Administrative Resources

For Current Students, Faculty, and Staff

Critical Dates & Deadlines

Please review your account balances regularly in SharePoint

FY2019/2020 FISCAL YEAR-END DEADLINES

This is in reference to all State 101 & 103 CRRNT funds only at this time…

 All purchases and travel requests should be submitted no later than Friday, May 1st.

This includes all purchase orders, PCard purchases, unencumbered vouchers, travel authorizations, expense reports (travel & personal reimbursements), and deposits. This means we must have all requests and/or backup documentation in hand by this date. If you are planning on using your remaining funds for travel expenses, but the travel dates are beyond May 1st, please work with Cindy to setup a TA for the encumbrance now so we can place a hold on those funds for you.

Failure to spend your remaining state account balances down by the deadline above will result in the department using them for ADMIN expenses effective May 2nd, with the exception of RREA funds. Any remaining RREA funds will be returned to the Extension Office. If you already know that you cannot spend your remaining balances down by this date, please let us know now so that way we can ensure we do not lose any funds.

Any item turned in after this deadline will hit FY21 funds, which means any type of reimbursement or payment due will be delayed until the second week of July when the system reopens.

OPS staff can remain on your state accounts until the fiscal year-end cutoff date in June, but no changes can be made to increase their payroll projections (such as: work more than estimated hours, FTE increases, or pay increases) after May 1st.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact Angela Gifford at angelag4d@ufl.edu.

 

Travel

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Travel Policy and Procedure

Travel Authorizations

The Travel Authorization is an estimation of expenses the traveler will incur on their trip.

TAs are required for conferences and international travel.

TAs should be submitted at least two weeks prior to a trip’s start, and at least thirty days for international travel.

Turn in the following documentation to the SFRC Fiscal Department (sfrc-fiscal@ifas.ufl.edu):

  • For International/Foreign Travel:
    • Completed TA form
    • TEAM ASSIST insurance (found here)
    • Completed international travel checklist (found here).
    • All original PCard receipts (no copies, must also include cover forms)
    • All available receipts for purchases made with personal funds
    • For conferences, blank registration forms and agendas
    • When 101 and 103 funds are used, approval via E-mail must be sought from the department Director and attached to the form
  • For Domestic Travel:
    • Completed TA form
    • All original PCard receipts (no copies, must also include cover forms)
    • All available receipts for purchases made with personal funds
    • For conferences:
      • Blank registration forms or price list for attending a conference
      • Agenda for conference
    • For conferences, blank registration forms and agendas
    • When 101 and 103 funds are used, approval via E-mail must be sought from the department Director and attached to the form

Travel Expense Reports

The Travel Expense Report is a record of all expenses a traveler has incurred on their trip.

TERs should be submitted immediately after a travel’s completion.

Turn in the following documentation to the SFRC Fiscal Department (sfrc-fiscal@ifas.ufl.edu):

  • Completed TER form
  • All original PCard receipts (no copies, must also include cover forms)
  • All available receipts for purchases made with personal funds
  • When 101 and 103 funds are used, approval via E-mail must be sought from the department Director and attached to the form

Out of Pocket Reimbursements

Out-Of-Pocket Reimbursements are used for reimbursement from an account for purchases made from personal funds. These are not used for travel expenses, but are handled by the SFRC Fiscal Department (sfrc-fiscal@ufl.edu).

Turn in the following documentation:

  • Completed out-of-pocket reimbursement form
  • All available receipts for purchases made with personal funds

Car Rentals

The University of Florida has contracts with Enterprise and National (Contract # 78111808-15-1) which provides a discounted rate and exempts us from rental facility fees and taxes. When renting from Enterprise or National, the website to use for UF business rentals is:

Enterprise/National Reservations or 1-877-690-0064 (reference account number 43A3255)

Do not use the “Leisure Reservations” link at the bottom of the UF business rental site for personal rentals. This link will take you to the Enterprise regular rental page and you will not receive the contracted State rates. A new link has been setup for personal reservations at the link below

Personal Rentals at Enterprise (reference account number FL43089)

Renting for non-employees/employees without Pcard: establish an Enterprise Billing Account if you have the need to rent vehicles for other travelers but charge the rental costs to a UF PCard. Complete the Electronic Billing Agreement form and Email to stateoffloridabrse@ehi.com. A representative will contact you to complete the process and establish your account.

*Enterprise bills are sent twice per month.  This can delay travel expense reporting.

Emerald Club Portal – USED WHEN BOOKING FOR SELF OR ANOTHER TRAVELER – You should establish an Emerald Club account when renting vehicles for yourself and paying with a PCard assigned to you (or paying with your personal credit card). The Emerald Club program has benefits such as simplified reservation process, counter by-pass at airports as well as the ability to register your personal credit card for using the rental rates for personal use. Please contact Travel Services for information on how to join the Emerald Club program.

NOTE: Emerald Club is NOT required but without it you do not get the benefits of the Emerald Club.

*It is recommended to use National at airports, especially if you are an Emerald Club Member.

Rental Car Tolls

Enterprise/National utilizes the PlatePass program for tolls in the State of Florida. There will be a $3.95 convenience charge per day of use not to exceed $19.75 on any given one rental (Florida); this does not include tolls. Example: Travel to Orlando for 5 days and have tolls on 2 travel days. The charge will be $7.90 plus the cost of the tolls.

Tolls billed by Enterprise sometimes take 14-30 days to be charged to the method of payment used when renting the vehicle.  This can delay your Travel reimbursement. To avoid the convenience fee and delay in charge processing, please choose:

  • Pay at the toll booth and you will not be billed by PlatePass.  Retain your receipts.
  • Use a personal SunPass transponder in your rental vehicle and you will not be billed by PlatePass. Submit your SunPass activity for reimbursement.
  • SunPass has the option to add a rental vehicle to the account.  Add the rental to your personal account OR
  • We can temporarily add the rental vehicle to the Departmental SunPass account.  Please contact Sarah Hernandez by phone 846-0852 after you pick up the vehicle.

You can print receipts for any PlatePass charges at the following websites:

Travel Forms

PCards

Obtaining a PCard

Please email Sarah Hernandez (sjhernandez@ufl.edu) for complete instructions and pre-filled forms.

The following training courses are required before you can apply for a PCard:

  • PST975 – What Every PCard Holder Needs To Know
  • PST076 – PCard for Travel (if PCard is to be used for travel-related expenses)
  • PST077 – PCard for Commodities

Processing can take 15-20 business days after submission.

*Students may not apply for a PCard unless they are also employed.

Using a PCard

PCards are for official University business expenses that benefit a grant, state account, or federal account.

When making a purchase, always obtain an itemized receipt that includes:

  • Vendor name and address.
  • Date of purchase and/or date of goods received.
  • Description and cost of each item purchased.
  • Total cost of purchase.

Billing Address – the address entered on your PCard Application

        • Main Campus/ACF – PO Box 110410, Gainesville, FL 32611
        • Fisheries Campus – 7922 NW 71st St, Gainesville FL 32653
        • Ruskin/TAL – 1408 24th St SE, Ruskin, FL 33570

Shipping addresses should be a University of FL address, not a home address
COVID-19: Shipping to addresses other than your official UF location

Sign the receipt and submit to sfrc-fiscal@ifas.ufl.edu.

Submitting PCard Documentation

PCard FAQs

PCard FAQs

PCard Restrictions

See list of Allowable, Conditional and Non-Allowable PCard purchases

The following are examples of PCard misuse/abuse and can result in PCard suspension or termination (repeated violations):

  • Failure to turn in receipt within allotted time.
  • Splitting PCard charges to circumvent purchasing limits.
  • Falsification of records.
  • Card sharing – Allowing others to use card or account number.
  • Abuse of PCard for personal gain and/or beyond express intended use.
  • Repeated non-compliance with policies and procedures.

Personal Charges

Personal use is a violation of PCard policies, can result in loss of a cardholder’s PCard privilege, and could lead to termination of employment and criminal prosecution.

Whether unintentional or otherwise immediately:
1. Request a credit from the merchant and notify Fiscal Staff,
or;
2. Notify Fiscal Staff and reimburse with a check made out to “University of Florida”

Reimbursement within five days, by either vendor credit or personal check, will prevent suspension of cardholder privileges.

PCard privileges may be lost if there are continued violations of policies.

Please contact PCard team at pcard@ufl.edu with questions or comments.

Contact Information

PCard Verifiers:

Resources

 

Tax Exemption Certificate

Wallet-sized Exemption certificates available anytime from Fiscal employees or PCard Team

Amazon Purchasing

Please be sure to check the Contracts section of Purchasing’s site FIRST before purchasing from Amazon.

UF centralized Amazon account provides tax exemption and free two day Prime shipping. Contact Sarah Hernandez to be added to SFRC’s Amazon group.

Best Buy Purchasing

Please be sure to check the Contracts section of Purchasing’s site FIRST before purchasing from Best Buy

Use SFRC’s Best Buy Tax Exempt Number if ordering online or in the store

Sam’s Club Purchasing

Membership required (click heading for information/pricing).  If using a personal membership, they will not remove any tax.  Purchase only non-taxable food items to avoid being charged tax.

Home Depot Online Ordering

Use SFRC’s Home Depot Tax Exempt Number if ordering online

Office Depot/Office Max

Using your PCard when shopping at Office Depot/Office Max should provide you with automatic contract pricing and tax exemption.

Orders placed in MyUF Market through Mr. Paper are fulfilled through Office Depot and are typically delivered the next day.

Purchase Orders

Requisitions

Requisitions are submitted through myUFMarket, an online marketplace for purchasing goods and services from UF-approved vendors.  These are made for purchases that cannot be completed through a P-Card.

If a vendor is not already UF-approved, application forms must be completed by the vendor. Please contact the fiscal team (sfrc-fiscal@ifas.ufl.edu) to have the appropriate forms sent to the vendor.

Vendors performing on-site services (for example, construction or property care) will also need to provide an insurance certificate covering workers’ compensation, property liability, property damage and vehicle liability insurance, with the University of Florida listed as an “additional covered” party.

When completing a requisition:

    1. If items are within the following price ranges, quotes/bids are required as stated:
      1. $1,000 – $4,999: One quote preferred. Purchasing Coordinator’s discretion.
      2. $5,000 – $24,999: Documented quotes from 2 or more vendors by phone, fax, email.
      3. $25,000 – $74,999: 2 or more written quotes (please attach both quotes)
      4. OVER $75,000: Formal bids required (contact Purchasing).
      5. A sole source justification can be used as an exception to quotes from 2 or more vendors; or if the total requisition amount is above $75,000, a sole source certification form will need to be completed.
      6. Submit a completed “requisition to purchase” form along with any required documentation to the fiscal team sfrc-fiscal@ifas.ufl.edu).

Although purchase orders are usually distributed to the vendor’s remittance address, it is good practice to follow up with the vendor to ensure that they have received the documentation. If they have not, please follow up with Sarah Hernandez to have a purchase order resent to them.

Special Note: It is our internal policy that, for all computer purchases made on sponsored projects, 5% of the purchase should be allocated to an IDC or unrestricted account, even for grants that have CAS exemptions set in place.

Vehicle Purchases

The School of Forest Resources and Conservation has a sizable fleet of vehicles used for research, teaching, and extension work. The following information will always be required when submitting a purchase order for a vehicle:

  1. The quote and requisition form should include the year, make, model, engine type (Hybrid/FFV/Diesel/Electric), color (if known), VIN (if known), and if applicable, UF Decal number of trade-in vehicle for Asset Management records.
  2. Vehicle identification information for the vehicle to be replaced or written justification from a Dean or VP for adding a vehicle to the fleet.
  3. Quote from the dealer including a detailed list of vehicle specifications. (Additional quotes will be required if the vehicle is not purchased using publicly solicited contract.)
  4. A justification regarding the particular type/style of vehicle selected. Justification should outline the specific use of the vehicle and explain the need of any extra features/optional equipment above and beyond the base vehicle configuration.

All of these items should be submitted concurrently with the attached requisition to purchase form. To view information on available contract vendors for vehicles for the state of Florida, please see the UF Purchasing section on Departmental Vehicles.

Purchase Order/Vendor Forms

1.  Requisition To Purchase Form
2.  Vendor Tax Information Form
3.  Vendor Application Form
4.  Sole Source PO Form
5.  W-8 Form for Foreign Vendors
6.  Direct Deposit Form

Purchasing Directives

Accounts Payable

Expenditure Guidelines

Expenditures made on university funds must have a business purpose directly related to the University of Florida’s mission.

  1.  State appropriations (101 and 103) funds: Items for personal use such as chairs and appliances purchased on state appropriations require additional justification, and must also be purchased at a reasonable price.
  2.  Auxiliary (181 & 182) funds: Purchases such as alcohol; congratulatory telegrams; entertainment for visiting dignitaries; first class travel; and flowers and/or telegraphic condolences cannot be made on auxiliary funds
  3. Contract and grant funds (201 and 209): Purchases made on contract and grant funds are subject to approval by the department grants specialist, Sam Lawson (samuel18@ufl.edu). Per OMB Circular A-21, indirect (F&A) costs cannot be charged onto federal grants and contracts unless a CAS exemption is submitted and approved. This includes:
    a.   Salary & fringe benefits for administrative and clerical workers
    b.   Computers (except those with specialized purposes specifically for the grant)
    c.   Travel and meals (excluding those to research sites and conferences pursuant to grant objectives)
    d.   Office, custodial, and general purpose supplies
    e.   Radioactive waste
    f.    Local phone service and equipment
    g.   Postage and mailing
    h.   Membership dues
    i.   Parking fines
    j.   Subscriptions
    k.   Software (excluding specialized or technical software)
    l.   Mobile devices
    m.   Computer supplies (e.g. RAM, CD drives, flash memory)
  4. Formula funds (221 and 222): Since these are also federal funds the OMB Circular A-21 directive applies, indirect (F&A) costs cannot be charged. No exemption is in place for these funds at this time.
    This includes:
    a.   Salary & fringe benefits for administrative and clerical workers
    b.   Computers
    c.   Travel and meals (excluding those to research sites and conferences pursuant to grant objectives)
    d.   Office, custodial, and general purpose supplies
    e.   Radioactive waste
    f.   Local phone service and equipment
    g.   Postage and mailing
    h.   Membership dues
    i.   Parking fines
    j.   Subscriptions
    k.   Software (excluding specialized or technical software)
    l.   Mobile devices
    m.   Computer supplies (e.g. RAM, CD drives, flash memory)

Paying Invoices

Invoices received as a bill for services or commodities purchased should be forwarded to the SFRC fiscal team (sfrc-fiscal@ifas.ufl.edu) to be processed.

  1. For invoices associated with purchase orders, the invoice should have the PO number included in order to be paid against the PO.
  2. For invoices associated with unencumbered vouchers, account information and the signature of the account-holder should be written on or attached to the invoice.

 

Unencumbered Vouchers

Unencumbered disbursements forgo the usual method of a purchase order or other official transaction means. The following list includes examples of purchases that can be made through unencumbered vouchers:

  1.  Memberships/subscriptions/interlibrary loans.
  2. Utilities/telephone bills.
  3. Advertising (limited to newspaper/magazine ads).
  4. Licenses.
  5. Insurance.
  6. Food purchased on foundation funds.

Additional examples are available on the Disbursements Directives & Procedures site (http://www.fa.ufl.edu/directives-and-procedures/disbursements) in section 5.E.

 

Disbursements Directives

Deposits

Deposit Information

Payments to the University of Florida in cash or check should be directed to Sarah Negley at Newins-Ziegler Hall, Room 136, PO Box 110410 to ensure valid processing. All checks written should be made payable to the University of Florida unless otherwise instructed.

Cash expense refunds (refunds, reimbursements, rebates, or returned funds from a vendor) will be handled by staff members on an ad hoc basis. When directed, signed checks should be issued to the University of Florida and given to the employee handling the cash expense refund.

Cash Expense Refund Form

University policy emphasizes the processing of deposits in a timely manner. Deposits will be transmitted to the cashier’s office no less frequently than weekly.

Deposit Policy and Procedures

The University of Florida’s procedures for deposits and accounts receivable can be found here:
• http://www.fa.ufl.edu/directives-and-procedures/cash-collections-receivables-and-investments/

SharePoint

Navigation

The SFRC Accounting Team Staff utilizes a paperless system (SharePoint) to store all account information, forms, receipts, other backup documentation, and reports. All of these items are uploaded here continuously, which can take up to a couple of weeks with normal processing.  Please save this to your favorites and use Internet Explorer for best results.

Reports

All accounts are reconciled on a monthly basis. The previous month’s reports are usually available by the end of the current month once they are reviewed, approved, and uploaded into SharePoint. <make sure to scroll down when viewing report as they’re at least two pages, and often longer> Please note the beginning balance is sometimes the prior fiscal year ending balance and not always the awarded budget from the sponsor.

Additional Information

If you have a request to allow someone in your office to be able to view one or all of your SharePoint folders, please complete this FORM.

To open your folders for easier/quicker navigation, on each machine you use to access your files, you can view in File Explorer by either clicking the “Sync” icon or clicking “All Items”, then choosing “View in File Explorer”.

 

For questions about accounts in SharePoint:

Grants:
Samuel Lawson (846–0885)

Non-grants:
Angela Gifford (846-1510)

For questions about SharePoint:
Alison Short (846-0114)

Vehicle/Vessel Service Center

Vehicle/Vessel Service Center

As of 2013, the School of Forest Resources and Conservation is recognized as an official vehicle/vessel service center. Grants and other accounts may be charged for mileage in order to build a reserve to cover future replacement costs. The reserve will be kept in vehicle/vessel support accounts (60460003-181-2100).

The approved reimbursement rates effective July 1, 2017 are as follows:

Contact Angela Gifford (angelag4d@ufl.edu) for more information about setting up a service center account for your vehicle.

Vehicle/Vessel Logs

Vehicle mileage logs for service center vehicles are distributed monthly. All logs in vehicles should be kept current and accessible, and must be returned to the mileage processor at the end of each month to receive reimbursement for map mileage costs.

Note that SFRC faculty can only charge back mileage costs for research-related travel. FAS faculty members are permitted to charge back mileage costs for research, teaching, and IFAS/SFRC-wide meetings due to working from a remote location.

SFRC Vehicle and Vessel Account Flowcharts:

FAS Only – (FAS Service Center Flowchart)
FRC Only – (FRC Service Center Flowchart)

SFRC Vehicle Mileage Log
SFRC Vehicle Mileage Log (Example Template)
FAS Vessel Log

Facilities Services

The Motor Pool of Facilities Services serves as a primary means for controlling, servicing, and refueling University-property state vehicles. Vehicle owners at the University of Florida who use Motor Pool for fuel and maintenance will have their accounts charged monthly for said charges.

When purchasing a new vehicle, or switching your account to be charged, contact Dawnette Lauramore (dawnette@ufl.edu) or Samuel Lawson (samuel18@ufl.edu) to have the account information updated for the given vehicle.

For more information about Motor Pool costs and services, go to the Facilities Services Motor Pool website

Pre-Award Processing

Proposals

There are two necessary components to proposals submission: institutional approval and submission to sponsor. Your SFRC pre-award staff is happy to assist with both.

“Institutional approval” is the process of garnering a record of authorizations at the SFRC (Department), IFAS (Deans Office), and DSP (Central) levels. This process occurs entirely within UFIRST, UF’s digital sponsored programs support tool. All approvals are necessary in order to submit to the sponsor with full support from the University. Without garnering these approvals before submission, an approver of any level can require withdrawal of submission, or refuse to accept the award when it comes in. This process has its own standard set of requirements, detailed below.

“Submission to sponsor” is the action of submitting a complete proposal in response to an opportunity from a sponsor. The mechanism of submission varies from sponsor to sponsor: some accepting email applications, some having an online portal for submission, and some requiring submission through UFIRST, via the federal SF424 (grants.gov) system embedded there. Submission requirements vary considerably from sponsor to sponsor. Indicating whether submission will come from the SFRC level (PI or Grants Assistant submission) or DSP is vital, and dependent on the level of control desired for the process, as well as sponsor requirements.

Your SFRC grants administrative staff is intensely motivated to help you have a successful submission, and all guidelines discussed here are to that end.

 

Institutional Approval:

Your first steps in responding to an opportunity should be geared towards gaining institutional approval, as this process can include many revisions and changes at each stage, and is necessary to actually submit to the sponsor. Therefore, as soon as you decide to respond to an opportunity, it is crucial that you send the Proposal Submission Form and opportunity document (RFP, RFA, etc.) to your pre-award grants administrator.

-Proposal Submission form

This form will aid your grants assistant in both setting up a workspace for your proposal in UFIRST and determining an optimal timeframe for preparing your submission. Please fill out all applicable sections of the form, and describe anything you feel has not been communicated by the form in the additional comments. For example, specific routing procedures and special situations regarding availability, especially around the time of proposal deadline.

From this point forward your grants administrator will help you gather and organize everything you will need in order to assemble all necessary approvals in enough time to submit to the sponsor.

On June 22, 2018 the Division of Sponsor Programs instituted a policy to establish an internal deadline for proposal processing. Per the policy found here:

http://generalcounsel.ufl.edu/media/generalcounselufledu/documents/ProposalDeadlinePolicy.pdf

All proposal materials must now be finalized and submitted to Core Office Review by 9AM the business day previous to the deadline.

In response to this policy, IFAS research published their own deadline policy, found here:

https://research.ifas.ufl.edu/main-menu-tab/resources/proposal-deadline-policy/

Which requires that all proposal materials be finalized and submitted to IFAS by at least 9AM, 3 business days previous to DSP’s internal deadline.

This results in a 5 business day deadline for routing finalized materials in UFIRST. Because SFRC-level approvals and PI certification are a pre-requisite for proposal workspaces to enter IFAS research’s processing queue, we will need to route a completed budget one day previous to IFAS’ deadline, with the rest of proposal materials being finalized and attached before IFAS research’s deadline. For this reason it is IMPERATIVE that your grants administration staff be aware of your intention to submit to a proposal AS SOON as you decide to do so. It will be very important to get drafts of your budget to your grants staff as early as possible. This policy also makes it of vital importance to start the process of acquiring subaward documents as soon as possible, which your grants staff can help you with.

 

Submission to Sponsor:

As noted above, submission to sponsor can take on many forms. Each submission can have its own form of submission and required documents. ANY submission that requires a request of funds with the inclusion of a budget of any kind necessitates institutional approval. Almost all sponsors require, at the very least, the basic documents required for institutional submission, noted above (scope of work, budget, and budget justification). Sponsors usually require a list of specific documents and forms necessary for their full review.

A non-inclusive and non-standard list of possibly required documents and forms is as follows.

  1. Narrative/Scope of Work/Summary
  2. Budget
  3. Budget justification
  4. Budget forms
  5. Letters of support from collaborators, subaward institutions, etc.
  6. Informational forms
  7. Cost share approval letter
  8. Financial Conflict of Interest disclosure
  9. IDC rate agreement (sometimes referred to as our ‘NICRA’)
  10. Biosketches
  11. Current and Pending Support
  12. Facilities and Resources
  13. SF424 packet

Many forms and very few documents can be completed by your SFRC Pre-Award staff, but it is CRUCIAL that you discuss what forms and documents will be provided by what parties during preparation.

 

Your pre-award staff, in conjunction with departmental and central administrators, are able to assist you in providing information and guidance with most requirements related to finance and administration. They are not, however, authorized or prepared to provide assistance with programmatic requirements, i.e. the science of your proposal. Anything related to making decisions regarding how your project will be accomplished should be addressed by you or your technical collaborators and staff. For example, while administrative staff can tell you what, regarding your budget, is correct or incorrect per institutional policy, they will be unable to assist you in deciding what values should go into what categories. Similarly, any required documents or forms that require programmatic information will be limited in terms of assistance from administrative staff.

 

It is imperative that all items required for submission to sponsor are organized, approved, and finalized well before the deadline provided by the sponsor. Many proposals have unforeseen issues related to logistics that benefit from being dealt with before the deadline is imminent. Late proposal submissions increase your risk for a missed deadline. Any proposals submitted on the day of deadline may not be reviewed by IFAS or DSP depending on their submission load for the day. A proposal submitted without review could have the following actions requested by each approver post submission:

  1. A revised or corrected version be submitted to the sponsor
  2. Notifying the sponsor that changes will be made
  3. Withdrawal of the proposal
  4. If proposal is funded prior to changes being made, the award may not be accepted unless it meet’s UF’s standards and DSP has department chair and dean approval.

 

Budget:

Your budget should provide financial support for your proposed project with as much accuracy as possible.

Salary should be placed on the grant reflective of the amount of time (effort) you expect to be spent on it. Reasonable and accurate reporting of effort is an institution-wide initiative, and will be considerably eased by accurate entry of effort commitments in the proposals stage.

Key personnel are recommended to be unnamed in the budget. Unless it is a programmatic necessity to name an individual in the budget and proposal narrative, doing so can unduly increase complexity and administrative burden for PIs and staff. Named individuals are subject to tracking and reporting within the UF effort system, as well as reporting to the sponsor. This increases the administrative complexity of an award during its lifespan, and can create serious problems in the event of a change in personnel.

Budgets should incorporate the most accurate and current institutional rates that exist for fringe and overhead costs. Adherence to these rates is necessary for institutional approval.

Fringe Rates account for the average rate of benefit usage by each type of employee. This average is factored into salary charges in order to cover the actual proposed cost of compensating a given employee. Current fringe rates can be found here.

“Indirect costs,” “overhead costs,” and “facilities and administrative costs” are all terms for the costs UF tries to recoup in order to adequately provide facilities and administration for the conduct of all research. IDC is calculated as a rate applied to other costs in the budget. The rate and how it is applied often varies in accordance with project details like location of research, type of sponsor, and sponsor guidelines. Current IDC rates can be found here.

  • IDC consists of a rate applied to a cost base. The standard, federally negotiated IDC rate is 52.5% and it is applied to a Modified Total Direct Cost base. MTDC consists of the sum of costs in the budget, minus amounts for tuition, equipment (singular, non-disposable items that are $5000 and above), participant support costs, rental costs of off-site facilities, scholarships, fellowships, and subaward costs in excess of $25,000. Justification for the use of a rate other than the standard 52.5% of MTDC will be required for processing. Justification for omitting IDC entirely will also need to be provided.

Cost Share is an in-kind match of financial commitment to a project, and required for some opportunities. Per UF policy, Cost sharing is only permitted and committed when required by sponsor. Cost share can come from many sources, most of which will need institutional approval in order to be officially communicated. UFIRST has a built-in system for quantifying and approving cost share, precluding the need for other cost-share documentation, unless required by sponsor. Proposed cost share amounts and sources should be noted in the budget.

  • Associated IDC (an IDC rate applied to the cost share budget) is permitted on any proposal that does not explicitly forbid it in the proposal guidelines. This can contribute a considerable amount to the cost share amount, depending on the rate. The associated IDC rate should be applied to the cost share amount similarly to the way it is applied to the grant budget.
  • Unrecovered IDC can be added to the cost share amount when IDC is restricted by the sponsor in the grant budget. Unrecovered IDC is calculated as the amount that would have been charged to the grant budget if it was not restricted by the sponsor. This type of cost share might also be forbidden by the sponsor.
  • Minimum PI effort is required to be represented in UFIRST. UF requires that all PIs have at least 1% of their effort committed to every project they lead. As commitment is usually tracked via salary charges, projects to which the lead PI does not charge salary will be linked with Cost Share. This means that an internal record of your commitment to the project will be represented as Cost Share (effort for which you will not be reimbursed from the grant, and therefore will be compensated by the department) at both the proposal and award stages. This minimum commitment WILL NOT be communicated to the sponsor.

Budget justifications should be a clear explanation of how you arrived at the amounts in your budget. Salary and fringe amounts, supplies, equipment, any other expenses, and indirect costs need to be detailed in your justification. The basis and calculation for these costs should be clear and logical. Usually sponsors provide guidance as to the format of your justification, but in absence of this make certain that your justification clearly corresponds to the information you provide in your budget.

 

SF424:

Many federal sponsors require the use of the grants.gov proposal submission system. This is a standardized digital utility that makes use of the library of SF424 standard forms. These opportunities are unique in that submission MUST be accomplished by DSP, in the SF424 system embedded in UFIRST. The submission packet, including informational forms, budget forms, narrative attachments, etc., will only be available through UFIRST in the SF424 workspace. For this reason, federal submissions that make use of the grants.gov system will require a considerable level of communication with grants staff at both the department and central levels.

 

Subawards:

If your submission involves the inclusion of funds that will support part of your project being completed at another institution, special steps will be necessary in order to correctly set up this subaward. Subawards, as opposed to contracted services, are characterized by significant technical involvement in the science of the project itself. This is often made apparent in someone from the collaborating institution being listed as a co-PI on the project. Including a subaward on your project effectively makes UF the sponsor to another institution, and therefore requires specific documentation in order to establish the award. Before routing a proposal for institutional approval, a budget, budget justification, scope of work, and letter of support will be required. These elements will be reviewed along with the lead UF proposal. For this reason, it is highly advisable to put your grants staff in contact with the grants staff at the institution you plan to collaborate with. This will facilitate easy communication of requirements and information.

 

IRB/IACUC:

Proposals often contain elements that must be approved by an institutional review body, such as IRB or IACUC. While these approvals are not necessary for proposal submission, some information regarding this is will be required. It is strongly recommended that you begin seeking IRB and IACUC approvals as soon as possible; as they can stall the setup process once an award comes in. SFRC grants staff is not able to assist you with this process at this time, so it is highly encouraged that you make use of the information available at the IRB and IACUC websites.

IRB website

IACUC website

Both of these websites require UF login credentials.

 

Responsibilities:

Your SFRC grants staff is excited to aid you in securing funding for your research. However, responsibility for knowledge and understanding of sponsor requirements ultimately lies with you. Thoroughly reading and understanding the opportunity description is CRUCIAL for both the PI and their grants staff. Likewise, having a proposal ready to be submitted by deadline is ultimately the responsibility of the PI. Any assumption of roles in the process of proposal preparation should be solidified by discussion, in order to avoid any element being overlooked.

Your grants staff understands the terrific workload that proposal preparation represents for faculty, and is willing and able to assist in any way possible. A non-inclusive, situation-dependent list of ways your staff can help you is as follows:

  1. Understanding, navigating, and insuring institutional approvals
  2. Assisting in budget review and editing to coincide with institutional and sponsor requirements
  3. Filling out informational forms required for submission
  4. Organizing submission components and checking them for completeness
  5. Serving as an outside party that will assist in staying on top of requirements and deadlines
  6. Acting as resource for specific information regarding sponsor guidelines and institutional guidelines

Your pre-award specialist will handle everything related to building a representation of your proposal in UFIRST, as well as routing for approvals in UFIRST. This will require minimal involvement from you, and when your involvement is required, it will be clearly communicated to you. UFIRST is an excellent tool, but the workspace there is only a representation of your proposal that exists solely for review and approval within UF. What you see in UFIRST is not an exact copy of what will be sent to the sponsor. It is as close as possible, but limitations in UFIRST, as well as the nature of its role in proposal preparation, may lead to it have some slight discrepancies with your actual submission.

 

PLEASE NOTE that your proposal WILL NOT be added to your grant staff’s worklist UNTIL you send a completed proposal submission form. This will be the point at which your staff will be able to keep track of your preparation process. If you do not receive verification that your form has been received within one business day, please feel free to follow up with the staff member you attempted to contact.

 

Resources:

Many materials and resources are provided online by UF Office of Research, as well as SFRC administrative staff.

Post-Award Grant Management

CAS (Cost Accounting Standards)

-What are Cost Accounting Standards?  http://www.fa.ufl.edu/departments/cost-analysis/costing-guidelines-and-policies/

Cost Accounting Standard (CAS) 9905.502 states “All costs incurred for the same purpose, in like circumstances, are either direct costs only (can be charged to a grant) or indirect costs only (must be paid with unrestricted funds) with respect to final cost objectives.” Uniform Guidance 2 CFR then goes on to list specific costs that the federal government considers to be normally charged indirectly, “Items such as salaries of administrative and clerical staff, office supplies, postage, local telephone costs and memberships”.

According to OMB Circular A-21, “The tests of allowability of costs under these principles (A-21) are:

  1.  Reasonability-A prudent person would have purchased the item and paid that price.
  2.  Allocable– Expenses are at least partially applicable to a sponsored agreement.
  3. Consistently Treated – Expenses for similar purposes must be treated the same way (throughout the university) under like circumstances.
  4. Allowable – The expense must be allowable or not specifically excluded as specified by government regulations (examples of specifically excluded costs are discussed later) or by the contract/grant/cooperative agreement requirements.

Should a principal investigator need to apply expenses to a grant that are considered  unacceptable per Cost Accounting guidelines, a CAS Exemption Request form will need to be completed and approved by the Division of Sponsored Programs. This is used to provide written justification to exempt the following costs that may be allowed as direct charges to a grant if it can show how the charging of such costs to the award are for “unlike circumstances”. Examples include: Postage, Basic Telephone, General Office Supplies, and General Purpose software. http://research.ufl.edu/research/pdf/cas_exemption_form.pdf  (CAS Form)

Also note that, even if a CAS exemption is obtained for computer equipment, it is the internal policy of the SFRC to place 5% of the cost of any computer purchases on an IDC or unrestricted account, to ensure compliance with the Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200 in the event of an audit.

Any PCard charges pending CAS exemptions should receive new accounts. The principal investigator also assumes responsibilities for transfers for CAS exemption/pre-award spending. They should also be mindful of the processing time for CAS exemption and NOA documentation, and provide alternate accounts as necessary.

Cost Transfers/Audit Compliances

An error in charging of costs must be identified and corrected within 90 days of the occurrence; all cost transfer requests must be made within 30 days of the expiration of the project. Costs transfers that result in a refund to the sponsored award must be processed as soon as the error is discovered, regardless of the date the error occurred.

Consistency in Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) requires that costs be transferred within the same fiscal year; therefore every effort must be made to correct errors within the same fiscal year. Cost transfers of salaries and wages covering periods where related effort has been certified beyond 90 days will generally not be approved.

Responsibility for Compliance

• Responsibility for following these guidelines lies primarily with the Principal Investigator (PI).

• The PI should coordinate with his or her fiscal personnel to ensure charges are assigned to the sponsored award.

• The appropriate contracts and grants office is responsible for the final review of cost transfers involving sponsored awards.

Adequate Documentation

A cost transfer must always be accompanied by a written explanation of how the costs being charged benefit the sponsored award as well as the cause of the error and certification of accuracy. The University of Florida has designated this responsibility to the PI or Departmental Chair.

A cost transfer form must be completed and forwarded to Contracts & Grants for review and approval of the expense to be removed or added to the grant.

No Cost Extension Requests

For all federal grants, with the exception of the National Science Foundation (NSF), you may e-mail your first no-cost extension request to ufawards@ufl.edu as the sponsors have delegated approval authority to the Division of Sponsored Programs (DSP). NSF requires submitting these requests through FastLane. DSP has to submit written notification to the Federal Agency’s Grant Officer at least 10 days prior to the original expiration date; otherwise it cannot do this without further approval.

To request a no-cost extension on other grants, you will need to e-mail or write a letter to the agency for approval and then inform Chris Peters once received. He will then coordinate with DSP Award Administration. Some agencies may send a formal amendment to be signed by the University in order to finalize the no-cost extension.

DSP No-Cost Extensions

Budget Transfers

Budget Transfer requests, should be submitted in writing preferably via e-mail. There is a 10% re-budgeting allowance within categories without sponsor approval unless the sponsoring agency denotes the award is for a specific purpose such as salary or travel, and charging costs other than the original purpose is unallowable. Upon completion of the budget transfer request, Contracts & Grants will review and process.

Notably, FDP (Federal Demonstration Partnership) grants generally do not require prior approval for shifting funds among categories. Additional information on FDP grants can be found here: http://research.ufl.edu/faculty-and-staff/award-management/federal-demonstration-partnership.html

Payroll Distributions

Upon hiring and employment authorization, faculty should provide HR with the grant/ account number the employee should be paid from; once sufficient budget has been verified, the individual will be distributed for payroll.

Mandatory Training

Effective March 3, 2014, all faculty with sponsored projects are required to take the following classes: RSH 220 Effort Fundamentals and RSH 260 Cost Principles. These courses are available online through myUFL by navigating to Main Menu > My Self Service > Training and Development > Request Training Enrollment. Failure to take these courses before March 3rd, will result in DSP holding all NOAs and removing all of your rights to access grant information within myUFL

Resources: Helpful Links

CAS: http://www.fa.ufl.edu/departments/cost-analysis/costing-guidelines-and-policies/what-are-cost-accounting-standards/

Uniform Guidance 2 CFR200:: http://www.fa.ufl.edu/departments/cost-analysis/costing-guidelines-and-policies/charging-costs-directly-or-indirectly-to-sponsored-projects/

Office of Research: http://research.ufl.edu/or.html/

Training and Development: http://www.hr.ufl.edu

Effort Reporting/FAR

Effort Reporting Guidelines

The University of Florida requires that faculty and anyone teaching a course or participating in an externally sponsored project provide reasonable estimates of effort each semester on their time spent in the categories: Instruction, Research, Administration & Services, and Extension.  These estimates, expressed as a percentage of the total time spent on UF activities, must equal 100% – regardless of the number of hours worked or the appointment percentage.  Effort should loosely follow a faculty members formal FTE over the course of a year.

The following training courses are offered by the University of Florida for instructions and guidelines on Effort Reporting:

  • RSH200 Effort Reporting
  • RSH220 Effort Fundamentals
  • RSH230 Effort Management

More information as well as instruction guides on Effort Reporting can be found on the Human Resources website

Faculty Assignment Reports

Faculty assignment reports, or FARs, are to be completed every semester for each faculty member to serve as an outline for the relative proportion of each activity performed throughout the semester. Effort for each member is to be expressed in terms of percentages.

The faculty member should fill out the Faculty Assignment Report in its entirety. In cases when necessary, Katelyn Campbell or Sam Lawson can assist in the completion of the FAR by preloading the data, but it is strongly recommended that the faculty member fill out the FAR completely.

After submitting the FAR for approval, Director Red Baker will review and approve it, which will then return it back to the faculty member’s queue for acknowledgement. The faculty member will receive daily automated e-mails reminding him/her to acknowledge his/her FAR. The FAR is considered fully approved once it has been acknowledged by the faculty member.

Effort Certification

Approximately two months after  each semester, the effort coordinator (Katelyn Campbell) will submit an effort report, based on the FAR, for faculty certification.  Additionally, any employee teaching a course or participating in an externally sponsored project will have an Effort report requiring the supervisor’s certification. Once the report is certified,  Cost Analysis  at General Accounting will  review for  final approval.

Effort Reporting Directives

Additional Resources and Training

HR/Payroll

*This section of the website is under construction to provide you with the most up to date information. We will periodically be adding information in addition to what is provided below.

Please contact Victoria Scaff at sfrc-hr@ifas.ufl.edu or Hannah Dewitt at sfrc-hr-asst@ufl.edu for assistance with your HR needs.

J-1 Exchange Visitors (Professors/Research Scholars/Short-Term Scholars)

The J-1 program is intended to further interchange, mutual enrichment, and linkages between UF and research and educational institutions of other countries. All J-1 questions and requests first route through SFRC HR (sfrc-hr@ifas.ufl.edu).

Please note that all foreign national Postdoctoral Associate hires will be sponsored through the J-1 program. The hire process is distinctly different than the process outlined in this section and will be initiated once the DS-2019 has been generated.

Initial Program Invitations (including both UF sponsored and self-funded programs)

If you would like to invite an exchange visitor (EV), then please complete the faculty request form and return to sfrc-hr@ifas.ufl.edu with the following attachments:

  • CV of prospective visitor (must be completely in English)
  • Prospective EV’s bachelor’s, master’s or Ph.D. diploma or transcript (must be in English, and translations must be official with original diploma attached)
  • Confirmation that a live SKYPE or similar interview with the EV to verify the English proficiency is sufficient to perform their jobs or complete their academic programs, to navigate daily life in the United States, to read and comprehend program materials, to understand fully their responsibilities, rights and protections, and to know how to obtain assistance, if necessary.

All initial DS-2019 requests must be submitted at least 75 days in advance of the proposed program start date.

J-1 Program Amendments

J-1 program amendments should be initiated with Victoria at least 45 days in advance of the proposed change(s).

Amendments include the following: change of program start date; change/addition of worksite location; change of supervisor; change of funding; extension of program end date; reduction in length of program.

Please contact Victoria at (352) 846-0863 or sfrc-hr@ifas.ufl.edu if you have any questions.

Additional Resources

TEAMS and USPS Employee Handbook
UF New Employee Website
University of Florida Benefits Information
University of Florida Faculty Handbook

Funding Opportunities

UF’s Division of Research Program Development maintains a website that houses extensive information that can be used to increase support that can be found here: Division of Research Program Development – Office of Research.

Opportunity Discovery

There are many sources of sponsored program support for research, instruction, and extension. Awards can come from federal entities, private companies, UF itself, and everything in between. Trying to actually find posted opportunities for this support can be challenging, as there is not a unified system, online or otherwise, for posting/disseminating sponsored program solicitations.

Before starting the opportunities search, it is important to develop an idea of what kind of support is being sought. That is, determine whether you are looking to accomplish research, extension, instruction, or some combination of those elements. Additionally, it is crucial that you develop keywords related to the specific areas that you are both interested in and qualified for. Take into account at this stage what terms are most likely to have relevance in the current funding climate, and what you can accomplish with your skill set. More general keywords are better, as they cast a wider net.

A wealth of information on the funding search can be found at the Division of Research Program Development website: External Funding Opportunity Resources – Office of Research. Thankfully, UF has developed several tools to assist faculty and staff in finding opportunities for which to apply.

 

First, there is the Opportunity Management tool, which can be found here: Opportunities Manager

The OM works as a database that culls opportunities from federal and state sponsors, as well as funding that is internal to UF (more on internal funding below). UF has provided a detailed manual for its use, which can be found here: OppManUserGuide

The OM allows for specificity in type of sponsor, timeframe, and keywords contained in the abstract or solicitation. The system also allows for searching of past opportunities, which can be helpful in determining solicitations that may not yet be re-posted, but will be in the future.

An important feature of the OM is the ability to subscribe to a digest of opportunities on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. While the same specificity cannot be baked into your subscriptions, a regular notification of new opportunities, delivered on an unobtrusive and regular basis, can be a great help in staying engaged with the funding search process.

 

Second, there is the Pivot funding database, which can be found here: Pivot | Funding Discovery

Pivot is another opportunities database with a more intuitive interface, and the ability to set up specific profiles. Pivot provides a system that melds the previous activities of faculty with the search for new opportunities. If you have not already, it is important to claim the profile that you already have in Pivot: Claim Pivot Profile. This will allow you to have control over the information that Pivot can use to search for funding. Additional instruction videos about how to use Pivot can be found here: Pivot – Videos.

Similar to the Opportunities Manager tool, you can sign up for email alerts related to your funding interests, so you can be notified as soon as an opportunity is posted. Pivot also allows you to save searches you make, which can streamline your use of the tool considerably.

 

Third, the least pointed resource for opportunity exploration are sponsor-specific funding alerts and searches.

Some federal sponsors provide regular email updates on the opportunities they post. These allow for some tailoring to your interests, but not at the same level as the databases listed above. Some examples of these updates can be found here:

NSF: https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USNSF/subscriber/new?qsp=823
Grants.gov: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/manage-subscriptions.html

Of these options, the Grants.gov utility provides the more robust assistance, as Grants.gov houses a wide range of opportunities from a handful of federal sponsors.

Grants.gov provides a somewhat robust opportunity search engine, which can be found here: Search Grants | GRANTS.GOV

While it can be difficult to tailor results on this engine, it serves as the most effective single-database search provided by a federal entity itself.

Internal Funding

Several entities within UF provide funding to faculty with the intention of developing and supporting activities that are deemed to be beneficial to the institution overall.

IFAS provides a range of opportunities (and honors) that can be found here: Honor and Award Opportunities

These include support for graduate programs, equipment grants, early career seed grants, and more. These opportunities are posted throughout the year, so regular monitoring of the page is advisable, along with subscription to the IFAS Faculty Listserv: IFAS Faculty.

The UF Office of Research provides an annual seed grant opportunity for multidisciplinary, faculty-initiated research projects with potential for extramural support. Information related to this opportunity (and others) can be found by searching “UF Office of Research (UF OR)” in the sponsor field of the Opportunity Manager tool. Guidelines for proposals can be found here: Seed Fund Guidelines, and review criteria can be found here: REVIEW CRITERIA.

The UF Research Foundation provides support of research-specific professorships for tenured faculty. This support includes a grant and salary supplement. Information related to this opportunity can be found here: Professorship Awards – Office of Research

Opportunity Support

UF provides resources to faculty that assist in increasing the likelihood of being funded when actually submitting proposals externally. The master page for these resources can be found here: Grantsmanship Resources – Office of Research.

Much of UF’s support is geared towards ensuring selection of UF faculty’s NSF submissions, as NSF programs tend to provide a large amount of support over a long period of time. One of the most useful resources for NSF submissions is NSF’s report on their own review processes, which can be found here: NSF Merit Review. Additionally, tips for writing early career NSF grants can be found here: CAREER Tips.

IFAS provides a yearly grantsmanship workshop that provides specific instruction related to making proposals as attractive as possible to a wide range of sponsors. Information on registering for and attending this workshop can be found here: Grantsmanship Workshop.

Some sponsors provide instruction for increasing the chance of funding, such as the following:
NOAA
NIFA
USFS
DOE
EPA

 

Who to Contact

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Staff_duties

This resource is intended as a guide to administrative procedures and forms in the SFRC. It is not intended to replace or supersede any UF or IFAS rules or regulations.