Contracts & Subawards

1. Contracts & Subawards

2. And the winner is… YOU AWARD RECEIVED

3. Now What? The contract process begins between ORTT and your Sponsor.

4. What is a Contract? A Contract… • …is a binding agreement • …is legally enforceable • …must be signed by a designated authorized official (Dr. Andrew Sustich)

5. What is a subcontract (subaward)? A Subcontract… • …is between a party to the original contract and a third party • …is a binding agreement • …is legally enforceable • …must be signed by a designated authorized official (Dr. Andrew Sustich)

6. Subrecipient monitoring • A subrecipient is a third-party organization performing a portion of an externally funded project. • ASU both receives and issues subaward agreements. • SPA assists with post-award financial monitoring of awards to subrecipients

7. Subrecipient monitoring • Prime recipient must demonstrate reasonable effort to assure subrecipient compliance • Federal award information and compliance requirements identified to subrecipients, • Subrecipient activities are monitored, • Subrecipient audit findings are resolved, • Impact of any subrecipient noncompliance on the pass-through entity is evaluated, and • Subrecipient provides reasonable assurance that required audits and appropriate corrective action on audit findings occurred

8. Subrecipient monitoring • Subrecipients are subject to all terms, conditions, and regulations of prime agreement. • Copy of prime agreement attached to subaward agreement • Federal regulations: • Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133, Compliance Supplement, Part 6, Section M. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a133_compliance/07/pt6.doc) • Required on all federal subawards • ASU applies to nonfederal subawards for consistency and oversight purposes

9. Subrecipient monitoring Example: In addition to OMB circulars A-21, A-110, and A-133, this agreement cites:

10. Subrecipient monitoring • Prior to issuance: • Risk assessment: • Evaluate subrecipient’s environment, systems, and controls sufficiently to identify the level and methods of monitoring required • Identify risks from external sources, i.e., economic conditions, regulatory changes • Identify and react to changes in subrecipients: • financial problems that could lead to diversion of grant funds • loss of essential personnel, licensure or accreditation to operate program • organizational restructuring

11. Subrecipient monitoring • Post-award control procedures: • Provide Federal award and compliance information to subrecipient • Regular PI inquiries to subrecipient concerning the program • Review subrecipient reports and follow-up on concerns • Monitor subrecipient budget expenditures • Perform site visits to review records and observe operations • Offer subrecipient technical assistance, where needed • Recordkeeping system to assure adequate document retention by subrecipient • Tracking system to assure timely submission of required reporting

12. Subrecipient monitoring • Post-award financial monitoring procedures: • ORTT provides SPA with executed subaward • SPA: • Excluded Parties List for debarred parties • FSRS (Federal Subaward Reporting System) FFATA (Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act) for subawards >$25K • Internal record to maintain award information and budget

13. Subrecipient monitoring • Post-award financial monitoring procedures: • Subrecipient invoices should be submitted directly to SPA: • Current and cumulative costs • Signed statement certifying that costs are in compliance with A-21 and/or sponsor requirements • SPA reviews for allowability and availability of funds • May request additional support for charges

14. Subrecipient monitoring • Post-award financial monitoring procedures: • If approved, SPA submits to PI for approval: • PI to review for improper, unallowable, unusual, or excessive costs • Subject to the same terms, conditions, and regulations as prime • Does the invoice reflect the work being reported in conversations and technical reports? • Was each expense necessary for the performance of the grant? • Request further information as needed • Typically, vendor receipts. Subaward terms require that evidentiary support be maintained by the subrecipient for the entire audit period, whether or not the prime ever requests such support

15. Subrecipient monitoring • Post-award financial monitoring procedures: • If you have any concerns over a subaward invoice, please contact SPA immediately to determine necessary actions • If approved, PI submits for payment: • Academic department requisitions payment in a timely fashion • Under no circumstance should invoices be held without cause, as this violates ASU’s responsibility to provide prompt payment for services rendered • Requisition approved by PI, chair, dean, and SPA; payment issued

16. Subrecipient monitoring • Post-award financial monitoring procedures: • PI must monitor technical reports and expenditures and maintain regular contact with subrecipient: • Sufficient progress in the right direction • Charges appearing on invoice are appropriate • Notify the department and SPA of any deficiencies that may necessitate revision of the subaward relationship • Modifications to subawards must be issued by ORTT as the contracting authority for sponsored projects

17. Subrecipient monitoring • Post-award financial monitoring procedures: • Annual A-133 compliance: • SPA issued A-133 compliance confirmation to each subrecipient • Corrective action or refund may be indicated by audit findings • Subrecipients not subject to A-133 audits may be asked to submit audited financial statements, certification of costs, or other documentation deemed necessary for assessing compliance

18. Subrecipient monitoring • Prime Sponsor: DOI USFWS • Prime Recipient: ASU-J • Incrementally funded • ASU awarded $44,025 • Subaward budget $22,883, or 52% of total award

19. Subrecipient monitoring • Subawards are budgeted in supplies under account 711004 Other Contracted Services.Be cognizant of this special budget line to avoid overspending your supplies budget.

20. All that to say… • Subawards are subject to the same terms, conditions and regulations as the prime award. • ASU must make a reasonable effort to ensure sub-recipient compliance. • Call SPA with ANY concerns or questions.

21. Other Contracts Helps facilitate research… • Material Transfer Agreements (MTA) • Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr19w41ej7o&list=PL37FF7F40AD4BB9C5&index=5

22. BREAK TIME!

23. Cayuse • What is it? • A third-party grant submission manager • ASU-J’s official grant repository and approval management system • How does it work? • PI’s (or ORTT) download an opportunity and create a proposal • Cayuse automatically populates it with the correct federal forms, if available • Once “built,” proposals are routed through the approval process and then submitted • How can it help? • Cayuse is: centralized, easy to access, uniform, and has excellent tech support • Can easily upload attachments • Makes storing and tracking submitted proposals MUCH easier

24. Cayuse Continued… Access Cayuse through the ORTT Website: http://www.astate.edu/a/ortt/ OR directly: https://astate.cayuse424.com Warning: Explorer and Mozilla Firefox are preferred web browsers. Cayuse does not work properly with Safari or other browsers.

25. Internal Funding Opportunities • Faculty Research Awards Committee (FRAC) • Compensated Leave (October) • Faculty Reassignment (February) • Faculty Development Endowment (October & February) • Faculty Research Award (February) http://www.astate.edu/a/ortt/research-development/faculty-opportunities/faculty-research-awards-committee/index.dot

26. Compensated Leave • Compensated leave may be granted for research, writing, other professional creative activities, graduate study leading to advanced degrees, travel for study/research, retraining tenured faculty members who teach in programs being phased out, or for further study to upgrade specific program(s).

27. Faculty Reassigned Time • 40 Semesters provided by Office of Research & Technology Transfer (ORTT) • Spring Competition • Submit proposals to ORTT • Fall, Spring, or full year

28. Faculty Development Endowment • Lane: international travel up to $1000 • Deutsch: domestic travel and other activities up to $500 • Contingent upon health of stock market • Applicant has not received an award from the fund for 3 years

29. Faculty Research Award • $40,000 provided from E&G • Spring competition for following fiscal year • Seed money for larger grants • Used to expand scholarly activity • Only one proposal per PI • Encouraged to include students in proposal • Consult with faculty representative

30. Faculty Research Award Cont. Special consideration for: • First time applicants • Non-tenured applicants • An applicant who has not received this award for 10 years

31. Questions/Comments? • Homework • Email your proposal draft to Carla or Rebekah (Cheryl) by noon Friday.