I am looking for information on the use of indirect costs at various
institutions, particularly as it relates to faculty incentive programs.
We are in the process of establishing a Grants Office and looking at
various ways to get our faculty moving!  Up until now our indirect costs
(we only average about $30,000 a year) have gone into the General Fund.
We are now trying to convince our administration that the money, or at
least a portion  of it, should be used for research related activities, i.e.
research equipment, faculty travel to funding agencies, internal grants,
etc.  Specifically, I am interested in the amount of indirect costs
recovered and how it is allocated within the institution.  I am also
interested in knowing whether or not the policy has changed, based on
the level of indirect costs generated.  Since we are just starting out
we are trying to make a case for a large % going to the Grants Office
until we reach a certain level of funding.  We would then re-evaluate the
distribution.  I would appreciate any information you could provide
especially in justifying the success of such programs.

Thank you.

Beth Kushner, Research Coordinator
Youngstown State University
410 Wick Avenue
Youngstown, Ohio   44555

216/742-3089
216/742-1580 (fax)
xxxxxx@ysu.edu