Cost Study Background

This section briefly describes how expenditures are segregated in three ways for the University’s Cost Study: as base, pool and self-supporting.

1. Base vs. Pool concept:

• Base components:
  • Instruction function 1$, including departmental research function 15.
  • Organized Research (OR) function 22
    • Internal equals the Research Council Awards
    • External equals Sponsored Research
  • Other sponsored activities (OSA) are public service function 3$.
  • Other Institutional Activities (e.g. Museums, Athletics, Auxiliaries).
• Pool components:
  • Departmental administration function 4$.
    • Self-supporting areas - Academic service centers are a subset of departmental administration. These areas are not pool components. See #B.
  • Libraries function 41.
  • Student services function 5$, not Auxiliary Enterprises functions 55, 56 or 66.
  • General administration function 6$.
  • Self-supporting areas - University-wide service centers are a subset of departmental administration. These areas are not pool components. See #C.
    O&M function 65

2. Self-supporting areas are considered break-even therefore they are not considered either base or pool and are discounted in the Cost Study. Self-supporting areas are:
   

• Academic service centers a subset of departmental administration.
  • Coded to function 21. These are the Specialized Service Facilities (SSF's: ERI, Booth, IMS, Adv Technology Institute (Precision Mfg), the former Photonics).
• University-wide service centers a subset of general administration.
  • Coded to function 6$, usually function 64 logistical support (not O&M function 65)
    For example, Central Warehouse, Mail Services.

Base vs. Pool Concepts

Base concepts. (Refer back to section A)

1. Research Council Awards are considered OR (Organized Research) These awards can be identified using the following FRS attributes:
   • 1171 fund
   • in ledger 4
   • using function 22
   • on FRS screen 009 the field R/F Purpose (FS248) will equal SA for Sponsored Activity.
2. Ledger 6 is used for non-federal restricted accounts:
   • 1171 is used for OR
   • 0-330 is used for INST or OSA.
   • State supported scholarship in fund 6004
3. Ledger 5 is reserved for restricted federal accounts only:
   • 1171 is used for OR
   • 0-565 ledger 5 accounts should be training 11, INST or OSA, function 3$
   • Federal Work Study 0-563
   • Federal Agricultural Funds are sponsored programs. Administrative support for these programs is provided and in this case use the same function as the program for which support is provided. OM (Operation and Maintenance) costs use function 65.
     • Federal Agricultural Funds are used for:
       • INST instruction Morrill Fund 0-431
       • Smith-Lever Fund 0-430 uses OSA, other sponsored activities, public service function 33 cooperative extension service
       • The other federal agricultural funds, Hatch 0-428, Regional Research 0-462, McIntyre-Stennis 0-536 and Animal Health 0-537 (should) use OR.
4. Match accounts are used to record funds that have been promised for use with specific OR (Organized Research) projects. Match accounts can be identified in FRS attributes as follows:
   • Short description should have the first word equal to "match"
   • Should carry the same function as the project account
   • The second line of the long description should be the project account to which these funds match-this usually is a SL but maybe a GL
   • Match accounts can be ledger 2, 4 or 7 & new accounts may need to be setup
   • The match account should be listed on screen 008 in the project account as a cross-reference
5. DR (Departmental Research) is expensed from a faculty's department account, usually ledger 2. There are DR support accounts in ledger 4 managed by the OSP. These are really extensions of departmental funds and should be coded to instruction function 11 or DR function 15.
6. Department Heads and their support staff should be coded to function 11 in the instructional departments. An example of a department without teaching would be School of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Programs which use function 33.

Pool concepts. (Refer back to section A.)

1.  The 1171 Indirect Cost Recoveries (always ledger 4 accounts) support OCA (function 62), OSP (function 62), Research Council Awards (function 22), and DR I/C Return awards (function 15).
2. Clerical staff do not usually carry function 22 unless, in the rare instance the project proposal specifically identifies that the project funds may be used to support this type of position, following CADS-1 policies.
3. ITS should be split between academic (function 44) and institutional support (function 64). This is being looked into.
4. Energy should always be coded to function 65. You may have to set up new accounts using department accounts but carrying function 65.
5. Graduate assistants (subcode 1150) should not be coded to function 46, which represents the Dean's effort.

For more information on this subject go to the Office of Cost Analysis.

Updated: 7/18/08