Proposal Prep

Salaries should be expressed in terms of an “effort” percentage. Include faculty, technicians, post-doctoral associates, graduate students, and other personnel required by the project.

• To determine total salaries and wages, list the amount of time to be spent by each person who will be working on the project. Time should normally be shown in terms of person-months and/or a percent of full-time effort. Show breakdown between summer and regular academic year for faculty.

9-Month Appointment Example ($45,000 annual base, 9-month faculty appointment; proposal is for 15% effort)

$45,000 x 15% project effort = $6,750 project salary request

Person months is calculated by multiplying the percent effort proposed by the individual’s University appointment. Using the above example:  15% project effort x 9-month faculty appointment = 1.35 academic person months.

• No employee may be scheduled for activities in excess of 100% of effort in any given month.
• Students, including Graduate Students, may work no more than 20 hours a week when school is in session and 40 hours when school is out.
• Sponsored activities may not result in any employees receiving compensation at a rate in excess of their authorized salary or academic rate. For multi-year projects, the budget should take into consideration any possible salary increases. When allowed by the sponsor, the UNCG standard is to include a 3% annual increase.
• For NSF effort reporting purposes, UNCG defines year as fiscal period beginning July 1st and ending June 30th.

Fringe benefits include the cost of the University and State retirement programs, health insurance, group life insurance, social security, disability insurance, workmen’s compensation, and unemployment compensation.

• Fringe benefits are a direct cost to a sponsored project, are clearly related to the salaries and wages to be paid, and are shown as a separate entry in the budget. Fringe benefit costs have been calculated based on historical data. The actual costs for fringe benefits are charged (billed) to the sponsored project at the time the costs are incurred. The amount charged is based on salary, selected benefit package, and other variables applicable to the individual employee.
• UNCG’s fringe benefit rates are reviewed on an annual basis and adjustments to the rate will be made based on the claims incurred in past fiscal years. Changes in fringe rates typically occur between June and August. Additional information and guidance can be found Appendix 2 of the Contracts & Grants Policies and Procedures.

The above composite fringe rates should be considered the default unless a sponsor specifically requests a breakdown of the fringe benefits calculation. In those cases, the following breakdown applies:

*fringe rates typically updated at start of new fiscal year (7/1)
+fringe rates typically updated at calendar year (1/1)

“Equipment” means an article of nonexpendable, tangible personal property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per acquisition.

• Components used to fabricate an item of capital equipment may be considered as capital equipment for budgeting purposes and should be identified for inventory purposes.
• Capital equipment costs are excluded from indirect cost calculations.

Travel costs are usually budgeted according to domestic and foreign travel. For current travel policies and rates, refer to the current UNCG policies found in the UNCG Travel Manual: https://accountspayable.uncg.edu/

• Travel should be treated as a direct cost of the grant or contract where such travel will provide direct scientific benefit to the program and is within specific sponsor restrictions.
• Domestic travel is considered travel within the United States and Canada (sponsor may have additional destinations they consider domestic, however, in which case, defer to sponsor guidelines).
• In the budget narrative, break out costs: lodging, airfare, per diem, ground transportation, registration. State number of travelers for each trip, length of trip, and destination (if known). A table may be used.
• For foreign travel, consider budgeting in reference to US department of state rates. Consider adding this statement to the budget narrative: The total funds requested are calculated according to the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Per Diem Rates and the breakdown is shown below.
• If budgeting with estimates, consider adding this statement to the budget narrative: For proposal purposes, travel has been estimated as above, however we will abide by NC Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) policy and rates for reimbursement of all travel costs.

These are items, costing less than $5,000, which are directly related to the objectives of the project. Not to include office supplies or any other general purposes supplies/equipment.

• Normally, a research project will consume expendable supplies such as laboratory items, teaching aids, computer software, and office supplies. A reasonable amount should be budgeted for these items.
• Consider the cost of biostatistics; cost of animals; additional data storage hardware, etc.

Includes costs associated with the publication and dissemination of research results.

• Budget the anticipated cost of publishing the results of the research, keeping in mind that page charges may vary from journal to journal.
• Consider both page charges and reprint costs.

Consultants are individuals outside the university, whose expertise and skills will add value to the project. UNCG faculty or other institutional staff should not be listed as paid consultants.

• Normally, consultants are paid a consulting fee (based on a daily rate) plus travel expenses. Many Sponsors do not permit payments to consultants and some restrict or limit such payments. If in doubt as to the allowability of consultants or rates paid to consultants, refer to the Sponsor’s program guidelines or contact the OSP.
• Consultants are never listed in the Salaries & Wages section of a proposal’s budget. Consultant costs plus any associated travel should appear in the separate Consultant category of the budget.
• Whenever possible, identify the proposed consultant by name, indicate the number of days of work, daily rate, and role/description of work in the budget justification.
• To determine whether it’s most appropriate to hire someone as a consultant or to bring them on as an employee, review the UNCG Independent Contractor Checklist.

• Consider, as appropriate, items such as: animal care per diems; human subject incentive payments; costs for copying, long-distance telephone calls, postage specific to the proposed work.
• In-state and out-of-state tuition and fees charged to regularly enrolled students should be included here. With the exception of tuition requested as part of a Training Grant, tuition costs are excluded from indirect cost calculations. Charges to this cost category are often subject to specific program restrictions and reference should be made to sponsor guidelines to determine allowability of charges.
• Services and Service Centers: within the university are various centers from which a variety of services may be purchased to support research activities; the services have set fees/fee schedules which aid in the estimate of budget costing. Some examples include: Use of Biology Microsope; Psychology Clinic; Speech and Hearing Clinic, etc.