Just a quick note:

I think we have already rebudgeted for Karthik's stipend and tuition for fall 2024. Do please check with Kim on that, however!

I'll dive in and get the layout of everything.

Rob

Email from GCA regarding re-budgeting:

Dr. Loraine,

Per our previous email exchanges, Dr. Reid's effort was not properly charged to this project as required to meet his minimum effort.

You confirmed, and so did Dr. Reid in an exchange I had with him, that he was putting effort on the project and was meeting his required effort, but the paperwork for release time was not submitted. So I will need to move some of his salary during the first three years of the project to the grant.

The total amounts that need to be charged for each year are as such:

Year 1: $47,898.73 in release time salary. Plus an additional estimated $13,349.19 in fringes.
Year 2: $32,890.98 in release time salary. Plus an additional estimated $9,155.62 in fringes.
Year 3: $29,869.79 in release time salary. Plus an additional estimated $8,570.37 in fringes.

This is a total of $110,659.50 in release time salary and $31,075.18 in fringes.

This will require a budget revision to re-allocate some of the funds currently in the summer salary account line to the release time account. The amount that will need to be re-allocated is $31,200. Please confirm this revision.

Thanks,

I replied with:

I am not sure I understand the proposed change.

Do you have time for a zoom call to explain?

On the call I'd like to include Dr. Reid since he has agreed to take over the role of PI from me, and I don't want to make any decisions without him.

(I cc'd him to keep him in the loop and in hopes he can let us know if he's available today or maybe tomorrow.)

This request is the opposite of what I requested previously, which was to move money out of the Faculty Release time category and into Summer Salary and into lines we can use to pay students and other personnel, not just ourselves.

I got hold of Mark and he has arranged a zoom meeting tomorrow at 12:30.
Ann, you are welcome to join!

Mark Johnson (he/him/his) is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. 12:30 on Friday.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://brown.zoom.us/j/97491622245

I will forward Breanna's comments up above to them so that they are aware of UNCC's current mindset.

Alex's (Brown's grant office) most recent email reaching out to all parties.

Good morning,

Thank you all for providing this information.

Breanna, please let me know if you would like to schedule a meeting to discuss the budget and other items. Or please let me know if there is a better contact that I should reach out to.

Thank you,
Alex Hugh

I'm not sure this is a UNC Charlotte policy, actually...it sounds like a misunderstanding on B's part.

I think we need help from Peter Szanton. He is B's supervisor, and the head of Research Services.

Is there anything that should not be said in the 3PM meeting?

No cussing por favor

Re-reading all the stuff I've recieved thus far, it sound to me like she has a plan for how to get this grant's accounts unraveled and set to rights ... and I bet it is a good one, based on past experience with Briana and Research Services Office overall. I see you accepted the zoom meeting she set up and that you can be there despite the short notice.

Getting closer to a resolution and a plan for re-budgeting, seems like!

Kim was able to accept the meeting as well, you probably saw.

Other potentially useful info:

• If the accounts in our system are to continue past Feb 27, GCA would need a "No Cost Extension" agreement of some type between Brown/NFS and UNC Charlotte to be set up, or in the works.
• If it's already "in the works" stage but not fully realized, then Charlotte can create an "Assumption of Risk" which lets you continue to charge things to the grant accounts. The spending limit is however much is remaining in the grant accounts.

F&A cost return:

• 5% of the F&A charged to a grant gets deposited into the PI's "PIFA" account.
• Probably PIFA means: "Principal Investigator Facilities and Administration" (not sure)
• We need to let Kim know that we'd like the 5% F&A from this grant to be applied to your PIFA account instead of mine since you're now the acting PI (thank you!)
• We also need to ask her to share the budgets with you. I will try to find the last one she sent me and share it with you now. She shares them as Google Spreadsheets.

Great info. We can start working on such agreement via tomorrow's conversation with Mark and Alex.

I'll get budget info from Kim so it is the latest. I recall what you shared with me which is enough for now. So don't burden yourself to find!

The re-budgeting process has commenced and is proceeding. Task closed?

I'll create new tasks based on yesterday and todays conversations!

Email I sent to Mark:

Hi Mark,

Ann and I met with Breanna and Peter from our grants office to get more clarification on what we can do grant wise going forward.

I am getting the pieces they need to make the changes for the PI (I still need to make a synergistic activity doc).

They laid out 2 possible paths going forward.

1. They rework the funds so that money that was originally designated for my salary would be "applied" to instances where I actually was paid via state funds over these past few years. This makes the accounting clean and in order. They would charge the grant, invoice Brown, grab the F&A and then after that it is a mystery to what actually happens to the money.

2. We go to Brown and you go to NSF and seek options. They felt this was risky, would have repercussions, possible fines and open everyone up for a possible audit.

They are worried about NSF being unhappy and therefore like plan #1 where they back charge.

I wish I could explain their concerns better. We invited the 3 of them to our meeting today but all were not available this afternoon.

Rob