DIVISION OF RESEARCH
NSF Participant Support Costs – Proposal
Preparation and Award Management
Fall 2008
Agenda
• Background
• Definitions
– Who qualifies as a participant?
– What are participant support costs?
• Restrictions
• Proposal preparation & budgeting
• Account set-up
• Account management
• Monitoring
Background
• Participant support is often provided when NSF funds
a project or activity in connection with formal
meetings, conferences, symposia, or training
programs (i.e. REU, RET, K-12, LSAMP)
• When Clarkson accepts an award we have agreed
that NSF funds provided for participant costs will be
separately accounted for, and expended for
appropriate and intended purposes.
• Participant support costs are being audited with
increased scrutiny.
• Institutions are required to maintain written policies
and procedures
Who qualifies as a
participant?
•
Participants are individuals who are recipients of or benefit from a
service, training, or experience in connection with formal meetings,
conferences, symposia, or training programs.
•
Participants are not required to deliver any deliverable or service to the
University in return for participant support costs. Participants do not
include Clarkson University employees (faculty and staff).
•
Participants may include students, national scholars and scientists,
private sector representatives, agency personnel, teachers and others
who attend and participate in a formal conference, workshop, or
training activity. Project staff or general collaborators on a research
project do not qualify as participants.
Examples of projects or activities that include participants:
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)
Education Outreach (K-12)
Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP)
Participant Eligibility
• What did participants have to do to
receive the payment?
• Documentation of attendees at
conferences or workshops is needed.
What are participant support costs?
• Participant support costs are cost paid to (or
on behalf of) participants or trainees (but not
employees) in connection with formal
meetings, conferences, symposia, or training
programs.
• These costs include stipends or subsistence
allowances, travel allowances, supplies, and
registration fees paid to or on behalf of the
participants or trainees.
What are participant support costs?
• Participants may not be reimbursed for
participant support allowances if they are
receiving compensation from any other
federal government source while participating
in the project.
• Local participants may participate in meals
and snacks provided at the meeting or
conference, however, are not entitled to
subsistence payments.
What are participant support costs?
Participant support costs do not include:
• Payments made to research subjects as an incentive
for recruitment and participation in a research project.
• Honoraria paid to a guest speaker or lecturer.
• Conference support costs such as facility rentals,
media equipment rentals, or conference food.
• Costs that cannot be specifically identified to a
participant(s).
Proposal Preparation &
Budgeting
• Proposals that include participants may
include participant support costs in the
proposed budget, provided that the:
– number of participants to be supported is included
in the proposal budget
– proposal includes justification for the costs
• Note that some programs may have special
requirements on how these costs are treated
(i.e. REU, RET).
Restrictions
Participant support costs are generally restricted by the
following requirements:
• Participant support costs cannot be re-budgeted into
other categories without prior sponsor approval.
• Indirect (F&A) is not allowed on participant support
costs.
• Typically, an administrative allowance of 25% is
allowed, but only on stipend support (REU, RET).
• Any unexpended participant support costs must be
returned to the sponsor.
Identifying and Accounting for
Participant Support Costs
• When an award includes funding for participant
supports costs, a primary fund for all awarded costs
will be established, except for the participant support
costs.
• Participant support costs will be established in a
separate sub-account, related to the primary account
in order to keep participant support costs separate,
restrict budget changes, and avoid charging indirect
costs.
Identifying and Accounting for
Participant Support Costs
Participant support sub-accounts will differentiate the
types of costs using the following object codes (account code):
Object
Code
Descriptions
2126
Stipend – Summer
2175
Stipend – Academic Stipend
2143
Stipend - Temp.(Non-Clarkson)
Definition
A stipend is a set amount of money to be paid directly to an
individual classified as a participant.
2670
Participant Support – Travel
Travel expenses are costs (such as transportation, meals,
lodging) incurred while under a travel authorization for
individuals classified as a participant. (Examples would be
travel to and from Clarkson and/or associated field trip
expenses for REU students.)
2671
Participant Support – Supplies
Supplies are expenses incurred for individuals classified as a
participant, such materials kits, demonstration supplies, or
research materials.
Participant Support – Subsistence
Subsistence is an allowance granted for the reasonable cost of
temporary housing, meals and living expenses to an individual
classified as a participant.
2672
2673
Participant Support – Misc.
Other associated costs pertaining to individuals classified as a
participant, such as registration fees or insurance.
Identifying and Accounting for
Participant Support Costs
• Principal Investigators must expend participant
support funds as specified by using the appropriate
sub-accounts and object codes.
• Current NSF awards that were originally budgeted
using the participant support object codes 2580 and
2581 will continue to do so until the end of the
budgetary or project period.
• When an award is accepted by the University that
includes participant support costs, the Principal
Investigator will be notified of any specific restrictions
governing the expenditures of these funds.
• Participant Support Costs require approval by the
DoR (excludes p-card)
P-Card Reconciliations Involving
NSF Participant Support Costs
•
“Expense Descriptions” should indicate the benefit
to the project or scope of work (i.e. How did the purchase
benefit the participant(s), What is the purpose of the item?).
•
Remember to proportionally charge expenses used for more than one project or
educational activity.
•
Use the appropriate object code (account code)
•
Proper “Expense Descriptions” and object codes will minimize the need for
Accounts Payable to request additional information (i.e. Direct Cost Justification
Form)
•
This methodology also applies to purchase requisitions, disbursement orders,
and travel expense accounts.
Participant Food & Beverage
Charges
• Highly scrutinized by auditors and
requires adequate documentation when
appropriate.
• Generally unallowable when not on
travel status.
Participant Food & Beverage
Charges
Allowable Charges
• Food and beverages may be allowable if all the
following tests are satisfied:
– Food and beverages are not considered
entertainment.
– Food and beverages are incidental to the activity.
– Activity is integral to the goals of the award
(should be part of the original proposal).
– Costs of the food and beverages are considered
reasonable.
Participant Food & Beverage
Charges
Allowable Charges must be justified with
documentation (p-card expense descriptions, email,
etc…):
• Explain how the activity is significant and integral to
the goals of the project?
• Provide any available supporting documentation such
as, an activity invitation or announcement that
describes the activity purpose, agenda, attendee
roster, or reference that it is explicitly in the proposal.
Participant Food & Beverage
Charges
• If allowable, charges for Clarkson employees
must be allocated outside of participant
support costs (2543 Food Service Other)
• If using Aramark, notify Betsy Niles in
Accounts Payable ahead of time by email to
avoid receiving a Direct Cost Justification
Form.
Monitoring
Periodically, the Comptroller’s Office will query all NSF awards that
have participant support account codes budgeted, review the following
below, and notify the PI if the account warrants review and/or re-budget:
• Budget will be compared to the actual transactions
• Rate of transactions
• Transactions posted
During close-out the Comptroller’s Office and DoR will:
• Reconcile the budget to actual transactions
• Verify that the prior sponsor approval from NSF was documented, if rebudgeting occurred
• Ensure that indirect costs were not assessed on the participant support
costs
• Return unspent funds to NSF, if needed
DoR Contact Information
Greg Slack
Director of Research and Technology Transfer
gslack@clarkson.edu ext. 6475
Todd Travis
Award Administrator (Pre-Award)
ttravis@clarkson.edu ext. 6475
Connie Ferguson
Contract & Grant Administrator (Post-Award)
cferguson@clarkson.edu ext. 6475
Kimberly Klatt
Research Compliance Officer
kklatt@clarkson.edu ext. 4441
DoR Contact Information
Adele Pugliese
Sr. Dept. Secretary
(MAE, ECE, PPAS, IACUC)
apugliese@clarkson.edu
Billi Jo Goodfellow
Sr. Dept. Secretary
(CAMP, CBE, BIO, PSY, C&M)
bgoodfellow@clarkson.edu
Norma Woods
Administrative Secretary
(CAMP, CBS, PT, CEE )
nwoods@clarkson.edu
Heather Kish
Sr. Dept. Secretary
(CUSB, PHY, MCS, HSS, IRB)
hkish@clarkson.edu
Comptroller’s Office Contact
Information
Jim Fish
Comptroller
fishj@clarkson.edu ext. 6689
Donna Martell
Associate Comptroller
dmartell@clarkson.edu ext. 7258
Sue Scott
Chief Accountant
scotts@clarkson.edu ext. 6407
Kelly Rathbun
Research Accountant
krathbun@clarkson.edu ext. 6462
Elizabeth Corbine
Accounting Assistant (P-cards)
ecorbine@clarkson.edu ext. 3789
Comptroller’s Office Contact
Information
Roberta Chestnut
Accounting Assistant (POs)
rchestnu@clarkson.edu ext. 3789
Betsy Niles
Head Cashier (Aramark)
nilesbm@clarkson.edu ext. 6486
Sarah Ellis
Accounting Assistant (DOs/Travel)
sellis@clarkson.edu ext. 3789
Karen Barrett
Endowment/Plant Accountant (Fabrication)
kbarrett@clarkson.edu ext. 7650
QUESTIONS?