{"377491":{"#nid":"377491","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Regulations Tighten Controls for Federal Awards","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEffective since December 26, 2014, the federal government\u2019s Uniform Requirements law is streamlining guidance and increasing accountability for recipients of federal funding. This federal law affects practically all of Georgia Tech\u2019s $700 million in funded research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a result of this law, there are now tighter timeframes and increased responsibility for award recipients. This means administrative reports will have to be submitted more quickly and often with a greater level of documentation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you perform government-funded research, financial performance and technical performance are linked in the minds of the agencies,\u201d said Jilda Garton, vice president for research and general manager of Georgia Tech Research Corporation. \u201cThe idea that you can perform the research now and catch up on the paperwork later is something we will have to be more careful about.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Uniform Requirements were developed in response to a directive from President Barack Obama to streamline guidance and increase accountability for federal grants. The Council on Financial Assets Reform (COFAR) took eight sets of existing regulations and collapsed them into one set, published in December 2013. As the new set of regulations was being developed, Georgia Tech and all others affected by the proposed changes were invited to provide comments and suggestions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to tightening the reporting timeframe, the government also is interested in seeing the award recipients\u2019 internal control processes and will require a higher documentation standard for purchasing. For example, purchasing materials or supplies that cost more than $3,000 will require getting two quotes and choosing the less expensive option, or ensuring a valid reason for not choosing the less expensive option.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPrior to this law, we didn\u2019t require bids on anything under $10,000, but that has changed to $3,000,\u201d said Garton. \u201cTherefore, a lot more purchases will have to be documented.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause this change will require many university procurement systems to be updated, this purchasing requirement will not go into effect until July 1, 2016.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe good news for Georgia Tech is that if you make purchases through Buzzmart there is already a competitive process, so you won\u2019t have to provide additional documentation,\u201d Garton said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch6\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom \u2018Should\u2019 to \u2018Must\u2019\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h6\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGarton noted that many rules that used to be \u201cgood practices\u201d under the old regulations are now requirements. The word \u201cshould\u201d has changed to \u201cmust,\u201d and her office counted 823 \u201cmusts\u201d in the new document.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut, award recipients will not receive additional funding to help them comply with the Uniform Requirements. Some may view this as another administrative burden.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHow can we do more with the same amount of funding is the trick,\u201d Garton said. \u201cOur interdisciplinary taskforce and department administrators from the College of Engineering, the College of Sciences, the College of Architecture, the College of Computing, and GTRI have been working on this since April. They have been part of the process because they will get the operational responsibility. We are doing our very best to make these changes as modest as possible, to automate systems wherever we can, and to bring everything into compliance.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe plan is to streamline the research administration process and create an electronic pathway to make it easier for faculty to do what they need to do and get the documentation required.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are trying to give them better tools, easier access, faster ways to do things, and improve the information they have to manage,\u201d Garton said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAll faculty members already have access to My Research Portal, an online system that provides customized access to every system they will need for research administration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf we do it right, this will be a win for the government and a win for us, too,\u201d said Garton. \u201cWe will be able to give our faculty a better handle on what\u2019s happening with their grants in real time. They will have better capacity to manage their grants. That helps them as much as it helps us.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs a result of the Uniform Requirements law, there are now tighter timeframes and increased responsibility for federal award recipients. This means reports will have to be submitted more quickly and often with a greater level of documentation.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The federal government\u2019s Uniform Requirements law is streamlining guidance and increasing accountability for recipients of federal funding."}],"uid":"27713","created_gmt":"2015-02-11 15:48:27","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:50","author":"Victor Rogers","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-02-11T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-02-11T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"377721":{"id":"377721","type":"image","title":"Magnifying Glass","body":null,"created":"1449246205","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:23:25","changed":"1475894342","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:02","alt":"Magnifying Glass","file":{"fid":"75193","name":"osp-hp-image.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/osp-hp-image.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/osp-hp-image.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":49053,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/osp-hp-image.jpg?itok=8XqiZ4wo"}}},"media_ids":["377721"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.osp.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Office of Sponsored Programs"},{"url":"http:\/\/osp.gatech.edu\/research-portal","title":"My Research Portal"},{"url":"http:\/\/osp.gatech.edu\/uniform-administrative-requirements","title":"Uniform Administrative Requirements"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"137","name":"Architecture"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:victor.rogers@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EVictor Rogers\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6398\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["victor.rogers@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}