• Office of Sponsored Programs



• How Can OSP Help Me?
  • Overview of Services
    • Technical Assistance
    • Financial Assistance
  • Overview of Responsibilities
    • PI Responsibilities
• What's In It For Me?
  • Advanced Technological Education
  • STEM Scholarships
  • AAMI
  • Near Peer
  • MEP
  • Scholar-in-Residence
  • Abstracts
• How Do I Get Started?
  • The Grant Process
  • Preliminary Proposal Summary Form
  • Sponsored Program Approval Form
• What Do I Need to Know?
• Definitions
• Indirect Cost
• Cost Sharing
• Effort Reporting
  • Certification Statement
  • Top 10 Rules of Effort

Cost Sharing

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College encourages and supports the efforts of faculty to obtain external funding.  It is essential that the use of cost sharing does not overburden college and departmental resources, and it is important that approval of cost share in awarded proposals must be independently tracked, monitored and reported to the sponsoring agency. 

Excessive or unnecessary cost sharing can result in the future limitation of scarce departmental resources and negatively impacts the overall institutions facilities and administration rates.

Sponsors and auditors must be able to verify that funds committed to cost sharing or matching/in-kind have been provided towards the work and scope of the awarded project. Therefore, this policy and its procedures have been developed to help faculty and departmental personnel properly propose, account, and report cost sharing and matching/in-kind funds.

Policy
The policy of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is to limit its cost sharing on externally funded projects to the amount specifically mandated in the application guidelines of the sponsor.  The college encourages and supports the efforts of the faculty to obtain external funding.  However, Principal Investigators (PI’s) are strongly encouraged to request the total anticipated costs of a project in their proposal budgets. This policy applies to all externally funded project types (i.e., research, public service and outreach, instruction, and cooperative extension).  Proposals that voluntarily commit cost share, matching, or in-kind contributions are strongly discouraged.  In instances where voluntary cost share is written into the proposal, resulting in a committed cost-share arrangement, a written rationale should accompany all proposals submitted for OVPR approval and signature.

ABAC will support committed cost share that is either voluntary or mandatory by the sponsor when:

1. All cost shared amounts are specified on the Office of Sponsored Programs Transmittal Form
2. Each cost shared amount is approved on the OSP Transmittal Form by the relevant dean, director or department head. Approval signatures are binding and indicate a willingness to provide cost share resources in support of the proposed project.

The College places no conditions on third-party matches. Such cost sharing must, however, be guaranteed by  the offering sponsor in writing at the time of proposal submission.

Expenditures NOT Eligible for Cost Sharing

The following expenses cannot be offered as cost sharing commitments in sponsored project proposals:

1. Unallowable costs as defined in OMB Circular A-21, section J.
2. Salary dollars above a regulatory cap, e.g., NIH.
3. College facilities such as laboratory space. PI's should mindful when preparing proposals for sponsored agreements not to commit use of facilities as cost sharing, but rather to characterize the facilities as "available for the performance of the sponsored agreement at no direct cost to the project".
4. Depreciation on federally funded equipment.
5. Overdrafts may not be considered cost sharing for purposes of fulfilling a cost sharing commitment because overdrafts are unallowable under Circular OMB A-21.

Equipment as Cost Sharing

Equipment should not be offered as cost sharing unless the receipt of the award is contingent upon such cost sharing.

PI's should exercise caution in preparing proposals for sponsored agreements not to commit the use of College-owned equipment as cost sharing, but rather to characterize the equipment as "available for the performance of the sponsored agreement at no direct cost to the project".

Proposals that include the acquisition of special-purpose equipment as a direct cost may include an offer of College funds to pay all or part of the cost of such equipment. These proposals may be equipment or instrumentation grants, where

1. The purpose of the grant is to buy equipment and the College is required to share the cost with the sponsor, or
2. Research-oriented grants or contracts where the purchase of equipment required for the research is an allowable expense and included in the proposal and award. Purchase and acquisition must occur during the period of performance. The portion of the purchase price paid by the College must be charged directly to a cost sharing account in support of the award.

Cautionary Notes

1. Cost share commitments can be stated in several places within a proposal. They may be part of the budget, part of the budget explanation or justification, or they may be stated in the text of the narrative. They may also be in all three places. No matter where they are to be found within the proposal, statements of cost sharing commitment are binding on the institution should the proposal be funded. In all instances where cost sharing is described, the institution is committed to account for and track these commitments along with funds awarded by the sponsor.
2. When faculty time is contributed as cost share in support of a project, it is expected that budgeted research time be utilized for cost share before instructional time is considered. Whenever cost share involves instructional time, the faculty member's department head and/or dean must be notified so that approval can be obtained.
3. In all instances where cost sharing is described, the institution is committed to account for these expenditures. The budgetary unit of record is responsible for documenting and tracking all commitments made on a project, whether made by that department or not, unless subaccounts are established so that the responsibility can flow down to other units.