Budgeting: Personnel Salaries and Wages

Personnel Salaries and Wages

This budget category includes the costs of all salaries and wages that will be paid to ACC personnel (current personnel and those to be hired, including students). Always check the funding agency’s guidelines for requirements about appropriate salary charges.

Budget Using the Base Salary for ACC Employees

Base Salary: Calculate salaries and wages for grant budgets using each person’s institutional base salary and time / effort committed to the project. Payroll staff can provide you with base salary information for current employees. (See examples and additional details below for different categories of personnel.)

Raises: Depending on the planned start-date and duration of your project, you may need to include pay raise estimates to ensure that your budget will have sufficient funds to cover personnel costs. This applies the accounting principle of conservatism. If project activities will take place after the current fiscal or academic year ends, the approved annual percent increase must be taken in to consideration.

Budgeting for Faculty

Many projects will involve the effort of ACC faculty. Most faculty are on 9-month contracts, and their effort and compensation on a grant program can be calculated using the methods below:

ACADEMIC YEAR COURSE RELEASE TIME: With the approval of the Department Head and Dean, faculty can be released from academic year teaching duties to work on grant-funded activity.

"PERSON MONTHS" FOR ACADEMIC YEAR (9-MONTH CONTRACT): Some funding agencies (including the National Science Foundation) require budgets to reflect effort in terms of “person months” committed to the project. Person months can be calculated in several ways, depending on the planned effort on the grant, the salary request, and the funding agency’s instructions for calculating person months. The simplest way to calculate person months is to follow the guidance provided by the National Science Foundation (see http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/faqs.pdf).Person months are typically divided into categories based on when a faculty member will work on the project (academic year or summer).

Budgeting for Exempt Staff

For example, projects may involve the effort of exempt staff. Typically, exempt staff will be released from other duties to work on grant-funded activities. The following computation methods provide examples of how to budget for 12-month faculty and exempt staff.

PERCENTAGE OF EFFORT ASSIGNED TO GRANT: With the approval of appropriate administrators, 12-month faculty members and/or exempt staff members can have a portion of their effort reassigned to grant activities. The budget should include the portion of effort that will be assigned to the grant.
- EXAMPLE: Assistant Director V is an exempt staff member at 100% effort with a base salary of $35,000. Ms. V will be re-assigned to the grant for 50% of her effort. $35,000 x 50% = $17,500.
MONTHLY RATE OF PAY: It may be necessary to budget for 12-month faculty and exempt staff at a monthly rate of pay. To determine monthly rate of pay divide the base salary by 12.
- EXAMPLE: Mr. U is an exempt staff member at 100% effort with a base salary of $39,000. Mr. U will be re-assigned to spend two months conducting grant-funded activities. $39,000 / 12 = $3,250 monthly rate of pay x 2 months = $6,500.
DAILY RATE OF PAY: Sometimes it may be necessary to budget for 12-month faculty and exempt staff at a daily rate of pay. To determine the daily rate of pay, divide the base salary by 224 duty days (duty days for 12-month employees calculated with allowances for annual leave, official holidays, and administrative closings).
- EXAMPLE: Dr. T is a 12-month faculty member with a base salary of $57,000. She will spend 10 days working on grant activities. $57,000 / 224 duty days = $254 / day x 10 days = $2,540.
HOURLY RATE OF PAY: Sometimes it may be appropriate to budget for 12-month faculty and exempt staff at an hourly rate of pay. To determine hourly rate of pay, divide the base salary by 1,792 (duty hours for 12-month employees calculated with allowances for annual leave, official holidays, and administrative closings).
- EXAMPLE: Ms. S is an exempt staff member at 100% effort with a base salary of $42,000. Ms. S will work on grant activities a total of 125 hours. $42,000 / 1,792 duty hours = $23.44 / hr x 125 hours = $2,930.
“PERSON MONTHS” FOR 12-MONTH FACULTY AND EXEMPT STAFF: Some funding agencies (including the National Science Foundation) require budgets to reflect effort in terms of “person months” committed to the project. Person months can be calculated in several ways, depending on the planned effort on the grant, the salary request, and the funding agency’s instructions for calculating person months. The simplest way to calculate person months is to follow the guidance provided by the National Science Foundation (see http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/faqs.pdf).

Person-months typically are categorized based on the type of appointment a person has and when the work is done: academic year, calendar year, or summer. Use the calendar year category to show person months committed by 12-month faculty and exempt staff (the academic year and summer categories are used only for 9-month faculty).

CALENDAR YEAR (CY) PERSON MONTHS: To calculate person months for employees on a 12-month appointment, multiply the percentage of effort x 12 (the number of months in a 12-month appointment). For example, someone reassigned 10% time to work on a grant project is committing 1.2 person months (10% effort x 12-month appointment = 1.2 person months).

Budgeting for Non-Exempt Staff

Some projects will require the support of non-exempt staff. Non-exempt staff will either be hired specifically to work on grant projects, or currently-employed staff may be released from other duties to work on grant-funded activities.

Since some clerical assistance is routinely provided to faculty/staff, salaries for departmental administrative and clerical staff are typically included in ACC’s Facilities and Administration charge, and should not be charged to grant budgets. (For additional information, see the section on Facilities and Administrative Costs below.) However, direct charging of these costs may be appropriate if the following circumstances apply:

The sponsored program is a major project or activity. "Major project" is defined as a project that requires an extensive amount of administrative or clerical support, which is significantly greater than the routine level of such services provided by academic departments.
The individuals performing the administrative / clerical support can be specifically identified with the project or activity. LINK TO MAJOR PROGRAMS

Budgeting for Students

Grants often include undergraduate or graduate students as personnel because they represent a

cost-effective way to staff a project. Students often are in a unique position to make contributions to a project and benefit from the experience. There are two primary options to budget for students.

STUDENT WORKERS AT AN HOURLY RATE: Undergraduate and graduate students can be paid with grant funds at an hourly rate. Because students have a broad range of skill-levels and can be engaged in a wide variety of duties, there is no set hourly rate for student workers. HR will determine the hourly rate.
GRADUATE STUDENT ASSISTANTSHIPS: Graduate assistantships (GAs) can be included in grant proposals. To budget for an assistantship, include the in-state maintenance costs (tuition) and fees as well as a stipend the student will receive each semester. Budget for the current rate of maintenance and fees + a 10% increase (unless the actual increase is known) to ensure that sufficient funds will be available to fund these costs. For a multi-year project, increase maintenance and fees by 10% for each year of the project. To build these costs into your budget, you will need to determine whether a graduate assistant is needed for 10 hours per week or 20 hours per week. Before budgeting for a graduate assistant, it is critically important to double-check the funding guidelines and make sure there are no restrictions or prohibitions against including maintenance and fees in the grant. Please note that the examples below may not reflect current maintenance and fee rates.
10 HOURS/WEEK ASSISTANTSHIP:To budget for a 10 hour/week assistantship (often called a “part-time” assistantship), include the in-state maintenance and fees for 6 hours of graduate courses. Take the current maintenance and fees amount for 6 hours of in-state graduate credit and add 10%. For a multi-year project, include a 10% maintenance and fees increase for each year of the project.

Stipends

Stipends may be included in a grant proposal as appropriate. Grant Office staff and ACC Compensation Analysts may assist in estimating the amount. Benefits are calculated for stipends.

Report abuse