Guide to Major Projects and Charging Administrative Costs to Sponsored
Projects: Major Project Checklist
Major Project Checklist
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Does the justification include the following statement?
“The PI has determined that this is a major project, as defined
by OMB Circular A-21, and it meets A-21 requirements for direct charging
of administrative expenses. All effort and expenses charged to this
project will be for services specific to the project, and not for general
support of the academic activities of the faculty or Department. In
addition, effort charged to this project can be specifically identified
to the project.”
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Are the administrative salaries clearly labeled as administrative
or clerical salaries in the budget and justified in the budget
justification?
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In the justification, does the PI justify why this specific
project deserves major project status according to one or more of
the following criteria. (This should be more than a
statement that it meets a criterion. There should be an
explanation of how it meets the criterion.)
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Number/Volume: Will this project involve a large number of
subjects or project deliverables? Will it be necessary to use
large data sets or analyze a considerable number of samples,
or inventory/display a significant number of artifacts?
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Complexity: Will the level, degree, or intricacy of the
proposed work require greater oversight or management? Will
multiple investigator partnerships or subagreements be
required? Will the research design be difficult to implement
due to project logistics? Are the research questions
interrelated and dependent upon the timing and execution of
other project functions?
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Location: Is the project spread across multiple sites
requiring a high degree of coordination to succeed? Is the
project located all or in part outside the U.S. requiring the
need to deal with communication across international time
zones, travel to remote locations on land or at sea, payments
in international currency?
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Duration: Will the implementation of the project require long
term monitoring and/or analysis, the tracking of subjects or
research data over time, or meeting sustainability objectives?
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Compliance Issues: Will it be necessary to implement and
comply with a large number of human and animal subject
protocols?
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Is the explanation provided clearly unique to this project?
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Do the duties described for the administrative personnel fall into
one of these categories?
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A person with an administrative title who normally carries out
only administrative/clerical tasks takes on technical or programmatic responsibilities for a specific major project.
If the PI determines that the tasks to be carried out by the administrator
will be technical/programmatic, the PI should describe in the budget
justification:
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Exactly how the administrator’s activities relate to
the programmatic objectives of the project,
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The percentage of time spent on these
technical/programmatic tasks,
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How this effort will be distinguished from and tracked via
effort reporting in relationship to the
administrator’s other routine administrative
activities.
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A person with an administrative title takes on administrative tasks that are above and beyond what would routinely be provided by the department.
If the PI determines that the tasks to be carried out by the administrator
will be above and beyond the normal administrative tasks, the PI
should describe in the budget justification:
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How the administrator’s activities differ from the
norm for that department/unit
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The percentage of time spent on these beyond the normal
administrative tasks,
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How this effort will be distinguished from and tracked via
effort reporting in relationship to the
administrator’s other routine administrative
activities.
Back to Guide to Major Projects and Charging Administrative Costs to
Sponsored Projects: Making the Case for a Major Project