Indirect Cost Sharing Policy
Objective
The objective of this policy is to set forth the procedures for distributing indirect cost recovery from sponsored research within the College of Science. Indirect cost recovery supports many necessary functions of the University that can not be charged to direct expenses, including but not limited to support staff, photocopying, small computer equipment, promotional materials. For work carried out within Departments, 17.5% of the indirect is returned to the College, 7% is returned to the Department, and 10.5% is returned to the principal investigator. For joint work, divisions of these percentages between units and/or faculty is common. This policy seeks to address the split of indirect cost distribution between chartered Centers , Departments and the College when the principal investigator is a faculty member of both a Center and Department.
Background
The Vice President for Research has published Guidelines for Chartering and Renewing Charters of Research Centers. The College of Science policy toward recovery of indirect costs fits within these policies.
At George Mason University, the definition and creation of research “centers” is governed by the Faculty Handbook. The following is the Handbook statement on centers at Section 1.3.7:
A center is a unit of the University intended to advance the University’s mission of research and/or public service. Normally housed within a department, college/school or institute, a center does not develop or administer academic degree programs, nor does it possess faculty appointed to primary affiliation with it. From time to time, centers with large grants or contracts may require the presence of research faculty whose affiliation with the center is coterminous with the life of the grant or contract. Faculty appointed to a center under externally funded grants or contracts may not receive probationary or tenured appointments through the center. A center is chartered for a specific period of time by the Provost and the President on the recommendation of appropriate faculty and dean(s) or institute director(s). Renewal of a charter, when called for, is subject to favorable review of a center’s performance and accomplishments…
The establishment of a center has implications for local academic unit finances, since the center will ordinarily receive the portion of returned indirect costs that would otherwise go to the department chair (or dean and director in the absence of departments).
Centers are chartered within the College of Science in order to advance the University’s research mission. They are principally distinguished from departments by their focus on research, an absence of coursework-based teaching, and the expectation that most fixed term research faculty appointments will be made through Centers. Centers are expected to support graduate students who contribute to their research goals, maintain their own support staff, as well as support photocopying, telephone, travel and other expenses.
Policy for Research within Centers
Developing a simple, uniform policy for Centers is not feasible, because of the diverse nature of the Centers within the College, and the fact that some Centers exist across Colleges. Newly formed Centers may not be in a position to fully fund support staff or to cover photocopying and telephone expenses. The policy envisions two modes of operation for Centers:
- Autonomous Centers - These Centers provide their own staff, support graduate students, and function independently from any departments.
- Shared Support Arrangements - These Centers do not provide their own staff, or do not fully support their graduate students. They obtain their services and support from the department with which their faculty are associated. The split of indirect in these cases will be negotiated between the Center and Department, within 8.5%
The indirect return will be divided according to the following table:
| Autonomous | Shared | |
| Center Share | 7% | 1.5 - 5% |
| Department Share | 1.5% | 3.5 - 7% |
| College Share | 16% | 16% |
| PI Share | 10.5% | 10.5% |
Special Cases:
- When the PI is rostered 100% within a Center, the distribution will include 7% for the Center, 17.5% for the College.
- When a PI is rostered fractionally between a Center and one or more Departments, the distribution will reflect these fractions.
- When co-investigators are distributed across departments and centers, the PI should propose an equitable distribution to the Associate Dean for Research early in the development of the proposal, with sufficient time to get agreement of the Center Directors and Department Chairs.
Source: College of Science
Date: April 2, 2007
Rev 1: Sep 5, 2007