Academic year release time and budgeting
Only in rare instances, and with the express permission of the Dean of the Faculty and presiding Department Chair, may a PI budget for release time in conjunction with a federal grant.
Summer Effort
Summer effort is considered outside the 9-month academic year appointment. Summer effort is calculated by the number of months spent working on the grant. This means that (for example) a PI who anticipates spending 1 month of summer time working on a grant project should calculate and budget 1/9th of the value of his/her annual salary into the proposal. PIs should generally consider spending no more than 2 out of 3 summer months performing grant work. Some sponsors will (by policy) not fund more than 2 months; others may question whether the PI is truly going to take zero days off in the summer which is the impression given by budgeting a full 3 months of effort.
Hourly Rates
Hourly rates generally apply to the wages a PI intends to pay student researchers or external consultants for time on a grant. Any work done to support the grant research must be expressly documented.
Documentation
The Director of Budgeting and Grants Administration will meet with each PI prior to the execution of the grant to review processes for time and effort reporting.