Visit the Research Administration Manual (RAM) for helpful information including FSU's policies and procedures for proposing and administering sponsored projects funded from both public and private sources.
Additionally, the eSPEAR certificate course was designed to provide those new to research administration with a foundational knowledge of a the core concepts of this profession.
Listed below are resources and training to assist in preparing project budgets:
- Visit Budget Development in the Proposal Preparation section of the Research Administration Manual (RAM).
- Complete the eSpear course - Building Budgets - for more information on proposal budgeting and allowable costs.
- Budget Workbook and Instruction provides assistance to PIs and Departmental Research Administrators prepare budgets for sponsored projects.
- Over-the-Cap Salary Tool - This tool will provide assistance in calculate the amount of salary to include in a proposal budget when the funding agency has salary caps.
- Visit the Research Administration Management Portal (RAMP) website for trainings and how-to guides for entering proposal budgets for review by approvers and grants officers in our central offices.
If the expense is payroll you will need to complete either an ePAF or eRDF to move it to another funding source. The Office of Human Resources provides information and training materials on submitting ePAFs. The Controller’s Office provides instructions for submitting an eRDF (scroll down to the Payroll Training Material > Department Representative Resources section).
If the expense is non-payroll a Direct Online Journal Entry, or rebudget in RAMP will need to be completed. The Controller’s Office provides detailed instructions on their website for how to complete a DOL. Additionally, your department accounting representative may be able to assist with this process. For instructions on how to perform a rebudget in RAMP please see the RAMP Training How-To Guides, and click on “How to Request an Award Modification”.
The National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) provides professional development resources for those new to research administration. They host a number of conferences and workshops on both novice, and advanced research administration topics.
An account reconciliation is a review of expenditures that were charged to a specific contract or grant during an accounting period. Reconciliations are required and should be completed monthly. The process follows a series of five (5) steps, which require downloading data, reviewing expenditures, determining their allowability, and reviewing/certifying the reconciliation. The eSPEAR supplemental course Sponsored Project Reconciliation provides an overview of these steps.
Additional References:
The Office of Research Compliance maintains a number of training materials on their website.
There are several procedures which must be followed if a sponsored project will contain a subaward. SRA has compiled a list of these procedures on their website. Additionally, you can consult with SRA subaward staff for any questions you might have.
Finally, the eSPEAR course ESP10-Issuing and Managing Subawards is a helpful resource, and introduces the process of managing subawards for sponsored projects.
FACET (Faculty Assignments, Commitments & Effort Certification Tracking) is Florida State University's official employee activity reporting system (i.e., time tracking system). We track employee "effort" in order to document how various types of funds are used to support university personnel activities. Effort reporting is required for compliance with federal and state regulations governing sponsored research and other activities at the University.
The Office of Institutional Research has provided an extensive FAQ on FACET.
Looking for something else? Check out the Research Knowledge Base, which contains a searchable database of FAQs and guidance documents.