Research & Cost Accounting

Faculty Funds

Faculty Fund projects are used to track funds that have been allocated to specific faculty members either from a department chair, dean, Provost, etc., or through a specific gift or contribution. Creating Faculty Fund projects allows departments and central administration to accurately track and report expenditures for both research and non-research purposes.

Creating a New Faculty Fund Project

In order to create a new Faculty Fund, the department must create a help desk ticket to RCA under the category Faculty Funds. The following information must be provided:

• Faculty Name (will become Project Name)
• Project Org
• Project Manager Name (approves expenses)
• Project Administrator Name (makes budget and demographic changes)
• Project Start Date
• Team Members (view only)

Tasks are used to correctly identify and report the types of activities performed by Faculty. The default tasks for each Faculty Fund project are:

1. Faculty Start Up
2. Faculty Discretionary
   1. 2.1 Faculty Research
   2. 2.2 Faculty Discretionary
3. Faculty Non-Sponsored Research
4. Faculty Retention

Additional tasks can be set up by the departments. Please follow the Managing Faculty Fund Tasks job aid.

Budget and Funding Changes to Faculty Fund Project

Once the Faculty Fund project is created, the departments can modify the budget directly in iO, or by sending a completed FBDI template to RCA so it can be loaded into iO. Instructions on how to use FBDI templates and where to upload it can be found on the Controller’s Office box folder.

As expenses are incurred against the faculty fund project, the funding source tied to the project will be reduced. Please note that expenses cannot post to Task 2; they must post to one of the subtasks.

It is the department’s responsibility to monitor the balance of the funding source to avoid deficit spending.

Demographic Changes to Faculty Fund Projects

Project administrators can make changes in iO to update the project’s end date, add or remove project managers and team members, and update task dates.

Closing Faculty Fund Projects

When it is time to close a faculty fund project, the department should 1) reduce the FF project budget to match expenses; and 2) process a budget transfer entry to distribute the funding back to the funding source. After these steps are taken, a help desk ticket should be created requesting that RCA change the status of the project to "Closed" in iO.