Cost Sharing and Activity Reporting System (ARS)

Documentation of Contributed Effort Cost Sharing in the Activity Reporting System (ARS)

Both effort charged directly to a sponsored project and contributed effort cost sharing is reflected in ARS. Appropriate distribution of the contributed effort cost share activity in ARS is required to document the cost share claim.

Contributed Effort: Exempt Personnel

Contributed effort cost sharing provided by exempt personnel paid on a salaried basis must be supported by a portion of their salary recorded in a pay line where the *NACUBO function for the program code is compatible with the NACUBO function of the sponsored project claiming the cost share effort.  For example, if the director of a unit has an appointment that is 100% administrative time and is providing cost share to a research project, then some effort (a portion of their salary) must be recorded in a pay line where the NACUBO for the program code is compatible with research.  In this example, cost share activity should be distributed in ARS as departmental research, organized research, or thesis supervision (research related activities).  Pay lines with incompatible NACUBO functions are not eligible to use for cost share activity in ARS.

Restricted Activities/Categories

Contributed effort cost sharing for sponsored projects cannot be recorded against paid leave, alumni development, fundraising, community and public relations, general and special service facilities, fed ag appropriation direct or matching funds, or sponsored project funds.

Cost Share while on Sabbatical

When a faculty member is on sabbatical leave, regardless of whether they continue to work on the project, the only allowable cost sharing may be for a nominal amount of time spent in the supervision of graduate assistants who are working on that sponsored project. This nominal amount should be recorded under thesis supervision in ARS.

Cost Share for Sponsored Projects in Other Departments

It is not uncommon for salary supporting the contributed effort to be paid by a unit which is not responsible for the sponsored project claiming the cost share effort.   In those cases, the cost share activity is recorded in ARS by the unit paying the salary.  The paying unit will need to coordinate with the other unit responsible for the sponsored project if there are issues with recording the cost share activity in ARS (insufficient time is available for the cost share commitment, for example).  

Determine Appropriate Activity/Category for Recording Cost Share

The activity/category for recording cost share must be related in some way to the type of activity for the sponsored project.   ARS will limit cost sharing entries to the combinations in the table below.

Most commonly, departments record contributed effort cost sharing activity as follows:

¹If this instructional activity is more than a nominal or intermittent amount on a pay line (appointment) where the NACUBO function code is 1100 Research, then a pay line (appointment) with NACUBO function code 1000 Instruction should be established by the unit

A full description of *NACUBO functions is found on the Division of Management Information Activity Reporting Website.

Cost Share Effort: Non-exempt Employees

Cost sharing of effort provided by a non-exempt employee (not paid on a salaried basis) is not documented in ARS as contributed effort. Effort from non-exempt employees is considered hard match cost share and is documented as discussed in the Cost Sharing topic under “REQUIREMENTS FOR TRACKING HARD MATCH COST SHARE."

Cost Share Effort Commitment Exceeds Time Available

If an employee commits a larger percentage of time (effort) for cost sharing than they have available, SPA and the Department business staff will work with the project PI and/or the sponsor(s) to negotiate a reduction in committed cost sharing effort or to find another solution that is acceptable to the sponsor.  This applies to both contributed effort cost share tracked in ARS and other effort tracked as hard match cost share.