¶ PURPOSE
The Federal government requires recipients of federal funding to establish an institutional policy that documents the budgeting and expensing of salaries on sponsored projects, whether charged directly or provided as cost sharing and treats them consistently across all funding sources. The guidance complies with federal regulations outlined in the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance or UG), 2 CFR 200.430, which require that federal awardees establish a consistently applied definition of Institutional Base Salary (IBS). This guidance sets Georgia State University’s (GSU) definition of IBS and the basis for calculating salaries charged to sponsored projects for faculty and other employees with exempt classifications. Financial penalties, expenditure disallowances, and harm to GSU’s reputation could result from failure to propose, charge accurately, and document faculty salaries associated with sponsored projects – whether charged directly or provided as cost share.
¶ SCOPE OF THIS GUIDANCE
This guidance applies to all faculty and other exempt employees, with salary charged in whole or in part to sponsored projects. It also applies to faculty and other exempt employees with committed cost share effort to a sponsored project (i.e., their salary is paid from GSU funds and constitutes voluntary or mandatory committed cost share).
¶ DEFINITIONS
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INSTITUTIONAL BASE SALARY (IBS): The annual compensation GSU pays for an employee’s appointment (9 or 12 months), whether the individual’s time is spent on research, teaching, administration, or other activities. The compensation determining IBS is the amount established by the appointment letter, employment agreement, promotion letter, or other written document and paid through OneUSG. IBS does not include amounts paid as bonuses, honoraria, housing allowance, tuition reimbursement, or noncompensatory benefits. IBS does not include one-time payments for a past event or activity paid extra service pay (see Extra and Supplemental Compensation on Externally Sponsored Projects Compensation procedure).
¶ Note: Institutional Base Salary (IBS):
It may not increase because of replacing University salary funds with sponsor projects.
IBS includes regular salary and any second assignment included in the IBS inclusions, such as department chair or Center Director.
IBS is established by the University in an appointment letter or other similar documentation, regardless of the source of funds.
Examples of IBS inclusions: the following earning codes are the codes for determining IBS. Earning codes not identified below are exempt from IBS.
| IBS Inclusions | IBS Exclusions |
| Regular—09Y | Course Delivery Incentive |
| Academic Year Pay Regular—09F | Overload Teaching |
| Faculty Administrator Supplement- e.g., Department Chair, Center Director | Car Allowance Housing Allowance |
| Special Chair- e.g., Supplement for Regents Professor, Distinguished University Professorship, or Endowed Chair/Professorship |
CAES Extension Supplement |
IBS Rate: The IBS rate is the amount used to calculate the salary charged to an award for time and effort. IBS is used to determine a consistent rate of pay for compensation that comes from a sponsored award. A standard unit to calculate the IBS rate is the person-month (although hourly rates could also be used). The IBS Rate is calculated by dividing the annual IBS of a faculty member by the number of months covered by the IBS and then multiplying that amount by the number of person-months that will be provided on an award. IBS Rate is used to provide consistent budget estimates and verify that charges to grants for salaries follow Federal regulations.
Summer salary and IBS Rate: Academic faculty summer salaries are calculated using the IBS rate, i.e., the base salary and any supplements paid for service as a chair, center director, etc.
¶ GUIDANCE
GSU will comply with federal guidelines using IBS for salary requests and effort commitments on all sponsored projects. This document sets GSU’s Institutional Base Salary (IBS) definition for sponsored projects and effort reporting purposes.
PROVISIONS
Departments and centers will retain copies of appointment and salary letters for audit purposes. GSU policy is that personnel records be kept per USG policy.
IBS will be used for salary requests on all sponsored projects.
IBS should be reviewed annually by the employee and the department chair/director and may be changed at the beginning of any fiscal year. To change a faculty member’s IBS, the request should follow standard faculty action approval protocols and be routed through the faculty member’s Chair and Dean’s office. Once the Dean approves, the request should be routed to the Provost’s Office (via Faculty Affairs) for review and final approval. Once the Provost has approved, the department can initiate a Manager Self-Service (MSS) transaction in OneUSG to enact the IBS change.
During the fiscal year, the IBS of an employee generally will not change. However, the IBS may change in limited instances, subject to dean and provost approval (through normal action approval processes). Subject to all required approvals, any change to an IBS will be submitted to OneUSG via an MSS transaction.
PIs and their designees will charge IBS accurately and make corrections if necessary. Sponsors (federal and non-federal) may have a salary cap that would limit the amount of IBS that can be used as a basis for charging salary to their projects. When such limitations apply, the requested salary support is determined by multiplying the proposed level of effort by the IBS. An individual’s salary over the salary cap is an unallowable expense that may not be reported as cost-sharing for the project and must be funded from non-sponsored accounts. This amount may be captured in a cost share account, although it cannot be used to fulfill any cost share commitment.
¶ COMPLIANCE
Failure to comply with this guidance may result in financial penalties, expenditure disallowances, and harm to GSU’s reputation. Failure to accurately propose, charge, and document salaries related to sponsored projects may also jeopardize future sponsored projects and subject the responsible individuals to disciplinary action; therefore, compliance is mandatory.
For compliance assistance, please get in touch with OSP.
¶ Examples
Faculty Member A is the English department Chair and has a 12-month salary of $105,000. Under the earning codes, Faculty Member A has $100,000 as regular pay and $5,000 for Department Chair.
IBS for Faculty Member A is the sum of all eligible earning codes: $100,000 (Regular – 09Y) + $5,000 (Department Chair) for a total IBS of $105,000.
Faculty Member B has an academic year salary (9-month appointment) of $95,000, of which $5,000 represents an annual amount for a Distinguished University Professorship.
IBS for Faculty Member B is the sum of earning codes: $90,000 (Academic Year Pay Regular—09F) and $5,000 (Special Chair).
Responsible Unit: Office of Sponsored Programs
Links: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2018-title2-vol1/pdf/CFR-2018-title2- vol1-sec200-430.pdf