Revision Date: January 24, 2018
Responsible Office: URA
PDF Version
This policy establishes authority, responsibilities, and treatment of residual funds for externally funded sponsored projects at the University of Chicago to ensure they are expended to advance the research mission of the university
Applicability
This policy applies to all individuals, schools, departments, centers, institutes, and programs ("Departments") that manage sponsored awards. Non-federal clinical trials (account range 636000- 637999) are excluded from this policy.
Policy Statement
1. Upon conclusion of a project, departmental administrators should confirm with their Principal Investigator that the project is complete, and that all costs have been correctly allocated to the project. It is expected that a fixed price award will have expenditures that closely match the income if costs were properly determined at time of proposal. Charges to fixed price accounts, including drug studies and clinical trials, must reflect all actual effort and related costs incurred.
2. Unexpended funds from all sponsored projects will be considered to be residual funds if the following criteria is met:
a. The award is Fixed Price. (i.e., there is no provision for return of unexpended funds to the external sponsor)
b. All payments required under the award have been received by the University of Chicago.
c. All proposed and required project work is complete, and all reports and deliverables have been submitted to the sponsor.
d. All expenditures related to the project have been appropriately charged to the account.
3. If all of the above criteria has been met, the unexpended direct cost balance in the account will be transferred to the guarantee account provided by the department. Any associated unexpended indirect cost will be credited to the appropriate University of Chicago central IDC recovery account.
4. The request to transfer residual funds will be initiated by the department, submitted to the office of University Research Administration (URA), and completed by the URA Post Award Research Administrator. This request should be made and routed when all closing documentation is submitted by the department to URA.
5. Any residual transfer exceeding 15% of the total award for a Federal fixed price award or 25% for a non-Federal fixed price award will require a justification by the Principal Investigator prior to processing. The justification should address what circumstances caused the estimated fixed price amount to be higher than the actual cost to conduct the work.
Key Definitions
| Word/Phrase | Definition |
|---|---|
| Fixed Price Award | An award made to the University of Chicago by an external funding agency where a fair price for the anticipated work is determined at the time of proposal. Costs are pre-determined based on a fixed amount per unit of service or deliverables. The total award is not subject to any adjustment of funds based on actual costs. There is no stipulation or expectation by the external funding agency that excess funds be returned at the end of the project. |
| Residual Income | An unobligated, unspent balance remaining in a sponsored account at the conclusion of the project. Residual income occurs when the income or revenue is greater than the expense incurred upon completion of the project. Residual income may occur on fixed price awards for seminars or conferences, certain per-patient drug studies and clinical trials, and other fixed price contracts. |
Roles and Responsibilities
| Governed Party |
Roles and Responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Account Administrators | Confirm all expenditures have been properly allocated to the account. Initiate residual transfer request when all criteria detailed within the policy has been met. |
| Principal Investigators | Ensure that budgets submitted to external sponsors appropriately reflect the anticipated costs necessary to complete the work proposed. Provide an explanation at the time of residual transfer if remaining balances exceed the thresholds documented within this policy. |
| URA Post-Award Research Administrators |
The Post-Award Research Administrators are responsible for ensuring all criteria have been met prior to processing the residual transfer. |
Related Information
Key Contacts
| Name |
|
|---|---|
| URA Post-Award Research Administrators | awards@lists.uchicago.edu |