Contracts & Subawards

And the winner is… YOU AWARD RECEIVED

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

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

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)

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

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

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. (  Required on all federal subawards  ASU applies to nonfederal subawards for consistency and oversight purposes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All that to say… 1.Subawards are subject to the same terms, conditions and regulations as the prime award. 2.ASU must make a reasonable effort to ensure sub-recipient compliance. 3.Call SPA with ANY concerns or questions.

Helps facilitate research…  Material Transfer Agreements (MTA)  Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) &list=PL37FF7F40AD4BB9C5&index=5 Other Contracts

BREAK TIME!

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

Cayuse Continued… Access Cayuse through the ORTT Website: OR directly: Warning : Explorer and Mozilla Firefox are preferred web browsers. Cayuse does not work properly with Safari or other browsers.

Internal Funding Opportunities  Faculty Research Awards Committee (FRAC)  Compensated Leave (October)  Faculty Reassignment (February)  Faculty Development Endowment (October & February)  Faculty Research Award (February) awards-committee/index.dot

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).

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

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

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

Faculty Research Award Cont. Special consideration for: 1)First time applicants 2)Non-tenured applicants 3)An applicant who has not received this award for 10 years

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