Mission of the Office of Migrant Education To provide excellent leadership, technical assistance, and financial support to improve the educational opportunities and academic success of migrant children, youth, agricultural workers, fishers, and their families. Using Your Resources Tara Ramsey and Nathan Weiss

I have a question about allowable activities? I can’t understand who is eligible? I need to know about cost for hiring staff? I want to know about changing our key personnel? I need to decide about paying for certain travel? there’s a question about our internal controls? What if?

Objective We hope to empower you to use the resources available to you to run great programs

HEA, Section CFR, Part 206 Non-regulatory Eligibility Guidance EDGAR, Parts 74 and 75 OMB Circular A CFR 215, 180, 220, 230 Resources? What Resources?!?!?

Colleges and Universities Non-Profit Organizations 2 CFR 220, OMC Circular A-21 2 CFR 230, OMB Circular A CFR 215 EDGAR Part 74 A-133 ($500, 000 Federal Expenditures) 2 CFR 180 (All) Federal Grant Management Statutes, Regulations and Guidance Debarment & Suspension Audits Uniform Admin. Regs. Cost Principles Entity

I still don’t quite get it.

Scenario 1 From: Director, Project Sent: Thursday, July 12, :01 AM To: Weiss, Nathan Subject: Moving Expense Hey Nate, I’m the AR for the HEP program at the Narnia Community Foundation and I have a question for you. As you know, our current HEP Director will be retiring in a month and we have found someone who we feel will be an excellent replacement. She will have to re-locate from two states away, though, and we would like to know if we can offer to pay moving expenses out of HEP grant funds. Is this allowable?

Response #1 From: Weiss, Nathan Sent: Friday, July 13, :01 AM To: Director, Project Subject: RE: Moving Expense Thanks for the question. I do recall approving this new key personnel. Since you are a non-profit grantee, I consulted the Cost Principles for non-profit organizations in 2 CFR Part 230 Appendix B, item #42 it states that this is an allowable expense. There are certain guidelines and limitations though, so be sure to review this item to see how you handle this in line with the cost principles. Good luck with the transition to your new director.

Scenario #2 You are the director of a CAMP program at Valhalla University and you have a new Dean to whom you are reporting. She has taken a look at your revised budget, and is questioning whether you can use CAMP funds to pay HEP/CAMP Association dues. You know your program officer has told you this is OK, but you don’t have it in writing. Nobody at OME is available because the entire DC metro area has lost power. How do you prove to her that this is an acceptable use of funds?

Response #2 It states in 2 CFR 220, the cost principles for educational institutions, that costs of the institution’s membership in business, technical, and professional organizations are allowable. (Appendix A, J.33). The HEP/CAMP Association is considered a professional organization so this is allowable.

Scenario #3 You are preparing the proposed budget for your new CAMP application and your college’s procedures require you to run the application budget by someone in the college’s budget office. The “someone” points out that you are only charging 8% for indirect costs, but your college’s approved indirect cost rate with the US Department of Health and Human Services is for 33%. Explain to him where this restriction comes from.

Response #3 The CAMP grant is considered a training grant and indirect cost recovery is limited to 8% on training grants. This requirement comes from EDGAR and can be found in 34 CFR

Scenario #4 You are working on preparing the revised budget for your $475k HEP award for project Year 2 of your grant. You realized during Year 1 of your grant that you do not need the level of funds in your application budget for transportation stipends because more students are from local areas and they don’t travel very far. You would like to move $5,000 from Stipends to Personnel to fund a part-time tutor. You also realize that you will have $200 left over in the Supplies category and would like to move it to the Other line to fund a student field trip to the zoo. Do you need ED approval for these changes?

Response #4 EDGAR Part 74, which applies to IHEs and non-profits, lists the changes for which prior approval from ED is needed in According to 74.25(c)(7), prior approval from ED is needed for the transfer of funds allotted for training allowances (Stipends), or in our scenario, out of transportation Stipends, to other categories of expense. So, approval is needed for the transfer of funds from Stipends to Personnel. Will you get to visit me?

Response #4 (cont’d) However, 74.25(d) states that no other prior approval requirements, other than those listed in 74.25, for specific items are imposed unless a deviation has been approved by OMB. The transfer of funds from Supplies to Other would not fall under any of the changes listed in 74.25, so no ED approval is necessary. Also, the Department may restrict the transfer of funds among direct cost categories or programs, functions and activities for awards in which the Federal share of the project exceeds $100,000 and the cumulative amount of the transfers exceeds or is expected to exceed 10 percent of the total budget as last approved. Both transfers discussed here are not even close to 10% of the budget, so this restriction would not apply to these changes even if the Department chose to implement this restriction for the HEP program.

What?! Not every slide can have fun graphics!

Scenario #5 During the previous grant cycle your HEP project only conducted instruction and testing in English. You believe there is a need for a Spanish GED component and are working on incorporating that into your new HEP application. You know that the HEP statute and regulations mention preparation for high school equivalency tests, but make no mention of the language of instruction and testing. Also, you know other HEP projects work on preparing students to test in Spanish but aren’t sure where they get the authority to do this. What is the basis for this as an allowable activity?

Response #5 Neither the HEP statute (Higher Education Act), nor program regulations mention anything about the Spanish GED. Nor is there anything in the associated Cost Principles or EDGAR that is relevant. In cases where all of these sources are silent on an issue, you should refer to your IHE or non-profit’s policies, state laws, and your reasonable interpretation of the statute and regulations. In this case, since the Spanish GED is available, and nothing prohibits it, we can reasonably assume that it is allowable.

Scenario #6 Hey Tara, Good to see you at the ADM. You had asked me to you with that question I told you I had about our HEP project. In our non-profit organization’s approved application we had an MOU with the local community college for them to give us some support, including the use of classroom space. Ever since then our organization has grown a lot and we really don’t need the college’s support any longer. Can we terminate that partnership?

Response #6 Thanks for the question. According to the HEP regulation in 34 CFR (b), “If a private nonprofit organization other than an IHE applies for a HEP or a CAMP grant, that agency must plan the project in cooperation with an IHE and must propose to operate the project, or in the case of a HEP grant, some aspects of the project, with the facilities of that IHE.” In other words, you need to continue operating some aspect of your HEP project with an IHE. If your current MOU is not appropriate any longer, you are certainly welcome to adjust it, or even establish one with another IHE. You are not permitted, however, to operate your project without any IHE collaboration.

You think I was kidding?!

Scenario #7 Hey there Nate, Thanks for your about our college’s new HEP award. I am thrilled that our college will now have both HEP and CAMP grants. I did have one question about that, though. I am going to serve as the director of both projects and I was wondering what my level of effort should be listed as for both projects. We want to make sure to update the GANs to reflect this. I’m also working on revised budgets right now and want to be sure we charge the correct amount to each grant for my salary.

Response #7 Thanks for the question, and congrats again on the new HEP grant. This question is really more for your budget or grants office at the college, since this determination will be based on what your time and effort will actually look like as it is divided over the two grants. You should determine some reasonable basis for this distribution and then incorporate some procedure for verifying that this distribution is accurate and making necessary adjustments as needed in the future. In fact, the Cost Principles for IHEs state that the method for determining distributions of salaries must, "recognize the principle of after-the-fact confirmation or determination so that costs distributed represent actual costs, unless a mutually satisfactory alternative agreement is reached." (2 CFR 220 Appendix A, Part J, item 10.b.2.b) Thanks for the question, and congrats again on the new HEP grant. This question is really more for your budget or grants office at the college, since this determination will be based on what your time and effort will actually look like as it is divided over the two grants. You should determine some reasonable basis for this distribution and then incorporate some procedure for verifying that this distribution is accurate and making necessary adjustments as needed in the future. In fact, the Cost Principles for IHEs state that the method for determining distributions of salaries must, "recognize the principle of after-the-fact confirmation or determination so that costs distributed represent actual costs, unless a mutually satisfactory alternative agreement is reached." (2 CFR 220 Appendix A, Part J, item 10.b.2.b)

Scenario #8 You are a CAMP director and are working with a new coordinator who is helping you plan for the next project year. She notices that you are going to have $20,000 in funds left over at the end of project Year 2, and she is concerned that these funds will expire. You reassure her that you are permitted to carry over these funds into project Year 3. What do you show her to demonstrate the basis for this?

Response #8 EDGAR §§ 74.25(e)(3) and (c)(1) allow unexpended funds at the end of one budget period to be used in the next budget period without any action by ED or the grantee unless restricted by the program staff as a condition of the award. Please note, however, that ED staff may need to ask for more information. If there is a large available balance, the program staff must require a written explanation from the grantee, unless the balance can be explained by the budget. ED staff may also require a description of how the unexpended funds will be used (see EDGAR §75.253(c)(2)). If a description is required, it must include: a. A description of how the grantee plans to use the unexpended funds in the next budget period; and b. A list of activities that were not completed in the previous budget period (if applicable)

Scenario #9 A HEP project at a college wants to contract out HEP instruction to a local community non-profit. This would be a new approach and was not proposed in the project’s application. Please see the proposed revised budget for project Year 2 and determine if the proposal looks acceptable.

Response #9 There are two issues here. First, according to EDGAR 74.25(c)(8), prior approval must be sought for the subaward, transfer or contracting out of any work under an award, unless it was described in the application and funded in the approved awards. This provision does not apply to the purchase of supplies, material, equipment, or general support services. So, the grantee would need to get approval from OME before contracting this work out. Additionally, when contracts are changed to the grant, indirect costs cannot be charged on the amount in excess of $25,000 (EDGAR (c)(2)(i)). In this case, then, the indirect cost amount must be modified, since they initially proposed charging it to the entire $50,000 and can only charge it on $25,000.

Scenario #10 You were funded to serve 35 students per year in your CAMP project, but based on your experience in years 1 and 2, you feel that 30 students would be more feasible for your project in the final 3 years of the grant. Is this change allowable? Do you need ED approval for this change? Where can we find Department regulations on this subject?

Response #10 EDGAR states in 74.25(c)(1) that grantees must request prior approval from ED for changes in the scope or the objective of the project or program (even if there is no associated budget revision requiring prior written approval). OME considers the number for which your grant was funded to be served as the scope of your project, and as such you would need ED approval for this. However, it is Department policy that no ED official may permit changes that would alter the scope or objectives of a competitive discretionary grant. So, in other words you would be required to request permission for this change, but ED staff would be required to deny that permission. While a grantee would likely not know about this ED policy, by requesting prior approval they would be informed of this by their program officer. This illustrates that while it is very useful to educate yourself about the policy resources that are out there, your program officer is still one of your best resources.

You Are the Program Officer Make up one of your own issues, or choose a pre-written scenario Pair up with someone and take turns acting as the program officer Whether you can resolve the issue or not, at least list the resources you would use to investigate the issue.

Contacts Tara Ramsey Nathan Weiss Always seek the assistance of your program officer first!