Grants
benefit
federal involvement
Characteristics
Intellectual Property
No/Not subject to
Financial assistance to carry out an approved project
for public good
o No substantial federal involvement expected
o Work conducted independently; sponsor receives reports only
o Benefit of the public
o Basic & applied research
o Publication encouraged
o University retains IP
o Government receives paid-up, royalty-free license & retains march-in rights
o Fully funded
o No classified/sensitive work
o No fee or profit allowed
Not subject to FAR. Subject to UG 2
Cooperative Agreements
benefit
Federal involvement
No/Not subject to
Financial assistance mechanism
for public good
- Substantial federal involvement
- Sponsor participates/guides research
- May require cost shareNo fee or profit allowed
Not subject to FAR. Subject to UG 2
Contracts
benefit
funding subject to
Might have/is subject to
Procurement vehicle
- For benefit of the government
- Usually incrementally funded and funding could go away based on congressional approval of those funds
- May include publication restrictions
- May involve classified or controlled data
- Governed by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
- Subject to congressional appropriations
OTAs (Other Transaction Authority Agreements)
- Hybrid mechanism (not grant, cooperative agreement, or contract)
- Primarily used by DOD
- Often for research/prototyping (e.g., weapons systems)
- DOD requires membership in a consortium to get an OTA
- Not subject to FAR/DFARS (Used to avoid full FAR process)
- Allows sole-source awards
- Faster procurement method
Cost Reimbursable
o University reimbursed for actual allowable costs
o Budget includes a ceiling amount and cannot go over without sponsor approval
o Based on OMB Uniform Guidance cost principles
o Can request additional funds for justified overruns
Fixed Price
o Completion of task or milestone for payment and price is agreed upon up front.
o Risk because if there is an unanticipated cost increase you could lose money
o You could also gain money if the costs are lowered than expected and keep the unused funds
Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ)
o Issued when set quantity of goods or services are needed, but all specific are not known, so task orders are used for goods or performance of services as the details around the good or service arise without having to negotiate the contract each time
o Master agreement with no money attached initially
o Task orders issued later with money
o Efficient once established
Time and Materials
o Sponsor requires specific labor hours and actual material costs
o Paid for actual labor hours + materials and requires hourly time certification
o Difficult/improper for universities because universities do NOT track labor by hour (OMB rules prohibit this because it requires tracking of effort not hours)
FAR Federal Acquisition Regulation
Laws approved by Congress and applies to all fed agencies
* Establishes:
Procurement procedures
Contract types
Required clauses
Competition requirements
Cost principles (for contracts)
Administrative and reporting requirements
Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations
Ch 1
Ch 2
Supplements (3)
Part 1-51,
52
53
Chapter 1: The Basic Far
Chapter 2: Specific Agency Supplements
* DFARS (DOD)
* NFS (NASA)
* EDAR (USDE)
o Parts 1-51: Prescriptions
* This tells you when the FARs should be included in different types of contracts and when it is applicable
o Establishes uniform acquisition procedures for all federal agencies for federal contracts
o FARs are in the contract (even pass-through) and also often included in the RFP, in Reps and Certs during pre-award
o Part 52: FAR Clauses that are in the contract
o Part 53: Sample Gov’t forms
An anti‑lobbying certification is required for federal grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts exceeding what minimum amount
100K
Proposal and Pre-Proposal for Federal Contracting
Pre-Proposal
* Government agency identified need
Proposal
*Soliciation (RPF, RFQ)
*Outlines technical and cost proposal
*outlines any exceptions to T&C that must be identified in the proposal
*Proper format or rejected
Negotiation stage federal contracts
o Negotiation
*If Offer (proposal) is accepted by the gov’t then it is legally binding
*Review for Clauses around
* Our right to publish
* Retain title to IP (No work for hire)
* Retain title to property and equipment
o Government property clauses appear in contracts (FAR-based)
o Property under $5,000 is typically retained by the contractor
o Property must be tracked, reported, and handled according to clause terms
o Closeout reporting is mandatory even if title remains with the university
* Apply appropriate cost principles
* Determine allowable costs
* Authorize foreign nationals
Federal Contract
Award
Close out
oAward
*Includes FAR and supplemental regulations
*Contract includes base funding with option years that may or may not given based on federal budget
*Changes and future increments approved in modifications
oClose Out
*Cannot be closed out until:
*All services have been performed/deliverables accepted
*Any disputes have been settled
*Classified materials disposed of
*Final patent report has been submitted
*Gov’t property has been accounted for
*Final Invoice has been paid/remaining funds de-obligated
Contracting Officer vs
COTR Contracting Officer’s Techincal Rep
oContracting Officer
* Authorized by gov’t warrant to issue awards and modifications
* Allowed to legally bind the gov’t
oContracting Officer’s Techincal Rep (COTR) (technical is the science, not the legally binding. Like the GMS at NIH. The administrative is the legally binding).
* Appointed by CO to monitor technical performance and progress
* Reviews invoices to ensure the invoices match the performance
* Cannot legally bind the gov’t
- Bayh-Dole Act
o This is what allows us to publish and dissemination and promotes the use of inventions
o Allows university to retain title and file for patent on inventions they elect to own
o Have to disclose inventions within 2 months and gov’t retains right to use for gov’t purpose rights
Buy American Act
o Limits purchase of commerical items to domestic end productions
o Exceptions can be authorized by CO
Fly American Act
o Transportation must occur on a US flag air carrier
o Exceptions if no other option or re-routed KNOW THE EXCEPTIONS. KNOW THE ACTS.
Subaward
- Purpose of carrying out a portion of the award
o Performance Measured in relation to project performance
o Has responsibility for programmatic decision making
o Public purpose
o Must follow federal program requirements
Contactor
- Paid by PO for goods or services
- Provides goods or services within normal business operations
- Provides similar good or services to many different purchasers
- Normally operates in a competitive environment
- Not subject to all the federal program requires
Subaward Risk Assessment
- Required under UG. Anyone who gets one has to do a risk assessment on subawardee.
- Low or High Risk
- What to look at:
o Have they been debarred or suspended? If so they cannot get the funds
o Size of entity
o Domestic or Foreign (at IU foreign is automatically high risk)
o Single Audit? Any findings?
o What should be monitored for sub?
- Compliance with fed regulations
- Compliance with prime terms and conditions
- Spending is appropriate, allowable and allocable
- Adequate technical process consistent with the statement of work and invoices
FFATA
- All federal subs must be reported in SAM.gov by the last day of the month of insurance over $30K
- Sub Name, Location, Subaward, Summary of SOW
