fdp and cogr update - sra international and cogr update ... fdp research admin contracts open...
TRANSCRIPT
Who are we?• Anthony DeCrappeo, President, Council on Governmental Relations (COGR)
• Cynthia Hope, Chair, Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP)– Assistant VP Research, The University of Alabama
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Mission• The Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) is an association of federal
agencies, academic research institutions… and research policy organizations that work to streamline the administration of federally sponsored research. … The goal of improving the productivity of research without compromising its stewardship has benefits for the entire nation.
• The FDP uniquely offers a forum for individuals from universities and nonprofits to work collaboratively with federal agency officials to improve the national research enterprise. At its regular meetings, faculty and administrators talk face‐to‐face with decision‐makers from agencies that sponsor and regulate research. They… test new ways of doing things in the real world before putting them into effect.
154 institutional recipients of federal funds and 10 Federal Agencies
WHAT IS THE FDP?Researchers doing science, not administration!
Executive Committee
Faculty
Emerging Research Institutions
Faculty Workload Survey
Enhancing Faculty Engagement
Research Pipeline
eRA
DATA Act
Grants Life‐Cycle Roadmap
Integrated Acquisition Environment
Streamlining Proposal Submission
21st Century Tools for FDP
ResearchAdmin
Contracts
Open Government
Subawards
ExpandedClearinghouse
Federal Research T&C
Finance/ Costing/ Audit
Admin Cost
UG Procurement
Payroll Certification
Research Compliance
COI
Data Stewardship
Export Controls
IACUC
IRB
Lab Safety
Communications Committee Finance Committee Membership Committee
Emerging Research Institutions
Outreach
Federal Research Terms and Conditions
Do not yet exist for awards issued under UG
• Have to look at each Agency’s T&Cs/rules for prior approval (admin & clerical, equipment, rebudgeting, etc.)
• New Research T&Cs will not be Federal Wide• Status update
– Published in the Federal Register October 14, 2015– Request for Public Comment, ended 12/14/15– Some dialog with FDP working group and COGR and others
had input too– Cleared SBE subcommittee and are in COS approval process– Participating agencies developing Agency Specific RTCs
FDP – Project Certification• Pilot was a practical alternative to salary certification/effort reporting.– NSF OIG – 2 reports issued (George Mason & Michigan Tech)
• No findings to indicate Payroll Certification is not a compliant means of documenting salary charges to federal awards
– HHS OIG ‐ UC Irvine – no audit/opinion, UC Riverside – pending
– Demonstrated that certification of salaries at the project level, rather than the individual level, can be a more efficient & effective approach to salary certification. Project certification can now be implemented in compliance with the cost principles within Uniform Guidance.
Other Salary Documentation Initiatives
July 2015, COGR Guide to 2 CFR 200.430 Compensation‐Personal Services
In January of 2016, NCURA funded a research project to establish a cohort of universities to develop an effective model policy for alternatives to effort reporting in compliance with 2 C.F.R.§200.430(I).
Procurement
• FDP Procurement workgroup –micropurchasethreshold– Surveyed membership, July 2015
• Data provided persuasive evidence that the procurement standards as currently written in the UG need further analysis and discussion. This was a factor in OMB's decision to allow the second grace period as it provided data that showed the impact of the UG standards.
• Worked with COGR in development of its follow‐up survey.• Effort in this area are now with COGR, etc.
Subrecipient Management– Subaward Templates– Expanded Clearinghouse Pilot
• Address proliferation of commitment forms and financial questionnaires• Cohort 2 added 8/18/16,• Total participants – 79 FDP members = 127 entity profiles• Moving to web based system prior to next cohort addition
– Pilot Supporting Documents• Sample LOI• Sample Financial Questionnaire (for non‐Single Audit entities)• Risk Assessment Questionnaire
– Goals for pilot• Approach SAM and FAC for possible synergies• Data from the pilot could support the idea of a safe harbor
Electronic Research Administration
• The Joint Application Design (JAD) Team ‐ work with Grants.gov to address issues in the system and streamline the process of using Grants.gov to submit grant applications. They look at both the PDF forms submission process and the system‐to‐system submission process.
• The DATA Act Working Group, led by a combination of participants from the FDP Open Government Group and the eRA Standing Committee, works to monitor and engage in the activities of OMB and Dept of Treasury as they implement the DATA Act. Providing feedback, guidance, and offering testing/ validation assistance as the DATA ACT phases progress.
• Also, Streamlining Proposal Submissions, ScienCV, 21st Century Tools
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Faculty and Research Compliance
• Joint efforts in:– Human Subjects, Animal Subjects, COI, Data Stewardship, Lab Safety
• Compliance continues efforts in:– Troublesome Clauses, Export Control
• Faculty continue efforts in:– Faculty Workload Survey, Research Pipeline, ScienCV, Family/Work Life Balance
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Financial, Audit, & Costing Policy
• Procurement (already covered)• NIH, and other, Subaccounting• Administrative Cost Working Group
– Uniform Guidance topics that are “unresolved” and/or present an opportunity for additional streamlining or other reductions in administrative burden
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Emerging Research Institutions
• A subcommittee under Membership• Representation on the Executive Committee• 26 Member Institutions• Exploring opportunities for coordination and collaboration, among ERIs and with other member institutions
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Operational Committees• Membership planning for Phase VII• Executive Committee
– With ERA, exploring better use of technology– Developing a federal representative engagement initiative
• Communications recently published a new brochure, managing frequent requests for information
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Affiliate Organizations• National Council of University Research Administrators
(NCURA) • Society of Research Administrators International (SRA) • Association of Independent Research Institutes (AIRI) • American Association of State Colleges and Universities
(AASCU)• Association of American Univerities (AAU)• National Organization of Research Development
Professionals (NORDP)• American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS)• and, Council on Governmental Relations (COGR)
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