Glossary

Cost sharing represents that portion of total project costs of a sponsored agreement that are not borne by the sponsor or sponsors of a project. These costs are borne by the university or other non-federal third parties, rather than by the sponsor.

Please refer to In-kind Cost Sharing

Please refer to Mandatory Cost Sharing

Please refer to Third Party Cost Sharing

Please refer to Voluntary Committed Cost Sharing

Please refer to Voluntary Uncommitted Cost Sharing

Work or the proportion of time spent on any professional activity and expressed as a percentage of total time. Total effort for an employee must equal 100% (plus or minus one due to rounding). The appointment serves as the basis for an individual's total effort. In other words, for a 50% appointment, 100% effort is the 50% appointment. Likewise, for a 75% appointment, 100% effort is the 75% appointment.

Effort reporting administrators at the department level who facilitate the distribution and submission of Effort Reports and help others in the department understand the effort reporting system and effort reporting requirements.

In-kind cost sharing represents the value of non-cash contributions provided by the university or non-federal third parties to a sponsored project when such contributions directly benefit that project.

Mandatory cost sharing represents contributions to projects that are required by the sponsor as a condition of eligibility and/or is a review criterion. Required or mandatory cost sharing will be specified in the published request for proposals. Mandatory cost share must be tracked and reported to sponsors and cost shared effort must be added to the individual's Effort Report during the effort certification process.

A document that provides information regarding the award's important terms and conditions. It should be referred to by PIs and departments to provide guidance in managing the project.

2 CFR §200.430 provides guidance for the required documentation for the distribution of salaries, wages, and fringe benefits recognizing the principles of after-the-fact effort certification. Please refer to the Code of Federal Regulations website and the OMB Uniform Guidance page for more information.

An externally funded activity that is governed by specific terms and conditions. Sponsored projects must be separately budgeted and accounted for subject to terms of the sponsoring organization. Sponsored projects may include grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements for research, training, and other public service activities.

Third party cost sharing represents the cost share which is provided from entities outside the University.

Voluntary committed cost sharing represents contributions to the project that are not required by the sponsor but are offered in the proposal (either in the budget or narrative or both). Voluntary committed cost sharing must be tracked and reporting to sponsors and cost shared effort must be added to the individual's Effort Report during the effort certification process.

Voluntary uncommitted cost sharing represents incidental or unanticipated contributions to sponsored projects that were not pledged in the proposal, are not an obligation of the award, and do not have to be tracked or reported to the sponsor. This type of cost sharing often takes the form of investigator effort over and above that for which support was sought. Voluntary uncommitted cost sharing should not be added to an individual's Effort Report during the effort certification process.