1. What are the services that we offer ?
2. Who is eligible to serve as Principal Investigator?
3. How do I route a proposal?
4. Who copies and mails the proposals?
5. What are facilities and administrative costs (indirect or / overhead)?
6. How do I route a proposal when Virginia Tech is the sub recipient?
7. How do I handle having subcontracts in my proposal?
8. How do I transfer a grant to Virginia Tech?
9. How do I transfer a grant from Virginia Tech?
10. What happens if my expenditures exceed my awarded budget?
11. Can I charge administrative and clerical costs to my sponsored project?
12. What is a Letter of Guarantee (LOG)?
13. Who owns equipment purchased from sponsored funds?
14. Can sponsored equipment be transferred from Virginia Tech to another institution?
15. What is the appropriate salary to budget in the event the PI is a retired faculty member?
16. When is a proposal considered to be off-campus and therefore subject to the lower overhead rate?
17. What are the differences between the different VT funding vehicles for private funds?
18. What do I do if I am informed that my grant or contract is subject to either the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or Export Administration Regulations (EAR)?

 

1. Who is eligible to serve as Principal Investigator?

Only individuals holding permanent faculty rank above instructor, or research scientist/project director or higher position may normally accept the role of a Principal Investigator. If the faculty member is a Lecturer with an instruction or public service type proposal, then the department head/director will need to serve as the principal investigator. 

Rank	Can Serve as PI ?	Can Serve as Co-PI ?
Retired Faculty	Yes *	Yes
Research Assistant Professor	Yes	Yes
Research Associate Professor	Yes	Yes
Research Professor	Yes	Yes
Project Associate	No	Yes
Sr. Project Associate	Not Eligible but Exceptions may be approved by V.P. for Research	Yes
Project Director	Yes	Yes
Research Associate	No	Yes
Sr. Research Associate	Not Eligible but Exceptions may be approved by V.P. for Research	Yes
Adjunct Faculty	Not Eligible but Exceptions may be approved by Dept Head	Yes
Postdoctoral Associate	w/ Dept Head, Dean, V.P. for Research approval	Yes
Research Scientist	Yes	Yes
Sr. Research Scientist	Yes	Yes
Instructor / Lecturer	No	Yes
Admin Prof Faculty	Yes	Yes
Visiting Professor	Yes	Yes
Graduate Student	No	No

* A retired faculty member may continue to conduct research and serve as a co-investigator on a sponsored program if the principal investigator is a regular faculty member. A retired faculty member may serve as a principal investigator if the following conditions are met:

1. Faculty member must be awarded emeritus status
2. Faculty member must have the concurrence of his/her department head. The department head will consider such items as available space and importance of the research program to the department.
3. The department head must agree to be responsbile for both the fiscal and technical aspects of the research effort should the retired faculty not perform in accordance with the sponsor requirements. The department head may be required to sign a statement to this effect each time a retired faculty member submits a proposal.
4. The retired faculty member, if required by the department head, must report to the department annually on the work accomplished during the past year.
5. The rate of pay a retired faculty member may charge a sponsor is limited to the rate of pay received at time of retirement. This base rate will be adjusted by the average faculty salary increase each year in which faculty receive increases. Annual compensation cannot exceed the base salary.

---

2. How do I route a proposal?

All proposals should be routed through the Office of Sponsored Programs using the OSP Approval Form.  The form should be completed in full and reviewed and signed by your appropriate departmental administrator and the appropriate dean's office.  Once signed, please forward with the proposal to the Office of Sponsored Programs to the attention of the appropriate Project Administrator for review and official university signature.

An OSP Approval From is required when:

1. A new proposal is submitted to a Sponsor.
2. A revised proposal is submitted to a Sponsor that includes budget or cost sharing changes. Does not apply to technical modifications.
3. A continuation proposal is submitted to a Sponsor - even if the additional years' funds were requested in the original proposal. The key here is the word "submitted." If the PI must submit a budget and request for continued funding, we assign a new proposal number (a) so that we can locate the paperwork for negotiations with the sponsor and readily match the award with the proposal when it comes in and (b) because the direction of the research may change as well as rates and budget amounts and it is easier to track all aspects of the research if we have new paperwork covered by a current proposal number.
4. Additional funds are received that were not requested in the original proposal.
5. A check or award is received in OSP and no proposal exists.
   
   PLEASE USE THE GENERAL RESEARCH FUNDING DEPOSIT APPROVAL FORM WHEN DEPOSITING CHECKS INTO EITHER OSP VARIOUS ACCOUNTS OR OSP FOUNDATION ACCOUNTS.
   

---

3. Who copies and mails the proposals?

The Office of Sponsored Programs provides the service of copying and mailing your proposal.  In return, all that we ask is that the proposal be provided to our office at least two days in advance of the deadline to ensure that we have time to review, copy, and mail.

---

4. What are facilities and administrative costs (indirect / overhead)?

Facilities and Administrative costs, commonly referred to as indirect costs, are charges not directly borne by the project. For example, cost associated with utilities and administration are indirectly charged. Please see Explanation of Indirect Costs for further details.

---

5. How do I route a proposal when Virginia Tech is the subrecipient?

Proposals where Virginia Tech is the subrecipient should be treated the same as if we were processing the prime proposal.  The institution that is processing the prime proposal will request that the Office of Sponsored Programs review and approve our portion of the proposal.

---

6. How do I handle having subcontracts in my proposal?

Each subcontract should be properly identified in your prime budget (usually under the line contractual).  In addition, you should have a separate institutional approved itemized budget and scope of work for each subcontract reflecting the approved overhead.  Virginia Tech will need a consortium letter from the subcontractee (sample letter).  You should be aware that the federal agencies will require the same information of the subcontract's Principal Investigator as is required of yourself.  Please note that Virginia Tech will access overhead on the first $25,000 of each subcontract.  It is important when involving subcontracts in your budgets that you allow additional time for the paperwork to be processed at the subrecipient's home institution.

---

7. How do I transfer a grant to Virginia Tech?

Review the agency guidelines governing the grant and notify the Office of Sponsored Programs of your desire to transfer your grant.  The previous institution will need to prepare a relinquishing statement (required for federal projects) to send to the sponsoring agency.  Obtain a copy of the relinquishing statement for your records and the Virginia Tech Office of Sponsored Programs.  Route the transfer as if it was a Virginia Tech proposal using the Approval Form with the attached revised budget and completed forms required by the agency.  If the project involves issues of compliance, you will need to secure approval from the appropriate Virginia Tech official (human subjects, animal use, recombinant DNA).

---

8. How do I transfer a grant from Virginia Tech?

Review the sponsor's guidelines governing the transferring of the grant.  Please verify that the transfers are possible and contact the transfer recipient for how to reapply for the funds.  Write a letter to the Virginia Tech Office of Sponsored Programs providing the Title, Fund Number, Date of Transfer, and any Equipment purchased with the grant that the PI wishes to transfer.  The letter must be signed by the PI, department chair, and the dean.  For federal projects, the PI is required to complete a Final Invention Statement.   Send the signed letter and the Final Invention Statement to OSP.  Upon receipt, the we will prepare a relinquishing statement (federal projects) to be sent to the sponsoring agency.

---

9. What happens if my expenditures exceed my awarded budget?

If expenditures exceed the awarded budget, the policy regarding Non-Sufficient Funds will be implemented.  Freeze Flags in the financial system will freeze the account for any further expenditures (excluding salaries and fringes).   Salaries and fringes will be shifted to the departmental overhead distribution account.   The Principal Investigator will be liable for pursuing a funding supplement to cover the costs and ensuring that the account is reconciled.

---

10. Can I charge administrative and clerical costs to my sponsored project?

For federally sponsored projects, Virginia Tech must adhere to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-21, "Cost Principles for Educational Institutions."  Therefore, the salaries of administrative and clerical staff, office supplies, postage, local telephone costs, and memberships should normally be treated as indirect costs.  Direct charging of these types of costs may be appropriate in some circumstances.  Please refer to Virginia Tech Policy 3240: Consistency in Charging Administrative and Clerical Costs.

---

11. What is a Letter of Guarantee (LOG)?

In some instances where a sponsor has indicated a proposal will be funded but the award execution is delayed, a principal investigator may wish to enact a Letter of Guarantee (LOG). A LOG is a letter signed by the department (see example) requesting that OSP establish an award prior to the official award being fully executed. LOGs should be set up for no more than 90 days with a corresponding budget for no more than 90 days of anticipated expenditures. Please be aware that in requesting a LOG, the department is guaranteeing the funds in the event the award is not fully executed.

---

12. Who owns equipment purchased from sponsored funds?

Title to equipment purchased from sponsored funds is dependent upon the sponsor. Virgina Tech retains the title to most federally sponsored research equipment and we always try to negotiate title for all other sponsored equipment. However, some sponsors choose to retain title and therefore loan the equipment to Virginia Tech.

---

13. Can sponsored equipment be transferred fromVirginia Tech to another institution?

Faculty moving to another university who want to transfer their research equipment with them must have prior approval from the department head, dean, and sponsor if equipment was purchased with sponsored funds. Upon receiving approval, the Office of the Controller - Fixed Asset system must be notified. The equipment may or may not be transferred dependent upon who retains title. Typically, equipment purchased off of federal grants (PHS and NSF) is easily transferrable.

---

14. What is the appropriate salary to budget in the event the PI is a retired faculty member?

The rate of pay a retired faculty member may charge a sponsor is limited to the rate of pay received at the time of retirement. This rate may be adjusted by the average faculty increase each year in which faculty receive increases. Please note that in order to qualify for the VRS retirement benefits, compensation from any state agency must be part-time.

---

15. When is a proposal considered to be off-campus and therefore subject to the lower overhead rate?

The definition of off-campus is dependent upon how the work is to be charged rather than where the work is to be done. Our negotiated rate agreement defines off-campus:

For all activities performed in facilities not owned by the institution and to which rent is directly allocated to the project, the off-campus rate will apply. Grants or contract will not be subject to more than one F&A cost rate. If more than 50% of a project is performed off-campus, the off-campus rate will apply to the entire project.

For example, if the work is to be completed in facilities in Danville, facilities for which Virginia Tech either owns or leases centrally, the proposal would be subject to the on-campus F&A rate. However, if the facilities were to be paid for directly by the grant itself, the off-campus rate would apply.

---

16. What are the differences between the different VT funding vehicles for private funds?

The Virginia Tech Sponsored Funding Matrix for Private Funds provides an itemized summary of the differences in the various VT funding vehicles. If you have questions regarding the matrix, please consult with your assigned pre-award administrator.

---

17. What do I do if I am infomed that my grant or contract is subject to either the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or the Export Administration Regulations (EAR)?

ITAR regulations as administered by the Department of Defense makes certain items subject to export control. A listing of controlled items can be found in the Catalog of Federal Regulations section 22 CFR 120. If the item you are working on in the course of your research is on the list, then you may be required to apply for an export liscense if you intend to publish or present this data or if non-U.S. citizens are involved in the research.

EAR is administered by the Department of Commerce and FAQs regarding EAR are available at the following url: http://chaos.fedworld.gov/bxa/faq.html .