Allowable cost: A cost for which an institution or agency may be reimbursed under a grant or contract with a governmental agency. These are determined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the funding agency's requirements, and/or College policy and administrative regulations. OMB Circular A-21 defines allowable costs as those that are: 1) reasonable, 2) allocable to the project, 3) given consistent treatment by the generally accepted accounting procedures, and 4) conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth by the sponsored agreement or OMB Circular A-21.

Amendment: Modification of existing contract, subcontract, budget, etc.

Audit: Review of financial transactions and related documentation and accounting procedures and systems by external or internal auditors. The most common external audit is the Single Audit that is required by law and by OMB Circular A-133, which is conducted annually by the State Auditor General's Office.

Award: Funds provided by an external funding source for support of a project. This term applies to both the original award and supplements.

Award letter: Written notification from the funding agency indicating that a project has been supported, its start and end dates, and the amount of the award.

Budget: The spending plan for a proposal or award submitted to and/or approved by the funding agency. Once awarded, the approved budget becomes the spending plan for the project.

Budget amendment or modification: Administrative changes made to the project budget. Amendments are required to be done in advance, require the grant accountant's approval, and frequently require the funding agency's approval.

Budget category: A portion of the budget designated for certain types of expenditures such as salaries, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, materials and supplies, participant support, subgrants or subcontracts, printing costs, indirect costs, etc.

Budget cycle: The annual fiscal year (for example, July 1 through June 30) which is important because it indicates when funding sources will make their grants.

Capital equipment: An article of property that is not permanently attached to buildings or grounds and that has an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more (including sales and/or use tax, freight, and installation) and a life expectancy of one year or more.

Carry forward or carryover: An unobligated balance from a prior award period that the funding agency approves to be added to a subsequent award budget.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA): Contains information about Federal grant and loan programs available from Federal agencies to assist the American people in furthering their social and economic progress. Each program is assigned a CFDA number. This is used in the audit for grant identification purposes, so it must be accurate.

Certifications: Awardees are required to provide signed assurance of compliance with certain grant requirements. Federal grants, for example, require certifications related to conflict of interest, debarment and suspension, delinquent Federal debt, drug-free workplace, lobbying, and misconduct in science.

Cohort: A population of students that participate together in a program. Usually programs with cohorts involve tracking and reporting of individual member progress.

Collaboration: Partnership in which key personnel from different institutions have substantial involvement in the development and performance of the project and the funding agency makes only one award. The lead institution issues subcontracts or subgrants to the other collaborating institutions.

Co-mingling of funds: Unallowable mixing of funds from more than one source in the same grant budget account.

Conflict of interest: Using a vendor that is a member of your family or a personal friend. Transaction must be "arm's length." College procurement policy and State Ethics Law requirements are required to be complied with at all times.

Consortium: A group of organizations sharing in the finances and/or administration of a single grant to accomplish that which no one can do as effectively as an independent entity as when working together.

Consultant: An individual whose expertise is required for the project. He/she may be a paid or unpaid contributor.

Continuation/renewal proposal: Additional funding increments for projects beyond the original grant period. See funding source guidelines for submission requirements.

Contract: Agreement to acquire services that benefit the project. Contracts normally contain the following elements: 1) detailed financial and legal requirements must be included with a specific statement of work to be performed; 2) specific set of deliverables and/or reports 3) separate accounting procedures are required; 4) legally binding contract clauses must be included; 5) benefits of the project accrue to the funding source and the College, and to the nation (in the case of Federal grants). Contracts must be executed in accordance with College policy.

Cooperative agreement: An agreement over which the funding agency has control and oversight of the work that is contracted. This type of agreement involves substantial collaboration between the agency and the recipient.

Copyright: A statement of legal control over a document (usually by its author) that requires anyone seeking to reproduce the document to first obtain permission of the copyright holder.

Cost reimbursement: Agreement in which payments are based on actual allowable costs incurred in performance of the work.

Cost share: Portion of project or program costs not borne by the funding source. Acceptable cost sharing contributions are: 1) are not paid by the Federal government directly or indirectly under any other award unless authorized by Federal statute to be used for cost sharing or matching; 2) not included as contributions for any other project or program and are necessary and reasonable for proper and efficient accomplishment of specific project or program objectives; 3) directly identifiable with the sponsored project as outlined in the proposal budget and/or budget justification and thus incorporated in the award notice; 4) verifiable by College records.

Direct costs: Expenses which can be itemized by a particular externally-funded project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity, or that can be assigned to such activities relatively easily with a high degree of accuracy (e.g. salaries, supplies, services, travel, equipment, etc.)

Disallowed costs: Expenditures which are questioned in an audit as unallowable for the project will not be reimbursed by the funding source. This finding may result in repayment of the funding agency if reimbursement for expenditures has already occurred.

Disclosure of substantial interest: Form for reporting conflict of interest that employee or relatives may have in any vote, decision, contract, sale, or purchase. Substantial interest is any financial or ownership interest, direct or indirect, that is not a remote interest.

Dissemination of project results: Strategy to let colleagues and/or organizations know about the results of a grant project. Examples include websites, publications, published articles, conference presentations, workshops, etc.

DUNS number: Identification number required for some proposals, primarily government ones. Each College and the district have a unique DUNS number assigned. Effort: The amount of time, usually expressed as a percentage of the total, that a faculty member or other employee spends on a grant-funded project. It does not include work done for supplemental pay.

Effort certification: Certification required by Federal regulations for all employees working on Federally-sponsored projects or grants. The percentage of effort reported for the period serves to substantiate the salaries and wages charged to Federal grants.

Expanded authority grant: Policy implemented by some Federal granting agencies, which delegates certain prior approval authority to the grantee institution. This delegation allows for internal College approval of administrative and spending actions, thus avoiding delays in project progress.

External evaluator: A professional who is external to the project and has the background and qualifications to conduct a high quality evaluation based on the project requirements. Most external evaluators are independent of the College and are hired with a Professional Services Contract. However, some programs consider the evaluator to be external if they are noncontiguous to the project. In these situations, the external evaluator could be a College employee or a former employee.

Federal Register: Contains proposed and final guidelines and other administrative regulations of programs as announced by Federal agencies in precise wording of the law.

Fiscal Year (FY): Is designated by the calendar year in which it ends, e.g. FY20 may cover the period July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. The Federal fiscal year is October 1 through September 30.

Formative evaluation: Type of project evaluation that is conducted throughout the implementation of the project activities. Results are used to assess progress, identify potential or actual problems, and formulate and implement corrective action.

Formula grants: Funds distributed by the Federal government (usually to state agencies) for use in specified projects. The funds are awarded on the basis of demographic and economic data from which a formula has been calculated.

Fringe benefits: Benefits such as life and health insurance, retirement, unemployment compensation, and workers' compensation that are paid in addition to salary. Benefit packages change yearly. Fringe benefits rates should be confirmed with Human Resources during budget development and amendment.

Full-time equivalent (FTE): The amount of time spent or required in a less than full time activity divided by the amount of time normally spent or required in a corresponding full time activity during the regular school term. (Also referred to as a regular budgeted position.)

Grantee: Recipient of a grant.

Grantor: Funding source or sponsoring agency that provides funds to carry out projects.

Human subjects research: Research and grant-funded projects involving human participants whose rights must be protected. The protection of human subjects is overseen by the Institutional Review Board.

Indirect costs: Overhead and administrative costs which cannot be identified specifically with a particular program, project, or activity. They are costs that are incurred for several purposes which are necessary to the operation of the College for example, library resources, building maintenance, and general administration. A negotiated indirect cost approved by a cognizant Federal agency is used for all Federally-funded projects, as allowed.

Informed assent: Process of letting potential participant under 18 years of age know about the project as described in informed consent (see below) and obtaining their agreement to participate in the project.

Informed consent: Process of letting potential participants in grant-funded projects and research studies know the project purpose, methodology, risks/benefits, data confidentiality, withdrawal rights, contact information about project leaders, etc. and obtaining their consent. If participant is less than 18 years of age, a parent or legal guardian must give consent.

In-kind support: Non-cash contributions of goods, services, and/or people. Often funding agencies will allow a monetary value to be placed on in-kind support so that it may be used to match a cash grant.

Institutional Review Board (IRB): Federally mandated board appointed by the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs to be responsible for the protection of human subjects in research protection by reviewing, making determinations, and certifying exempt and nonexempt grant-funded projects and research studies.

Interdepartmental Service Agreement (ISA): Agreement in which two, or more, governmental entities contract with each other and said contract is within both entities' laws and authority and is approved by both.

Key personnel: Primary leadership in a grant project such as Principal Investigators (PIs), Co-Principal Investigators, Project Directors, Instructional Designers, etc.

Letter of Interest (LOI): A letter of introduction to a funding agency for the purpose of proposing an idea for grant support that is not sent in response to an invitation, RFP, open bid or other grant funding announcement. It is also referred to as a letter of inquiry or letter of intent to apply.

Matching funds: Cash or in-kind support to be contributed by the grantee to fulfill objectives of the project. The amount of needed matching funds varies with each grant award. The term is often used interchangeably with cost share. The Business Office needs to be informed of any such requirements during grant budget development so that any such costs can be budgeted for accordingly.

Needs assessment: Continuous and formal process for identifying and quantifying problems or discrepancies between the current situation and the desired one. No cost extension: Request to extend the grant period beyond the previously approved end of the grant for which no additional funds will be granted beyond what were previously approved for the award. The Provost, Human Resources, and Business Office need to be informed of any such extensions.

Official function: Expenses such as food, meetings, retreats, etc. that need justification as to its professional purpose to the funded project or College. Institutional approval is required prior to arranging the function.

Pass through agency: State or local agency that receives Federal funds and conducts its own application and award process.

Period of performance: Duration in which the grant-funded project is to be completed. This period is generally specified in the award letter. Prime grantee or prime contractor: A single agency that has overall responsibility for conducting a grant-funded project, which may involve subcontractors.

Principal Investigator (PI): The project director of a grant-funded initiative, overseeing its development and implementation from start to finish. He/she is often the originator of the funded project.

Program officer: The funding agency representative who has the task of monitoring the project, providing technical assistance to the project, approving major changes, and insuring that the funder's objectives are carried out within the framework of regulations.

Proposal: A well thought-out and organized concept seeking grant support and presented in writing to a potential sponsor. It contains a narrative explanation of the idea, a budget related to the cost of implementing the idea, and background information on those involved in carrying out the proposed concept, i.e. the PI and the institution he/she represents.

Public Law (PL): Means of classification of laws passed by Congress, e.g. P.L. 88-269 Library Services and Construction Act 1964 is translated as a public law passed by the 88th Congress.

Quasi-scientific research model: Evaluation methodology used by some agencies such as the U.S. Department of Education that requires comparison of program participants with a similar non-participating group.

Reporting requirements: Performance and fiscal requirements determined by the funding agency. The Principal Investigator is responsible for producing the project's performance report, and the Grants Accounting Manager is responsible for producing and submitting project's financial reports.

Request For Proposals (RFP): An announcement by a funding agency that it is accepting proposals to accomplish a specific objective. The RFP typically contains detailed instructions related to the written proposal.

Revenue sharing: Tax funds appropriated by Congress and distributed to local and state governments in amounts determined by a complex formula.

Specially funded: Projects and personnel funded by external awards. Employees whose positions are funded 50% or more by external funding and who are not regular governing board-approved employees are governed by the Specially Funded Employee handbook.

Subcontractor/subawardee: Person or business that agrees to perform a prescribed amount of work for a prime grantee/contractor or another subcontractor.

Sub-award or sub-grant: Contract between institutions or partners for project participation in the prime grant. The lead institution that received the award initiates the sub grant which is reviewed and signed by legal representatives of both institutions.

Summative evaluation: Final evaluation, including both quantitative and qualitative data, which is completed at the conclusion of the entire grant period. It particularly focuses on whether project goals and objectives were accomplished and project success indicators.

Supplanting: Illegal use of grant funds to pay for ongoing activities previously budgeted or for the usual activities assigned to a position or replacing existent state, local or agency funds with Federal funds.

Title: A major section of a piece of legislation, e.g. Title I Higher Education Act, 1965.

Unsolicited proposals: Funding agencies may allow institutions to propose projects to their agencies without responding to an invitation, RFP, or period of application. Proposals submitted outside of these conditions are considered unsolicited.