Single Audit: The FY2023 Single Audit report is complete and available for review on the ASRSP website.
Federal Agencies Withholding Funding for Entire University: At the University of California at San Diego, an investigator’s failure to submit final technical reports for two NIH grants recently led to a university-wide pause on payments for all awards from 3 federal sponsors (NIH, Office of Naval Research, and Department of the Army). In this instance, the PI retired and was under the impression the university would assume responsibility for reporting. A representative from UC San Diego articulated the warning to all peer institutions: “Federal sponsors are increasingly enforcing policies on delinquent awards, raising risks for UC San Diego’s research portfolio.” The story was reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Unobligated Balances: A large unobligated balance on a multi-year award increases the risk of lost funding. NIH recently evaluated an NU award’s large unobligated balance on their FFR, along with the absence of a carryover request, and determined that the following year’s budget would be offset by a significant portion.
NIH Policy on Unobligated Balances:
Upon receipt of the annual FFR for awards other than those with authority for the automatic carryover of unobligated balances, the GMO will compare the total of any unobligated balance shown and the funds awarded for the current budget period with the NIH share of the approved budget for the current budget period. If the funds available exceed the NIH share of the approved budget for the current budget period, the GMO may select one of the following options:
- In response to a written request from the recipient, revise the current NOA to authorize the recipient to spend the excess funds for additional approved purposes.
- Offset the current award or a subsequent award by an amount representing some or all of the excess.
Best Practices for Prevention:
- Spend awards according to the approved budget
- Post charges timely and create encumbrances
- Reconcile regularly and communicate burn rates to faculty
Additional ASRSP Quarterly Report – Coming Soon:
Beginning in June, ASRSP will produce quarterly reports identifying active federal awards with $0 in expenditures. ASRSP will distribute reports housed on SharePoint. Please be sure to post expenses as soon as the chart string becomes active and contact ASRSP for assistance.
Uniform Guidance Changes: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released updates to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance or 2 C.F.R. Part 200). The revised version will be effective for awards made on or after October 1, 2024. Below is an overview of some of the significant changes:
- An increase in the single audit threshold from $750,000 to $1,000,000
- An increase in the de minimis facilities and administrative cost rate from 10% to 15%, for those institutions who do not have a negotiated rate agreement
- An increase in the equipment threshold from $5,000 to $10,000
- An increase in the subaward exclusion threshold from $25,000 to $50,000 modified total direct costs base
- New language removes many current prior written approval requirements
ASRSP has begun reviewing the proposed guidance and will create a crosswalk to better assess changes and impacts to Northwestern. Working groups and collaborations with partners including Sponsored Research, department administrators, and other units within Financial Operations are under consideration as implementation plans develop.
Effort Reporting Support: Assistance with effort reporting for FW2024 and summer planning is now available.
Open Labs: To support department administrators with the launch of semi-annual effort reporting, open labs are available every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday through May 2nd, from 1pm-5pm. Campus administrators looking for individual support can register in advance for 30-minute sessions. Registrants will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the meeting.
Summer Salary Classes: Summer Salary training is now available in myHRLearn. All 9-month faculty are eligible to take summer salary for work performed outside of their academic year, with limitations for sponsored accounts. Course HRS402: Summer Salary is scheduled for April 24 and 29 and Tina Mete from the ASRSP Compliance Team will be at the sessions to answer effort questions.
Change to GM097: Users of the Cognos report GM097, Sponsored Project Actuals Balance Report, may notice a revision. In March, ESAF removed the column for Protocol ID from the Clinical Trials section of the report. This change was necessary because the CERES datamart does not have proposal protocol data. As a result, the report was not returning results for clinical trial awards received after CERES go-live. This change does not affect the ASRSP formatting recommendations for the GM097.
Computer Purchases: Computers or laptops purchased with sponsored funds must align with the Procurement and Payment Services guidance for suppliers. Computers and computer hardware should be purchased from approved suppliers including Apple, CDW, and Dell, and should not be purchased from Amazon.
NIH NRSA Stipend Increase: The NIH has announced an increase in pay levels for NRSA scholars, effective FY2024. Details and rationale for the change are in the official press release.
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