Rationale
Increasingly, sponsors for sponsored projects expect the University and by extension the College to provide funds for a portion of direct project costs in the form of cost matching/cost sharing (referred to as cost matching for remainder of policy). Funds for this cost match must be real, direct chargeable, and accounted for at proposal stage. Due to limited funds assigned individually to principal investigators, the cost match must be a joint effort between departments, centers, the College, and the Vice President for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Endeavors (VPR).
Purpose
This policy provides guidance regarding cost matching financial support for COE principal investigators. It outlines when principal investigators should expect or request financial support from their Department, Center, and the College. Additionally, it provides guidance on what limitations may be placed on the principal investigator due to cost-matching requirements.
What is Cost Matching?
Sponsored project costs are divided into direct chargeable real costs and indirect funds recovery. Indirect fund recovery rates are charged based on the project type, sponsor limitations, and include costs that are real but not able to be directly associated with the project.
Direct costs are clearly identified transactions that will be incurred in the course of the project activities. Sometimes sponsors require the university to provide funds to support these costs in addition to the funds being provided by the sponsor. The University providing additional funds for direct cost support is called cost matching.
The College of Education will provide cost matching assistance for funding agencies that require a mandatory cost match. In general, the College will not provide cost match funds that are voluntarily committed to enhance the project or to maximize project costs.
Examples of Cost Matching in The College of Education
The College of Education has determined that certain cost match opportunities may be included based on the normal availability of funds. Examples include:
Unique cost sharing opportunities:
Please note, certain costs are UNALLOWABLE as cost matching regardless of applicability to the research performed:
Administrative Time as cost matching:
Policy Limitations
When requesting cost matching funds in the College of Education, the principal investigator must be aware of the following policy limitations:
Exception Use
If the principal investigator’s affiliated Center cannot provide cost matching funds, they should consider alternative methods of support.
The College may consider, in some circumstances, to provide the additional match needed in lieu of Center support. However, the indirect cost return of the awarded project will then be retained by the College until the additional match amount is recovered.
"Demystifying IDC" - Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Endeavors (VPR) presentation on October 31, 2022.
IDC distribution from the University to Colleges
Direct cost (DC) expenditures on grants result in the generation of indirect costs (IDC). The University keeps 75% of the IDC and 25% is returned to the colleges. The measurement period for the DC is the calendar year (CY), January to December, with the IDC returning to the colleges the following September.
Faculty and staff must submit grant proposals using a grants and contracts specialist in either the College of Education Research Administration (COERA), or through a COE center/institute (i.e., MCPER-VGC, IPSI, TexCEP, or CCSSE), or a University center/institute.
IDC distribution from COE to departments/centers/institutes
The 25% share of IDC returned to the college is distributed as follows:
a) For applications that are submitted by COERA, MCPER-VGC, TexCEP, or CCSSE:
Exception: The Institute for Public School Initiates (IPSI) has an alternative IDC return distribution mechanism outside of this policy.
b) For applications that are submitted through a UT center/institute (e.g., Population Research Center):
The center director, principal investigator’s department chair, and the COE associate dean for research and graduate studies will reach an agreement about IDC distribution.
Rationale
The federal government expects the University, and by extension the College, to incur a baseline level of costs for research regardless of funding received. The indirect cost rate provides partial reimbursement for research related incurred costs e.g. building maintenance, administrative support, library facilities, etc.
Purpose
This document provides guidance regarding financial support for COE researchers. It outlines when researchers should expect or request financial support from their Department or College. Additionally, it provides guidance on when researchers should request financial support from indirect cost return (IDC return) funds returned to their administrating unit. An administrating unit includes a college organized research unit/center e.g. TexCEP, IPSI, Meadows, COERA, etc.
For guidance on indirect cost return requests for COE researchers not affiliated with a College or University research center, see Indirect Cost Return - Requesting College Funds.
Review baseline support research expectations for the College, departments, and centers below.
Technology
Tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, some eligible professional track faculty, and full-time non-research staff are eligible for the Technology Life Cycle (TLC) program which consists of standardized computer equipment for required use on office work and academic purposes only. Assigned TLC may also be used for research but equipment will not be assigned for research-only purposes.
Research specific equipment for staff solely dedicated to research work can, in most cases, be direct purchased on externally funded sponsored projects with the correct allocation calculation and justification. Exceptions may qualify as an indirect cost item.
Research Space
Research space beyond guaranteed office space to faculty and staff is granted through an application process managed by the College of Education Facilities Office. Space already dedicated for academic purposes to faculty and staff may also be used in research work depending on security and other needs.
Administrative Services
Research administrative services are available through the College of Education Research Administration (COERA) Team. These services include proposal preparation, award negotiation and setup assistance, and post-award management, reporting, and account maintenance.
The Information Technology Office (ITO) provides research support through general technology support and purchasing assistance to faculty, staff, and students. Advanced software and technology support that requires large time commitments of support services possibly may require direct charging project support time. Additionally, ITO helps with Confidential Data Control Plans.
The Office of Instructional Innovation (OII) may help with instructional technology design and support. Advanced technology design and support that requires large time commitments of support services may require direct charging project support time.
Additionally, those organized research centers in incubation phase receive basic administrative support by the Dean’s office Business Services.
Additional Costs
The College provides annual travel funds for faculty to present research at national conferences.
For their FACULTY, departments and Research Centers are expected to provide the following guaranteed costs from their dedicated instructional and materials and operating costs:
For RESEARCH STAFF associated with their units, departments and Research Centers are expected to provide the following guaranteed costs from their materials and operating costs:
For RESEARCH LABS AND OFFICES associated with their units, departments and Research Centers are expected to provide the following guaranteed costs from their materials and operating costs :
Notes:
For all indirect costs that are above and beyond those listed above, faculty may seek alternative funding sources to support their requests. Please follow these steps:
Information below includes the policy for indirect cost return requests for COE researchers not affiliated with a College or University research center. The policy for accessing indirect cost return funds may vary based on your administrating unit.
Check with administrating unit and review Indirect Cost Return - COE Policy prior to engaging in process below.
Who can utilize these funds? How do I apply?
Any researcher engaged in research, not associated with a College or University research center can utilize these funds after determining they do not have any alternative fund accounts or department support as described above.
Researchers may apply for support through the College of Education Research Administration (COERA) office via the COE Indirect Cost Return Account Request Form. COERA will coordinate request, review, and approval with the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies.
Examples of Indirect Cost Return use
The College of Education has determined that certain indirect costs expenditures should be pre-approved for use of the indirect cost return account with minimal review. Examples include:
Unique indirect cost return usage requests will require further review and consideration. Examples of IDC expenditures requiring review:
Please note, certain costs are UNALLOWABLE on indirect cost return accounts regardless of applicability to the research performed:
Please direct any questions about this policy to the Associate Dean for Research.
The following policy applies to faculty who hold or plan to hold one of the following:
Affiliations – the institutions listed as the faculty member's scholarly home on papers, books, reports, exhibit catalogs, performances etc. – are a reflection of their organizational association. Per HOP 7-1070, except in very special circumstances, faculty, staff, and students should list UT as their primary affiliation (i.e., the one listed first). This policy also gives clear criteria for listing a secondary affiliation.
When a faculty member agrees to a secondary appointment, they should pay special attention to requirements of any employment or affiliation document for listing the other institution as an affiliation on scholarly products. Unless explicit approval is granted by the Dean and the Office of Research Support and Compliance, faculty may not sign an agreement for a secondary or visiting appointment that requires them to list another institution as the first affiliation. In listing such institutions as a secondary affiliation, faculty must follow the criteria established by HOP 7-1070, part VIIA. Please contact the Office of Research Support and Compliance for help navigating this requirement, or with any questions.
In particular, when entering into agreements with foreign institutions, aligning with the requirements in HOP 7-1070 can prevent problems. Some federal sponsors use affiliation and acknowledgement information as input data in their effort to ensure compliance with reporting requirements for current and pending support. Listing secondary institutions on publications as either first or second affiliations when those affiliations have not been fully disclosed to UT and federal sponsors may cause problems for scholars. Secondary affiliations should not be indicated unless the secondary institution has provided substantive support for the research, and that support has been properly disclosed to both the university and federal sponsors.
For concerns about existing agreements, please reach out to the ORSC Science and Security team. As faculty seek to enter into new agreements, they should refer to the university’s guidance on contracting language as a resource for identifying where contract clauses may conflict with university policy.
Related policies:
All tenured/tenure-track faculty are expected to participate in active efforts. This activity will do much to further the professional stature of the faculty member, enhance the national and international reputation of the College, and improve the faculty member’s teaching effectiveness.
Tenured/tenure-track faculty who are not engaged in an active research program are required to develop an Individual Faculty Research Productivity Plan or are required to teach an additional organized course each long session.
Faculty should inform their department chair before proposals are submitted to the College of Education Research Administration Team (COERA).
Additional information regarding research-related workload guidelines for full-time tenured, tenure-track, and professional track faculty is available at COE: Workload Policies.
Additional resources in COE:
A faculty member may delegate signature authority to an office manager for paper or electronic documents, but this does not relieve the faculty member of their fiscal responsibility and accountability for accounts under the faculty member’s control. All faculty are encouraged to develop adequate accounting systems that meet these requirements. Rules regarding the delegation of signature authority are found in HBP Part 1.3.2: Signature Authority.
Newly developed Centers that are recognized as an Organized Research Unit (ORU) by the Vice President for Research Office and the College of Education are invited to apply for one-time start-up funds.
Given our ever-expanding research activities, our space is limited and requires principles to guide space allocation across the College. The departments have space (i.e., faculty suites) to serve their program areas. In some cases, there is minimal space that can be used as research space or for graduate students. With flexible work arrangements, constraints on our space may be less urgent and provide an opportunity to use our space more creatively.
Process for space requests
Occasionally, new faculty hires conduct research that requires a commitment of space which cannot be accommodated by the current departmental allocation. Department chairs should involve the F&CM to determine space availability. Offer letters will not offer research space in perpetuity. In rare situations, offer letters can specify research space for an extended period of time, as long as the faculty member has an active research program. If space is reduced, faculty maintain the option to request more space once they have a funded grant.
Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.