SAMPLE BUDGET JUSTIFICATION Reform in K6 Teaching and Education Introduction The PI has determined that this is a major project, as defined by OMB Circular A-21, and meets A-21 requirements for direct charging of administrative expenses. All effort and expenses charged to this project will be for services specific to the project, and not for the general support of the academic activities of the faculty or Department. This major research project will involve the accumulation and distribution of large quantities of realtime data from Stanford University to Texas A&M and other collaborating institutions. The Principal Investigator will require administrative support to insure meeting the goals of this project. Information sharing and discussion will occur through the use of conference calls, which will be coordinated by Stanford University staff. All personnel effort and expenses charged to this project will be for services specific to the project and not for the general support of the faculty or the academic activities of any University Department. In addition, all effort charged to this project can be specifically identified through an effort reporting system that is reflected on a personnel action form or via the lab timecard system. The indirect cost and fringe benefits included in the budget are those most recently negotiated with the Office of Naval Research and are the rates appropriate to use for the time frame proposed. Stanford University’s current negotiated indirect cost rate for a research project of this nature is XX% This rate will be charged to the modified total direct cost base, which excludes the salaries of undergraduate students, subcontracts in excess of $25,000, tuition, and equipment costing more than $5,000 with a useful life in excess of one year. Stanford University equipment capitalization threshold is $5,000. Thus for purposes of this proposal, items costing $5,000 and have a useful life of one year or more will be considered capital equipment. A 3% cost of living increase was assumed for all salaries according to guidelines approved by Stanford University and was also applied to other categories where noted. Personnel Professor I.D. Nutt 10% AY and 33% (one month) summer salary. The Principal Investigator will be responsible for all aspects of the project. She will insure that research goals are met in a timely manner, with scientific integrity, and completed within budgeted amounts. She will insure that project activities and expenditures are in compliance with Stanford University and National Science Foundation policy.
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Irving Inspire, Ph.D. This Stanford University Statistics Department professor will collaborate with Dr. Nutt on the synthesis component of the research. He has requested no salary for his effort, and will be available to the project on an asneeded basis. To Be Named, Project Assistant, 25% FTE. This position will provide necessary services to this project and particularly the Principal Investigator, as this project’s logistics involve multiple sites, and a substantial volume of data entry, analysis and dissemination. This employee will be responsible for distributing data to all collaborating sites, coordinating conference calls, and will focus on assisting the Principal Investigator with the management of the budget. The effort for this position can specifically identified through effort reporting that is reflected on the lab timecard system. This effort will be confined to the needs of this research project and will not include any support for the general academic activities of the faculty or the department. To Be Named, Graduate Student, 50% FTE. Under the supervision of the Principal Investigator, the Graduate Assistant will work on experiments related to verification and synthesis, and will provide assistance with other aspects of the research, including data entry and analysis. We will recruit the candidate from the School of Education pool of Ph.D. candidates with expertise in this area. The fringe benefit rate associated with the Principal Investigator and other regular staff will be XX%. The graduate student salary will receive a XX% benefit rate, in accordance with Stanford University policy. Vacation Accrual / Disability Sick Leave (DSL) Rates
Per our negotiated rate agreement with the Office of Naval Research, the budgeted salary amount for staff includes XX% vacation accrual/disability sick leave (DSL) for exempt employees and XX% for nonexempt employees. This amount does not exceed total salary. The vacation accrual/DSL rates will be charged at the time of the salary expenditure. No salary will be charged to the award when the employee is on vacation, disability or worker’s compensation. Capital Equipment A Toshiba XVC288 Data Camera (or equivalent) will be purchased for use on this project. Due to the high volume of data that will be collected and analyzed, this expense is necessary. Stanford University currently does not have a system on campus that can be utilized for this project. We have included a quotation from our vendor. Sales tax is included in the purchase price. Travel, Domestic It is anticipated that the PI will need to travel to Washington on an annual basis to consult with the program officer at the National Science Foundation. We have included expenses for airfare at $1000 and per diem at the rate of $150/day x 7 days and car rental. This category has been inflated at a rate of 3% annually. Other Direct Costs
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Materials and Supplies Computer supplies will include the items necessary to maintain the existing microcomputer environment of this project, as well as those supplies needed to maintain the Sun Microsystem. Publication costs have been estimated at $1000 per year. Software will be required for the Data Camera, as well as updates for other systems that will be used by this project. Consultant Services Dr. Smart Guy, a specialist in the area of Education Reform will provide 10 days of consulting to the project at $482/day (NSF maximum allowable rate). He is employed with Hybridata but will be available for the work on this project as described. See attached letter of commitment.
Subaward Texas A&M will receive a subcontract in the amount of $45,000 for each of the three project years. A detailed budget and justification are attached, and a description of their responsibilities is included in the workstatement. Other Tuition: Research Assistants at Stanford University earn 62% of full tuition for a 50% research assistantship. Stanford policy dictates that 40% of this expense will be charged to the sponsored project, with the remaining 22% provided by the University. Included in this budget are tuition expenses for one assistant at 50% for 4 quarters. An ISDN line will be necessary for the large volume of data that will be transmitted to the subcontract site. Existing telephone lines cannot accommodate the needs of this project. The budgeted amount includes installation charges and monthly expenses. Expenses for long distance will include calls to the program officer in Washington, the subcontractor in Texas, and coordinating conference calls. Based on previous experience with a project of this size and nature, we anticipate that $100/month should be adequate to cover this expense. We are not requesting any funds for general telephone operating expenses or equipment. The long distance expenses can be tracked through project specific access codes.
Other sample justifications for Administrative positions:
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Administrative Associate, (100% FTE) Ms. XXXX will provide necessary Administrative support services to this project’s staff, particularly the Principal Investigator, as this project’s logistics involve multiple sites, a substantial volume of meeting coordination, travel arrangements, data entry analysis and dissemination. This associate will be responsible for distributing data to all collaborating sites, coordinating conference calls, setting up meetings, making travel arrangements and assisting with patient coordination. The effort needed for this position exceeds that which can be provided by the department for support of this project, and a fulltime assistant dedicated exclusively to this project is required for effective implementation of this program. Ms. XXXXX’s activities will be confined to the needs of this research project and will not include support for the general academic activities of the faculty or the department, and can be specifically identified through effort reporting that is reflected on her personnel action form. XXXXXX, Financial Administrator (50% FTE) is the financial coordinator to the ACTG grant. Under the direction of the Principal Investigator, she is responsible for managing the budget, serves as the contact person for the subunits regarding their budgetary concerns and invoicing, and acts as a liaison to the Stanford University and Stanford Hospital financial departments. The effort needed for this position exceeds that which can be provided by the department for support of this project, and a halftime assistant dedicated to this project is required for effective implementation of this program. Ms. XXXX’s effort can be specifically identified through effort reporting that is reflected on her personnel action form.
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