionnaires. This is accomplished electronically in Kuali Research using your NEOMED ID and password.

The ORSP reviews the proposal for issues such as research compliance; whether costs are allowable, allocable and reasonable; if cost sharing is committed; as well as verifying that sponsor requirements and University guidelines and objectives are being met. The approval process is structured to assure that the appropriate physical and human resources are available to execute the sponsored project successfully and that the proposed work can be carried out safely and in full compliance with federal, state and local laws/regulations. The process is also structured to resolve, in advance, questions concerning budgeting, staffing, space utilization or other priorities and to provide a written record of institutional commitments for additional space, staffing or matching funds for the project.

Although proposals for sponsored projects are developed and written by faculty and staff members, the resulting grant and contract awards are made to Northeast Ohio Medical University. Signatory approval of all University personnel in the line of authority for the project, including the Principal Investigators/Project Directors (PI/PD) and department chairs (or Dean, as appropriate) is necessary.

In addition, information concerning sponsor type, funding source and other variables are tracked by the ORSP for reporting purposes.

The ORSP needs to review only pre-proposals, notices of intent, letters of intent, or white papers that include any budget information or require approval of the Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) before submission to the sponsor. If the pre-proposal is non-binding and does not require AOR approval, then it does not need to be submitted to the ORSP for approval before submission. We do appreciate receiving a copy for our files.

All proposals with compliance related components (animals, humans – including human cell lines or tissue, rDNA, isotopes, biohazards) must be reviewed by the appropriate compliance committee(s) prior to proposal submission. Please alert your ORSP proposal contact when such compliance matters may be involved and s/he will indicate this potential in the Kuali record and guide you to the appropriate electronic questionnaire(s).

For assistance with your budget, please contact Amanda Lindsay at 330.325.6497 or alindsay@neomed.edu.

You should first determine the total effort required to perform the proposed work on the project and then determine what portion can be supported by the grant. Any effort explicitly mentioned in the proposal but not requested in the budget from the sponsor is considered cost shared effort. Any effort committed in the proposal becomes mandatory effort if the project is funded.

No. Regardless of the number of hours you work, your total effort is 100 percent.

The University’s current fringe rates, effective 01/01/20, for budgeting are:

Governmental
(federal, state, local)
Faculty- FT: 33.15%
Faculty- FT (>= 30 hr/wk): 32.19%
Faculty- PT: 15.50%
Administrative-FT: 33.15%
Administrative-FT (>=30 hr/wk): 32.19%
Administrative-PT: 15.50%
Classified-FT: 56.95%
Classified- FT (>=30 hr/wk): 55.12%
Classified-PT: 15.50%

Indirect Costs are those costs that are incurred by the University that are not readily assignable to a specific contract or grant. These include costs such as building and equipment use charges, utilities, library costs, security, general administration, sponsored programs administration and departmental administration.

The F&A (facilities and administrative) rate is based on an agreement with the University’s cognizant federal agency, the Department of Health and Human Services. The F&A Rate Agreement effective July 1, 2017 is 56.0% MTDC (modified total direct costs) for on-campus projects and 19.3% MTDC for off-campus projects. Reference: F&A Information.

The Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC) is determined by subtracting the cost of equipment, tuition, fellowships and subcontract amounts over $25,000 from the total direct costs to determine the F&A base, to which the applicable rate (currently 56% MTDC) is applied.

Yes. In certain cases, sponsors may provide either no facilities or administrative overhead reimbursement or only a fraction of what the University’s negotiated agreement for indirect costs allows. It is important to determine the percentage of indirect costs permitted by the sponsor and to apply it to your budget. The difference between what the sponsor is willing to provide and what the costs the University incurs based on our federally-negotiated rate is considered “cost-sharing.” Before a proposal is submitted, cost-sharing must be approved by the Vice President for Research as the University must understand its financial obligations toward the project. If the sponsor includes information in its guidelines concerning the payment of indirect costs, please include a copy of this documentation with your proposal routing materials as this will speed up the review process.

The appropriate indirect cost rate to apply is determined by where the preponderance of project work is to be done. If, for example, 51% or more of the work plan is undertaken on campus, then the on-campus rate should be used. Conducting fieldwork does not qualify to the off-campus rate. Using off-campus facilities for short-term project-related activity does not qualify for the off-campus rate. Utilizing the on- and off-campus rates for different line items within the same project budget is not permitted per the federal Office of Management and Budget (see Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200, Cost Principles for Educational Institutions). Thus, there can be no “blended” rates.

Cost share represents that portion of the total project costs (direct or indirect) of a sponsored agreement borne by the University, rather than by the sponsor.

Cost sharing should be limited to only those situations where it is mandated by a sponsor or where a Principal Investigator has determined that such a contribution is necessary to ensure the success of a competitive award or proposal. When cost sharing or matching is required by the sponsoring agency or volunteered by the university, it becomes a commitment of the university. Details and approval of the cost share must be documented through the internal approval process.

Cost sharing that is required by some sponsors is called mandatory cost sharing. Cost sharing included in proposals that is not required by the sponsor is referred to as voluntary cost sharing. Once cost sharing has been included in a proposal and that proposal has been accepted by the sponsor, the University has an obligation to provide the cost sharing proposed, regardless of whether it was mandatory or voluntary.

Yes. Although NIH has adopted the modular budget format for budgets of $250,000 per year and less, the University, as do many universities, requires a detailed itemized budget for internal purposes. Under Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), the burden is on the University to apply costs consistently. Without a detailed budget, ORSP does not have any way to assure costs are in general compliance with CAS.

The University defines “equipment” as any tangible, nonexpendable property having: (1) a useful life of more than one year and, (2) an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit. Items not meeting these two conditions are not to be classified as and placed in, the equipment category.

Office supplies (pens, paper, notebooks, clips, stamps, envelopes, ink cartridges/copying toner, local telephone service, etc.) are those costs that are incurred for a “common or joint objective” of the University and, therefore, cannot be identified readily and specifically with a particular sponsored project. While one can easily recognize that a printer cartridge might be “needed” for a research project, we don’t want to have to set up an accounting system to track all of the department’s printer cartridge inventory in order to direct cost them to all the various accounts/projects on which they are used. So, although it is possible to practically direct charge any cost to a project, the accounting system that would be required and the staff effort to ensure each unit of these various costs are properly distributed makes it an unrealistic and inefficient way of handling such costs. We, therefore, recover these costs through the indirect cost reimbursement process. There are exceptions to the general rule. A major project requiring a full time clerical employee could possibly be an extraordinary circumstance, thus justifying the direct costing of clerical salaries.

34-1131512

07-777-9882

Congressional District: OH-016

State Legislative Districts
Ohio House of Representatives: 75
Ohio Senate: 28

Under the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) human subjects protection regulations (at 45 C.F.R. 46.103), every institution engaged in human subject’s research funded or conducted by DHHS must obtain an Assurance Of Compliance approved by the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP). Both “awardee” institutions and collaborating “performance site” institutions must file assurances.

NEOMED’s number is FWA00000027.

In general, grants carry obligations for reporting of either technical or financial activity to the sponsor and require separate, auditable accounting.

Usually, a grant:

• Is intended to support a project with a specific set of objectives.
• Requires a formal written proposal that indicates total project costs.
• Requires periodic written reports of a descriptive, technical and/or financial nature.
• Must be budgeted and accounted for separately from other awards.
• Must be applied for and awarded through the ORSP to assure compliance with University and agency policies.

And a gift:

• Normally requires no formal proposal and no reporting of a descriptive, technical, or financial nature.
• Is made and accepted without consideration of project costs, but rather as project or institutional support.
• Can be combined with gifts of a similar nature for similar purposes and does not need separate accounts or budgets.

May be for a specific project or unrestricted institutional purposes.

Applications that can only be awarded to 501(c)(3) organizations are submitted by the NEOMED Foundation on behalf of the University. However, the proposals are first reviewed by the ORSP, so please follow the standard proposal submission process. Documents related to the NEOMED Foundation required by most sponsors, such as the IRA letter of determination, can be found through the NEOMED Intranet.

In many cases, as a result of the imposition of the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), federal sponsors no longer perform in-depth reviews of proposal budgets. Under CAS, the federal agencies expect the applicant to be familiar with the Cost Principles and to exclude non-allowed costs from those budgets. As a result, Universities cannot depend on the “rationalization” that since the sponsor did not remove it from the awarded budget that, in fact, the sponsor has “approved” that cost item. In order to position your argument along that line, at a minimum the proposal’s budget should include a separate page titled “Budget Justification” in which those non-routine or normally non-allowed expenses are identified and justified for the project – the ORSP initially must make the judgment call based upon the circumstances of the PI’s justification.

PSC include direct costs for items such as the following:

• Stipend – A stipend payment is a predetermine amount allocated to the participant regardless of actual incurred expenses. Certain agencies of the federal government specifically restrict participant stipends. The stipend amount is usually specified in the sponsored agreement. Stipends are not to be confused with per diem.
• Travel – Travel includes the costs of transportation and associated costs and must follow sponsor guidelines as well as the University travel policy. The sole purpose of the trip must be to participate in the project activity.
• Subsistence allowance – The cost of a participant’s housing and per diem expenses necessary for the individual to participate in the project are generally allowed, provided these costs are reasonable and limited to the days of attendance. Although they may participate in meals and snacks provided at the meeting or conference, participants who live in the local area may not receive subsistence payments (NSF’s Grant Proposal Guide, Chapter II, sections C.2.g(v)).
• Tuition/Fees – The tuition and/or fees paid by a participant in connection with meetings, conferences, symposia, or training projects are generally allowable costs. These fees may include laboratory fees, passport or visa fees for foreign participants, and registration fees.
• Other – Certain other costs in support of the participant’s involvement may be allowable, including training materials, laboratory supplies, and insurance.

Key personnel are individuals who contribute in a substantive way to the scientific development or execution of the project, whether or not salaries are requested. This role should be determined by the Principal Investigator.

A “Participant” is a trainee or participant in connection with a training project (i.e. meeting, workshop, conference, seminar, symposium, or other short-term instructional or information sharing activity). A participant may be a student, scholar, scientist from other institution, representative of a private sector company, teacher, and personnel from a state or local government agency. A participant is not an employee of NEOMED. A participant does not provide any deliverable or service to the University and is not subject to NEOMED policies (i.e. cannot be terminated for failure to perform). A person classified as an intern would be paid as an employee and not as a participant. An intern will receive certain training, but is also providing services to the University, to the grant sponsor, or to a third party.

“Participant Support Costs” (PSC) are direct costs for items such as stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not employees) in connection with conferences, or training projects (§ 2 CFR 200.75). PSC are intended to support students and other trainees and may not be paid to individuals providing administrative or logistical support, individuals attending a conference as invited speakers or research subjects participating in a study (i.e. human subjects).  Generally, PSC are excluded from MTDC and exempt from F&A costs.

• PSC must abide by the following conditions:
• The number of participants must be specified and justified in the budget justification.
• Cost must be incurred within the project period and specifically identified and approved by the sponsoring agency.
• PSC must be identified, budgeted, and accounted for separately from other budget categories.
• The transfer of funds budgeted for PSC into other budget categories can only be performed with written approval from the Federal awarding agencies (§ 2 CFR 200.308 (c)(1)(v)).
• Unexpended participant costs must be returned to the sponsor and cannot be used to offset over expenditures in other categories.
• Must be adequately documented.
• Must be consistent with NEOMED’s policies and practices.