Vanderbilt University

Guidelines for Budgeting and Charging Direct Costs on Sponsored Projects (11/15/96)

Roles and Responsibilities

Roles and responsibilities for the appropriate budgeting and charging of direct costs on sponsored projects:

Principal Investigator

The principal investigator is responsible for justifying the appropriateness of direct costs budgeted and charged on sponsored projects in accordance with overall government regulations, sponsoring agency guidelines, conditions made as a part of an individual award, and Vanderbilt policies and guidelines. Providing this justification both in budgeting for and charging sponsored projects requires close familiarity with the programmatic and technical aspects of the sponsored project. For this reason, primary responsibility for justifying the appropriateness of direct costs in accordance with government regulations, sponsoring agency guidelines, and Vanderbilt guidelines rests with the principal investigator.

According to the Public Health Service Grants Policy Statement, a principal investigator/program director/project director is "An individual designated by the [university] to direct the project or program being supported by the grant. He or she is responsible and accountable to [university] officials for the proper conduct of the project or program. The [university] is, in turn, legally responsible and accountable to the Public Health Service for the performance and financial aspects of the grant-supported activity."

Department Chair/Administrator

The Department Chair's/Administrator's role is to be a resource for principal investigators, advising on proper direct cost charging and budgeting practices within government and other sponsoring agency regulations and Vanderbilt guidelines. Department offices should maintain copies of government, other sponsoring agency and Vanderbilt policies and guidelines pertaining to sponsored projects.

Dean/Director

The Dean's/Director's role is to ensure guidance is provided to principal investigators and departments on criteria used to determine allowable direct costs on sponsored projects. Each Dean/Director is responsible for having a mechanism in place to ensure principal investigators and administrators understand accountability for direct cost budgeting and charging to sponsored projects.

Central Offices

These offices are responsible for providing University-wide guidance on criteria used to determine allowable direct costs on sponsored projects. See Appendix C for a list of central offices.