New OMB Uniform Guidance

In December 2013, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced it would be issuing the Uniform Guidance which would detail revised regulations for federal grants made on or after December 26, 2014. These revisions will address new cost principles, administrative requirements, and audit protocols and will affect all new awards, supplemental funding, and renewals. Existing awards are excluded.

What is the Uniform Guidance?

The Uniform Guidance will streamline and monitor the federal grant process more effectively. These new policies will offer guidance on federal awards; reduce administrative burden on the government; strengthen oversight of funding to discourage waste, fraud, and abuse; set standard requirements for award management across all agencies, and ensure the best use of award funds. Furthermore, eight OMB circulars will be consolidated into Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

 

Highlighted Revisions

  • The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs will keep faculty and staff apprised as we adapt University policies to comply with the new guidelines. We would like to outline some of the main revisions inherent in the Uniform Guidance to give you a quick overview of the changes.
  • Federal agencies are strongly encouraged to make funding opportunities available to applicants no less than 60 calendar days beforehand.
  • Voluntary committed cost sharing is not expected and must not be considered during merit reviews of proposals. However, regulations or specifications in the Request for Proposals (RFP) may require this type of cost sharing.
  •  If certain computing devices (under $5,000) are essential and allocable to the performance of the award, then direct charging of those computing devices is allowed.
  • Performance levels for certain awards will be examined more closely. Award recipients must provide financial data that correlates to performance accomplishments; these reports must show cost effectiveness of the projects.
  • If administrative costs are integral to the study, then awardees may treat the funds as direct costs. Such costs must be identified then approved by the agencies.
  • Goods or services for personal use cannot be charged to the federal project unless essential to the project.
  • Exchange rates are chargeable; however, if the project requires additional funding or a reduction in funding, it requires written approval from the agency.
  •  Participant costs are now directly chargeable across all agencies.
  • Taxes can be charged, unless they are exempt or concern special assessments regarding land or federal income tax.
  • Visas are allocable if they are critical and necessary to the project.

You may read the Uniform Guidance at www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-12-26/pdf/2013-30465.pdf

 

Training

To assist the campus in understanding the Uniform Guidance, the Office of Procurement will be offering training sessions and has sent out notification to the Procurement-all list-serv. We encourage you to attend one of these trainings.

Please call our office at 569.569.8474 or email orsp@ualr.edu with any questions or concerns.

Regards,

Tammie Cash

 

New OMB Uniform Guidance Links

The new OMB Uniform Guidance will take effect for all federal grants and contracts received on and after December 26, 2014. The Uniform Guidance consolidates and supersedes eight existing OMB Circulars, including Circulars A-21, A-110 and A-133.

New OMB Uniform Guidance: Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.
OMB PowerPoint.

Frequently Asked Questions for New OMB Uniform Guidance at 2 CFR 200.
Resources from Federal Agencies:

Other resources:

Posted in: Announcements, News

Comments are closed.