Hi Kevin,

Recovery of secretarial support should only be in cases where the role is
integral to the conduct of the project.  For example Program Grants
(P-series), Cooperatives (U-series) and contracts (N-series) allow for
these costs as they are essential to the program.  Research grants
(R-series) may allow this cost if the role is project specific (i.e. a
survey intensive study may recover admin effort in survey prep, collating
mailing and coordinating returned surveys).

The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University
is the recipient of several awards from NIH with administrative support.

I hope this helps.

Dan

At 02:39 PM 9/12/2002 -0500, Roberts, Kevin L. wrote:
>Greetings all,
>
>Here's a naive question I should probably know the answer to but,
>obviously don't.  Can secretarial support costs be charged as direct costs
>to a federal (NIH) award?
>
>I checked OMB A-122 and the NIH GPS and found little guidance so, I went
>to OMB A-21.  It indicates "...clerical staff should normally be treated
>as F&A costs." [F. 6. b. (2)].  As an A-122 institution, I'm wondering
>what the appropriate treatment is, direct or indirect.  If possible,
>please cite regulatory guidance to support your response.
>
>Thanks in advance for your help.
>
>Kevin L. Roberts
>Mayo Foundation
>Pavilion B-20J
>200 First St. SW
>Rochester, MN 55905
>(507) 266-5368
>xxxxxx@mayo.edu
>
>
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Daniel S. Rademacher
Grants & Contracts Administrator
The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Northwestern University
645 North Michigan Avenue
Suite 1058
Phone (312) 503-2689
Fax: (312) 503-2735
xxxxxx@northwestern.edu
www.cancer.northwestern.edu

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