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Salaries and Wages. When calculating salaries to be included in a proposal budget, project directors/principal investigators (PD/PI) should use the current academic year salary as the base and project a four percent merit increase for each subsequent year. (A faculty member's actual increase is determined during the annual salary increase process and may differ from the budgeted increase.) 
 
Calculating Summer Salary. In accordance with ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ policy, an employee may receive up to 100% of a twelve-month salary. Therefore, faculty on a nine-month contract, may receive up to 2/9 of their base faculty salary, as summer salary. Summer salaries are based on the faculty member's salary rate for the fiscal year beginning in July. 
 
Requesting Sabbatic Pay. Faculty who anticipate being on sabbatical during the proposed project period and who wish to include part of their salary in the project budget, must obtain approval from the senior vice president and dean for academic affairs prior to submitting the proposal. In accordance with ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ policy, an employee may receive up to 100% of a twelve-month salary, but may not exceed it. 
 
Requesting Compensation for Non-Faculty, Non-Student Employees. Grant proposals may include funds for new or continuing staff positions (e.g., laboratory technicians or postdoctoral fellows) to support a project. All costs associated with the position, including salary or wages, benefits, startup costs, computing equipment, etc., must be fully supported by the grant. The College does not normally provide matching support for salary-related costs nor is the College committed to continuing a position once grant funding ends. 
 
Grant-supported personnel are employees of the College and their terms and conditions of employment, including salary ranges, are governed by College policy. Any inclusion of grant-supported personnel must be approved prior to inclusion in a grant proposal. PD/PI who wish to include new positions in a proposal should contact the associate dean for academic administration to discuss an appropriate salary range and other related issues, including space considerations. In general, the College does not provide additional space, such as an office, for research-related staff positions. 

Student Employees. Any matriculated student may be hired to conduct non-research grant work (e.g., caring for laboratory animals) on an hourly basis determined in consultation with the Student Employment Office. 

A course buyout is when an external grant or fellowship pays for a percentage of a faculty member’s regular academic year salary and benefits, “buying out” one course’s equivalent of time and effort from the College to support the funded project instead.¹ The faculty member’s regular salary and FTE do not change, but they teach one less course in a certain semester and instead dedicate that time to the funded project. Tenured faculty may request one grant-funded course buyout during their time at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾.

Key Criteria

• The grant must be fiscally managed through ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾; the grant terms must allow a course buyout; and the grant budget must cover the course buyout’s full salary cost (25% of PI base salary), plus fringe and/or overhead if allowed by the sponsor.
  
  
• The faculty member (principal investigator / PI) must request the course buyout during the grant conceptualization stage and must work with their chair(s)/director(s) to develop a plan for the impact on the curriculum for the Dean’s consideration.
  
  
• The Dean for Academic Affairs must approve the course buyout prior to the grant application being submitted.
  
  
• The curricular impact on the department/program and students is central to determining approval.

Process

Faculty members who wish to request a one-time course buyout in a grant proposal must request specific approval of the buyout in addition to the standard grant approval process. It is the faculty member’s responsibility to do this early in the grant development process, well in advance of the grant proposal deadline.

After having confirmed with the Grants Office that a course buyout is an allowable cost per the grant guidelines, the PI must discuss the course buyout request with their chair(s)/director(s) and develop a basic plan addressing its impact on the curriculum, including:

• the anticipated semester for the course buyout;
  
  
• the anticipated course and its place in the curriculum (or equivalent parameters, e.g. course level and type, core or elective), as well as the course that the PI will still teach in that semester;
  
  
• how the course buyout fits into the department/program’s overall staffing/leave pattern and curriculum in that year; and
  
  
• whether the curriculum can absorb the loss of that course in that year or whether the department/program will be requesting replacement staffing (and, if so, whether replacement staffing for the proposed course is feasible). Please note the starting assumption is that course buyouts, like internal course releases, are not replaced.

Course buyouts should only be proposed for semesters far enough in the future that the department/program would have sufficient time to enact the curricular impact plan after a positive funding decision is announced. The PI and chair/director are encouraged to reach out to the Director of Sponsored Research, the Associate Dean for Curriculum, and/or the Associate Director for Academic Budgets and Financial Planning at any point with questions or for discussion.

The PI submits the chair-approved curricular impact plan to the Dean, along with a brief description of the size and scope of the work to be conducted and an explanation as to why the additional release time during the academic year is necessary for the successful completion of the funded work / how it will materially impact their ability to reach the grant’s goals.

The Dean assesses the impact of the course buyout within the larger context of the department/program’s curriculum, alongside other factors, and grants or declines approval of the proposed course buyout.

If the grant is awarded, the Dean’s office formally notes the planned teaching reduction and associated curricular impact plan in personnel and department/program records. Any subsequent modifications to the approved plan will require prior approval.

Additional notes

• A grant-funded course buyout may not be used, alone or in combination with internal course releases, to reduce the faculty member’s teaching load to zero in that semester.²
  
  
• A grant-funded course buyout buys out the teaching of one course: it does not reduce or affect the faculty member’s other obligations, including advising and departmental or College service (e.g. committees, serving as chair/director).

¹ This does not apply to grant- or fellowship-funded research leaves.

² This provision does not apply to tenured faculty whose regular FTE is 0.50 and who normally teach only one course in each semester.

Equipment is defined as tangible property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost greater than or equal to $5,000. PD/PI should budget for and describe all equipment needed to perform the activities described in the proposal that is not available or easily accessible to the PD/PI from College resources. For grant purposes, equipment is typically used for research, scientific, or other technical activities (e.g. microscopes, x-ray machines, spectrometers, etc.). Special attention must be paid to determining the acquisition cost of the equipment. Acquisition cost is defined as the cost of the equipment, including the cost to install the equipment and make it ready for use. Therefore, costs such as freight, installation and accessories, which are necessary to make the equipment usable for the purpose for which it was acquired are considered part of acquisition costs and should also be part of the request. 
 
In order for the College to plan for the successful use and maintenance of equipment purchased with grant funds, the PD/PI must fill out an Equipment Vetting Form and contact the associate dean for academic administration to discuss space requirements, maintenance contracts, insurance, and annual supplies prior to final budget approval. 

Please note that there are additional requirements for the purchase and management of equipment on campus if purchased with federal funding.  Please reference the Federal Equipment Management process and policy. 

Any item or service over $10,000 requires a Vendor Selection Form to be completed prior to purchase. Please consult the Grant- Finance guidance on High-Cost Grant Expenses for further details. 

PD/PI may wish to include participant in their proposal budget to support fellowship training and research opportunities for students. Under a summer fellowship, the grant must support a weekly stipend ($600/week), summer housing ($800/summer). Participant support budget may also be used to purchase student-specific research supplies or to cover student travel. These expenses should be specified and justified in the grant proposal budget justification. Please note, some sponsors limit the ability to reallocate participant support budget for other purposes after time of award.  

For full guidance, please consult Participant Support Guidance and the Participant Support Policy.  

Materials and supplies used for the performance of the award may be charged as direct costs. Purchased materials and supplies must be charged at their actual prices, net of applicable credits. Computing devices are allowable if they are essential and allocable, but not solely dedicated, to the performance of the award.

If a ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ PD/PI wishes to include a subaward in his/her grant proposal, prior to submission, the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ PD/PI must send the following to Sponsored Research Programs:

• A statement from an authorized representative of the subrecipient institution, indicating a commitment to perform the scope of work proposed, assuring the accuracy and reasonableness of the budget, and agreeing to enter into a formal subaward if the proposal is funded.
• A written scope of work to be completed by the PD/PI at the subrecipient institution.
• A detailed budget and budget narrative of the subawardee's project that meets the requirements of the funder and ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ College. Budget must be approved by the subrecipient institution.
• All required certifications and assurances relating to the subawardee's proposed scope of work.

• A written scope of work to be completed over the period of performance.
• A detailed budget and budget narrative that meets the needs of the funder and the College.
• All required certifications and assurances related to the proposed scope of work.