45.10 - Facilities and Administrative (Indirect) Rate
Owner:
- Position: Office of Sponsored Programs Director
- Email: osp@uidaho.edu
Last updated: February 13, 2024
A. Purpose. The purpose of this policy is to outline the process by which the University determines the applicable indirect (F&A) rate for a sponsored projects.
B. Scope. This policy is applicable to all sponsored project funding.
C. Definitions
C-1. Indirect rate. Facilities and administrative (F&A) costs are those costs incurred for common or joint objectives and which therefore cannot be identified readily and specifically with a particular sponsored project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity (2 CFR 200 Appendix III.A.). These costs are real costs borne by the University in support of sponsored projects, and which the University is entitled to collect from sponsors. Due to the difficulty of assigning F&A costs directly, approximately every four years the University negotiates an F&A (also known as “indirect cost” or “overhead”) rate with the University’s cognizant federal agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
C-2. Project types. A project shall be categorized based on a determination of the “best fit” within the project types defined below. The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) shall be responsible for the final determination, if the project is difficult to classify.
- Instruction. The instruction category includes all teaching and training activities that are part of an institution’s instructional program. Instruction includes the following activities: 1) credit and noncredit courses; 2) community education programs; 3) academic, vocational, and technical instruction; 4) remedial and tutorial instruction; and 5) regular, special, and extension sessions.
- Organized research. The organized research category includes the research, development, and research training activities of an institution. Research is defined as a systematic study directed toward fuller scientific knowledge or understanding of the subject studied. Development is defined as the systematic use of knowledge and understanding gained from rese