Why is faculty time the preferred means of cost sharing?
First, fairness to others in the University community dictates that cost sharing should be borne, in the main, by the unit in which the sponsored project will be conducted, and a percentage of faculty time is generally the resource that the unit can most easily offer as cost sharing. Most faculty appointments include some time intended for research or scholarship, whether externally sponsored or not; thus contributing such time to a sponsored project does not usually dislocate a unit’s budget as severely as would, say, taking funds away from an equipment account. Second, cost sharing by means of a percentage of faculty time is easier to track than cost sharing through other budget items such as supplies or computer costs. Supplies, for example, are typically bought in quantity for all needs of the department, and separately monitoring the use of supplies for an individual project would be a headache.
Related Questions
- The policy change that uncommitted cost sharing does not have to be certified -- does this apply to PIs and other faculty, anyone working on a sponsored project, or only to the PI?
- I am a faculty member working on a sponsored project. If I don have to certify uncommitted cost sharing, will I still be reporting 100% effort on my effort statement?
- Why is faculty time the preferred means of cost sharing?
