UAW Agreement Sponsored Project FAQs

Last Updated: February 21, 2023 3:45:36 PM PST

The new contracts negotiated by UAW for Academic Researchers, Postdoctoral Scholars, Graduate Student Researchers, and Academic Student Employees will have impacts both on current “in-flight” grants and future grant proposals. We will add information here about the impacts on grants and proposals and will continue to update these FAQs as more information becomes available, so please check back here regularly.

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Expand section Introduction

What is the overall financial impact to campus of these new UAW contracts? What are the impacts specific to externally funded grants and contracts?

Based on current calculations, we expect that the UAW agreements will result in overall costs that exceed prior forecasts by almost $16M in AY 23/24 and by at least $25M in AY 24/25.

We anticipate that the total impact on active (in-flight) grants and contracts will be approximately $17M over the next 2½ years.

What are the new salaries?

New salary scales for covered employees for each academic appointment and step, and for each year of the agreements, can be found here, GSRs in Table 22, postdocs in Table 23, specialists in Table 24B, project scientists in Table 37B, professional researchers in Table 13B, and coordinators of public programs in Table 30B. Note that salary increases occur in April, 2023 and then in October in subsequent years.

Expand section Currently Active Sponsored Projects

My current grants did not budget for large increases in compensation costs to these personnel. What is the process for covering increased costs on existing contracts and grants?

The UAW Contracts require us to pay the negotiated amounts to all covered personnel. Therefore, if it is possible to reallocate funds within a grant, you should do that as a first step toward meeting the newly negotiated obligations.

If it’s not possible to reallocate expenses within your grant to cover the costs of new collective bargaining agreements, PIs should use any discretionary funds available to them to cover the additional costs of the new collective bargaining agreements.

You can consider reducing project scope or requesting supplemental funding. Both of these will require negotiation with your agency’s Program Officer.

If budget reallocation and available discretionary funds are insufficient, you should discuss your needs with your Department Chair/Division Head.

As you work to identify the gap and sources of funding to cover the gap, be aware that the timing of salary increases under the UAW contracts for GSRs and Postdoctoral Scholars will result in mid-year adjustments to salary. Specifically, the first salary increase for GSRs and Postdoctoral Scholars will occur in April, 2023 (impacting budgets for FY 23 which ends in June). Salary increases will occur in October each year thereafter, so grant budgets will need to be calculated so as to incorporate these increases which occur partway through the fiscal year.

Salary increases for Academic Researchers will occur on July 1 of each year.

What if all of the resources above do not cover the salary differentials?

The University has developed a Grant Relief Fund to assist with costs that cannot be covered by all of the steps outlined above. Information about the Grant Relief Fund and how to apply will be available in early March.

Should I inform my program officer about these increases?

We generally encourage communicating any changes in grant budgets or scope of work with your Program Officer. It is important to note that these agreements are now the standard for the University of California System and will be applied consistently for each of these employee types. Most federal agencies approve these standard salary policies.

Do you have any guidance for requesting an increase of a supplement on a current grant?

While supplements are not always standard for salary increases and out-year budget increases are not often approved, you may ask your Program Officer if an increase or supplement is warranted in this unusual situation. The best process is to first ask your Program Officer if such a request will be considered. We are drafting language for you to use when you contact your Program Officer and will make that language available here as soon as it is ready. If your Program Officer indicates that they will consider the request, it must be routed through your Sponsored Project Office.

If my GSR or Postdoc is on a training grant or individual fellowship which has a capped stipend, and the cap is below the amount stipulated in the UAW contract, what do I do?

The agreements require that all covered employees, regardless of funding source, must receive the agreed salary levels for their academic type and step. Differentials for capped salaries must be supported through other sources. PIs should use any discretionary funds they have (including unexpended gift balances). When such sources of funding are not available or are insufficient, PIs should seek support through Department/Division Chairs or through the Agreement Grant Relief Fund.

Agencies have different rules for salary coverage, and within agencies rules vary based on the type of funding. Depending on the type of capped grant and agency, there may be some restrictions on how you can cover the gap between what the cap can cover and the amount stipulated in the UAW contract. For instance, NIH allows the “cap gap” on training grants to be covered by non-federal funds only. For NIH Training Grants or Fellowship please review the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Make sure to review the terms in the award and policies of the funding agencies for your specific award.

What should I do if my grant award is capped?

The process is the same whether an award is capped or not: PIs should reallocate expenditures within the grant to cover allowable costs, or use available discretionary funds to cover the gap. If these steps do not cover the entire need, PIs should consult with Department Chairs and consider applying for the Agreement Grant Relief Fund.

What about benefits to be charged to grants?

As you plan for adjusting budgets, continue to use CBR rates published here. As the university determines whether changes to benefit rates are required or allowable (for instance, to include things like childcare for Postdoctoral Scholars), those rates will be updated. We anticipate increases to CBR rates for appointments impacted by the agreement so suggest building in an increase of 10% through the contract period.

If there are expenses (other than salary) that my grant cannot cover (for instance, they are unallowable), where do I get the money to cover them?

The campus is working to identify any elements of the agreement that aren’t allowable on grants and will work to identify resources to cover these. However, PIs should use discretionary funds to cover expenses that are unallowable, and consult with their Department Chairs if they do not have sufficient discretionary funds to cover costs required by the new collective bargaining agreements.

Do we need to rebudget (and secure funder pre-approval)?

Contracts and grants generally allow for some level of reallocation within the existing budget during approved project period or within the non-competitive renewal periods. For most awards, we don’t anticipate that the required reallocations will require agency approval.

However, all agreements and their respective sponsor policies are different. It is prudent to review your agreement’s terms and conditions and your sponsor’s policies to understand agency-specific prior approval requirements. Please review Research Terms and Conditions (RTC) Agency Implementation statements > https://www.nsf.gov/awards/managing/rtc.jsp.

For reallocation of salary increases on an approved, current budget: Agencies have different guidelines and rules on rebudgeting, so the answer will depend on the agency as well as your strategy for reallocation. While you should review your agreement’s terms and sponsor guidelines, general guidance for NIH, NSF, and DOD is as follows:

HHS (NIH, CDC, HRSA, SAMSHA)

NIH grants of all series should not require approval unless the reallocation impacts key personnel effort by 25% or more
NIH approves salary levels in accordance with the institution’s official policies.

NSF

Prior approval is required for

reduction of PI effort by 25% or more
transfer of funds budgeted for Participant support to other categories
any adjustment to cost sharing commitments
all other rebudgeting between otherwise reasonable, allocable, and allowable costs is allowed, unless it represents a change in scope

DOD

PIs or Fund Managers should contact their DoD funding agency (DARPA, AFOSR, ONR, etc.) directly, as they may have differing policies regarding rebudgeting requirements and restrictions. In general, for nonconstruction awards, recipients shall request prior approvals from the cognizant grants officer for one or more of the following program or budget related reasons:

Change in the scope or the objective of the project or program (even if there is no associated budget revision requiring prior written approval).
Change in a key person specified in the application or award document.
The absence for more than three months, or a 25 percent reduction in time devoted to the project, by the approved project director or principal investigator.
The need for additional Federal funding.
The transfer of amounts budgeted for indirect costs to absorb increases in direct costs, or vice versa, if approval is required by the DoD Component. DoD Components should require this prior approval only in exceptional circumstances. The requirement in each such case must be stated in the award document.

Can I reduce the number of GSRs or postdoctoral scholars on my grant in order to cover the increased costs?

You can, but if you have committed any GSR to work for that year, you must find them an alternate source of funds. Postdoctoral scholars can be laid off due to lack of funding, although the university recommends making every effort to find alternative funding. Ultimately, you must determine the best mix of human resources to support your grant’s statement of work. You may be limited by sponsor requirements on how you rebudget funds to reallocate costs.

Note that you cannot reduce the overall effort of a GSR or postdoctoral scholar. If you reduce the time allocation on a grant, you must identify other sources to cover the full 50% appointment. Do not discuss layoffs and/or any reduction with the GSR or Postdoc without first consulting with Labor Relations and GEPA.

Are there required minimum % appointments for GSR on my grants?

The agreement does not stipulate the percentage appointment of GSRs. However, the agreement has a strict and necessary linkage between the number of required hours that a GSR works and their percent appointment. For example, a PI could hire a GSR at 40% rather than 50%, but could not expect the student to work more than 40%. Contracts for existing GSRs cannot be changed unless the required level of work is changed in the same manner. Before changing the % effort for GSRs or Postdoctoral Scholars, you should consult with GEPA or Labor Relations.

Expand section New Proposals

How do I budget covered employees on my new proposals?

Use the salary scales for the appointment type and step provided here. Benefits should be calculated using the standard percentages found here. Note that we anticipate benefit percentages for covered academic appointments to increase disproportionately in the coming years as elements of the agreement are reflected. We recommend inflating the benefits percentages by 10% each year in the out years of your budget, if allowable.

Some NIH R01 renewals only allow a 10% increase of the annual direct cost for non-modular R01s. The modular R01s have been capped at $250K/year for decades. There is no feasible way for an individual investigator to ask for additional increases. What’s the status of communications between UC agents and the funding agents on this issue?

UC and our higher education peers recognize the impact of the fact that NIH has not increased the modular budget cap in 24 years. Each year, fewer and fewer NIH applications are able to use modular budgeting as the real costs of research have increased. We strongly encourage using detailed budget requests.

The UC Vice Chancellor’s for Research are working with the University of California President’s Office to develop a strategy for agency communication. The Council on Governmental Relations (GOGR), an association of institutions of higher education that includes UC San Diego, requested in December 2022 that NIH increase the modular budget yearly limit. Working through COGR and UC’s federal governmental relations team, UC San Diego will continue to advocate for a higher modular budget limit to allow for continued use of modular budgeting.

What type of budget model should I use?

We strongly encourage submitting a detailed, rather than a modular budget. We suggest this for two reasons. First, detailed budgets are generally higher than modular budgets. Second, in the detailed budget you can provide a justification for the represented employee salary and benefit rates.

Expand section Questions specific to Academic Researchers

When are the scheduled salary scale range adjustments, with % of increases, for academic researchers?

For both currently active grants and new proposals, PIs and Fund Managers should plan for the following salary scale range adjustments for academic researchers.

July 1, 2023 – 4.5%
July 1, 2024 – 3.5%
July 1, 2025 – 3.5%
July 1, 2026 – 3.5%
July 1, 2027 – 4%

Are there other elements (i.e., non-salary elements) of the new collective bargaining agreement for Academic Researchers that will impact the sponsored projects supporting them?

Beginning January 1, 2023, Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB), provides 8 weeks of 100% pay for family care and bonding for eligible academic researchers. Unit members must be eligible for Family Medical Leave to receive PFCB. PFCB will be included in composite benefit rates (CBR).

Are there any changes to the timing and eligibility for academic reviews and advancement?

No, academic researchers will continue to be reviewed on their normal review cycle, based on the normative period of their rank and step.