Salary and Fringe Benefits

The guidelines will list the personnel the sponsor supports. Some programs will not allow salaries for investigators; others restrict salary recovery to summer only. Clerical support is considered an indirect cost in most cases

(see OMB circular A-21).

Salary Increments

Until further notice, principal investigators should use the following schedules when preparing budgets for proposals for submission to both public and private agencies.

Salary Increments for Multiple Year Budgets: Based upon federal government figures on inflation rates, we recommend salary increments of 3.5 to 5.0 percent for all personnel. (NIH limits incremental increases in all line items to 3.0%)

NIH Salary Cap: $199,700 (effective January 1, 2010)

NSF Daily Consultant Rate: The National Science Foundation no longer has a required daily rate for consultants. See information on Subcontracts and Consultants for more on consultants.

New Fringe Benefits Rates for Proposals & Grants

On July 1, 2011 the University will be changing the manner in which fringe benefits related to salaries and wages are charged, including those associated with externally sponsored research.

Fringe benefits currently charged to grants only reflect the actual costs for Medical Insurance, Social Security and Retirement. Going forward, in order to facilitate more predictable budgeting and planning across the institution, the University will be implementing a blended fringe rate method which will distribute benefit costs based on a pre-determined percent of salary by type of faculty/staff. Although this change is effective July 1, 2011, the blended fringe rates should be used (see below) in any external proposals effective immediately.

FY2012 Fringe Benefits Rates (as a percentage of salaries and wages)

The following rates have been submitted to our cognizant agency for negotiation and approval.

Regular Faculty—Full Time	24.7%
Part-Time Faculty	16.7%
Post-Doctoral Staff	20.1%
Exempt Staff	27.1%
Non-Exempt Staff	41.7%
Non-Regular/Temporary Staff	7.9%
Undergraduate Students	1.3%
Graduate Students	4.1%

See rates for FY2011.