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Faculty Effort Management Policy

Effective Fall 2007

Overview

In order to comply with University of Washington policy and rules stated in federal Circular A-21 issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), faculty who receive some or all of their salary from federal grants must be paid an appropriate percentage of their salary from non-federal sources while writing new grant proposals or engaging in other University of Washington activities, such as serving on departmental or university committees or holding advisory meetings with non-grant-related graduate students. It is the College’s expectation that the Chairs of the Areas, in consultation with the Associate Dean for Research, will review faculty activities and ensure that when a faculty member is engaged in approved non-grant-related university activities, the faculty member is paid from a non-federal source of funds for the time spent on non-grant-related activities.

College Guidelines: Chairs who have faculty in their units who receive most of their salary from federal grants should have regular meetings, quarterly at a minimum, with these faculty to discuss upcoming grant writing activities and proposed non-grant departmental or university activities. This policy applies as well to state-funded tenure-line faculty during summer quarter. Faculty should consult with the Associate Dean for Research regarding their compliance plan during periods of federal funding, annually at minimum. Through these meetings, the chair and associate dean will determine when non-federal funds need to be available to fund salary for non-grant-related activities and will identify sources for those funds. It is expected that, in most cases, funds will come from the faculty’s salary recovery when there is an available balance. The percentage of the salary needed from non-federal funds should be proportional to the amount of non-grant university activity. It is important not only that the proportions of grant and non-grant funds used for salary be reviewed on a regular basis but also that faculty inform their chairs and the associate dean if their situations change between regular meetings or during reporting periods.

Grant Effort Estimate forms, submitted quarterly to the College’s Human Resources Office, will be used to plan allocation of effort and to determine appropriate salary sources. Effort estimates MUST be submitted in advance and, as necessary, approved in advance in order for salary to be paid. In cases when faculty are to receive 100% of their salary from federal sources, faculty will verify in writing (by signing and initialing the Effort Estimate) that any non-grant activity during the funded period will be de minimus, that is, small enough so as not to change the percent of time allocated to the grant. In such cases, the effort estimate must be approved by the College’s Director of Finance and Administration before any salary is released. If a faculty member’s allocation of effort changes after submission of the effort estimate, faculty must inform the Associate Dean for Research and make appropriate changes to the salary source.

Below are some examples of how the College might manage different situations.

Professor A has a 1.0 FTE research professor appointment with 100% of salary paid from grants. During a period of grant proposal writing, the chair and Professor A might agree that 5% is the appropriate amount of salary to come from non-federal sources and determine an appropriate source of funds. (The actual percentages will be based on the amount of non-grant activities.)
Professor B has a 0.5 FTE appointment with 100% of salary paid from grants. (Note that faculty who are less than 1.0 FTE and have all of their salary paid by a grant or grants – e.g., 0.5 FTE paid entirely by federal grants – are 100% federal grant-funded and are subject to these guidelines.) For a period during which Professor B has proposal writing or other approved non-grant activities, there are two options: (i) temporarily supplement Professor B’s funding with non-federal sources, raising the FTE to greater than 0.5, or (ii) replace part of the grant-related funding with non-federal sources. In case (i), Professor B continues to devote the same effort to the grant activities while adding new responsibilities; in case (ii), with Professor B’s FTE fixed at 0.5, Professor B reduces grant-related activity and replaces it with other activities. In either case, the percentage of salary paid from non-federal funds should be proportional to the amount of non-grant activity.
Professor C has a 1.0 FTE appointment with 80% of salary provided from federal grants and 20% from other sources. If the terms under which the 20% from other sources allow for the university activities, then no other action is required, provided non-grant related activities do not exceed 20% effort. Otherwise, appropriate non-federal funds for those activities would be identified.
Professor D has a 1.0 FTE nine-month appointment, with salary provided from a federal grant equivalent to 100% of one summer month. Depending on Professor’s D’s allocation of effort across the summer, there are several options, two of which are: (i) allocate the federal funds for 0.5 FTE across two months and temporarily supplement Professor D’s funding with non-federal sources (typically salary recovery), raising the FTE to greater than 0.5 as needed, or (ii) allocate effort on the federal grant to only one summer month and if the university activities take place during the same month, replace part of the grant-related funding with non-federal sources. In case (i), Professor D continues to devote the same effort to the grant activities, 0.5 FTE distributed across two months, while adding new responsibilities; in case (ii), with Professor D’s FTE fixed at 1.0 for the specified month, Professor D reduces grant-related activity and replaces it with other activities. In either case, the percentage of salary paid from non-federal funds should be proportional to the amount of non-grant university activity.