Proposal budget preparation

Minimum wage rates for sponsored projects

KU Lawrence/Edwards campus

Per notification from KU Human Resources, a new minimum wage of $10/hour will be effective for all positions effective Aug. 1, 2023.
Pre-Award staff will use the new rate for proposal budgets created after May 23 for projects that have personnel starting after Aug. 1.

Federal contracts

Effective Jan. 1, 2023, the Executive Order 14026 minimum wage rate that must be paid to workers performing work on or in connection with covered contracts was increased to $16.20 per hour from $15/hour. This mandated rate only applies to federal contracts and awards designated as “contract-like” agreements, which includes cooperative agreements from some sponsors. Please ask your Pre-Award Services team member if you have questions about this requirement.

Executive Order 14026 would apply to federal contracts, and potentially some cooperative agreements, but not to grants. Pre-Award staff are applying this rate to budgets when the funding opportunity announcement indicates that the award instrument will be a contract or contract-like agreement.

Graduate research assistant salary guidelines

Salary rates for graduate research assistants may vary from one unit to the next. For all of campus, eligible for Improving Doctoral Experiences on External Awards (IDEEA) funds, a minimum salary of $18,600 for an academic .50 FTE GRA appointment (or $ 4,133.33/month at full time effort ) is currently the default rate being used on all proposal budgets. This minimum rate is recommended for all GRAs, but not required unless IDEEA funds are being requested. Contact your Shared Service Center for additional guidelines.

Differentiating direct and indirect costs

Federal regulations as described in 2 CFR 200 Uniform Guidance provide definitions of the types of costs that are normally defined as direct costs vs. indirect (F&A) costs. Costs incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances must be treated consistently as either direct or indirect (F&A) costs. Direct costs are those costs that can be identified specifically with a particular sponsored project, instructional or other institutional activity, and can be directly assigned to such activities relatively easily with a high degree of accuracy. Conversely, F&A costs are those that are incurred for common or joint objectives and, therefore, cannot be identified readily and specifically with a particular sponsored project, instructional or other institutional activity. Identification with the sponsored work rather than the nature of the goods and services involved is the determining factor in distinguishing direct from indirect (F&A) costs in sponsored agreements.

At the budget preparation stage of proposal development, proposed direct costs that would ordinarily be identified as indirect (F&A) costs (e.g., administrative/clerical salaries, computing devices, office supplies, etc.) are reviewed with the PI or their designee to determine if there are extraordinary circumstances requiring an exception to the standard. If so, an explicit budget justification must be included in the proposal describing how these costs can be reliably assigned to the benefit of the proposed project. When a sponsored award is received, there are additional levels of review to determine the appropriateness of expenditures and obligations in light of the definitions outlined above. These reviews occur at the PI/departmental level, in Post-Award, and in the accounting services section of Financial Services. Research administration training sessions consistently stress that the reasonable, allocable, and allowable provisions of 2 CFR 200 Uniform Guidance — and the consistent application of these provisions — are the basis for proper expenditures on sponsored agreements.