Return to Main Menu

Contracts, Grants Accounting lands major rate increase by Dick Peterson Public Relations Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting director David Welch credits hard work, a great team and a good software program for negotiating a greater share of federal money to fund MUSC’s facilities and administrative costs.   The on-campus impact of the quiet, off-campus office tucked away on the sixth floor of Harborview Office Tower will be measured in additional dollars with every federal grant award made to MUSC. Plot the present ascent of federal funding to MUSC three years into the future and the impact counts into the millions of dollars.   In fact, Welch charts the impact to be about $8 million in added revenue.    Another product of the negotiations was a Health and Human Services  agreement to move some of MUSC’s administrative costs out of a capped category into a “composite fringe benefit” category. This change in rate means an additional $1 million recovery of retirement incentive, termination pay, tuition assistance, sabbatical leave, employee assistance program and employee health services.  “And in connection with our new rate agreement and accounting procedures we have included faculty base salaries which are paid by MUSC affiliates and can be attributed to sponsored projects. This will generate approximately $6 million,” Welch said.   “David Welch and his staff deserve tremendous credit for the increase in our indirect cost rate negotiated with the federal government,” said MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D. “It is highly unusual these days for the government to increase these rates, and it is all the more important to us because of the loss of state appropriations.    “This was a long and complicated process and the entire university community owes a debt of gratitude to those who represented us so effectively,” he said.   Welch started collecting data in 1997 when he came to MUSC. He recalled those days when the federal government was cracking down on academic institutions. A few high-profile scandals had politicians clamoring for greater accountability. Federal agencies responded by capping federal grants to universities and monitoring their research to ensure university compliance with regulations.   Welch formed a number of committees to research the regulations and make necessary changes in policies and procedures. He drew on his years of experience at the Georgia Institute of Technology to begin stockpiling the ammunition he would need to apply to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for an increase in the indirect cost recovery rate.     And then he thought of a secret weapon.   He remembered Velma Graham. She was on the opposing side, 17 years with the Defense Contract Audit Agency he had to demonstrate Georgia Tech’s compliance to. And he remembered she was originally from Charleston, a graduate of S.C. State University, and that she was the recipient of many honors and awards as an auditor.   “So I called her and asked her if she would like to come back to Charleston,” Welch said. “And she did.” Graham brought to the team insight into what the HHS auditors would be looking for in a rate increase request.   Also on Welch’s team was CRIS—Comprehensive Rate Information System computer software, marketed by Maximus Inc. “The federal agencies put a lot of confidence in that software, and that worked to our advantage.”   The request was submitted March 31, 2001. A severely short-staffed HHS responded in October with several pages of questions and phone calls. The second week in December there was a one-week site visit, and then more exchanges by e-mail, fax and phone.    “In February, they returned for two days of negotiations and granted us a rate increase from 43 percent to 46 percent on the last day,” Welch said. He said that an increase of three points higher than the previous rate is nearly unheard of among academic research institutions, where increases are rare, and if increases are approved they are seldom more than one or two points.   Welch said it is difficult to realize that MUSC’s upcoming fiscal year (2002-2003) will be our base for preparing our next F&A rate study, which is due by Dec. 31, 2003.   Accountants who like their jobs—go figure by Dick Peterson Public Relations If there are only a handful of people in the world who really enjoy their job, David Welch is convinced they all work for the Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting.   “I’ve been blessed with a good staff,” he said with a quiet smile. “Most of them I’ve hired during the past five years I’ve been here. They’re a well-educated and well-trained staff that focuses on service to the customer.”       And apparently, they like what they do.   Grants and Contracts Accounting is the linchpin in the complex system that transfers grants and contract funds to the investigators and ensures each research sponsor that the funds are being spent according to the terms of each grant or contract.   “We do the financial reporting and billing,” Welch said. He explained that when an investigator receives a grant, the money does not come in a big check to be deposited in some laboratory or department account. It’s not even on campus or in an MUSC checking account.    When an investigator receives a grant or enters a contract, he actually receives authorization to purchase supplies, pay salaries, travel, procure equipment or perform any number of activities according to the specifications of the grant or contract. Welch’s office, in turn, first determines if the expenditure is authorized by the grant, then bills the sponsor for the amount and reimburses the university.   “Most of our work is with the federal government,” Welch said, “and involves assuring our sponsors that we have followed their regulations.” That puts the Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting between department business managers on the one hand and research sponsors and granting agencies on the other. And it places the office in a traffic cop’s position to be perceived as both an impediment and expediter in the management of research at MUSC.   Maybe it’s the breakfast they like.   It was Randy Trussell’s idea for the Grants and Contracts Accounting team to have breakfast together once a week. They do it on Thursdays because some on the team have opted for flex time, work longer hours and take Fridays off.   Could it be the flex time they like?   Maybe they like going out together once a month. Or is it the intramural softball team they’ve formed?   “We do lots together,” Welch said, adding that there’s a curious small-world-isn’t-it connectedness among people in the office. Pointing to names on the office organizational chart, he described relationships like “she went to high school with her sister,” or “his mother and my mother were best friends back in Georgia.” Maybe that’s what makes the chemistry work in Grants and Contracts Accounting.   Could it be the excitement they like?   “This is a busy place,” Welch said. “We’re in fast motion all day long.”   Office accountant Cathy Carroll says on a typical day, between phone calls asking questions about grant regulations, she sets up grants sent to her by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. “I read the grant and its guidelines and regulations, fill out the necessary paperwork, and set up the accounting key under which money can be spent for such things as lab supplies, travel, personnel, equipment, and so forth.”   Once everything is done to set up the grant, she calls the department to say they’re authorized to spend funds. After that she monitors the grants she has set up to determine how the funds were spent and reports to the grant sponsors on a quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis. Once the money is spent, she closes the account.    But the phone calls are a frequent interruption. “It’s usually from departments asking about regulations and guidelines, arguing points, making additions to accounts and entering them into SmartStream (accounting software).   “We interact with departments all over the university, and with many it’s a love-hate relationship. They love us when we set up their grants for them, and they hate us when we can’t let them do what they want to do.” But Carroll adds that there is usually a way to accurately and legitimately account for an expenditure an investigator wants to make.   “I know that eventually I will have to do the audit function to be sure that expenditures hold up to audit scrutiny,” Carroll said. “The departments rely heavily on Grants and Contracts Accounting to do what they want with their funding. Usually we can find the most appropriate way to do what they need.”   “None of us are bored,” Welch added, “And none of us are ever caught up.”   And there’s an operations manual in progress. “They’re writing it, I’m not,” Welch said. “And we have a quite active quality improvement council.”   Welch said it’s common to see members of the office voluntarily take work home with them so research projects can continue without delay.   So, why do they like their accounting job so much?    Maybe it’s just the kind of people they are. Welch cites with pride the full participation in a recent community service project led by Rosemarie Eisenhauer and Randy Trussell’s weekly stint cooking food at a local homeless shelter.   “I came here after 32 years at Georgia Tech and have been able to come up with a good staff, one that I’m very comfortable with,” Welch said. “I’m most fortunate.”