Forms & Tools

Grant Vocabulary

501(c)(3) organization
a charitable entity. Cities, townships, villages, counties, and public higher education institutions all qualify as non-profit
organizations but not as charitable organizations.
AOR
authorized organizational representative. In grant proposal electronic submissions, the AOR must provide final
electronic approval of the proposal before it is officially submitted. To make sure an AOR is available when needed,
some advance notice that a proposal is being submitted is appreciated. For NSF grant applications, Tarleton's AOR
is Dr. Bert Little (x. 9463). For grants.gov applications, Tarleton's AOR is Ann Pawlak (x. 9588).
 
Challenge grant
a challenge grant provides funds to be used as leverage to secure additional grants from foundations and corporations.
A challenge grant is awarded contingent on additional grant funds being raised from other funding sources.
 
DHHS
Department of Health and Human Services
 
Direct costs
expenses for personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual services, and other expenses (printing, subscriptions,
phones, copying) needed for the project.
 
DOC
Department of Commerce
 
DUNS
Data Universal Numbering System. Tarleton's DUNS number is 073161697.
 
FASTLANE
NSF's proprietary system for electronically submitting grants. If you are submitting a grant application in FASTLANE,
please call the Office of Sponsored Projects (x. 9463) for the necessary log-in authorization and Authorized
Organization Representative (AOR) approval.
 
Fellowships
fellowships are money to support graduate and post-graduate students in specific fields. Funds almost always are
awarded to the institution, not to the individual student.
 
F&A
Financial and Administrative Costs. Also called "indirect costs" (see below) or "overhead."
 
Full Proposal
A complete description of a project for which funding is being requested. Specify requirements for the proposal's
content and format are provided in the program solicitation and in grant sponsors' procedures guides.
 
Grant
a type of financial assistance award and legal instrument that permits an executive agency of the Federal government
to transfer money, property, services or other things of value to a grantee when no substantial involvement is anticipated
between the agency and the recipient during the performance of the activity. The most common types of grants are: 1)
"Standard" in which a specific level of support is provided for a specified period of time with no commitment to provide
future support and2) "Continuing" in which a specific level of support is provided for a specified period of time (usually
a year) with a commitment to provide additional support for additional periods provided funds are available and the
results achieved warrant further support. [NSF definition]
 
Grants.gov
the federal government's uniform electronic grant application system. If you are submitting a grant application in
grants.gov, please call Ann Pawlak, in the Office of Sponsored Projects (x. 9588), to make arrangements for the
required SRO electronic approval of your proposal.
 
"The Humanities"
the humanities include the following academic fields: archaeology, art history and criticism, cultural anthropology,
ethics, folklore, foreign languages, history, interdisciplinary studies (including American, ethnic, and gender studies),
jurisprudence, literature, linguistics, philosophy, political theory, religious studies. (from the Texas Council for
Humanities web site)
 
Indirect costs
indirect costs often are called “overhead.” Grant budgets do not reimburse all of the university’s project related costs –
for example, for the salaries of people involved in payroll and purchasing and for the project’s proportionate share of
utilities consumed, long distance telephone calls, and copying expenses. Indirect costs usually are calculated as a
percentage of direct costs on a separate budget line. When provided in a grant, indirect cost funds are allocated
among the Financial Affairs Department and the principal investigator’s College, Department and project. Contact
Business Services for Tarleton’s negotiated indirect cost rate with various Federal agencies.
 
In-kind contributions
in-kind contributions are donated personnel, office space, training space, supplies, materials, printing/copying, loaned
equipment in lieu of cash – “hard” – contributions.
 
IRB
Institutional Review Board. Tarleton's Human Subjects Research IRB and Vertebrate Animal Research IRBs review and
authorize all research work involving humans and vertebrate animals, respectively. Research must be approved by the
appropriate IRB before it commences, or Tarleton risks forfeiture of all existing and future grant funding.
 
Letter of Intent (LOI)
lists project title and participants and short description of the project. Length usually is limited to one page or less and is
strictly enforced. Grant sponsors use the LOI to gauge the size and range of the competition and to select and manage
reviewers to avoid conflicts of interest. LOIs are evaluated only by grant sponsor staff and are not used to award funding.
 
Matching funds
a matching funds grant requires you to find other sources of funding to match or exceed the grant’s matching stipulation.
Stipulations usually are expressed as a percentage: for example, a 1:1 matching grant covers 50% of the project cost,
which means you have to find another source or sources to cover the remaining 50%.
 
“Hard match”
usually is actual cash match from your own general operating monies. To specify actual cash match in a grant
application, you MUST have budget authorization to spend the money. For example, if you want to count a graduate
assistant’s salary as hard match in a grant, the graduate assistant’s salary must be budgeted for the time period
covered by the grant.
 
“Soft match”
is other expenses that are related to the project but will not be charged to the project. Examples of soft match include:
administrative and clerical support and facilities personnel salaries and fringe on a prorated basis; project-related travel
not charged to the grant; existing or newly purchased equipment and/or supplies not being charged to the grant; and
contracted consultants who will provide expertise to the project but whose expenses aren’t eligible for grant funding.
 
NIH
National Institutes of Health
 
Nonprofit organization
a nonprofit corporation is any organization exempt from taxation under Section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 by reason of paragraph (3) or (4). Tarleton is a nonprofit organization.
 
NSF
National Science Foundation. NSF supports research and education in all fields of science and engineering. It accounts
for about 25% of all Federal support to academic institutions for basic research. NSF receives approximately 40,000
proposals each year for research, education and training projects, of which approximately 11,000 (27.5%) are funded.
[data from NSF's April, 2007 Procedures Guide]
 
Preliminary Proposal
a proposal submitted in advance of a full proposal. Preliminary proposals are used to eliminate unnecessary effort if the
proposer's project is unlikely to be funded and to assist proposers in developing more robust and acceptable full
proposals.
 
Principal investigator (PI)/Project Director (PD)
the individual you designate, and who is approved by the grant sponsor, to be responsible for the project's scientific or
technical direction. If more than one, the first one listed has primary responsibility for the project and submitting reports.
All others listed are considered co-PI/PD and share responsibility for the project's scientific or technical direction.
"Principal Investigator" generally is used in research projects, while "Project Director" generally is used in education and
other projects. However, for most purposes, PI and PD are interchangeable. [NSF definition]
 
Program Description
broad, general descriptions of programs and activities which often are posted to encourage submission of proposals in
specific program areas of interest. Proposals follow generic submission requirements. [NSF definition]
 
Program Solicitation
formal request for proposals in specific program areas of interest that applies for only a limited period of time and is
more focused than a program description. Proposals submitted in response to the solicitation compete directly with
each other for funding.
 
REU
Research Experiences for Undergraduates. NSF program supporting sites that provide undergraduate research
opportunities in specific disciplines usually during the summer.
 
RUI
Research in Undergraduate Institutions. NSF program to provide funding for undergraduate research.
 
Scholarship funds
awards to individuals. Any funds awarded to individuals are considered taxable income.
 
Sponsored Program/Project
A sponsored program is an externally funded project that may have any or all of the following characteristics:
  • An award document.
  • Technical and/or fiscal reporting requirements
  • Certification and review for compliance issues are required
  • Defined time frame
  • Restrictions on use of funds
  • Commitment of university facilities, personnel and/or resources
  • Instructions for the disposition of residual funds and/or residual property/equipment
  • Indirect costs are included in the funding
  • It is a grant or contract, not a gift.
A sponsored program is a promise to perform work in exchange for support. The sponsored program
agreement is made between an external sponsor and the University, not the individual faculty member. The
University then delegates responsibility and authority to the faculty project director or principal investigator to carry
out the work. The source of funding for a sponsored program is generally an entity that is federal, state, corporate,
or private.
 
USDA
United States Department of Agriculture