A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A-21 - The federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular that establishes principles for determining costs applicable to grants, contracts, and other agreements (also known as sponsored research) with educational institutions.
A-110 - The federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular that establishes uniform regulations for each federal agency to follow to administer projects sponsored by the federal government.
Acquisition Cost - Cost of a piece of equipment including calibration, installation, freight, trade-in value, and sales and excise tax.
Allocable Cost - A cost is allocable to an activity if it is chargeable or assignable to that activity according to the relative benefits received or other equitable relationship (see also Unallowable Costs).
Allocate - Assignment of an item of cost, or a group of items of cost, to one or more cost objectives. This includes both direct assignment of cost and the reassignment of a share of costs from indirect cost pools.
Allowable Costs - Costs specified in OMB Circular A-21 that can be directly charged to Federal grants and contracts or included in facilities & administrative rates.
Amortization - See Depreciation.
Auxiliary Enterprise - A large, university-wide unit that provides services primarily to external users. An example of an auxiliary enterprise is University Parking Services.
Award - See Grant and Contract glossary definition of award.
Budget - There are three primary definitions of a budget at the University:
Budget Period - The interval of time, usually twelve months, that encompasses the project period for budgetary and funding purposes.
CA - See definition of CA (College Administration) in the F&A Space Functional Use Definitions document.
Capital Lease - See Recharge Center definition of Capital Lease.
CAS - See Cost Accounting Standards.
Central Stores - See University Stores.
Clinical Trial - See also Resources, Policies, Forms.
Cognizant Agency - The agency of the federal government with whom the University submits & negotiates Facilities and Administrative (F&A) rates.
Conflict of Interest - A situation in which a University employee is in a position to influence the conduct of a project for personal gain due to the employee's responsibilities or arrangements with the sponsor.
Consultant - A person, usually not an employee of the University, whose participation in a project does not require a sub-award or subcontract and who is paid via a personal services agreement.
Contract - A legal document specifying work, scope, budget, and time of performance. Contracts usually result in a tangible product.
Cooperative Agreement - An award similar to a grant. The sponsor anticipates having substantial involvement in research activities once the award has been made.
Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) - Federally mandated accounting standards intended to ensure uniformity in budgeting, allocating, and costing university activities. They apply to grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements at the University of Washington full description:
CAS 501: Consistency in Estimating, Accumulating, and Reporting Costs
CAS 502: Consistency in Allocating Costs Incurred for the Same Purpose
CAS 505: Accounting for Unallowable Costs
CAS 506: Consistency in Using the Same Accounting Period for Purposes of Estimating, Accumulating, and Reporting Costs
The University's costing policy is contained in GIM 23.
Cost Categories - Current fund expenditures with similar characteristics or purposes are grouped into common cost categories or "pools." Each current fund budget is classified as containing either direct costs or F&A costs. MAA converts cost categories into cost pools defined by OMB Circular A-21 to calculate F&A rates.
Cost Center - See Recharge web page glossary definition of Cost Center.
Cost Sharing - Financial contribution by the grantee (University) to fund a portion of a sponsored project. Cost Sharing types. See also GIM 21.
DA - See definition of DA (Departmental Administration) in the F&A Space Functional Use Definitions document.
DCA - Division of Cost Allocation (DCA) is the division within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) responsible for negotiating the University's F&A rates.
Departmental Research - Research, development, and scholarly activities that are not separately budgeted and accounted for. Departmental research is funded from budgets that are not restricted to a specific project. Departmental research does not:
Depreciation - The method for recovering the cost of a capital asset (building, equipment, etc.). The annual depreciation amount is calculated by dividing the cost of the asset by the number of years of its useful life. OMB Circular A-21 specifies that for F&A cost calculations, assets are to be depreciated using the &straight line& method, and any federal funds used to purchase the asset must be deducted from the cost prior to the calculation. (See also GIM 22A.)
DHHS - Department of Health and Human Services. DHHS serves as the University's cognizant agent.
Direct Costs - Costs that can be identified specifically with a particular sponsored project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity, or that can be directly assigned to such activities relatively easily with a high degree of accuracy.
Disallowance or Disallowed Cost - A charge to a grant that the federal awarding agency determines to be unallowable, in accordance with the applicable federal cost principles or other terms and conditions contained in the award.
Effective Date - The beginning date of an award. Allowable project costs may not be charged to the project before this date unless specifically granted by the sponsoring agency. (See pre-award costs.)
Effort Reporting - See Faculty Effort Certification.
Equipment - An article of nonexpendable, tangible personal property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the capitalization level ($2,000) established by the University for financial statement purposes.
Equipment Class - Defined by the state to categorize different types of equipment and their useful lives. The equipment classes and their useful lives are found at the State Administrative and Accounting Manual website.
Equipment Depreciation - A method to recover the cost of equipment costing more than the $2,000 capitalization threshold established by the University. Annual depreciation is calculated with the formula: (acquisition cost - residual value) / useful life.
Expiration Date (Termination Date) - The ending date of a project. No charges may be incurred on a project after this date, unless there is a budget extension (also called a &no-cost extension&) or supplement (also called a &supplemental award&) in progress.
F&A - Facilities and Administrative.
Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs (also known as Indirect Costs) - Costs that are incurred for common or joint objectives and cannot be identified readily and specifically with a particular sponsored project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity.
Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Rate - The F&A rate is a mechanism used to reimburse the University for the F&A or indirect costs incurred to support sponsored research & instruction. It is a percentage normally charged to the sponsored project's modified total direct costs. F&A rates at the University are negotiated with Health and Human Services, Division of Cost Allocation, San Francisco office.
Faculty Effort Certification (FEC) - See Faculty Effort Certification.
Fellowships - At the University, graduate fellowships and traineeships are merit-based awards to pursue research. Each fellowship and traineeship will have its own set of guidelines and restrictions, usually set by the funding agency.
Fringe Benefits - Employee benefits paid by the employer (e.g. FICA, worker's compensation, health insurance, etc.).
Full Time Equivalent (FTE) - The percentage of full-time employment shown as a decimal. For example, a person appointed to work 20 hours per week, or at 50%, would be shown as 0.5 FTE.
GA - See definition of GA (General Administration) in the F&A Space Functional Use Definitions document.
GCA - Office of Grant and Contract Accounting.
Grant - See Grant and Contract Accounting glossary definition of Grant.
Grant Period - The time period between &effective date& and "expiration date" during which expenses may be incurred against the grant or contract.
IDC - Indirect Costs.
Indirect Cost Rate - See Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Rate.
Indirect Costs - See Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Costs.
Institutional Review Board (IRB) - See the University of Washington Health Sciences Research Studies Seeking Volunteers Definitions of Commonly Used Research Terms web page defintion of Institutional Review Board (IRB).
Instruction - The teaching and training activities of an institution, including sponsored instruction and departmental research. At the University, instruction excludes research training.
Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement (IPA) - Allows the temporary assignment of employees between federal agencies and state, local, and Indian tribal governments, institutions of higher learning and other eligible organizations. (See Fact Sheet.)
MAA - Office of Management Accounting and Analysis.
Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) - The aggregated direct costs for a given University activity, such as organized research, excluding certain costs specified by A-21. Costs excluded from MTDC include equipment, capital expenditures, tuition remission, stipends, and that portion of a sub-contract in excess of $25,000.
MTDC - See Modified Total Direct Costs.
NIH - National Institutes of Health.
Non-Reimbursable Costs - See Unallowable Costs.
NSF - National Science Foundation.
OASIS - The University's equipment inventory database. The data in OASIS (e.g. equipment cost, tag #, department #, and location on campus) are used in the F&A rate calculation.
Off-Campus - See GIM 13 definition of Off-Campus Programs.
OIA - See definition of OIA (Other Institutional Activities) in the F&A Space Functional Use Definitions document.
OMB - Office of Management and Budget.
ONR - Office of Naval Research.
OPHS - Office of Public Health and Science.
Operations and Maintenance (O&M) - Expenses incurred for the administration, supervision, operation, maintenance, preservation, and protection of the institution's physical plant.
Operating Lease - Rental of an asset over a term of more than one year that does not also meet the definition of a capital lease.
Organized Research - All research and development activities of the institution that are separately budgeted and accounted for. This includes Sponsored Research, University Research, and Sponsored Research Training. Organized research projects require:
OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
OSP - Office of Sponsored Programs. Previously called Grant and Contract Services (GCS).
Other Institutional Activities (OIA) - Includes all activities of the institution except: (1) instruction, departmental research, organized research, and other sponsored activities identified separately and (2) F&A indirect cost activities. Other institutional activities include operation of residence halls and other faculty and student housing, dining halls, hospitals and clinics, student unions, intercollegiate athletics, bookstores, theaters, museums, and other similar auxiliary enterprises.
Other Sponsored Activities - Sponsored programs and projects financed by federal and non-federal agencies and organizations which involve the performance of work other than instruction and organized research. Examples include health service projects, public service projects, clinical trials, and public service conferences.
Principal Investigator (PI) - An academic staff member whose project is being sponsored and who is responsible for directing the research and for ensuring that all terms and conditions of a sponsored agreement are met.
Program Income - See Grant and Contract Accounting glossary definition of Program Income.
Proposal - A new proposal is a request for financial assistance for a project or activity that is not currently receiving sponsored support. Proposals normally contain all information necessary to describe project plans, staff capabilities, and budget requirments. (See Proposal types.)
RA - Research Assistant.
Reasonable Cost - A cost may be considered reasonable if the nature of the goods or services acquired or applied, and the amount involved, reflect the action that a prudent person would have taken under the circumstances.
Recharge Center - See Recharge Center glossary definition of Recharge Center.
Residual Value - The value of a capitalized asset at the end of its useful life.
Restricted Funds - Funds whose use is specified or restricted by grant, contract, gift instrument, policy, or regulation.
SPA - See definition of SPA (Sponsored Projects Administration) in the F&A Space Functional Use Definitions document.
Sponsor - The individual, institution, or agency that provides funding for a project.
Sponsored Instruction and Training - Specific instructional or training activity established by grant, contract, or cooperative agreement.
Sponsored Research - All research and development activities that are sponsored by federal and non-federal agencies and organizations. This includes activities involving the training of individuals in research techniques (commonly called research training). (See Organized Research.)
Sponsored Research Training - Activities involving the training of individuals in research techniques where the training is in the same facility as other research and development activities. (See Organized Research.)
Stipend - A payment made to an individual to provide for living expenses during the training period of a fellowship or other training project.
Unallowable Costs - Costs defined in section J. of OMB Circular A-21 as "unallowable." These costs cannot be charged directly to federally sponsored projects or indirectly through F&A costs or rates - (Detail Instructions - See also Allowable Costs).
University Research - All research and development activities that are separately budgeted and accounted for by the institution under an internal application of institutional funds. (See Organized Research.)
Unrestricted Funds - Funds having no requirements or restrictions as to use. Grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements typically are considered to be restricted funds.
Useful Life - The number of years an asset is expected to remain in service. The useful life is employed in calculating annual depreciation. (State equipment classes and their useful lives are found at the State Administrative and Accounting Manual website.)
