This is an issue that always causes us concern:  sponsors who insist on
hourly rates for faculty.  If we can't convince the sponsor to accept
the budget based upon a % effort, we will offer to provide an ESTIMATE
of hours worked.  We always state that is only an estimate and that
exempt employees will not be compensated on an hourly basis and hourly
pay records will not be maintained for those individuals.  Here is how
we do the estimate:

52 weeks x 40hrs./wk=2080 hrs./yr
2080 hrs/yr. divided by 12 months=173.3 hrs./month
Then we multiply the % effort we plan to devote during the academic year
or the number of summer months we plan to work on the project by these
factors.

Research Administration Discussion Group wrote:
>
> My university is currently in the middle of its annual State audit.  As part
> of the audit a sample of federal grants are included.  They have targeted
> one of our DOD grants.  The DOD contract shows personnel salary dollers
> (even faculty) calculated with hourly rates.  We're scrambling around for
> documentation to justify the rates used for faculty since they are higher
> than the rate the auditor comes up with using a 40-hour work week.  We have
> several ways to justify it--in fact there was a cost audit done by HHS & DOD
> before the project was funded that accepted the rates as proposed.
>
> In the meantime, I am curious how (or even if) other institutions calculate
> hourly rates for faculty working on federal grants.  If not a 40 hour work
> week then what formula is used?
>
> Any help will be appreciated.  Thanks.
>
> Geri Walker, Director
> Bureau for Faculty Research
> Western Washington University
> Bellingham, WA  98225

--
Janiece Harrison
Assistant Director
Vanderbilt University
Division of Sponsored Research
512 Kirkland Hall
Nashville, TN  37240
Telephone:  (615) 322-3979
FAX:  (615) 322-3827
E-mail:  xxxxxx@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu
http://www.Vanderbilt.edu/SponsoredResearch/homepg.html