UL Lafayette: ORSP: Policies, Procedures, Forms & Tools: PI Guide: Part V

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Guide to Sponsored Program Management for Principal Investigators

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Part I · Part II · Part III · Part IV · Part V · Part VI · Appendix A

V. A Quick Guide to Personnel Management for PIs

A. Hiring Personnel

You can arrange for university personnel (faculty, staff, students) to work on your project, as long as their compensation is accounted for in the project budget.

1. Graduate Students

You must coordinate the hiring of all graduate students with the Graduate School. The Graduate School can assist you with employment of graduate students and provide you with the appropriate policies, procedures, and forms.

If you wish to hire a graduate student using research or sponsored program funding, you should complete a “Restricted Account Graduate Assistants” form following the directions provided. The completed form must be routed to your department head (or the Center director if the project originates from a Center that reports directly to a Vice President) and to the Dean of the College (or the Center director’s supervisor) for their signatures. Then the form is sent to either Ms. Melanie Comeaux (R accounts) or Ms. Sue Broussard (G accounts) in the Business Office to verify if funding is available before it is sent to the Graduate School. The Graduate School will send a copy of the approved form to you. Upon receipt, you should then notify the student to proceed with the processing of employment forms and/or tuition/fee waiver as indicated.

New Graduate Assistants (GAs) beginning in the fall semester are required to attend a mandatory Graduate School orientation at which time employment forms are completed. Graduate Assistants beginning at other times of the year should report to Personnel Services, Martin Hall, Room 170 to obtain the employment forms.

All GAs must provide proper identification including social security card and one of the following: a valid U.S. Passport, an unexpired foreign passport with attached employment authorization, or a state issued driver’s license, or a birth certificate.

If the GA is to receive a tuition/fee waiver, the GA must report directly to Mr. Gerald LeBlanc in the Business Office, Martin Hall, Room 161 to process the waiver. The fee waiver process must be repeated for each semester that the grant or University is paying the tuition/fees. If quick processing of the form is required, you may need to “walk the form through.”

In completing the form, you should keep in mind some important principles:

Stipends must be at least at a rate of $5,500 for ten (10) months for a masters’ level GA and $10,000 per ten (10) months for a doctoral level GA, unless you request and secure special permission on the “Restricted Account Graduate Assistants” form from the Graduate School to pay a lower rate. Stipends paid by University funds to meet its cost-share obligations must be noted on the form. In addition to the University account being charged for the stipend, enter the word “cost-share” and the R account number in the monthly stipend column of the form.
If your grant covers the cost of the tuition and fees, it must cover all tuition and fee costs except those fees paid by the GA (the GA would normally pay the Student Technology Fee and Graduate Student Organization fee). Tuition and fees paid by University funds to meet its cost-share obligations must be noted on the Restricted Account Graduate Assistant’s form. In addition to the University account being charged for the tuition, enter the word “cost-share” and the R account number for the grant in the tuition paid for column of the form.
For university-provided assistantships, e.g., the IT initiative, tuition/fees are generally covered by the university (refer to the Graduate Assistantship Fee Plan (GAFP) on the ORSP website for details). The GA would normally pay the Student Technology Fee and Graduate Student Organization Fee.
For assistants whose stipends are funded through the Board of Regents’ Support Fund, the tuition and fees for a doctoral level student are generally covered by the University (the GA would normally pay the Student Technology Fee and Graduate Student Organization Fee); for a master’s level student, the GA would pay the basic fees, Student Technology Fee, and the Graduate Student Organization Fee. Other fees are waived.
To be a graduate assistant, a graduate student must be enrolled in at least full-time status (nine graduate credit hours) during the fall and spring semesters, unless the student is in the last semester of the student’s graduate program, in which case the student must be enrolled for at least half-time status (five graduate hours for the fall or spring semesters). If the student is in the last semester, that fact should be recorded on the Restricted Account Graduate Assistants form. The student must submit the appropriate forms for graduation and also request permission to schedule less than full-time status by submitting a written letter endorsed by the student’s major department and approved by the Dean of the Graduate School.
Unless otherwise specified, a graduate assistant’s appointment date starts at the beginning of academic year for faculty and ends at graduation.
A graduate student may work on the assistantship no more than 20 hours per week during the academic year. During the summer session, GAs may work up to 30 hours per week, however, if an international GA is enrolled in school, he is allowed to work up to only 20 hours per week. GAs may work up to 40 hours per week during the semester breaks.

Your student should not begin work until all paperwork is completed.

Please contact Ms. Nancy Strodtman in the Graduate School (482-6963) if you need assistance or have any questions.

2. Undergraduate Students

You must coordinate the hiring of all undergraduate students with the Student Financial Aid Office. To be eligible to work on your project, an undergraduate student must be enrolled for a minimum of 6 hours in the Fall and Spring semesters and for at least 3 hours in the summer semester.

To hire an undergraduate student, you should have the student complete a UL Lafayette Institutional Application for Campus Employment Form (sometimes called an “IWP Form” or a “Black and White Form”). Once the student completes the student’s portion of the form, you should complete your section and forward it to the Business Office. If you wish to pay a student more than the rate normally allowed you must attach a letter of justification to the Institutional Application for Campus Employment. If undergraduate student labor is committed as a cost-share obligation, you must submit a letter to the ORSP stating the university account paying for the student, the student’s name, Social Security number and the # of hours per week that he/she will be working on the project. Students being paid through the federal work study program cannot be used as cost share on federally funded grants.

Note that university policy limits employment of undergraduate students to a maximum of 30 hours per week except during semester breaks when undergraduates may work up to 40 hours per week. Normally, student employment may extend only to the end of the grant, to the graduation date of the student, or to the end of the fiscal year, whichever comes first.

You can find a copy of the IWP form in Appendix B.

3. Faculty and Professional (Unclassified) Staff

a) Current Employees. You can arrange for current UL Lafayette faculty members or other university employees to work on your project if grant-provided or cost share funds are earmarked and available in your project budget to do so. If approval was received for specific current personnel to work on your project when your proposal was approved for submission, then you do not need any additional approvals. Otherwise, you will need to obtain written permission from the relevant department head or other immediate supervisor if a person needs new released time from normal duties to work on your project. Written permission is normally obtained by approval on a memo from the supervisor.

Released time is not normally needed for faculty members or other nine-month academic year employees to work during the summer months. Also, additional released time is not required for faculty members to work on the project if they are using academic year released time for research already granted by the university.

Limitations exist on the percentage of salary that the project may pay faculty members or other employees. Salary rates must be at the officially established rates of pay. Faculty members and other employees who have nine-month academic year contracts (even though they may be paid over ten or twleve months) may receive summer pay at a rate no greater than their officially established rate of pay. As a general rule, an employee may not receive more than 100% of the normal academic year or fiscal year salary for a nine-month employee or twelve-month employee respectively, even if a portion of the employee’s salary is funded through an externally funded project. However, in special cases, the university may approve compensation above 100% of the relevant yearly salary rate but no more than 20% additional for professional staff and 25% additional for faculty members. Examples of cases when extra compensation during the academic year is appropriate would be when mentoring students in the McNair program or teaching continuing education short courses. You can refer to “Compensation Limitations for Faculty and Staff Members and Unclassified Employees” in Appendix B for more details on this policy.

b) Hiring Professional Staff. The university administration and the UL System Board of Supervisors must first approve all new professional staff positions and personnel. Even if funds are available for a new faculty or staff position in the sponsored program budget, you must follow proper procedures to fill the position. This process may take a month or more, so you should allocate sufficient time.

The procedures to hire professional staff are included in Appendix B along with sample documentation. This information is also available on the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs website.

Either Nina Bienvenu and Loretta Tauzin in the Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies can help answer your questions about hiring new professional personnel for externally sponsored projects. You can also find the complete UL Lafayette new, unclassified employee hiring policies and procedures in Appendix B as well as on the ORSP website.

4. Classified (Civil Service) Staff

Compensation for classified (civil service) staff, including clerical and secretarial staff, is not included as direct costs in most externally funded program budgets. This is because the salaries of these staff members are normally included in the university’s indirect cost rate calculations, and the university is largely prohibited from additionally charging those salaries as direct costs to externally funded programs. However, in limited cases, some funding agencies may approve a budget that includes a classified staff member if the staff person’s job duties would be significantly changed as a result of the project, and/or the portion of time the person spends on the project would be quantified and tracked.

To arrange for a current classified staff person to work on your project and receive additional compensation from a grant account, you must obtain prior approval from the Assistant Vice President for Financial Services. You should route all such requests through the Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies for initial consideration.

The current classified staff person should not begin work on the grant project until you receive approval in writing. Such approval is usually granted for two or three month periods at a time. The employee should report all work related to the grant project using the standard University Attendance and Leave Report and should attach a copy of the approval letter to each report submitted.

You may need to create one or more new positions for personnel to work on your project. If it is appropriate to require at least an undergraduate degree as a minimum qualification, you should consider whether you should create unclassified positions instead of classified to handle these job duties.

For employees in classified positions, the Louisiana Department of State Civil Service regulates their hiring, salary levels, and various other aspects of their employment. General civil service policies and other information are available at http://www.dscs.state.la.us. If you have specific questions about hiring classified staff, contact Personnel at 2-6242. If you have questions about paying classified staff, contact Payroll at 2-6255.

B. Compensating Personnel

1. Academic Year

Once a project has been funded, and a restricted account has been established, Business Services will enter into the university’s accounting system any portion of the academic year salaries that the grant will pay and/or the university will provide as cost share. As PI, you do not need to do anything more for the university to pay academic year salaries out of the grant unless changes in effort worked or changes in personnel occur. If changes in personnel or in the amount of effort that personnel have committed to the project occur, or if the salaries of personnel involved in your project have increased, you should contact Donna Fontenot in ORSP. Note: A person is paid according to the university set salary level for that person instead of any projected salary level listed in the grant funding agreement. (see following section for summer salaries and salary limitations).

Otherwise, faculty members and non-classified personnel may request and be allowed, under some limited circumstances, to earn up to 25% extra compensation during the academic year, and 20% compensation during the fiscal year respectively.

With some minor exceptions, extra compensation will only be approved if any university-funded release time has been purchased by the funding agency and you provide documentation that (a) the activity will not interfere with academic duties and (b) the funding agency approves the extra compensation.

Without this special approval, approval faculty members are not eligible to earn extra compensation through the university using the justification that this work was completed during the evenings, weekends or during university breaks.

2. Summer Salaries for Faculty

Additional compensation from grant funds beyond a faculty member’s normal university salary is common during the summer. With rare exception, this pay is at the faculty member’s academic year rate of pay.

Generally, faculty members on a nine-month appointment can earn up to three months of summer salary from their grant if they are not teaching in the summer and are not being paid to perform other work (however, some funding agencies, including NSF, may have additional limitations regarding paying salary from their own grants).

If you are paid for teaching during the summer, you may not be paid from grant funds for the same time. For instance, if you are teaching 1/3 time for two months, you may only be paid from a grant up to 2/3 time for those two months and full time for the third month.

Specific details and examples are included in the university’s Compensation Limitation for Academic and Other Non-Classified Personnel policy. You can find this policy, as well as a sample Restricted Account Compensation Request form, in Appendix B. The policy is also included in the Faculty Handbook. If you have questions, please contact Nina Bienvenu or Carl Frantz.

3. Additional Compensation Request

When you or another faculty member or unclassified employee on your grant wishes to request additional compensation, you or that person must complete and submit a Restricted Account Compensation Request Form.

C. Reporting Effort

UL Lafayette is required to document and certify whether contractually committed effort was expended on externally sponsored activity. All researchers and staff with effort contractually committed in the project must complete a Personal Activity Effort Report (PAER) Form. A sample of this form can be found in Appendix B.

Faculty and non-classified, professional staff must report and certify their effort each semester. As Principal Investigator, you are responsible for submitting reports for undergraduate and graduate students and classified staff once a month. Total effort includes all personnel activities, which for most faculty members includes teaching, advising, university sponsored research and university service, in addition to work completed on externally sponsored projects. Total effort cannot exceed 100%, unless the person has received approval for extra compensation during the academic or fiscal year.

ORSP reviews these forms for compliance with award requirements. If the effort that has been reported is significantly different from what was contractually committed (±10%), the payroll office will need to adjust system charges accordingly, and the sponsoring agency will be notified to determine how the discrepancy will be resolved. Beth Touchet in ORSP is available to answer questions about effort reporting or the PAER form.

D. Arranging Contracts and Subcontracts

As PI, you may use the services of individuals, companies, or institutions outside the university on your project, if approved by the granting agency and by the university. You arrange for such services using subcontracts, cooperative agreements or professional services contracts.

Subcontracts and cooperative agreements are used to arrange for the use of investigators and/or specialized services located at another institution. These institutions must be qualified to manage their own sponsored agreements. Subcontracts and cooperative agreements are similar in that they are both legal documents by which the university procures the services of another entity in support of projects for which the university has secured external funding. They differ in that, subcontracts should be used when you do not need to exert specific control over how the work is completed, and cooperative agreements should be used when you need to give regular input regarding the plan of work or the technical aspects of the work to be completed. ORSP can help you decide which type of agreement is most appropriate for your project. Contact either Donna Fontenot or Carl Frantz in ORSP for assistance when these kinds of agreements are required for your project.

A Professional Services Contract (also called Professional, Personal, or Consultant Services (PPCS) is used to arrange for the services of an independent contractor to provide specific tasks related to the sponsored research. University employees cannot be paid through PPCS. A separate PPCS must be executed for each fiscal year that is to be done. You can find the university policy on Professional, Personal, or Consultant Services and sample contract in Appendix B. Contact Nina Bienvenu in the office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies for assistance when a professional services contract is required for your project.

A Purchase Requisition should be used to arrange for the services of an outside company or agency. You should complete and forward the Purchase Requisition to the Purchasing Office for preparation of a contract with said company or agency.

Subcontracts, cooperative agreements, and professional services contracts may require funding agency approval prior to execution. Depending on the terms stipulated in the contract with the funding agency, approval may be given when the grant is awarded or specific additional funding agency approval may be required.

If additional specific funding agency approval is not required, then you should use the following procedures when you are ready to contract for the services:

§ During the proposal process, a tentative agreement with the outside party regarding important issues including budget, statement of work, and proposed beginning and ending contract dates should be established.
You should then provide ORSP with the name and address of the institution or individual, as well as the amount of the contract, its beginning and ending dates, its scope of services or deliverables budget and other aspects that should be included in the agreement. ORSP will check these items against UL Lafayette’s contract with the funding agency and against funding agency guidelines, and will work with you and with the outside party to overcome any problems that might arise.
ORSP will then generate and submit a contract to the subcontractor for signing, along with any certifications that may be required by the funding agency,
ORSP will send a copy of the fully executed subcontract or professional services contract to you and to the outside party.

If a subcontract, cooperative agreement, or professional services contract needs specific additional approval from the funding agency, then ORSP will officially request such an approval on behalf of the university. You may need to write a memo to Carl Frantz, Director of ORSP, requesting such funding agency approval.

Whether or not additional funding agency approval is required, ORSP will verify that you meet specific, contractual funding agency procurement requirements, including any requirements relating to women-owned or minority-owned businesses, and provisions protecting against conflicts of interest.

E. Ensuring Employee Safety and Training

As PI, you are responsible for promoting and maintaining a safe environment for all those involved in your sponsored project as well as monitoring compliance with all relevant university policies. For instance, to operate a motor vehicle on your project, you and any staff or students must have completed a driver safety-training program.

The UL Lafayette Office of Environmental Health and Safety provides other training programs and materials for your use. These include a blood-borne pathogens training program at no charge. This training is important for those involved in certain

human subjects and animal subjects research. These materials, as well as the university Environmental Health & Safety Policy and related forms, are posted on its website at http://www.louisiana.edu/Student/PhysicalPlant/EnvHlthSfty/.

If you need to schedule safety training, or if you have any other questions about safety issues relating to your sponsored projects, contact Joey Pons, Environmental Health and Safety Director, at 2-5357 or at safetyman@louisiana.edu.

F. Protecting Human Subjects

As PI, it is your responsibility to submit an application to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for review and approval if you and/or others involved in your project are performing, advising, or supervising research that involves human subjects. The application is available on the UL Lafayette Institutional Review Board (IRB) webpage, which can be accessed through the ORSP Website. The completed IRB Application should be submitted to the Chair of the IRB, Dr. Evelyn Wills.

Certain exceptions exist for student research projects, and certain theses and dissertation research. The class instructor, director of the honors program, and graduate school dean can serve as delegated IRB representatives in such instances, as appropriate.

The IRB looks at four principal issues when reviewing a proposal: 1) are the rights of the human subjects safeguarded, 2) does the proposal assure that the University meets relevant Federal Guidelines, 3) do the procedures selected cause the least amount of risk necessary and 4) are the procedures and design sufficiently effective to justify the involvement of human subjects?

IRB approval is typically for one year only, unless the risk level, subject population or research protocol changes. Any change requires immediate IRB review. For any project in which the use of human subjects extends beyond one year, the investigator must apply for renewal one month before the expiration date. The renewal form is available online. The completed form should be submitted to the Chair of the IRB, Dr. Evelyn Wills.

All individuals who are involved in human subjects research at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette are required to complete an approved human subjects protection education program. Please check the UL Lafayette Institutional Review Board (IRB) webpage, which can be accessed through the ORSP Website, for details.

You must report complaints or ill effects involving your research in sufficient detail to the IRB Chair immediately upon receipt of the complaint or instance of a serious incident.

NOTE regarding research involving UL Lafayette STUDENTS: While the UL Lafayette IRB has not identified UL Lafayette students as a vulnerable population, the IRB is especially concerned that the anonymity or confidentiality of UL Lafayette student data is maintained and that the voluntary nature of student participation is protected.

You can direct any questions about UL Lafayette IRB requirements to Dr. Evelyn Wills, IRB Chair, at 2-5607, or at ewills@louisiana.edu.

G. Protecting Animals

As PI, it is your responsibility to submit an application to the IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) for review and approval if your research involves federally regulated vertebrate animal research or testing. Federally regulated animal projects include those involving any vertebrate animal, except those field studies that do not materially alter the behavior of the animals, or studies using farm animals related to production or improvement of food or fiber, or improvement of their nutrition, breeding, or management.

Faculty, staff, and students involved in federally regulated vertebrate animal research, testing or teaching are required to complete online animal care and use training modules prior to beginning their projects.

You can find the complete Animal Care and Use Training policy, which includes information on how to complete the training, in Appendix B or on the ORSP website. If you would like to request an IACUC application or have questions about UL Lafayette animal research requirements, contact Dana Hasselschwert, IACUC Chair, at 2-0802 or at dlh8344@louisiana.edu.

H. Ensuring Biosafety

Projects involving recombinant DNA and other biohazardous materials require the prior approval of the Institutional Biosafety Committee. As PI, it is your responsibility to submit an application to the IBC (Institutional Biosafety Committee) for review if your research involves such materials. If you are unsure whether your research requires such approval, contact the Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Paul Klerks.

In addition, you must select and follow appropriate and compliant practices and laboratory techniques, instruct and train laboratory staff, follow Committee prescribed protocols, and submit for Committee approval any proposed changes to the project or protocols. Also, you must report to the IBC any accidents that occur during the course of your research.

The Policy and Procedure Manual of the Intuitional Biosafety Committee and all related forms are available through the ORSP website. If you have questions or comments, please contact Dr. Paul Klerks, Committee Chair, at (2-6356; klerks@louisiana.edu); the Biological Safety Officer,Dr. Don Ennis (at 2-5008; dge5893@louisiana.edu); or the University Safety Officer, Joey Pons (at 2-5357; safetyman@louisiana.edu).

I. Ensuring Radiation Safety

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has established a policy governing conduct while working with hazardous biological and radioactive materials in a research environment and requirements for facilities transferring or receiving agents.

UL Lafayette is authorized to utilize radioactive materials and operate various sources of radiation. The university's license is one of broad scope designed to provide the greatest possible flexibility in the exercise of its research mission The university is required to establish administrative controls and provisions relating to procedures, record keeping and accounting and management review. Thus, the University has established a Radiation Safety Committee whose primary responsibility is to oversee and ensure (1) the adequacy of facilities and equipment, (2) the training and experience of users, (3) the maintenance of operating, handling procedures and record keeping, (4) the maintenance of the University Radiation Safety and Operations Manual, and (5) the review and approval of all protocols for use of radioactive materials and radiation producing equipment at the University.

If your research requires the use of radioactive materials and/or radiation producing equipment, you must submit proposed protocols to the Committee and gain the Committee’s approval before submitting your research proposal. Once you have initiated the project, you must select and follow appropriate and compliant practices and laboratory techniques, instruct and train laboratory staff, follow Committee prescribed protocols, and submit for Committee action any proposed changes to the project or protocols. In addition, you must report any accidents or related illnesses to the Radiation Safety Officer, Dr. Gary Glass.

Moreover, NIH requires that PI’s ensure that all individuals working in and around a radioactive environment receive initial and annual training required under 29 CFR 1910.1030. You are responsible for ensuring that your employees are advised of the potential hazards associated with radioactive agents and the proper use of laboratory equipment, including containment devices.

You are responsible for posting signs indicating radioactive levels and warnings along with special procedures or precautions for entry. Also, you must post your name as the Principal Investigator with current work and emergency phone numbers. You must also keep track of all inspections performed by official agencies documenting that the laboratory is following appropriate practices and procedures.

Details regarding the safety and operating requirements for radioactive materials and radiation producing equipment can be found in The Radiation Safety and Operations Manual. If you have questions or comments, please contract Dr. Gary Glass, Radiation Safety Officer (at 482-6184; glass@louisiana.edu).

J. Protecting Against Conflicts of Interest

Because you are implementing an externally sponsored project, you should have already disclosed any potential or actual conflict of interest when you submitted your proposal for funding. Now that you are implementing your project, you must disclose any new potential or actual conflicts of interest that arise or any changes to ones previously reported. You are also responsible for helping to ensure that others working on your sponsored project do not have conflicts of interest.

The University’s Conflict of Interest policy is included as Appendix B. Some agencies like the National Science Foundation and the Public Health Service have higher reporting standards that you must follow as well. You must also abide by the Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics and other general policies that apply to all university employees.

In general, however, the conflict of interest policy requires that if you or an immediate family member has an actual or potential conflict of interest, you must report it to the university using the Financial Conflict of Interest Assurance and Disclosure Form. (found in Appendix B and in the ORSP Website). The same reporting requirement applies to other researchers working on your project. You have the responsibility to determine whether or not others, such as students or project staff, have a responsible role for the project and thus also must report any actual or potential conflict of interest.

You and/or others in your project need to submit this form to ORSP:

with any proposal for funding when such substantial financial interest exists,
when submitting any proposal for NSF or PHS funding,
at any time during the proposal process or project administration when any new potential or actual substantial financial interest arises, or when there are changes to existing potential or actual substantial financial interests.

Document last revised Monday, August 18, 2008 2:34 PM