Indirect Costs, also known as Facilities and Administrative Costs (F&A) or overhead, are institutional costs that are not specifically allocable to individual research projects but are real costs that institutions incur during day-to-day operations (see helpful Council on Government Relations costs of research infographic). An F&A rate is established to recover these costs. CU Boulder’s F&A rate is negotiated with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) through a complex process analyzing space usage, payroll, and financials.

The space survey is a critical component to produce an accurate F&A proposal. The rate calculation model uses space usage statistics to allocate facilities costs and show the percentage of the overall costs which support sponsored research. CU Boulder will be used a new virtual survey tool to conduct this cycle's space survey. While organizations with research are the primary focus of this space survey, other organizations will be surveyed as this data is vital to inform space use decisions on campus. The information on this page was designed specifically for the fiscal year (FY) 2022 Indirect Cost Recovery (ICR) survey. We do have the ability to conduct surveys outside of cycles to keep data up to date regularly, please contact us to inquire further.

Survey Execution

Process

  1. A virtual survey will be generated for each organization.
  2. Virtual surveys will be sent to organization contacts.
  3. Survey taker will provide updates using the tool.
  4. Completed survey will be automatically submitted for review upon completion by survey taker.
  5. Physical space surveys may occur after virtual submittals for research intensive buildings or groups.
  6. Approved survey data will be comitted to the space database and used in rate negotiations. 

Important: We will need a contact for each organization verified through email to spaceoptimization@colorado.edu

To obtain a space report of the current listing of rooms allocated to your organization, use the webform below:

Request Space Report

Timeline

  • May 23-24, 2022- Distribute virtual surveys to survey takers.
  • Survey tool training sessions (Q&A and recording available in Resources at bottom of this page):
    • Session 1- Wednesday, May 25, 2022, 2-3pm- Thank you to those who attended.
    • Session 2- Friday, May 27, 2022, 10-11am- Thank you to those who attended.
    • Session 3- Tuesday, May 31, 2022, 11am-12pm- Thank you to those who attended.
    • Session 4- Thursday, June 2, 2022, 2-3pm- Thank you to those who attended.
  • June 30, 2022-  Submissions due for organizations with organized research.
  • July 31, 2022- Submissions due for all other organizations.
  • Summer, 2022- Physical surveys for select research intensive groups

Survey Elements

Location Type

Each room should have ONE location type at 100% (primary or what the room functions as a majority of the time). We follow the framework laid out by the Postsecondary Facilities Inventory and Classification Manual (FICM) created by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Refer to our Location Types webpage for more information and a complete listing.

Organizational Occupancy

Update organizations based on who is currently occupying/using the room.  If the organization(s) listed are no longer the correct ones, add new organization(s) and end date to the old organization(s). If the updated occupancy has more than one organization occupying the space, add each and ensure the percentage totals 100 on the newly listed organizations. If you do not know what organization is now occupying the room, then add TBV - To Be Verified as the new organization. Reference: Organizational Hierarchy Adapted for Space Management, Room Organization and Functionalization Splits

Usage/Functionalization

Update the appropriate usage/functionalization corresponding to how the organization is using the room.  Each organization occupancy in a room will have its own section.  Usage/functionalization percent for each organization occupancy should total 100. Reference: Functionalization/Usage Definitions, Room Organization and Functionalization Splits

Employee Occupancy

This is required for space classified as Organized Research (RE) and for office space where employees regularly work.  Add employees here if they work in the associated office, or in the Organized Research space.  If there are multiple employees working in a space (shared office), then add them accordingly. All active CU boulder employees are included in the listing. Existing employee occupancy has been loaded into the system from current campus phone jack data.

Principal Investigator

All spaces with the functionalization/usage of Organized Research (RE) are required to have a Principal Investigator (PI) added to the room.  If there are multiple PIs associated to a space (shared lab, etc.), then add them accordingly. All active CU boulder employees are included in the listing.

Grants

All Spaces with the functionalization/usage of Organized Research (RE) are required to have at least one grant associated to the room.  If there are multiple grants associated to a space, then add them accordingly. All Organized Research associated grants are included in this listing. The listing was pulled from the CRIS Cost System for FY22 and the grant ID is in the format of combined Fund-Org-Project ID (FOPP) for the numbering.  The grant name is included in the description field along with the speedtype in parenthesis. 

Helpful Resources

From Campus Controller's Office 

From Office of Space Optimization