Salaries and Fellowships

The large majority of sponsored project funds are expended in support of personnel.

Personnel support is of two major types:

Employees

Employees are understood to engage in defined project related tasks and have job titles and job descriptions for which they receive salaries and wages (and are issued W2 forms summarizing their earnings at the end of each calendar year).
In accordance with their titles and levels of effort, they may be eligible for fringe benefits.
For additional information regarding SBU NYS state employees - see IFR and three-month summer salary

Fellows are not employees.

While they may contribute significantly to sponsored projects, they are understood to be trainees and their support is not for services rendered.
They receive stipends as opposed to salaries and wages.
They are issued 1099 forms rather than W2 forms at the end of the calendar year.
The taxability of their stipends is governed by a complex collection of principles and rulings by the IRS.
They receive no fringe benefits by virtue of their appointment, and no fringe benefits are extracted from the sponsored projects which provide their stipends.

Additional information is available in the Power Point linked below.