Internal Management Memoranda

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 1, 1993

INTERNAL MANAGEMENT MEMORANDUM: 6C1-6.50-15 (Revised)

SUBJECT: IFAS; Commodity Check-Off Funds

1. IFAS receives awards from three commodity groups (peanuts, soybeans, and tobacco) each year to support research and demonstration work. These marketing order awards are referred to as "Check-Off Funds" and as provided by Florida Statute are collected by and passed through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) to IFAS.

2. Check-Off funds are accepted and processed as a single award for each commodity. A specific account is established for each commodity check-off fund, and fiscal responsibility is delegated to the IFAS Department of Agronomy. Faculty are allotted "subawards" for individual projects.

3. Funds must be expended during the period of the award or be returned to the State at the close of the grant period.

4. The IFAS Review and Acceptance Procedure is as follows:
   1. The Office of the Dean for Research notifies unit administrators, usually in November, of the availability of funds. Faculty submit requests for funding through their unit administrators. The Office of the Dean for Research in collaboration with the Dean for Extension presents requests from faculty to the appropriate commodity council appointed by the Commissionerof Agriculture and Consumer Services, which makes the allocations.

   2. FDACS officially notifies the Office of the Dean for Research of awards in March. The Dean's office forwards the FDACS award letter to IFAS Sponsored Programs (Contracts and Grants Office) and also provides the documentation of individual faculty receiving subawards within each commodity.

   3. IFAS Sponsored Programs processes the commodity awards for University acceptance.

   4. Unit(s) complete budget allocation forms upon receipt of the half sheets from IFAS Sponsored Programs.

   5. Individual investigators, designated to expend funds from the accounts, initiate transactions as needed, but each forwards transactions to the Chair of the Agronomy Department, acting as Principal Investigator, for co-signature and forwarding to IFAS Contracts and Grants Accounts, IFAS Purchasing, or IFAS Personnel.