Dear Colleagues,

I write to inform you that I am taking action to help mitigate the burden our faculty face when competing for research grants due to the high fringe benefit rates being charged to UConn by the state. To address this issue, we will apply funds to reduce these rates across the board for the near-term. These reduced rates can be used in proposal submissions starting January 1, 2020. On the left, below, are the current rates. On the right are the new rates:

 

	Current Rates	New Rates for 7/1/20 – 6/30/21
Professional	64.8%	43%
Faculty	53.2%	43%
Graduate/Post Doc:	17.2%	15.5%
Special Payroll	24.3%	19.5%
Student	4.1%	2.4%

 

Additional details regarding proposal submissions, timelines, budgeting, and FAQs will be forthcoming from the Office of the Vice President for Research.

The overriding goal is to help create a more level playing field for UConn faculty as you compete nationally for grants by reducing our fringe costs so they are closer to those found at peer and aspirant institutions.

I am taking this action after numerous conversations with faculty since arriving at UConn in August, and in light of the evidence of the challenges our fringe costs create. We know from actual grant reviews that our fringe rates are out of line with those institutions directly competing with UConn for grant dollars. In some cases, our faculty must forgo funding opportunities simply because they cannot make the budgets work because of the higher fringe costs.

The capacity of faculty to turn hard-won grants into important research products is significantly reduced, including those associated with efforts to drive economic growth and innovation for the state of Connecticut. Furthermore, this reduced competitiveness increases the challenge of recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty.

Overall, these high rates have a significant negative impact on the University’s research mission and addressing them is a critical priority.

However, this is a temporary, stop-gap measure, not a permanent solution and it is not something we would do in the ordinary course of business. As you may know, these rates are abnormally high because of Connecticut’s substantial unfunded pension and retiree health insurance liabilities. The cost of that legacy unfunded liability is built into our fringe rates, inflating them. We are working closely with the state to identify a permanent solution to this problem, as UConn does not and will not have the resources needed to address this issue on our own over the long term. But, in my judgment, the need to reduce rates at UConn is urgent enough that we must act now and use our one-time funds prudently as we seek a lasting solution.

This will apply to the Storrs and regional campuses only. At UConn Health, we addressed this same issue some months ago for the current fiscal year. We have budgeted funds to cover a portion of the unfunded liability charged to UConn Health, providing immediate relief on existing grants. We are committed to working with the state to find a long term solution to this ongoing problem, university-wide.

It is my hope that this will make our faculty more competitive as you seek grants, allow you to apply more of your grant funds to your actual research and related costs, and make it easier for UConn to recruit and retain faculty going forward.

Once again, details from the OVPR will be provided in the coming weeks.

I wish you the best of luck on your upcoming grant applications and happy holidays!

Sincerely,

Tom
President
University of Connecticut

 

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