Federal Awards Contracting & Procurement: Uniform Guidance Overview

1. Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements (Uniform Guidance) 2 CFR 200 for Federal Awards: Contracting and Procurement Procurement Services | Office of Sponsored Programs | VP for Research rev 031119

2. Presenters Office of the Vice Provost for Research Bill Nunez Export Controls Taylor Green Office for Sponsored Programs Fran Visconti Procurement Laurie Hoole, Kristin Lyons

3. Agenda • Overview • Procurement Process Updates • Uniform Guidance Requirements & Training • General Procurement Standards §200.318 • Vendor Justification form • Competition §200.319 • Non-Competitive Procurement • Vendor Justification Form Examples • Price Reasonableness / Cost Analysis • Price Reasonableness Form • Case Study • Compliance / Export Controls • OSP - Subrecipient or Contractor Determination • Questions • Appendix • Uniform Guidance Bidding Requirements

4. Overview Consolidates OMB Circulars A-21, A-122, A-87, A-110 and A-133 • Removes previous conflicting guidance • Focuses audits on areas identified as risk in waste, fraud, and abuse • Standardized processing data • Updates cost reporting

5. Procurement Process Updates Key Procurement Process Updates • Increased the Bid Limit to $10,001 • Only 2 bids are required for purchases over the Bid Limit • New Vendor Justification Form required for purchases on a federal grant over $10,000 • New Price Reasonableness Form for over $250,000 purchases • Created Contracts & Standards page identifying contracts that meet Uniform Guidance requirements • Created Purchase Acquisition Guides and Checklists for Scientific Equipment, Professional Services, etc. • Updated Policy to include the new Uniform Guidance guidelines Link:https://www.bc.edu/offices/buy/Policy_5_19_17.html

6. General Procurement Standards §200.318 Federal Government Requirements, as stated in the General Procurement Standards §200.318 UG • Purchase must be necessary • Boston College must use its own documented procedures • Must reflect applicable State and local laws and regulations • But… must conform to applicable and Federal law and the 2 CFR 200 Procurement Standards • PImust maintain oversight to ensure that contractors perform in accordance with the terms, conditions, and specifications of their contracts or purchase orders • Boston College must… • Maintain written standards of conduct for: • Conflict of interest and • Employee performance in selection, award, and administration of procurements

7. General Procurement Standards §200.318 Federal Government Requirements, as stated in the General Procurement Standards §200.318 UG • Boston College must maintain good records that detail procurement’s history (all of the following): • Rationale for procurement method [Vendor Justification Form (VJF) required for any purchase over $10,000] • Selection of contract type • Supplier selection or rejection • Basis for price

8. Vendor Justification Form • Must be completed for all sponsored purchases made with federal funds or cost-share funds greater than $10,000 • Documentation is maintained in BID DOCS (attached to the requisition and/or Voucher) Link:https://www.bc.edu/offices/buy/forms.html

9. Competition§200.319 • Full and open (to the extent required by each method) • Eliminate unfair supplier advantage • Suppliers that develop specs cannot participate in the solicitation • Examples of situations that restrict competition include: • Unreasonable requirements • Unnecessary supplier experience • Excessive bonding • Noncompetitive pricing practices between firms or affiliated companies • Noncompetitive contracts to consultants on retainer • Organizational conflicts of interest • Specifying “brand name” without allowing “or equal” • Any arbitrary action in the procurement process

10. Competition§200.319 • Boston College must have written procedures. Solicitations must: • Incorporate clear and accurate description of technical requirements • But no features that unduly restrict competition • May include qualitative statements • When necessary, include minimum essential characteristics and standards • When necessary, OK to use “brand name or equivalent” but, the specific features of the named brand must be clearly stated • Identify ALL requirements that respondents must fulfill and all other factors that will be used in evaluation

11. Non-Competitive Procurement Process Uniform Guidance provides a process for conducting Sole Source procurements. You may use this process only if the following conditions exist: • The item (functional performance) is available only from a single source • The public exigency or emergency (loss of life or property) exist and will not permit a delay resulting from bidding. • The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity expressly authorizes noncompetitive proposals in response to a written request from a non-Federal entity. • After solicitation of a number of sources, competition is determined inadequate. Best Practice: Write your purchases requests directly into the grant. If you elect to use this process, the Vendor Justification Form must be completed & reviewed by Procurement. If the purchase is over $250,000, a Cost/Price analysis / Price Reasonableness evaluation must be performed and document with the Price Reasonableness Form.

12. Vendor Justification Form - Examples Acceptable Single/Sole Source Under Uniform Guidance Scenario #1:What if a specific (named) supplier/product/model is specifically required by the sponsor/funder in the special terms and conditions of my grant? Answer:If the sponsor is requiring specific goods or services in order to receive the grant, this would be an acceptable sole source under UG. The requirement must be explicit in the terms and conditions and presented to Purchasing as supporting documentation.

13. Vendor Justification Form - Examples Not Acceptable Single/Sole Source Under Uniform Guidance Scenario #2: I want to sole source a consultant for academic research. I have a strong professional relationship with the individual and the person is familiar with my work. He/She is also the top expert in their field. Is this a sole source? Answer:This is NOT going to be a sole source because it is nearly impossible to justify that one person is the ONLY person in the world that can perform the requested service. Most of the time, the best that can be justified is that they are “best” qualified, which is not a legitimate sole source justification. However, if an individual is REQUIRED based on qualifications they have, a sole source may be justified. The key to a successful justification is to explain in details the required qualifications – why we need someone with that specific qualification and how we know this is the only person with this qualification.

14. Price Reasonableness/Cost Analysis Uniform Guidance requires a cost / price analysis in connection with every procurement action in excess of the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (> $250,000). Price Reasonableness Analysis*: the process of deciding if the asking price for a product or service is fair and reasonable, without examining the specific cost and profit calculations the vendor used in arriving at the price. Examples include: • Analysis of previously paid prices • Comparison of quotations or published price lists from multiple vendors • Comparison with GSA (General Services Acquisition) prices (gsa.gov) Cost Analysis*: the element-by-element examination of the estimated or actual cost of contract performance to determine the probable cost to the vendor. The goal is to form an opinion on whether the proposed costs are in line with what reasonably economical and efficient performance should cost. • Typically used when evaluating contractor or subcontractor bids. * After grant has been approved, for purchases not written into the grant

15. Price Reasonableness / Cost Analysis Price Reasonableness Form: This analysis, along with the Vendor Justification Form (VJF) must be completed and sent to Procurement Services for review PRIOR to commitment of an order. This is required for purchases over > $250,000

16. Case Study #1 Procurement of Equipment over the Simplified Acquisition Threshold ( > $250,000) A researcher needs to buy a piece of equipment on a federal grant that is > $250,000 and is a Sole Source. Below are the steps that were followed to ensure all documentation and analysis were completed for this purchase. • A&S Service center contacted Procurement to discuss the purchase and requirements under UG. • Procurement reviewed the Vendor Justification Form and worked with the researcher to ensure the functional performance specification was identified. • Per UG, a Price Reasonableness / Cost Analysis is required on purchases over $250,000. This involved gathering documentation to prove the price we would be paying for this piece of equipment was fair and reasonable, based off the following factors: • Compared pricing to historical pricing of substantially similar item purchased • Compared pricing to pricing paid for substantially similar equipment purchased by another University utilizing a Procurement tool • This documentation was stored in PeopleSoft BID DOCS once the requisition was created • All parties were comfortable that we were in compliance with the new Uniform Guidance requirements

17. Procurement Webpages Contracts & Standards Webpage • All contracted vendor information can be located here. • Preferred Vendor information is available at: https://www.bc.edu/offices/buy/general-information/catindex_supplierinfo_3_30_17.html Link:https://www.bc.edu/offices/buy/VendorContracts.html

18. Procurement Webpages Purchase Acquisition Checklists • Checklists that provide a clear set of steps to be completed in the Purchasing Acquisition process. • There are four (4) guides available on the Procurement website: Link:https://www.bc.edu/offices/buy/quick_guide_purchaseCopyRC2.html

19. Procurement Webpages Professional Services Page Key Resources • Quick Guide to Making a Professional Services Purchase • OSP is the first step for determining the correct Agreement to be used; not everything is a Professional Services Agreement or an SME Agreement. • Creating a Statement of Work • Professional Services Intake Form • Standard Professional Services Agreements Professional Services Trainings • If you’d like to set up a training please email purchase@bc.edu Link:https://www.bc.edu/offices/buy/proservicesCopy.html

20. Procurement Services Agreements Procurement is involved in only some of the types of Agreements used on campus. Below is a list of these Agreements.* Remember, please consult your OSP rep before completeing the Professional Services Intake form to confirm which type of agreement needs to be used. Procurement Involvement Required No Procurement Involvement • Professional Services Agreements • Subject Matter Experts • Non-Academic Service Contracts • Academic Advising • Research Contracts • Collaboration Contracts • Cooperative Agreements • Federal Contracts • Subcontracts • Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) • Material Transfer Agreements • Entertainers • Academic Trainings • Lecturers / Speakers / Honorariums *This list of Agreement types requiring Procurement involvement is subject to change.

21. Procurement Contact Info Questions regarding Procurement? Procurement: purchase@bc.edu or x2-3055 Kristin Lyons; kristin.lyons@bc.edu Laurie Hoole; laurie.simard@bc.edu

22. Compliance What is export controls? Export controls is a broad term used to describe U.S. laws that regulate the distribution of important technology, services, data, and information for reasons of national security, foreign policy, and economic objectives. Export control laws not only deal with exporting tangible items, but also deals with intangible items (i.e. technology “know-how”). Top Regulators: Department of State Department of Treasury Department of Commerce Office of Foreign Asset Control

23. Compliance How is BC Meeting these objective in procurement? • Six (6) new categories have been created for Export Controls: • EQ_SCI_MAJOR-EAR • EQ_SCI_MAJOR_EAR99 • EQ_SCI_MAJOR_ITAR • EQ_SCI_MINOR_ITAR • EQ_SCI_MINOR_EAR • EQ_SCI_MINOR_EAR99 • Smaller components classification will be located on BID DOCS documents in PeopleSoft.

24. Compliance Questions regarding export controls? exportcontrol@bc.edu

25. Questions? You are not alone. OSP, Research Administrators, Procurement, VPR’s Officer, Compliance are all here to help you navigate and successfully implement the new UG requirements.

26. Appendix

27. Uniform Guidance Bidding Requirements

28. Uniform Guidance Bidding Requirements

29. Uniform Guidance Bidding Requirements