As part of the WebSpace inventory process, departments will need to review the room type (also referred to as a primary use code) to ensure it reflects the primary use of the space correctly. The assignable square footage (ASF) should also be reviewed for accuracy and updated as needed. Some room types will require all the occupants identified that used the space during Fiscal Year 2023 to serve as the basis for completing the survey.  

Each department can have up to 5 individuals with the department administrator role. In addition, rooms can be selected and assigned to anyone with a UW NetID. This can be useful to assign suites of labs to a lab manager or program coordinator who is more familiar with the space.

WebSpace can be accessed using the following url: https://webspace.maximus.com/uw/ with your UW NetID.  Ensure you requested access to the system and attended the training. 

The space inventory occurs prior to the functionalization of the space during the space survey. During the inventory portion of the survey, the primary use codes of the space are checked for accuracy to ensure research space is accounted for and assigned to be surveyed. For example, if a space was converted to a research lab, it’s primary use code would need to be updated to reflect this change.

WebSpace is a web-based space survey tool developed by Maximus that will be the system of record for the space survey a part of the 2023 F&A rate proposal.   

The UW does not recover all the indirect costs that support research and other sponsored activity for a number of reasons, including Federal government caps on administrative costs related to faculty administrative effort, including proposal preparation, and an overall cap on total institutional administrative costs within both academic units as well as central administrative units. Another significant impact on the recovery of indirect costs involves sponsors and certain sponsored agreements that do not reimburse at the full negotiated indirect cost rate.

Indirect cost reimbursement includes partial recovery of, among other things, the cost of proposal preparation, as well as activities such as building maintenance, the cost of utilities, security, hazardous waste disposal, telecommunications, libraries, cost of office supplies and copies for sponsored projects, departmental and college administrative support, purchasing, payroll, human resources, central sponsored program operations and compliance support offices and other infrastructure costs necessary for supporting sponsored awards.

If the faculty member’s college, school or department has a policy to return RCR funds to faculty, the funds may be used to further support faculty research and/or other scholarly activities, including costs associated with sponsored proposal preparation. Fund use is flexible provided they are used in accordance with University and/or State rules and school/department guidelines.

The UW has complex approaches to budgeting and resource allocations. For indirect funds, however, the Provost’s current distribution policy (see OPB FAQ #2. What revenue is distributed by ABB?) is to allocate 65% of the funds to centrally fund facilities, compliance and administrative functions and 35% to schools and colleges, who then decide how much flows to departments/units or individual faculty.