Tag Archives: RSCA

Faculty Research Expenditure Tracking

As a reminder, all divisions are required to track research expenditures for reporting purposes. The Academic Affairs Division implemented two new fund numbers -70026 Faculty Start-Up and 70031 RSCA Programs- intended to separate start-up and select RSCA expenditures from our ordinary operating budget and introduced the systematic use of faculty class code for expenditure tracking. Departments were asked in July 2022 to track all other research expenditures in a similar manner.

Just-in-time Research Expenditures

Please continue to use Program Code R07 with your primary department ID and fund number for any transactions related to research. This includes all just-in-time research expenses that are covered by a department’s CSU Operating Fund budget and/or PaCE funds. The use of faculty class codes is optional.

College and Department-Wide RSCA Programs

Colleges may deposit CSU Operating Funds into Fund 70031 for any organized college- or department-wide RSCA programs, travel and professional development grants, and retention grants offered to their faculty. As with all other RSCA grants in 70031, grant award deadlines may cross fiscal years, and award funds may be carried forward without year-end restrictions. Grant activities will be tracked using Program Code R07 and faculty class codes.

Any questions and concerns should be directed to your college Director of Resources and Operations and college resource and financial analysts.

The original blog announcement from July 2022 can be referenced here.

Student Assistant Information, AY23-24 Tenure Track Faculty Start-Up, and Expired Start-Up & RSCA

Student Assistant (SA) Dashboard Deactivation

The SA Dashboard on the Hub was established to identify faculty-specific and funding-specific positions related to Start-Up and RSCA funds. The Active Position List (APL) was recently upgraded by HRIS and now displays chart field information including class and program codes. This advancement in funding visibility and real-time information eliminates the need for the SA Dashboard, which is manually updated and was last refreshed on August 13, 2023. This was the final update to the SA Dashboard and the APL should be used from now on. 

Running reports at the college level is available on the SA dashboard, but is not yet available in the APL. HRIS is in the process of adding this functionality. When this feature is included, the SA Dashboard will be completely removed from the Hub. This is anticipated to occur within the next week or two.

 

SA Positions

ABSO creates 1870 and 1874 SA positions for new Start-Up and RSCA. In the past, 1150 positions were created by ABSO. Additional SA positions only should be requested by departments if it is for other job codes. Check if a position already exists by running the APL prior to submitting a PMAF for a new position.  When requesting new positions, be sure to include the information below on the PMAF. After the position is created, run the APL and review the chart field information. If any information is missing, please email position-management@sjsu.edu.


Required Chart Field Information

  1. Pool ID
  2. Funding level
  3. Fund
  4. Class Code
  5. Program Code (if RSCA)

View detailed instructions on the Hub

 

New Tenure Track Academic Year 23-24 Cohort

  • Locate their Class Code
  • Start-Up funds have been transferred to the faculty’s DeptID and can be seen in Data Warehouse.
    Budgets include OE , and as applicable: research equipment, and computer
  • Student assistant positions 1870 and 1874 have been created. 

 

Expired RSCA and Start-Up

There is a grace period of two months for expenses to post against expired RSCA and Start-Up funds. Funds expiring on June 31, 2023 will not be deallocated earlier than August 31, 2023. College-issued funds that expired before the end of fiscal year 22-23 will be returned and journal confirmations will be sent out next week.  

 

Allocating Start-Up or RSCA funds to faculty from your college or department budgets

If you’d like to allocate Start-Up or RSCA funds to faculty from your college or department budgets, a transfer can be requested using a new quick and easy method.  To make a request, use the College or Dept. Issued Start-Up, RSCA, or Professional Development Funds Google Form on the AA Resource Hub. 

 

  • Department-level requests should be coordinated with Dean’s office prior to submission. 
  • If funds will be transferred, factor it into your 2022-23 year-end reporting. Please submit requests by June 16, 2023 which allows for two-weeks of processing time by the fiscal year-end. 
  • This form will accept single or multiple requests.  If submitting multiple requests, please use the template that is linked in the Google form. 

This form is available under the Budget and Finance menu, under the RSCA or Faculty Start-Up categories:

 

If you have questions, please contact Connie Kim at connie.kim01@sjsu.edu.

 

Internal RSCA Grant Award Process Improvements

Research & Innovation has made some process improvements intended to alleviate the workload both at the college and department levels effective with the 2023-24 grants that were recently awarded.

  1. All faculty internal grants (Seed, Level-Up, Mid-Career) will be awarded for two years.  No spending extension will be granted except for a compelling reason (e.g. illness, pandemic).
  2. Internal grant funds will be allocated in two categories only to eliminate (1) the minutia of tracking expenses by account and (2) the need for reallocation requests.  The two categories are Summer Fellowships and Operating Expenses (OE).  Per past practice, Summer Fellowships funding will remain with the Office of Research, and we will work with University Personnel to have summer payments issued.  OE will act as a catchall to include Student Assistant, Equipment, Travel, Supplies, etc.  We trust faculty to use their grant money in a manner that allows them to meet the original goal of their proposal and we will review their progress when they submit a report at the end of their grant period.
  3. Grants expiring in 2023 will automatically be extended for one additional year only if an extension is submitted.
  4. Small awards (e.g. $500 in professional development funds) are being phased out though you may see a few more being issued due to commitments already made.

Please refer to this Q&A for more information.

 

Cash Payments to Research Subjects

The Division of Research & Innovation, Research Foundation, and Tower Foundation have jointly published guidelines for cash payments to research subjects.  While cash payments cannot be drawn or reimbursed from state funds, they can be made from competitive and non-competitive awards from federal or private sources, philanthropic grants and awards, and donations managed by the Research Foundation and Tower Foundation.  Please reference the guidelines for the scope, process, and contact information.

This guide can be found on the Hub under Tools and Resources in Faculty Toolkit and Budget & Finance.