Research Relief Fund Application and Instructions

Goals

• Limit the impact of UAW salary increases on approved, funded research
• Assist PIs in covering salary differential for UAW-represented personnel under new contracts
• Prevent layoffs or reductions in scope of research

Priorities

• Priority will be given to applications that have a strong rationale for assistance
• Priority will also be given to applications which demonstrate a strong effort from PI, department, and Dean to cover costs as much as possible.

Additional priorities include (Note: This list is not ranked or all-inclusive.)

• Junior faculty
• PIs with a high proportion of UAW-represented personnel on their research funds
• PIs of contracts and grants with capped stipends or fellowships (limited reallocation possible)
• PIs from fields with relatively limited research funds (minimal flexibility for reallocation)
• PIs whose contracts/grants prohibit or restrict reallocation of approved budgets

Identify funds needed

Step 1. Complete the Funding Gap Calculation worksheet before starting the application.

• The instructions are on the first tab of the worksheet. (Note: While this worksheet is a good place to begin, the specific form required may vary by VC-area – specific guidance will be provided below as it becomes available.) 
• You will use the worksheet to calculate the difference between the budgeted compensation and newly required compensation for all UAW-represented research personnel. You’ll need to complete a separate tab for each different funding source for which you need assistance, and then compile that information into a summary tab.

Prepare files required as part of the online application form

Step 2. Once completed, save the Funding Gap Calculation Worksheet.

• Use the naming convention “PI Last Name.First Name.Worksheet” filename (e.g., “BonJovi.Jon.Worksheet”)
• You will upload this as part of the online application, and enter a portion of the data from this worksheet’s summary tab into the online application form

Step 3. Find and download the applicant’s report of all Sponsored and NonSponsored Projects 

• This can be found in the “Faculty and Research Dashboard” (available through the Business Activity Hub here) 
• Download the report as an Excel File, and save with a “PI Last Name.First Name.Dashboard” filename (e.g., “BonJovi.Jon.Dashboard”)
• You’ll upload this report as part of your Research Relief Funding application

Step 4: Identify grants (or internal accounts) for which you need Research Relief Funding.

• For Sponsored Projects, look for the 6-digit KR Award number (which you can get either from a on the PI’s Faculty and Research Dashboard or the Kuali Active Awards Dashboard. Note that sometimes KR numbers have a suffix beginning with -0000 (e.g., 123456-00001), but you should only enter the 6 digits that appear before the hyphen (e.g., “123456”)
• For internal funds, you do not need account numbers, but do need to identify the kind of funding (e.g., startup; internal grant; Lab Services Agreement), amount of funding, and start/end dates of funding (if relevant)

Step 5. Next, you’ll enter a portion of the data from the worksheet’s summary tab into the application form

• Later, you'll upload the entire spreadsheet as an attachment to the application 

Step 6. Find the 6-digit KR Award number 

• This can be found on the PI’s Faculty and Research Dashboard or the Kuali Active Awards Dashboard. Note that sometimes KR numbers have a suffix beginning with -0000 (e.g., 123456-00001), but you should only enter the 6 digits that appear before the hyphen (e.g., “123456”)

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (VCAA) Guidelines

General

• Department/School should demonstrate a collective contribution of at least 40% of the amount requested unless there are extenuating circumstances.
• Graduate students must have a 25% or greater FTE to request relief.
• Relief is only for salary or stipend (plus associated CBR), it does not include bonuses, scholarships, tuition/fees, or other expenses.
• Faculty should work with the fund manager in their home department. For joint faculty, they would work with their fund manager(s) for the awards that support their lab populations.
• Submissions should go to MSO/DBO and Department Chair prior to submission. Departments should submit request for their faculty. This will ensure that Departments have been able to review and endorse all requests. This also allows for Department to make any contributions towards relief in a consistent manner, prior to moving to Dean’s review.

For faculty in schools or departments within Health Sciences (Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Pharmacy), please do not use this funding application tool at this time. 

Additional guidance from the Vice Chancellor’s Office will be disseminated with instructions on how to document your UAW contract impacts and request financial support. This follow up information will be sent out by Friday, July 28.

After completing the steps in "Before You Apply"

Step 5. Open the application form (notice will be provided when it is available)

• Use Single Sign On to gain access

Step 6. Route the application through the appropriate VC office

• In most cases PIs route all their grants through the same school (Applicant's VC area), and all UAW-represented personnel on those grants are also employed in the same school. If this is not the case for you, please review the detailed instruction sheet. 

Step 7. Upload the Funding Summary 

• This was previously downloaded from the Faculty Research Dashboard, e.g. “BonJovi.Jon.Dashboard”

Input Summary of Current Research Funding

Step 8. Use the Funding Gap Calculation Spreadsheet to complete this section

ONLY LIST GRANTS OR INTERNAL FUNDS for which you are requesting support.

• For Current Internal Funding Summary, there are FOUR (4) columns in each row of this table, but you may not see all of them; please scroll your cursor to the right to supply inputs to each column. Dates may be added but are not required.
• For Current External Funding Summary,  complete the first column (with the KR number) and all other columns will be auto populated. 

Identify Research Relief Funding Need

Step 9: Upload the Funding Gap Calculation Worksheet (e.g. BonJovi.Jon.Worksheet.)

The next two sections will use information from the “Summary” tab of the Funding Gap Calculation Spreadsheet.

Step 10. Identify the number and type of UAW-represented FTE affected

• Note that you should enter total FTE (not total # employees)
• There are FOUR (4) columns in each row of this table, scroll to the right if needed.
• Add rows for different Fiscal Years as needed.

Step 11. Identify the total funding needed, along with contributions from PI and the department.

• There are FOUR (4) columns
• Do NOT supply information to be completed by School and VC 
• Double-check dollar amounts: “$150.00” vs.“$1.50” 

Explain the Research Relief Request

Step 12. To assist reviewers please provide any compelling details in the Rationale for Assistance.

• Go beyond explaining  that these costs are unexpected and unbudgeted, we know that this is true for all, for instance, provide information on an impending tenure evaluation, related deadline that affects a third party, critical juncture of project, or other notable circumstance.

Step 13. Submit the application

• Note: The School/Department and VC level funding will be filled out by the designated reviewers for Relief Funding.

To complete the application

• Funding Gap Calculation worksheet
• Faculty and Researcher Dashboard
• Kuali Active Awards Dashboard
• University of California's Academic Salary Scale Revisions 

The Application

• UAW Research Relief Funding Request
• If you started but did not complete an application, you can find it in the Drafts folder of the My Documents section of Kuali Build.
• To review the status of submitted applications, open the Submitted folder of the My Documents section of Kuali Build.

For Reviewers

You can access applications awaiting action by going to your Kuali Build Action List (SSO required).

Other resources

Labor Negotiation Updates