What is the Uniform Guidance?
The “, or “Uniform Guidance” was adopted to consolidate and streamline the regulatory framework governing the administration of federal grants as well as create efficiencies and increased transparency. It replaces and consolidates eight (8) Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circulars, including those circulars that have guided Ȧ State University’s receipt and administration of federal grants for the past several decades—specifically, OMB A-21 (Cost Principles), OMB A-110 (Administrative Requirements) and OMB A-133 (Audit Requirements).
When does the Uniform Guidance take effect?
The “Uniform Guidance” will take effect on December 26, 2014 and will apply to new awardsԻincremental funding on existing awards (e.g., Year two of a three-year federal grant) receivedafterDecember 26, 2014.
Federal awards that were fully funded prior to December 26, 2014 will continue to be governed by the terms and conditions that existed at the time of award (i.e., in most cases, previously funded awards will be governed by OMB Circulars A-21, A-110, and A-133).
How will the Uniform Guidance impact Ȧ State University?
A summary of major applicable changes and their impact is listed in the table below. With regard to the allowability of items of cost on federal grants, little has changed. However, some notable changes include the allowance of administrative costs on federal awards under certain conditions. In addition, the treatment of “computing devices” has been modified to include printers, peripherals, storage devices, etc., and are allowable for devices that are essential and allocable to a specific project, but notsolelydedicated, to the performance of that project (as was the case under the previous guidelines).
Other changes pertain to university requirements in receiving and administering federal awards. For example, universities are required to broaden their Financial Conflict of Interest Policy to applyto all federal grants regardless of the agencies funding them (prior regulations limited the FCOI application solely to PHS and NSF funded projects). The Uniform Guidance also imposes additional requirements upon the federal agencies with regard to their interactions with federal awardees (e.g., 60-day advance notice of funding opportunities).
The Uniform Guidance is organized into six (6) subparts, A-F, and 11 appendices. The subparts are summarized below.
- A (Acronyms and Definitions)
- B (General Provisions)
- C (Pre-Award Requirements and Contents of Federal Awards)
- D (Post-Award Requirements)
- E (Cost Principles)
- F (Audit Requirements)
To follow is apartial listof some of the major changes that will, or may have impact on Ȧ State University:
Topic | Subpart (section) | Federal Policy Change | Intended Impact |
---|---|---|---|
Funding Opportunity Advance Notice | Federal agencies must notify the public of all funding opportunities generally at least 60 days in advance of the deadline, with some exceptions. No funding opportunity may be available for less than 30 days. | Applicants will have additional time to prepare applications for submission. | |
Federal Agency Review of Risk Posed by Applicants | Prior to issuing an award, federal agencies are required to review available information (e.g., financial data) and evaluate risk. | Prior to award, agencies may request additional data from the University concerning its history of performance, financial reporting, and quality of management systems. | |
Subrecipient vs. Contractor Determination | The University must make case-by-case determinations whether each agreement it makes for the disbursement of Federal funds casts the party receiving the funds in the role of asubrecipientor acontractor. The Federal awarding agency may supply and require the University to comply with additional guidance to support these determinations | May require the University to provide additional reporting to the federal funding agency concerning the pass-through entity prior to a subaward. However, the federal agency will provide guidance as to the additional information needed in connection with subawards. | |
Cost-Sharing |
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The University’s current policy applicable to NSF grants is now extended to all federal funded grants. Proposals will be judged on review criteria that does not take into consideration a voluntary cost-share commitment. | |
Financial and Program Management |
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Reporting to the federal funded agency on performance ensures increased accountability to the federal government. | |
Fixed Amount Subawards | With prior written approval from the federal awarding agency, a pass-through entity may provide subawards based on fixed amounts up to the Simplified Acquisition Threshold ($150,000), provided that the subawards meet the requirements for fixed amount awards set forth in 2 C.F.R. §200.201 (Use of grant agreements (including fixed amount awards), cooperative agreements, and contracts). | Provides flexibility to the University in the issuance of fixed-price contracts to subrecipients. For example, where familiarity might not exist, payment might be based on performance or deliverables. | |
Subrecipient Monitoring and Management |
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The University must meet specific pre-award and post-award assessment and monitoring requirements when entering into federally funded subaward contracts. | |
Procurement Standards | Detailed procurement methods that must be followed to purchase goods and services valued at $3,000 or more with the use of federal funds. | Note: OMB is providing a one-year grace period to December 26, 2015 for universities to comply with these standards. Expect to see changes in the University’s Procurement Policies to ensure compliance with these new standards. | |
Major Cost-Principle Changes (not including effort reporting) |
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Increased flexibility with regard to proposal costing and award management where essential to program success. | |
Time and Effort Reporting |
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The University will have more flexibilityimplementing its own systems to report effort provided federal guidelines are followed, e.g., frequency of reporting. |
Other Resources
Council on Financial Assistance Reform (COFAR), “” (Includes FAQ)
Attain, Inc. “”
Questions?
Please contact:osp@montclair.edu, or x4128.