Sponsored Projects FAQs and Best Practices

For timely delivery, FedEx packages should be addressed using the name of the person, "ASU", the person's department, and their building and room number. Federal Express, UPS, and other carriers use the PO Box system for ASU. The drivers know this system so it is appropriate to use:

Staff Member's Name
ASU ORSPA
PO Box 873503
Building Room Number
Tempe, AZ 85287-3503

The street address is not necessary but if it is insisted upon, use the administrative office address:

Staff Member's Name
ASU ORSPA
1120 S Cady Mall
Interdisciplinary B, Room 163
Tempe, AZ 85287

You can also use the street address of any other building on campus, if known.

It is also appropriate to use the shipping and receiving address information. Remember the package may not arrive in the same timely manner you expect from FedEx. Once they deliver to shipping and receiving it is out of their hands and final delivery depends on the ASU Mail Services schedule.

Arizona State University Main Receiving
1711 S. Rural Road
Rural & Vista Del Cerro Rds
Building Room Number (Staff Member’s Name)
Tempe, AZ 85287

Cost sharing:

• requires extensive documentation;
• must be reported to the sponsor;
• is included in the calculation of the Facilities & Administrative (F &A) rate;
• is a key component in all external audits of the university; and,
• if cost sharing cannot be met as required, it results in a loss of sponsor funding.

Infrastructure support:

• is reimbursable by the sponsor in the F&A recovery rate;
• requires documentation by department/college, but not by OPRSA
• does not require extensive documentation;
• is not reported to the sponsor;
• does not place sponsor funding at risk; and,
• generally is not audited.

• If you have a half-time job, your 100% effort corresponds to everything you do for that job. So, for you, 0.50 FTE = 100% ASU Effort.
• If you work 80 hours a week, your 100% effort corresponds to all the activities for which ASU compensates you during that time. In this case, 80 hours = 100% ASU effort.

• Forms routed, certified, and stored electronically--no need for printing paper forms for departmental files.
• Elimination of paper distribution with email notification.
• Elimination of requirement to split effort by activity type (instruction, organized research, public service, departmental administration, etc.).
• Hourly employee effort reports certified every two pay periods (13 times a year).
• Exempt employee effort reports certified 3 times a year following the close of the Fall, Spring, and Summer academic periods.
• Effort reports for Student hourly and Graduate Assistant appointments routed via the workflow to the Principal Investigator (PI) for certification of student’s efforts on the sponsored project.
• Certification required only on sponsored project pay and cost share commitments—not on non-sponsored project activities.
• Ability to drill into and review detail of payroll transactions occurring during the effort period.

• Northwestern University paid $5.5 million to settle issues related to problems with effort reporting, on a contracts and grants base of $325 million;
• South Florida returned $4.1 million to the federal government to settle a number of charging issues, including effort reporting;
• University of California paid a total of $2.1 million to settle an NIH salary cap limitation disallowance for the period July 1, 1995 through June 30, 2002.

1. Effort Report was certified by an individual other than the employee or someone who has "first-hand" knowledge of 100 percent of the employee's time;
2. 2) Effort Report does not encompass all of the activities as described in OMB A21 performed by the employee under the terms of their employment;
3. Levels of effort reported do not appear reasonable, given the responsibilities of the individual.

1. Effort certified on the Effort Report by the individual is found to be falsified;
2. Levels of effort reported do not appear reasonable.

1. Go to the website: http://www.asu.edu/oasis/
2. Under Links, select HR & SA Administrative System
3. On the logon screen, enter your ASURite user ID and password, and click Sign In.
4. Select the ASU Customizations option from the left-hand menu. The menu options will expand below it.
5. Select ASU Security > Manage Security Requests > Create Security Request
6. Enter your ASURite user ID and click Continue.
7. On the Security request:
   1. Enter your reason for access. Ex. “I need access as a Department Effort Administrator for the following departments: B1746, B1310, E0811”
   2. Enter a supervisor’s ASURite user ID. The person who signs off on your timesheet should suffice.
   3. Click Continue.
8. You should be presented with the option to add roles by clicking the Add Role(s) button.
9. Under Human Capital Management - Effort Reporting box (10 boxes down from the top), check the checkbox for the role Dept Effort Administrator. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click Save and Return
10. You are returned to the security request screen. Your screen will be similar to what is listed below. Click Save and Submit to send the request.

• Equipment Depreciation
• Building Depreciation
• Interest (debt financing of building, equipment, & capital improvements)
• Operations & Maintenance of Plant (buildings and grounds)
• Library

• General Administration (university)
• Department Administration (includes department and college)
• Sponsored Projects Administration
• Student Services Administration

• The size and intensity of use of a university’s research facilities and buildings is the primary cause for variability of F&A costs.  For example, if two universities have the same direct cost research base and one has twice as many net square feet of space assigned to research, the facilities rate component for the university with twice the net square footage will be approximately twice that of the other university.
• A university’s ability to secure funds to construct, upgrade and maintain research facilities is another variable.  Universities able to spend money to renovate existing research facilities and construct new research facilities experience a higher level of costs than universities that are unable to do so.  These higher costs are reflected in the recovery rates for building depreciation.
• The location of a university has a significant effect on the costs of facility operations.  The universities that have the best combination of climactic conditions and utility rates will generally have a lower rate for facility operations.
• The “mix” of research among universities contributes to the variances in facilities rates.  The cost per square foot of constructing or renovating biomedical research space is more costly than the cost per square foot of space for mathematicians.
• Differences in cost recovery strategies also contribute significantly to rate variations.  Many public universities are not permitted to retain recovered F&A funds within the university to further support research programs.  Where these universities recover F&A costs as a budget offset, they have less incentive to fully recover their costs from sponsors and thereby less capability to fund special initiatives that support or enhance research.
• Some universities may have elected to recover a given cost directly rather than as a F&A cost or vice versa.  A common example of this would be employee fringe benefits.