Frequently Asked Questions

The WebSpace cluster feature allows you to save time by grouping rooms with a single PI and the same list of occupants. This can be used for a suite of labs even if some labs are located on different floors or in different buildings. The step can only be performed once the related rooms are inventoried. More detailed information on clustering can be found in the WebSpace training guide located in the help section of WebSpace.

255 Service Rooms will be functionalized using the weighted average of the activities of the rooms they support – an automated calculation performed within WebSpace. Recharge centers will be functionalized based on their billing information – using data available in WebSpace.

Please contact FAHelp@uw.edu for further guidance and assistance.

The faculty/staff’s time working at a hospital should not be included as part of the % of time reported for the individual when surveying a research lab.  The hospital space is not a part of the F&A Rate calculation for the UW. As a result, any individual who spends time at the hospital or other non-UW facility should not have 100% of time reported in the research lab.  

Instruction (as part of Instruction & Departmental Research), as receiving course credit for their time and not being paid from a research grant.

If the Unpaid Volunteers spent any significant amount of time in research rooms, then need to be added as occupants using Add Manually option in WebSpace. The same process applies to undergraduate students, high school students, graduate students, visitors or agency employees.

If a person does not have a UW EID (Employee ID), use the Add Manually option in WebSpace to reflect the individual as an occupant. 

The same way as space occupied by outside persons and paid by external entities or organizations (e.g., external researchers).  If they have an UWID, you will be able to search for their name and add them as an occupant, however, since they are not paid by UW their activity will automatically be defaulted to Other Institutional Activity (OIA).

Visitors

The space survey is used to determine the Facilities portion (“F”) part of our F&A rate.  Administrative (“A”) related rates are capped by the Federal government at 26%, while the Facilities rates are not.

All of the space occupied by the department should be functionalized regardless of how long a department occupied a given space.   

If a space is occupied by different occupants during the year, space functionalization should take into consideration use of all occupants during the base year.  The current owner/assignee should coordinate with all prior occupants of the space.   

Full Year Vacancy: Space should be functionalized as Vacant only if it is currently vacant or under renovation and expected to be vacant for the full 12 months of Fiscal Year 2023 (7/1/22-6/30/23).   

Partial Year Vacancy:   If space was occupied for part of FY 2023, that space should be functionalized according to how the space was used when occupied.  

This may occur but in a minority of the SLU space.  If there are questions as to budget funding, the department should follow-up with the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP).

Departmental research includes research, development, and scholarly activities that are not separately budgeted and accounted for (e.g., bridge, start-up funding). Departmental research is funded from budgets that are not restricted to a specific project.  Space used to conduct departmental research should be functionalized as departmental research as part of the Instruction & Departmental Research function (IDR).  

Organized research projects required a proposal or other application to obtain funding, have a defined scope of work associated with the project, anticipate a "deliverable" result, and require that periodic financial and progress reports be submitted to the sponsor.  Space used to conduct organized research should be functionalized as organized research (OR). 

1. Research grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements sponsored by the Federal government and Non-Federal agencies and organizations (e.g., states, cities, foundations, corporations, etc.). 

2. University funded research separately budgeted and accounted for on a specific project basis (e.g., Royalty Research Funds). 

3. Sponsored research training of individuals in research techniques (or research training). 

4. Federally sponsored clinical trials.   Note, Non-federally funded (or industry funded) clinical trials are considered Other Sponsored Activity (OSA). 

5. Research cost sharing related to organized research projects and included on effort reports. 

WebSpace will be updated on a recurring basis during the Space Survey (January-April 2023).  The new project/budget should be available within that time-frame so that the space can reflect latest project/budget activities. 

If unpaid, only represent FTE that you can confirm with high-confidence level.  If paid, be careful not to lose sight of instruction when trying to assess the type of work being performed.

They should be listed in each lab occupied during the year, wherever they are doing rotation work for a reasonable length of time (e.g., quarter or pay period).  

The lab should be split by amount of recharge and amount of research.  This can be done by allocating % by room based on use of space usage (E.g., # workbenches, # hours/days of week).

No, a PI should only be listed as an occupant, when performing work in that space. A PI should not be listed as an occupant if providing management and/or project oversight only.  

No.  This is because an individual may spend time in room(s) not related to research (or part of the Space Survey), which would leave them with a % of total time less than 100% in WebSpace.

Adjust % of time by room to add up to 100%.  Federal guidance limits a person to 1.0 FTE; the 100% of time aligns to 1.0 FTE

UW spaces used for Organized Research (OR) need to allocate related F&A costs, which drives the need for specific site (South Lake Union-SLU, Applied Physics Lab-APL)  and (OFFR) Off Campus Research designations.  These separate ways to capture F&A data are important but sometimes complex.  If you have further questions, please contact FAHelp@uw.edu.

Instruction 

Recharge/service center space in WebSpace will be automatically surveyed based on the billing information associated with the center. For example, the percentage of the total revenue that is associated with external sales will be applied to Other Institutional Activities. To mark a center as recharge center space within WebSpace, select the recharge box from the edit page during the inventory step and select the Recharge/Service Center from the reason drop down. The associated recharge budget will also need to be entered to calculate billing percentages.