F&A Reinvestment

F&As represent costs of doing business that are not readily identified by a particular grant, contract, project, or activity. These expenses are tied to an organization's basic operations and include things like electricity, facilities maintenance, and trash service (adapted from U.S. Department of Education's website)

NOTE: F&As were formerly known as IDCs or indirect costs. 

In addition to funding basic operations, MSU reinvests F&As under the authority of the VPRED and subsequently under the authority of MSU's deans and directors.

The VPRED's overall reinvestment strategy is to return roughly 15-20% of F&As to colleges and centers/institutes.

With input from deans and directors, the VPRED distributes F&As to colleges and centers/institutes.

Every year, deans and center/institute directors submit an F&A request, guided by research expenditure reports provided by the VPRED budget office. When the VPRED reinvests F&As in colleges and centers/institutes, the deans and directors can, in turn, support initiatives that align with their strategies, including investments in PIs and research teams.

If PIs have unique needs for a possible F&A reinvestment, they should begin with a request for funding from their department head, college dean, and/or center institute director but not directly from the VPRED.

The VPRED distributes F&As quarterly throughout the fiscal year.

Deans and directors distribute F&As at their discretion.

If PIs have unique needs for a possible F&A reinvestment, they should begin with a request for funding from their department head, college dean, and/or center/institute director but not directly from the VPRED.

Faculty members who pay Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) salaries from OSP funding sources that allow F&As are eligible to receive a 15% return from the VPRED through a program called Institutional Research and Development (IRD).