NSF - 21-1-004 - Finding3Rec.3

Direct UF to strengthen its administrative and management procedures, internal controls, and processes for allocating salary, publication, material and supply, travel, and tuition expenses to sponsored projects. Processes could include: a. Requiring Principal Investigators or other designated staff to both document and justify the allocation methodologies they use to charge expenses to sponsored projects. b. Establishing clear guidance regarding the treatment of severance pay, including how to reasonably allocate expenses of this nature to sponsored projects. c. Establishing clear guidance and training regarding the allowability of publication costs. Specifically, the guidance and training should emphasize the requirement that personnel (i) identify the relevant funding source(s) in the publication and (ii) appropriately allocate publication expenses to the relevant funding source(s) based on a reasonable, documented methodology before charging the expense to the sponsored funding source(s). d. Implementing additional procedures requiring central offices to review and approve all non-salary expenses charged to NSF awards within 90 days of the award’s expiration date. e. Establishing a procedure that requires personnel to re-examine all student tuition and travel expenses posted during an effort-reporting period after the students have submitted their effort certifications to ensure that UF has appropriately allocated the students’ tuition and travel expenses to awards in a manner that is consistent with their actual effort.