The following policy for distributing facilities and administrative (also known as indirect cost, IDC) revenue generated from externally funded grants at Lamar University is effective March 4, 2024. The federally approved IDC rate for all grant programs at Lamar University is 35% of the Total Modified Direct Cost (defined as the program cost except capital and participant support costs) until August 31, 2027, or the actual amended IDC agreement date determined by the US Department of Human Health Services.
For most programs, the Facilities and Administrative (F&A) revenue generated by externally funded grants shall be distributed according to the following proportion: 50% to Lamar University, 25% to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs Administration (ORSPA), 10% to the lead principal investigator (PI), 7.5% to the participating college and 7.5% to the participating department/center. For the programs that require institutional cost share (e.g., select programs of the US Department of Commerce) where the shared cost is not funded by the university administration, the generated F&A revenue up to the actual cost share amount shall be distributed to the department/center that executes the sponsored program, with the remaining surplus distributed according to the percentages described above. For the programs that support at-risk student populations (e.g., select programs of the US Department of Education and not-for-profit foundations), the generated F&A revenue shall be completely distributed to the program’s administration for use to serve the program students.
The distribution shall be made monthly based on the actual expenditures of the funded programs. For the funded projects of $25,000 or higher, individual expenditure accounts will be created for the lead PI and the department. The projects funded at a level lower than $25,000, the PI/department IDC will be pooled in a restricted account managed by ORSPA for expenditures requested by the PIs and department chairs. For the funded collaborative projects involving multiple departments, centers and colleges, the distribution of the college/department/center portion shall be based on the proportion indicated in the approved and certified applications submitted to the grant agencies. All submission documents are permanently archived in Lamar University’s Cayuse SP electronic archive.
Once distributed, the lead PIs, departments, centers and colleges shall have until the end of the third academic year to spend the F&A budget. The unspent F&A funds managed by the PIs, departments, centers and colleges after the third academic year shall be transferred to the Lamar University F&A account. Individuals and operating units receiving F&A funds shall document how the funds are spent to benefit scholarly and creative activities at Lamar University.
Use of F&A funds includes: