Contract and Grant Terms
Terms often associated with grants and contracts can be confusing. Some are listed below.
Buyout refers to grant funds "buying out" a portion of a faculty member's state-funded salary
while the faculty works on the grant. The released state dollars are then used to hire someone to
teach a class (or classes) from which the faculty member was released or "bought out."
Cost Sharing represents contributions from the institution toward a project. Typically cost
sharing is required on training grants but not on research grants. Cost sharing should not be
reflected in a proposal budget unless required by the sponsor.
Grant year refers to the period of the award and usually does not coincide the University fiscal
year of July 1 through June 30. Contracts and grants may be awarded for multiple years or a
single year. The award notice should specify the period of award.
No-cost extension allows a balance of funds to be expended to complete the project within a
determined period of time. A no-cost extension should be requested prior to the expiration of a
sponsored account. Requirements vary by sponsor. Any reporting of carry-forward funds to the
sponsor must be approved by Sponsored Projects prior to submittal.
Carry-forward funds refer to the balance in funds remaining at the year-end expiration of a
project. Approval to carry the funds forward to the next project year will depend on the sponsor.
Such requests to the sponsor should be routed through Sponsored Projects.
Fixed-price contract refers to the sponsor awarding a fixed amount of money to complete a
particular task. Generally if the task has been completed and a fund balance remains, the funds
remain in the department.
Cost reimbursement refers to a type of contract when invoices are submitted periodically to the
sponsor for reimbursement of actual expenses incurred in conjunction with the project.
Effort The percentage of total time (effort) worked on each grant/contract is to be reported.
Report also percentage of time worked on other than grant/contract funds and indicate the budget
code. It is very important that 100% of an individual's time be accounted for. This is a strict
requirement of federally sponsored programs, as well as a number of state sponsored programs.
Under the Plan-Confirmation method A-21 which requires that the distribution of salaries and
wages of individuals applicable to sponsored agreements be based on budgeted, planned, or
assigned work activity which is retroactively updated to reflect any significant changes in work
distribution. A certification statement will be completed by the employee, principal investigator,
or responsible official(s), using suitable means of verification that the work was performed as
reported.