national council of research administrators (ncura) region iv conference april 28, 2015

National Council of Research Administrators

(NCURA) Region IV Conference

April 28, 2015

NIFA Office of Grants and Financial Management- Update• Introductions• Farm Bill Implementation and FY 15 Budget• Uniform Guidance Implementation, Terms and

Conditions, NIFA Regulations and Policies• NIFA’s Grant Modernization Effort Update• REEport Update• Leadership Management Dashboard

Update - Farm Bill Implementation & FY15 Budget

Farm Bill Update

• New Matching Provision• Non-land Grant Colleges of Agriculture• New Land-Grant Institutions• Centers of Excellence• Commodity Board Proposals - AFRI

NIFA’s FY15 Budget

• Full Year Appropriation for FY15 signed into law December 16, 2014

• Discretionary funding increased $12m• AFRI = $325m with not less than 15%

for AREA, including EPSCoR– AFRI exempt from new match requirement

NIFA’s FY15 Budget

• $2.5m for new Food Safety Outreach Program

• Slight increases for Vet Medicine, Grants for Insular Areas, MBT, Crop Protection, Regional Rural Development, FADI

• No funding for Critical Ag Materials or Water Quality Programs

Erin Daly

Policy Advisor

Office of Grants &Financial Management

202 401 3319

edaly@nifa.usda.gov

Agenda• Melanie Krizmanich, NIFA

– Implementation of Uniform Guidance• Regulatory Changes• Award Terms and Conditions

– NIFA Federal Assistance Policy Guide

USDA Regulatory Changes• Interim Final Rule - 79 FR 75867; Dec 19, ‘14• 2 CFR Part 400 series supersedes 7 CFR Part

3000 series• 7 CFR Part 3015 (uniform reg) – 2 CFR Part 415• 7 CFR Part 3016 (admin req) – 2 CFR Part 416• 7 CFR Part 3018 (lobbying) – 2 CFR Part 418• 7 CFR Part 3019 (admin req) – 2 CFR Parts 200 & 400• 7 CFR Part 3022 (rsch misconduct) – 2 CFR Part 422• 7 CFR Part 3052 (audits) – 2 CFR Parts 200 & 400

• NIFA regs to remain in 7 CFR Part 3400 series

USDA Regulatory Changes – new regs• 2 CFR Part 400 (adopts 2 CFR part 200)

– Section1 adopts subparts A through F of part 200– Section 2 includes USDA conflict of interest

policy in compliance with 2 CFR 200.112• 2 CFR Part 415 – General Prog Admin Regs

– To include 7 CFR 3015.158, 7 CFR 3015.200, 7 CFR 3015.300 through 3015.312, and definition of “Audiovisual,” “Production of an Audiovisual,” and “Publication.”

USDA Regulatory Changes–new regs• 2 CFR Part 416 – State and Local Govts

– Includes§60 (b) and (c) of 7 CFR 3016• 2 CFR Part 418 – Lobbying

– Includes 7 CFR 3018 in its entirety• 2 CFR Part 422 – Research Misconduct

– Includes 7 CFR 3022 in its entirety

Award Terms and Conditions• Government-wide Overlay Effort• USDA Department-wide Grant and

Cooperative Agreement General Terms and Conditions– NIFA-specific award terms

NIFA Federal Assistance Policy Guide

• References• Late application• Administrative manuals• Continued input

Goals:• Provide transparency and simplification of processes

for grantees • Integrate financial and program activities• Allow for “self-service” capabilities• Promote a paperless environment• Modernize our systems • Improve management and reporting of data and

results

NIFA selected SAP’s Grantor CRM tool

[GrantsMod]

NIFA’s Grant Modernization Effort Update

Application Processing

Outcomes Evaluation

Grant CloseOut

Change Management

Payment &Budget Management

Grant RecipientSelection

Resources Management

Reporting & AnalyticsGrantee / Partner

Mgmt

GrantTerms & Condition

■ Single integrated solution supporting all program types eliminates data redundancy and inefficiencies

■ Proactive monitoring allows for corrective action to fulfil service policies and goals

Improved Service Delivery

■ Unified access for grantor and financial transactions improves usability

■ Fully integrated solution that connects the end-to-end grant lifecycle process

■ Application pre-commitments ensure adherence to Program budget and prevents budget overruns

Increase Efficiency, Lower Complexity

■ Internal and external accountability and financial controls reduces fraud

■ Integrated accounting & constituent account management gives single view of constituent

■ Integration between financial and grant processes leads to accurate payments, adherence to budget and identification of potential savings

Improved Accountability & Transparency

■ Integrated data allows for more effective cross agency and consolidated reports

■ Central repository for grant information maximizes service efficiency and ensures data integrity

Improved Operational Visibility

■ Capture of the agreement terms and conditions ensures compliance with regulatory requirements

■ Program level business rules enforce compliance over the entire Grant lifecycle

Program Compliance

Grantor’s holistic grants management process improves efficiency, visibility, and compliance

[GrantsMod]

• Meets 6 goals• Provides robust

integration with USDA financial system (a newly added goal)

• Fills gaps related to financial reporting, capacity grants, and reporting

• USDA enterprise-wide solution (currently 7 agencies, more to come)

• Governance finalized

• Assessment (capitalized on NIH reports) complete

Next Steps-• Chart implementation

plan, incl. schedule and roadmap

• 2.5 year, full program implementation

• NERAOC conference update and information table, May 3-6   

Benefits- Status-

REEport Update

Adam Preuter, REEport Business Manager

New Functionality Deployed

• Program of Research– Animal Health– McIntire Stennis– PORs cannot be submitted through CRIS

Web Forms any longer– Instructions: http://

nifa.usda.gov/resource/program-research-instructions-0

New Functionality Deployed

• Project Financial Report– For FY14 expenditure data collection, NIFA

only requires Financial Reports for Capacity projects

– For FY15, both capacity and non-capacity will be required to submit Financial Reports

• http://nifa.usda.gov/resource/reeport-financial-report-manual

Project Financial Report (cont.)

• Default: Accessible to Site Admins at 1862 and 1890 Land Grants as well as Forestry and Vet Med Schools– Site Admins may assign the “financial

administrator” role to anyone they choose (there is no limit)

• Batch reporting is allowed• Due date: February 1, 2015

New Functionality Deployed

• CRIS Webforms – Decommissioned as of March 30th.

• Reporting functionality deployed in REEport.

New Functionality Soon

• Ability to edit non-capacity project initiations that have been submitted to NIFA

• Ability for NPLs to review/edit/communicate within REEport about non-capacity projects and/or reports that need changes

REEport Guide for Project Directors

http://nifa.usda.gov/resource/reeport-guide-project-directors

Improvements:– Easy-to-follow table of contents– Hyperlinks for easy toggling between sections– Clearer distinction between capacity and non-capacity projects– Better instructions for writing the “accomplishments” section

REEport Quick Guides

http://nifa.usda.gov/tool/reeport

Choose “Land Grant”or “Independent” affiliation.

Benefits:• Each is 2-3 pages• Split between capacity and non-capacity• Easily shared via email or direct links• Print out for easy reference

Sign Up for the Listserv

NIFA uses the REEportDeploy listserv to send periodic updates on REEport development, testing and deployment scheduling. The same listserv is used to send out REEport Newsletters and other urgent alerts on system happenings.

To subscribe to the email list, send an email to lyris@lyris.nifa.usda.gov. Skip your subject line and type subscribe REEportDeploy in the body of your message. Be sure you receive an email confirming your subscription

Visit the REEport Webpage

http://nifa.usda.gov/tool/reeport

Send emails to: electronic@nifa.usda.gov

Leadership Management Dashboard

Resources:

Recent Upgrades:• 2013 Data is available• Project Map for the 114th Congress• Enterprise Search Page: Grant Year, Award

Amount Range corrections, and new line for each Publication in exports.

• POW-AREERA updated Portfolios and Goals• More pages have an export feature• Portions will be released to the public to

increase NIFA transparency.

NIFA’s new website puts all the Tools together

http://nifa.usda.gov/tool/lmd

For questions or feedback about LMD

contact: lfortis@nifa.usda.gov

Thank you!Contact Us

• Lisa Scott-Morring, Policy Branch Chief, Policy and Oversight Division Lisa.Scott-Morring@nifa.usda.gov

• Policy Branch- Policy@nifa.usda.gov

• Erin Daly, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Grants and Financial Management edaly@nifa.usda.gov

• Melanie Krizmanich, Senior Policy Advisor, Policy and Oversight Division mkrizmancih@nifa.usda.gov

• Cristopher Coppenbarger, Grants Management Officer, Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), USDA christopher.coppenbarger@fas.usda.gov

• Adam Preuter, Management and Program Analyst from NIFA’s Planning, Accountability and Reporting (PARS) electronic@nifa.usda.gov or apreuter@nifa.usda.gov

• Laurie Fortis, Technical Information Specialist, Leadership Management Dashboard lfortis@nifa.usda.gov