Indirect Cost Recovery Distribution Policy
Federally sponsored research grants and contracts usually include a reimbursement to campus of indirect costs. The amount campus receives for indirect cost recovery (ICR) is determined by negotiated reimbursement rates, which are tracked by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation.[1] ICR costs pertain to either facilities and administration (F&A) or to tuition remission. Campus distributes a significant portion of these reimbursed costs to the colleges and units in which research and programs occur.
In accordance with Provost Office’s ICR distribution policy, the standard proportion of the reimbursement for F&A that campus receives that is in turn distributed to colleges is 45%. By contrast 75% of the ICR earnings related to tuition remission is in turn distributed to the college of enrollment of the employed RA.
The College then distributes these ICR amounts as follows:
- For the 45% of F&A returned to the College unit, 12% is retained by the College, 30% is distributed to the principal investigator’s (PI’s) Department, and 3% goes to the PI.
- For tuition remission, the full ICR is retained at the college to offset the reduced tuition revenue as a result of the waiver.
[1] As the Sponsored Program Administration (SPA) of the OVCRI notes, the federally negotiated reimbursement rates for F&A as of Fall 2022 vary with the nature of the sponsored activity. For on-campus activities, the rate is 58.6% for sponsored research, 44.9% for sponsored instruction, and 31.7% for other sponsored activities. For off-campus activities, both research and instruction have a 25.9% reimbursement rate, while 21.7% is the rate for other sponsored activities.
Date Implemented Fall 2022.