Startup Funds
Contact: Carlos Baez
Email: carlos.Baez@ucf.edu
Phone: (407) 823-5151
Updated: September 12, 2019
Startup Carry Forward Policy [REV. 4.14.11]
General Policy: College Startup funding will be distributed to new faculty, as per agreement between the Department, College and faculty member, during the first 3 years of appointment. It is expected that all funds distributed in a given year will be spent (or encumbered) by June 30th of that year. Funds distributed in a given year but not spent or encumbered will normally be returned to the College. Funds not expended by June 30th of the 3rd year of appointment will normally be returned to the college.
The College will load all three years in the start-up department number. A deferment request will not be needed for year 1 to 2 or 2 to 3. The balances will rollover with the carry forward process. The “clock” starts on the first date of employment; this will be incorporated into the monitoring documents that will be created.
If no deferment request is filed for the fourth year the funds are returned to budget entity that provided the funds.
If summer salary is included in the “third year” the amount needed in year four to cover a c-term summer agreement will automatically be approved.
Start Up Funds Guidelines
- Allocate the total startup-funding amount during the next three fiscal years (e.g. 2019-20; 20-21;and 21-22) with bullet points as to what the planned expenditures are.
- The funds you allocate for each year will need to be encumbered or spent by mid-June. For example, for 2019-20 you will be authorized to spend whatever you allocate between August 2019 and mid-June 2020.
- Work with the unit’s accountant to ensure that whatever needs you have prior to the actual funding of the account line can be met.
- It is best to plan wisely and as accurately as possible. If appropriate (and fits with your research needs) it is generally better to spend early rather than later in the 3 year period – but certainly plan as you need to best accomplish your goals.
- Allocate as much as you want for each FY. It is within your control. You do not have to allocate for all three years – for example if you need to spend it all in year one – then put it all in year one, or allocate all of the funds by the end of year two, etc.
- Any purchase made to a single supplier of $10,000 or more, will need two additional quotes.
- The university has some restrictions for expense reimbursements of $250.00 or less.
- We encourage using the unit’s accountant UCF credit card (PCard) for purchases of $5,000 or less.
Summer compensation request – A faculty member may request to be compensated during the summer using his/her startup funds. These requests should be included on the faculty member’s summer compensation schedule. The cost to the startup will be the faculty members’ salary plus 18% fringe and the request should accommodate any split between fiscal years.
See example of a startup of proposal, below:
Date ______________
Dr. John Smith
University of Central Florida
Nicholson School of Communication
Orlando, FL 32816-1344
Dear Dr. Smith,
Please find attached to this message a three-year research budget allocation plan that spans the 201-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 academic years. Included in these estimations are the following categories, detailed further as follows: (1) travel; (2) memberships and registration fees; (3) equipment; (4) research firm support; and (5) summer salary support.
(1)Travel: In order to necessarily forward my research agenda, additional annual travel funds have been allocated to attend conferences, collect data, and collaborate on research. Specifically, I am interested in attending international symposiums because my research proposing social capital as a dominant ontological approach to public relations has already garnered support among scholars in many European nations. This travel offers the opportunity to expand my network of colleagues and knowledge at the forefront of this area.
In addition, I am particularly interested in the potential for collecting data internationally in order that my Social Capital Model of Public Relations may demonstrate validity outside the United States, where we know public relations is not always practiced via the same methods. Likewise, travel funds will be allocated toward research collaboration efforts. Specifically, these collaborative efforts may be aimed at external grant support for my various research areas (e.g., social capital, social media and corporate social responsibility).
(2)Memberships and Registrations: In order to attend and participate in conferences (both professional and academic) that allow me to expand my network of colleagues and potential collaborators and resources, it is often necessary to hold paid memberships in organizations such as the following: National Communication Association, International Communication Association, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Public Relations Society of America and International Association of Business Communicators. Thus, research funds have been allocated accordingly. Likewise, theses annual meetings typically require registration fees, which are also included in this category.
(3)Equipment: I have also allocated a portion of the research budget toward the purchase of equipment to aid in my research. This will likely include a laptop computer and portable scanner necessary for general connectivity and operations while traveling. Likewise, equipment may include software or subscription services such as special software licenses and online survey hosting platforms.
(4)Research firm support: While external funding and sources of data acquisition will continually be sought, each academic year has funds allocated toward representative national sampling in the United States. This allows that generalizable data is collected on an ongoing basis, which not only is a requirement for advanced statistical modeling, but also allows for more publishable research. Likewise, research firm support may be used toward obtaining results from hard-to-reach populations (e.g., corporate CEOs and leadership).
(5)Summer salary support: The final portion of the research budget is allocated toward summer salary support. This supplemental salary support allows that during the three summers included in the research budget allocation years (2014, 2015, and 2016), I am able to more fully concentrate my efforts on further advancing my research agenda. Of course, external funding to this extent will continually be sought as well. In addition, I would like to reserve the option to move the allocation of funds aimed at summer salary support toward any of the other categories on an as-needed basis or to be used toward a course buy-out during the regular academic years inclusive of the research budget allocation years (2013-2016).
The attached research budget represents an estimate of the research costs that support the advancement of my research agenda. I would like to reiterate my commitment toward acquiring external support for this agenda. And, as such, in executing the research budget across the three-year time frame (2013 – 2016), I hope to reserve some flexibility in the rearrangement of these funds as detailed above and on an as-needed basis.
I am so very pleased to be joining the Nicholson School of Communication at the University of Central Florida. I look forward to using these generous start-up funds to advance my program of research and simultaneously advance the reputation of the NSC.
Please let me know should you require any additional information regarding this matter.
Joe Doe
Assistant Professor
Advertising and Public Relations
Nicholson School of Communication
University of Central Florida
joe.doe@ucf.edu
Tel.: ________________
Tentative Research Budget Allocation Plan
(2020 – 2021 Academic Years)
