Research Hub Guidelines

Research Hub Guidelines

Receiving Notice of Award

Researchers who are successful with a funding application will receive a Notice of Award (NOA) from the funding agency. Depending on the funding agency, this NOA may also be sent to the ORS.

After receiving your NOA researchers should:

  1. Notify and congratulate your research team, the FoE Associate Dean, Academic and Research, and the FoE’s Research Facilitator. This information will be included in our biannual e-publication Research in Focus newsletter (once permission is granted by the Tri-Councils) and our monthly Research Hub e-Bulletin. For non-Tri-Council funding, contract approval memos (CAM) will be generated by ORS and require the Dean’s signature. Please send CAMs to the FoE Research Facilitator.
  2. Contact the Education Budget Office to set up a meeting to discuss set-up and management of research accounts, and for setting up grant-funded staff appointments.
  3. University Research Accounting will send a Signing Authority form to the researcher and the FoE’s Budget office to complete. This form is used by the researcher to delegate signing authority on accounts to their research assistants. Once this form is completed, it needs to be returned to the FoE Budget Office.

Setting Up Your Research Accounts

Setting up a research account for existing grants (moved to SFU) or for new grants requires Approval Certificates (Ethics. Biohazards. Animal care). Typically, researchers will be the first to receive notification directly from the funding agency about their grant applications.

The transfer of funds between the funding agency and SFU may take a number of weeks. Despite the agency’s approval of funding, no research account can be created until all required certificates (Ethics, Biohazard, or Animal Care) have been approved by SFU.

Managing Your Projects Accounts

Account and Expense Tracking

  • FAST is SFU’s online financial accounting system. This system is available to researchers enabling them to track funds and expenses related to specific research grants and/or contracts. To arrange a tutorial session on how to use FAST, please email the FoE Budget Office at educbud@sfu.ca.
  • Access to FAST is given to the Principal Investigator (Pl) (and others as designated by the PI) once a project number has been assigned to the grant/contract.
  • All expenses charged to research accounts are approved by SFU Research Accounting personnel who are responsible for ensuring accounting compliance for funds 25, 31, 32, and 36. Please email educbud@sfu.ca with any questions.

Eligible Expenses

The Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide (“Use of Grant Funds”) apply to most research contract and grant funding arrangements at SFU (unless specifically stated otherwise in the terms of the contract. Grant researchers may assume the Tri-Council rules apply).

http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/FinancialAdminGuide-GuideAdminFinancier/FundsUse-UtilisationSubventions_eng.asp

Financial Reporting for Grants

  • All reporting on Tri-Council grant funded projects is administered centrally by SFU Research Accounting.
  • Specific grants or contracts from other funding agencies may require additional reporting by the principal investigator.
  • Interim tracking of fund balances and transactional detail may be viewed on FAST (SFU’s online financial accounting system). Staff in the FoE Budget Office are available to assist with access to FAST.

Research Record Keeping

While the Budget Office in the Faculty of Education will maintain financial records pertaining to all Faculty research accounts, neither this office nor SFU Research Accounting typically keep copies of the full proposal. It is often valuable for the Budget Office to have access to application documents (Agency’s Notice of Award or Authorization of Funding form, one page abstract or proposal, budget justification, project timeline) to help manage the financial accounts. If needed, the FoE Budget Office may contact you for details pertaining to these documents.

If funded, researchers are advised to maintain copies of:

  • their complete grant application/research contract including budget pages, and a copy of their SFU signature sheet;
  • approval letters and/or other funding authorization documents from the granting agency or funder

Originals of all expense claims and approved research assistant payroll appointment forms must be forwarded to the Budget Office for compliance and audit purposes who will in turn send them to SFU Research Accounting for approval and payment.

Hiring Research Personnel

SFU policy

Under SFU policy (R 50.02) research personnel are strictly employees of the researcher. They are not considered employees of the University, and accordingly, it is the researcher’s responsibility to ensure that all standard employment practices as per the BC Labour Standards Act are followed. Specifically, this means:

  • Grant-funded research assistants are not SFU employees nor are they members of any formalized bargaining units that represent other SFU employees (i.e., unions or professional associations) and therefore, their employment (working hours, minimum wage rates, provisions for sick leave/vacation/overtime) is determined by the researcher and is subject to the regulations under the BC Employment Standards Act.
  • Researchers are required, by law, to provide non-discretionary benefits to each research employee (Unemployment Insurance, Workers Compensation (WCB) and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions) - these amounts will be charged to a research account (researchers typically budget a minimum of 8% of estimated salary/wages to cover this amount).
  • Research Assistants that are paid on an hourly basis automatically receive a payment of 4% with each pay cheque in lieu of vacation pay. Vacation pay for salaried employees is included in the salary negotiated.
  • Researchers who have adequate grant funds, may opt to provide additional health benefits through the University to employees who meet eligibility requirements. Grant terms must permit the charging of related costs.
  • The duration of the appointment and grant should be examined at least one month prior to expiration. If the appointment is to be extended or terminated, the FoE’s Budget Office, the employee, and the University Payroll must all be advised, in writing, otherwise the employee’s pay will cease on the original end date.
  • The following minimum Statutory holidays will be observed without loss of pay. To be eligible for pay, the employee must have worked 15 of the last 30 calendar days before the general holiday occurs. Additionally, the general holiday must fall after the first 30 days of employment and occur while the individual is still an employee. Please check (http://www.sfu.ca/human-resources/forms-resources/holidays.html) for actual dates.

Hourly Rates for Payment of Research Assistants

Please bear in mind that the Living Wage for Greater Vancouver (2023) $24.08/hour (www.livingwageforfamilies.ca).

Hourly Rates for Payment of Research Assistants Applicants must describe in detail the tasks or nature of participation, and provide estimated hours for persons hired in each category. Statutory welfare benefits are included in the salary ranges. Living Wage for Greater Vancouver (2023) $24.08/hour (www.livingwageforfamilies.ca). It is expected that Research Assistants wages meet the Living wage requirements. Applications that do not meet this threshold may be disqualified.

“Benefits” includes statutory welfare benefits and statutory holiday pay. Either one of these percentages may be increased by law, or in the case of welfare benefits, may vary by individual. Nevertheless, for budgeting purposes, the 14% figure should be used.

Note: the reference for these rates is from the SFU/SSHRC Institutional Grant Program (SSHRC Small) Guidelines.

FoE Support

The FoE’s Budget Office is able to offer assistance in hiring research staff for funded projects by advising and assisting with the preparation of appointment forms and terms of employment.

Researchers recruiting for a research personnel position may advertise positions electronically (via email) or via the FoE’s website. Please send research related job postings to edgrants@sfu.ca.

Travel and Subsistence Costs (SFU)

Research travel costs are essential to research activities or to communicate research results. The SFU Travel Policy lists standard rates for travel/subsistence:

  • obtain air travel at the lowest fare possible (cost may not exceed the equivalent of full economy fare)
  • request subsistence costs only for days spent away from home when overnight accommodation is required (maximum 125 days per person per year)
  • private accommodation: $35/night
  • personal vehicle usage: $0.51/km
  • meals per diem reimbursements when traveling (rates include tips and taxes; receipts not required; funds in CND):
Meal Within Canada Within USA Rest of the World
Breakfast $13.00 $16.00 $13.00
Lunch $15.00 $18.00 $17.00
Dinner $29.00 $34.00 $33.00
Total per day $57.00 $68.00 $63.00

Ordering Equipment and Supplies

Ordering of all supplies and equipment is done by contacting the Education Resource staff at educreso@sfu.ca.

If you require stationary or general supplies for your research projects, please contact the Education Resource staff in advance to ensure proper charge-back to the correct research account.

Research-related copying, courier and shipping charges will be charged-back to the research account automatically.

Support for Information Technology and Websites

  • FoE IT Support
    • The Faculty of Education has staff available to help with all your computing and audio-visual needs and are able to facilitate your equipment purchases including advice, ordering, delivery and set up. 
    • Please email the FoE Help Desk at educ-help@sfu.ca with any requests or questions.  
    • When your computer equipment arrives, the FoE IT staff will do the initial setup and configuration, including the installation of a standard software suite. The FoE IT staff also manages and provides direct user support with access to University email and calendar systems, hardware and software support, and FoE short-term equipment loans such as laptops, data projectors and video cameras.
  • FoE Website Support
    • Researchers are expected to fund any additional Web development and maintenance requirements on their own.
  • SFU IT Support
    SFU Information Technology Services (SFU-ITS) provides services which includes email, calendaring, web publishing, and web-based instructional tools. Accessing IT support varies depending on the campus.
  • SFU Computing ID for Grant Funded Personnel
    • An SFU computing ID is needed to access all IT resources on any campus.
    • Your SFU Computing ID is automatically created for you by the Payroll office when you are hired. You will receive email notification advising that your SFU computing ID is ready for activation. Use the link provided in the email to activate your computing ID. You will need to know your 9-digit, personal SFU ID number. Alternatively, you can visit any SFU ITS information site with picture ID.
  • Email
    • SFU ITS currently supports the entire University with email accounts and mail infrastructure, called SFU Mail. You can access your email via the SFU Mail web client at https://mail.sfu.ca. Each user is initially provided 5GB storage quota. The size of the storage is increased automatically once you reach the initial quota. If you receive notifications about your quota, please contact educ-help@sfu.ca.
    • Your SFU computing ID is used as your email address. An email alias may be setup to automatically forward all emails to your computing ID. Please speak to the SFU ITS Help Desk for more information about aliases.
    • While SFU ITS runs the University-wide mail infrastructure and provides email accounts, the FoE IT staff provides end-user support.
    • All users can access their SFU email, calendars, and contacts using their mobile devices. Instructions on how to setup your mobile device can be found at: https://www.sfu.ca/sfumail/using-sfu-mail/getting-started/mobile-devices.html.
  • Video Conferencing
    SFU offers video conferencing as an effective way to connect with those in different locations using virtual spaces for meetings, lectures and webinars. The tools available for videoconferencing are Zoom, BlueJeans & Blackboard Collaborate. 

Communicating Your Research

The Faculty of Education supports research engagement with the general public, and with education stakeholders at all levels. To facilitate sharing faculty research with the broadest possible audience, we encourage you to maintain appropriate, up-to-date information about your research activities on the FoE website. In addition, the Faculty produces a biannual e-publication Research in Focus newsletter, highlighting faculty and students accomplishments.

You are highly encouraged to send any updates or news about your work to the FoE Director of Research, Cindy Xin (education_researchhub@sfu.ca) and the FoE Communications Manager, Melissa Hudson (mhudson@sfu.ca).