FAQ
Pre-Award - General
Who is eligible to serve as a Principal Investigator on a proposal at Lehman College?
The Principal Investigator (PI) is fiscally and programmatically responsible for the successful completion of funded research projects or sponsored programs. Where not specifically stated by the sponsor in the program announcement, it is the policy of Lehman College Office of Research and Sponsored Programs that the PI be a tenure or tenure-track professor with academic credentials indicative of that rank (Ph.D.) or an administrative officer with the title of Director or above.
What is the success rates for National Institutes of Health Awards?
Success rates are defined as the percentage of reviewed grant applications that receive funding. Success rates are determined by dividing the number of competing applications funded by the sum of the total number of competing applications reviewed and the number of funded carryovers.
What internal funding opportunities are available at Lehman?
- George N. Shuster Award Program
- Lehman "Start Up" Award Program
- Lehman Opportunities
Does CUNY offer internal funding opportunties?
What if my colleague at another instituion or organization invites me to participate in a project?
Proposal Development
Where can I find funding opportunities?
How do I notify the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs of my intent to submit a proposal?
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs launched an electronic Notice of Intent to Submit form, which can be found on the home page of our website. The e-form allows ORSP to fast track your proposal.
My proposal is due to the sponsor on December 31st. What date should I submit the proposal to ORSP for review?
What institutional resources are available to help me with proposal development?
Budget
What are Allowable expenses for grant funds?
While allowable expenses vary by sponsor, all expenses must be allowable, allocable, and reasonable to the scope of the proposed work. Allowable costs typically include: salaries and associated fringe benefits, indirect costs, travel, supplies, equipment, and participant support costs.
What are Unallowable expenses for grant funds?
What is Lehman's current indirect cost rate?
- Lehman's current indirect cost rate for on-campus projects is 59% of Personnel Cost (salaries, wages, and fringe benefits)
- Lehman's current indirect cost rate for off-campus project is 23.6% of Personnel Cost (salaries, wages, and fringe benefits)
- See Lehman's rate agreement
How is indirect cost recovery used by the institution?
Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs, also known as indirect costs or overhead, are costs which are necessary to support research and other sponsored projects, but which cannot be readily assigned to individual projects. F&A costs include support costs related to facilities operations (utilities, maintenance, security, etc.), university and department libraries, departmental administration, and general administration. Lehman recovers F&A costs by applying a percentage rate to the direct cost expenditures charged on research and sponsored project grants. The indirect cost recovery budget supports the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, the Animal Care Facility, internal faculty incentive programs, research equipment acquisitions, undergraduate research programs, department and faculty research investments, and research compliance.
What if the funding agency I submit to will not pay Lehman's full indirect cost rate?
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs will abide by the sponsor's restricted indirect cost rate as outlined in the program announcement or grant policy guidelines.
Can indirect costs be waived?
No. Waiving indirect costs is considered cost sharing.
Cost Sharing
What is cost sharing?
This section is being revised. Please check back later.
Cayuse
What is Cayuse?
The Cayuse Research Suite is Lehman's system to support the submission of proposals to external sponsors (Cayuse 424). It also allows for management of the proposal submission and award process and provides a framework for tracking and reporting on sponsored project activities. Cayuse is also used to obtain electronic approvals from various internal stakeholders before a proposal can be submitted to an external sponsor.
How do I access Cayuse?
Because Cayuse is a single sign-on system, once you are registered with a Lehman webmail user ID and password, no additional password is required. You can access Cayuse from the ORSP home page under Support Links.
When submitting internal or external proposals, what signatures are needed on the internal Cayuse routing chain and in what order?
After uploading all administrative components of the application and a draft of the technical section into Cayuse, the proposal should be routed in the following order :Chair, Dean, HRPP Administrator (Human Subjects), and Director of ORSP
I am submitting a letter of intent/inquiry. Do I have to route it through Cayuse?
ORSP must review any pre-proposals or letters of inquiry/intent when budget or institutional authorization is required or if the sponsor only allows a limited number of proposals per institution. It must be routed through Cayuse if these conditions apply.
Post-Award - General
I just received notification of award. Now what?
Can the Principal Investigator sign agreements with sponsors for external funding?
No. All agreements must be reviewed and signed by the legal department at the Research Foundation. They serve as our fiscal and legal agent for post-award administration.
What is the Research Foundation of CUNY?
The Research Foundation of the City University of New York (RFCUNY) is a not-for-profit educational corporation that manages private and government sponsored programs at The City University of New York (CUNY). Since 1963, RFCUNY has provided CUNY (and non-CUNY clients more recently) with the administrative infrastructure that supports sponsored program activities. The Research Foundation serves as Lehman's post-award fiscal agent.
Personnel
How do I hire budgeted staff onto a sponsored research project?
What is E-Verfiy?
E-Verify is an online system operated jointly by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) that electronically compares information entered on Form I-9 with records contained in DHS and SSA databases to help employers verify the identity and employment eligibility of hired employees.
What if I am rehiring someone who was previously an employee of the Research Foundation?
Time and Effort Reporting
What is effort reporting?
Effort reporting is a process mandated by the federal government to certify that direct labor charges to, or cost shared on, sponsored projects are accurate, timely, and reflect the actual level of work performed.
Why is effort certification important?
What is a "PAR"?
Do I have to use my release time in the semester requested in the original grant proposal?
Summer Salary
What is a" Multiple Position" form and why do I need it?
Other Than Personnel Services
How do I purchase supplies on my grant?
What is a "P-Card" and how can I get one?
The Purchase Card (P-Card) is a non-revolving credit card issued by the bank; it works as a debit card with a fixed dollar value derived from project specific funds that is reduced by the amount of each purchase. P-Cards have been proven successful in reducing project administration burden while promoting program goals. It allows projects to acquire goods and supplies in a timely manner, increase vendor satisfaction (less bookkeeping, faster payment), reduce personal outlay, replace the need for petty cash maintenance, and reduce reimbursement transactions.
To obtain a P-Card, complete the forms here and return to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs in Shuster 303
Travel - Equipment
Are laptop or Ipads considered equipment?
What is the Graduate Research Technology Initiative (GRTI) and what can I purchase with these funds?
Stipends
I have a graduate student and an undergraduate student on my grant. Can I pay them a stipend instead of putting them on payroll?
Budget Modifications
I need to move funds from one budget category to another. What do I do?
No-Cost Extensions
What is a no-cost extension?
While sponsors expect Principal Investigators (PI) to complete projects by the stipulated end date, occasionally extra time is needed. A no-cost extension gives the PI extra time to complete the scope and objectives of the project without additional funds being provided by the sponsor. Although requests may not be made for the sole purpose of spending remaining funds, you may expend remaining funds during the no-cost extension period.
