Budget Preparation: Cost Sharing
When the university bears a portion of the costs of a sponsored project (e.g., by purchasing equipment or supplies for the project from university resources, or by committing faculty or staff effort to the project at no cost to the sponsor), it is considered cost sharing.
Cost sharing may be either mandatory (when a sponsor requires a certain portion of the costs to be paid for out of other funds) or voluntary (when no such requirement exists). “Voluntary” cost sharing at the proposal stage becomes “mandatory” once the proposal is approved for funding by the sponsor. Voluntary cost share and cost share above the amount required by the sponsor must be formally requested and approved by the Vice President for Research and Economic Development (VPRED) prior to proposal submission. Please allow up to five (5) business days prior to proposal submission to complete this process.
Cost sharing has programmatic, administrative and financial consequences for the university and is strongly discouraged unless required by the sponsor (typically by a statement in the program announcement). An explicit commitment to devote a percentage of effort to a project carries auditable record-keeping requirements, reduces flexibility and has an adverse effect on the university's recovery of indirect costs. The salary and fringe for the time committed voluntarily in a proposal and the amo