Financial Resources

Financial Resources Available to College Research Centers

In order to further their mission, the college will provide the following financial resources annually:

Administrative Allocation from the College

This allocation is calculated annually as the sum of the following:

• 30% salary share (plus fringe) for the director
• An amount equal to 10% (plus fringe) of base academic year salary of the director (calculated based on the entire academic year base salary) that can be used for an administrative supplement
• An amount equal to 3.6 weeks (plus fringe) of base academic year salary that can be used summer salary support for the director
• An amount equal to the college average salary and fringe for an Administrative Support Coordinator 4 position

Research Support Allocation from the College

• The base research support allocation will be a fixed proportion of the average of the previous three fiscal years’ of center project total expenditures. The fixed proportion will be recalibrated every five years.
• An adjustment factor will be applied to the base research support allocation in order to derive the total research support allocation. The adjustment factor will be dependent on a qualitative assessment of a center’s impact that are not well-captured via research funding related metrics as well as the center’s level of engagement in educational and outreach activities consistent with the college mission. Additional research impact could be supported by impactful publications evidence of translation of findings to practice or policy as well as catalyzation and support of collaborations with units outside HHD that promote research related to the center’s mission. Centers will be characterized as high, medium or low based on a review or their previous year’s annual report. The categorization will result in +20%, +10% and 0% adjustments to the base research support allocation.

Supplemental Launch Allocations

Absent extenuating circumstances, newly formed centers are expected to be launched in research areas where there is already considerable research momentum (including extramural funding that will move to the center). However, the sum of the administrative and research support allocations as described above may not yet be viewed as sufficient to promote growth during an initial launch phase. In these instances, augmentation of the research support allocation may be provided over a fixed period of years.

Additional Financial Resources

• Salary release return: This can be generated only by HHD tenure-line faculty with academic year salary paid by the center (i.e., the director, where this is paid via the administrative allocation or other faculty whose salary was moved to the center and funded through the research support allocation). In these instances, the 55% local unit portion will be split according to the salary distribution (e.g., for the center director with 30% academic year effort charged to the center, 16.5% goes to the center and 38.5% goes to the director’s home department).
• Research incentive funds (RIF): Half of the distributed RIF (based on assigned credit share in IAF) on center projects with a center investigator credited will be returned to the Center with half retained by the college.
• Endowments/gifts: Centers may receive return on program endowments or direct gifts and can spend these in a manner consistent with the donor agreement terms and other University policies.
• Other: It is possible that centers may have other revenue generating activities. For example, they may directly organize conferences, workshops, and/or training programs. Such activities are expected to capitalize on existing mechanisms (i.e., PSU Conferences and Institutes) when appropriate. When existing mechanisms are not available, the center should consult with the Financial Officer before launching the activity. Any other revenue generating activities will be reviewed annually as part of the budget setting cycle.
• Carryforward: College fund allocations (either administrative or research support) unspent in a current fiscal year will not be automatically reclaimed. As part of the annual budget setting cycle, directors will provide a rationale for the accumulation of any carryforward and will describe a plan for expending the funds over a period not extending beyond five subsequent years. Approved carryforward will move to the next fiscal year. Carryforward from other sources will need to be accounted for by rules governing those sources (i.e., grant carryforward, endowment carryforward, etc.).