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Research Startup Funds

Startup Procedures for College Dean

  • PI makes request to Dean for Startup Funds

  • Dean reviews and approves or denies request
  • Upon approval, the request will be sent to Post-Award in the Office of Research at postaward@wichita.edu requesting a fund and org be established with the following information (found on the request form):
    • PI Name and WSU ID
    • PI Department
    • Amount of startup funding by fiscal year
    • Purpose of startup (travel, supplies, equipment, salary, etc.) for budget purposes
    • Source of funds
  • Amy will set up the 700xxx PI org number if the PI does not already have one.
  • An SRO “D” fund will be established with this org code for the PI and then Post Award staff will set up the budget and transfer the cash from the source(s) of funding. Establishing the budget allows PI to spend without the full cash balance available.
  • Once this is complete, Office of Research will notify the PI, the Dean, and the office contact that their fund is ready to use. The Office of Research will transfer cash to match the funding request. Cash from other funding sources will be transferred as soon as the startup is approved.
  • In May, any startup funds in negative cash position will be reviewed by Financial Operations. Consideration may be given to roll forward negative cash balances as long as there is an agreement between the Dean and Director of Financial Operations that the fund will become positive within the following fiscal year.

College IDC (Indirect Cost) Funds for current Fiscal Year

  • Dean’s will receive a College SRO allocation on any grant that collects IDC of at least 26%.
  • Funds will be automatically deposited to the Dean’s College IDC fund on the first business day of each month.
  • It is up to the Dean to determine if unspent funds at the end of committed period should be returned to Dean’s start up fund. And notify the Office of Research to make the transfer.

Startup Procedures for the Office of Research

  1. The Dean of the College will send a request to the VP of Research and Tech Transfer for the establishment of an approved Start-Up fund to be established by the Office of Research.
  2. Once approved the signed request form will be sent to Office of Research and Post-Award will establish the startup fund. This request will include amount, by fiscal year, of the startup, the funding source (including the fund/org #’s) and will begin the set up process.
  3. If the employee receiving the startup funding doesn't have a PI org (700xxx), one will be established.
  4. An SRO fund (“D” fund number) will be established under the PI’s Research Org (700XXX) for their start up.
  5. The Office of Research will email this information to post-award who will establish the annual budget and complete the required cash transfers. Budget and cash will only be transferred for the current fiscal year. If the funding is for more than one year, year two budget and cash will be processed at the start of the 2nd fiscal year.
  6. Post-Award will then notify the PI, Dean, and Office Contact that their startup has been established and funded.
  7. Since it will not be possible to transfer all cash at the time the fund is established, Post-Award staff will monitor the Cash balance and at the end of the year work with the necessary person to correct any negative balances.
  8. Post-Award staff will review all startup funds at year end and identify any remaining funds (cash) that could be rolled forward to the New Year. After confirmation with the Dean, they will move the cash and establish budget as approved.

Startup FAQ for PI’s

How do I know how much I have available to spend?

  1. Log into Reporting Services at http://win.wichita.edu
  2. Click on “Financial Reports-Organization”.
  3. Then will select the report: “FCD00105 – Organization Financial Report for RU Funds.”
  4. This will show the current Cash Balance and the available budget in the Salary category as well as OOE (Other Operating Expenditures).
  5. Items in “blue” can be drilled into by clicking on the amount in blue to see the detailed transaction that make up the total amount shown. If you want to see what has been charged against a certain category, this will list all expenditures.

What types of purchases are allowed?

Items that are allowed using startup funds are those that will help you to acquire external research funding and those to further your research initiatives. These types of expenditures can include travel, computers, software, lab supplies, summer salary, graduate student support, etc.

If you are purchasing equipment, you will need to have a written quote from the vendor. If your purchase is over $5,000 it either needs to be from an approved State of Kansas vendor, or a sole source, or it will be required to go out for bid.

How do I start the paperwork to hire a graduate student or pay salaries?

You will contact your department admin to complete the appropriate paperwork to get the hiring process started. The admin will contact Research payroll for the correct position number to use.

How do I purchase the items I need?

Depending on the type of item you are purchasing, there are a couple of different processes for purchases. If you have a quote for the purchase of supplies, computers, or software, give the quote or estimate to your departmental Administrative Assistant so that he/she can enter a purchase requisition into Banner. The Purchasing guidelines can be found at:
https://wichita.edu/?u=purchasing

If it is an item that you have received and the vendor gave you an invoice for payment, this will be paid on an Invoice Control Document (ICD). You will need to sign that you received the item and it is ‘as ordered’ and then you will give the invoice to your departmental Administrative Assistant for he/she to process for payment.

If you are planning to travel, work with your department Administrative Assistant to process the Request for Out of State Travel at least two weeks prior to your trip departure. There are specific rules when making airline reservations that must be followed so it is important to be knowledgeable of the proper procedures. The Travel guidelines can be found at: https://wichita.edu/?u=controller&p=travel

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