Hello All:

Two questions have come up recently.  (1)  a faculty member is getting 2
months of summer pay from an NSF grant.  He wants to give up (1) month
of summer salary to purchase a new computer for his grant.  Is this
permitted without prior approval from NSF?  Is it appropriate to
purchase a computer after an award has been made?  I believe a concern
arose regarding the purchase of the computer and if it would be used
exclusively for the grant.

The other question involves the purchase of computer equipment from a
grant and the location of the computer.  A few faculty who do
theoretical research, indicate they work at home - in what they call a
home office.  Are there any rules against using grant purchased
equipment in a home office?   Has there been any discussions at COGR
meetings or elsewhere recently regarding home office use?   I suppose
this brings up another question of the use of off campus F & A rates.
If a faculty member indicates he/she will be doing research off campus
does that include use of a home office?.   (As one theoretical
researcher pointed out, inspirational thoughts can come at any time and
at any place).  We have always taken the approach in using off campus
rates that 50% or more of the work being done would be at  other
institutions, companies or in the field.  However, with the use of
email, computers and various high speed access lines and equipment - off
campus can be anywhere.   Where and how do you draw the line?

Has anyone been involved with these issues lately?  What have you done?

Regards,
 Eleanor Cicinsky
 Temple University, OVP-Research

======================================================================
 Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
 subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
 via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
======================================================================