Overview
Current University practice allows for benefit-eligible, non-productive employee time to be charged to the central fringe reserve of the University. These direct costs to the fringe reserve are included in the fringe rate proposal that is negotiated with the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The following terms and definitions are intended to provide a guideline for designating this attribute to positions at the University so that we can provide consistent data to ONR during the negotiations period each fiscal year.
Terms and Definitions
Non-Productive Time
This encompasses all payments made for time not associated with work performed. Examples include vacation, personal, holiday, seasonal, sick, bereavement, service days, vacation payouts, floating holidays, etc.
Externally Sponsored
The funding source for a position to be eligible for consideration will be expendable restricted dollars that are sourced from agencies outside of the University. Examples include federal grants, non-governmental contracts, and state grants that would flow through the Research Fund of the University. Sources of funding that flow through the Auxiliary, Designated, and General Funds will not be considered when determining the soft-funded attribute.
Centers and Institutes
University units that are formed to provide support for identified research areas will be considered as soft-funded for the purposes of determining this attribute. Units recognized by the Vice President for Research (https://www.mtu.edu/research/about/centers-institutes/) will be given priority consideration during the review process.
Ineligible Position Classifications
Tenure-track faculty, teaching faculty, coaches, and executive positions will not be considered for this designation. Union-related positions, although not expressly ineligible, will be highly-scrutinized due to the nature of the continuation associated with those positions.
Benefits-Eligible
Positions that are a minimum of 38 weeks and have a full-time equivalent (FTE) of 0.5 or greater will be eligible for consideration. Short-term, casual, seasonal, temporary, additional compensation, and student positions are ineligible for this designation.
Annual Review of Source Funding
Positions outside of the Centers and Institutes will be reviewed on a fiscal year basis for effort related to the Research Fund. If a position falls below the recommended minimum percentage, the department head will be contacted to discuss the plan for the position moving forward. There may be situations where unusual circumstances allow for continued designation and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This financial review is strictly limited to the position designation as being soft-funded for the purposes of allowing non-productive time to be charged to the central fringe reserve.
Considerations
During the position authorization process, estimates should be made to establish the expectation level for the position to be dependent upon externally sponsored funding sources. The recommended minimum percentage of effort related to the Research Fund will be 75% for all positions that fall outside of the Centers and Institutes.
The following items will be considered during the Annual Review of Source Funding process. For the purposes of measuring the extent in which external funds contribute to the position, reviews will be focused on productive time (excluding overtime) when determining the reliance upon external funds. Productive time effort, by fund group, will be the measurement used to assign the attribute.
- Percentage of Effort expended to the Research Fund (reviewed annually)
- Annual length of service (in weeks)
- Full-time equivalency (minimum average of 20 hours per week)
- Relationship to Centers and Institutes
- Position Classification Group (staff, coach, executive, etc)
Exceptions to these levels will be performed on a case-by-case basis.