Cost Sharing Policy

Title:	Cost Sharing
Policy Owner:	Office of the Vice President for Research, Sponsored Program Services
Applies to:	All Faculty, Staff, and Students
Campus Applicability:	All campuses
Effective Date:	January 24, 2020
For More Information, Contact	Office of the Vice President for Research, Sponsored Program Services
Contact Information:	860-486-3622 (Storrs and regional campuses) 860-679-4040 (UConn Health)
Official Website:	https://ovpr.uconn.edu (Storrs and regional campuses) https://ovpr.uchc.edu (UConn Health)

REASON FOR POLICY

This policy is to meet the requirements of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (“Uniform Guidance”) and federal agency policies and procedures. Non-federal sponsor cost share requires similar diligence to recognize the commitment and maintain appropriate documentation of its performance. Therefore, all committed cost sharing is subject to this policy.

APPLIES TO

All faculty, staff, and students involved in the administration of sponsored programs at the University of Connecticut and all regional campuses, and UConn Health (“University”).

DEFINITIONS

Cost sharing – the specific portion of project costs that are funded by the University rather than the sponsor in support of a sponsored program. Cost sharing represents payroll and other project costs that University and/or other project participants contribute to or match through the expenditure of funds or through in-kind contributions.

Cash contributions – a type of cost sharing that requires additional funding that can be documented in the accounting system. Examples include the purchase of a piece of equipment, or the allocation of compensated faculty or staff time, paid for by University funds.

In-kind contributions – non-cash contributions donated to the project.

Mandatory Cost Share – cost sharing required by the sponsor in order for an award to be made. Such requirements are generally incorporated in the funding opportunity announcements or solicitations, or required by federal statute and included as part of the proposal.

Voluntary Committed Cost Share – represents a cost sharing commitment made in the budget, budget justification, or identified elsewhere in the proposal that is not required by the sponsor. This type of cost sharing must be tracked and may need to be reported. Examples of this include a percentage of effort of faculty in a proposal for which compensation was not requested, or the purchase of equipment for the project for which sponsor funds have not been requested.

Voluntary Uncommitted Cost Share – represents a cost or contribution made to the project and not funded by the sponsor, which has not been identified in the proposal or in any other communication with the sponsor. This type of cost sharing does not have to be tracked or reported to a sponsor. An example is academic year effort on a project for which only summer salary was proposed.

Salary Limitation/Salary Cap – limitation imposed by the sponsor (e.g., DHHS salary cap) on the amount or rate of salary and/or of fringe benefits that can be charged to the project. Although the University may cover the difference between the limitation and the actual cost, this is not considered cost sharing and it is not tracked as cost sharing by the University.

POLICY STATEMENT

Expenditures must meet the standard terms and conditions of the award to be cost share. The costs are allowable in accordance with Uniform Guidance when they are:

Verifiable from the recipient’s records;
Not included as contributions for any other federally-assisted sponsored project or program;
Necessary and reasonable for proper and efficient accomplishment of project objectives;
Not paid by the Federal Government under another award, except where authorized by federal statute to be used for cost sharing or matching; and
Provided in the approved budget when required by the federal awarding agency.

The review and approval of all cost sharing is the responsibility of the unit providing the cost sharing and Sponsored Program Services. Mandatory and Voluntary Committed cost sharing must be approved prior to submission of the proposal to the sponsor, and must be in conformance with the award terms and conditions, the Uniform Guidance in the case of federally sponsored projects, federal and state law and University policy. Mandatory and Voluntary Committed cost sharing must be tracked by the University and reported to the sponsor (if required by the terms of the award).

The funding of cash cost sharing is the responsibility of the unit that has made the commitment. The PI or designee is required to report and confirm cost shared effort on Effort Reports. Records related to cost sharing must be retained for the period of time prescribed under relevant record retention policies.

Cost sharing, including the re-budgeting of direct-charged salary from a sponsored project to cost share account at UConn Health is permitted only with approval of the Department Chair, Dean, and the Office of Sponsored Program Services, or designees. When necessary, prior approval from the sponsor must also be obtained.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Principal Investigator:

1. Obtain approval for any mandatory and/or voluntary committed cost sharing prior to proposal submission.
2. Ensure cost sharing commitments are met.

Fiscal Officer/Department Administrator:

1. Track and monitor cost sharing commitments.

ENFORCEMENT

Violations of this policy or associated procedures may result in appropriate disciplinary measures in accordance with University By-Laws, General Rules of Conduct for All University Employees, applicable collective bargaining agreements, the University of Connecticut Student Code, other applicable University Policies, or as outlined in any procedures document related to this policy.

PROCEDURES/FORMS

Storrs and Regional Campuses:
Effort Reporting and Certification Policy

UConn Health:
Guidance – Cost Sharing (UCH)
NIH Salary Cap Guidelines
Budget Preparation Guidelines (UCH)
Budget Templates/Calculators (UCH)

POLICY HISTORY

Policy created:
Approved by the President’s Cabinet on 09/12/2019. This is a new policy at Storrs and replaces a previous policy at UConn Health.

History:
UCH Policy 2002-14, “Cost Sharing/Matching Requirements”, created on 4/10/2002 and revised on 5/9/17.

University Policies