The Office of Research and Technology Management (ORTM) does allow a School to waive, negotiate, or otherwise accept a lower F&A rate. Any such reduction can only be approved by the Dean. Documentation of this approval must be in writing (e.g., a clear email) and included in the Sparta Pre-Award system. At the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (MSASS), it is recognized that there are cases in which it is justifiable to reduce or waive an F&A request. As part of the standard budget and proposal building process, an investigator should first speak to the School’s Director of Research Administration if he/she believes a voluntary reduction of indirect is warranted. Generally, the request for a waiver or reduction is sent by the Director of Research Administration to the Dean. Any approval would be granted on a case-by-case basis and under no circumstances would a previously received approval apply to a future proposal. When receiving a reduction or waiver request, the Dean will consider the following factors:
- Faculty academic year salary coverage
- Faculty summer salary coverage
- Other staff salary coverage (e.g., research assistants)
- Student support (assuming the project is not exclusively for fellowship or scholarship support)
- Ability to cover other non-salary expenses
- Overall project budget
- Project duration
- Related, future proposal(s) which will yield F&A
- Ability to receive higher F&A for future proposals with the same sponsor
- Number of prior projects (lead by the same PI) that received reductions or waivers
This is not an exhaustive list. The Dean reserves the right to request more information and/or to communicate directly with the investigator.
Approval Date: November 23, 2015