Use of off-campus rates
The off-campus F&A rate is applicable when more than 50% of Syracuse University salaries and wages on the project are incurred at off-campus locations—that is, paid for personnel time physically working in facilities not owned or leased by Syracuse University. For multi-year projects, this threshold may be assessed across the project period rather than requiring that each budget year individually meet the threshold. Projects where off-campus activities occur only during summer months and constitute less than 50% of total project salaries will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the off-campus rate is appropriate.
The University’s F&A rate agreement prohibits “blending” or using more than one rate in a single application.
The off-campus F&A rate will not be applied when a principal investigator(s), senior personnel, or other persons conduct research remotely or hybrid on his/her project off campus from a domestic residence. All University research activity should be assigned space in a University owned or leased facility or a facility under agreement with another entity. Costs associated with working from domestic residences may not be charged to sponsored projects.
The off-campus rate is applied when the sponsored project is covering lease costs and other facilities-related costs as direct costs to the project. Lease costs may only be charged to a sponsored project for leases where the University is a party to a signed contract. All lease agreements should be developed and negotiated by the Comptroller’s Office.
Use of the off-campus rate requires approval of the Vice President for Research.
Sponsors that mandate other rates
The University honors a sponsor’s published policy on allowable indirect costs/F&A rates. A published policy is one that is accessible to all via the web or through some other official organizational document. Emails to PIs from sponsor staff do not constitute published policy.
To illustrate, many training grants limit F&A to 8% MTDC. In such cases OSP will apply the allowed F&A rate instead of our federally negotiated rate of 34.0%. Many foundations limit F&A to 10% of total direct costs; OSP will calculate the F&A cost according to the foundation’s policy.
When the sponsor’s guidelines are silent about F&A rate
If a sponsor does not have a published policy on F&A rate or their guidelines are silent, OSP will apply the rate applicable to the activity, e.g. on-campus research, on-campus instruction/training, on-campus other sponsored activities, or off-campus research, instruction/training, or other sponsored activities.
Seeking deviations from negotiated rates
Use of rates other than the applicable federally negotiated rate or those that deviate from sponsor guidelines requires the authorization of the applying unit’s Dean(s) and the concurrence from the Vice President for Research (VPR) to maintain consistent institutional practices. OSP must be informed of this waiver by the Dean(s) and VPR or his/her designee(s) by email at least seven business days before the application deadline to accommodate budget development and review.
Each request for a reduction in F&A is an independent action. Previously approved reductions will not be considered in making future decisions.