Notes
1. Reporting Costs, Awarded vs. Recovered
Each year a certain amount of confusion appears to be generated by the difference, often significant, between the funds reported in the OGCA Report of Sponsored Activities (RSA) as awarded during the fiscal year to the Amherst Campus and the University's Financial Records Systems (FRS) of funds expended and indirect costs earned during the same fiscal year. These differences can be particularly baffling or misleading in the planning of projections of indirect cost.
The following explanation may help reduce the confusion:
A. The OGCA Report of Sponsored Activities lists the amount of firm commitments awarded by outside sponsors to the University during the period of the fiscal year being reported. This does not necessarily coincide with the effective dates for incurring expenditures and recovering indirect costs. Figures 10 and 11 on page 18 illustrate the differences between $ awarded and $ expended over a ten year period.
B. If a multiple year award is issued, the firm commitment of funds is reported. For example, if a three year award is issued, with either incremental funding or firm commitment of only the first year, only the amount of the increment or first year is reported (generally the effective dates will reflect only the first period). The remainder of the funds and effective dates are reported when the sponsor authorizes or releases the additional funds. If the Sponsor authorizes the full amount with no contingencies for a multiple year period, then the total amount for the full project period is reported in the same year it was awarded.
C. The University Financial System reports expenditures and indirect cost recovery during the period that the awards are active. Indirect costs are charged and recovered monthly, based on the current month's actual expenditures of each account/award.
It may be readily seen how, as a result of the two methods of reporting, awards (RSA) and actual expenditures (FRS), awarded vs. earned indirect costs during any particular period cannot be reconciled exactly. However the data from both systems is valuable in the University's analyses and projections.
2. Awards with negative dollar amounts.
Reductions of awards, e.g. sponsor mandated reduction, early termination, transfer of grant to another institution, etc., are recorded as negative dollar amounts. They are listed in the report as credits with new OGCA numbers. This serves to report changes in awards during the time period in which they occur.
3. Report Distribution and Availability.
OGCA is producing printed copies of the Sponsored Activities Report on an annual basis only. The Award Detail sections are not included as part of the standard report; instead, a limited number of this larger volume will be printed with the title of Sponsor Supplement and Award Detail. All reports, including the Annual, Quarterly and Monthly cumulative summary and detail reports by OU, sponsor, and PI will be available in either HTML or unformatted text files from the OGCA Home Page at www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~ogca/. The Monthly reports will be posted approximately the 20th of each following month.
If accessibility to the WEB is limited, individuals are invited to send a written request to the following address for printed copies: gelineau@admin.umass.edu or Wayne Gelineau, OGCA, 408 Goodell Building.