# Presentation: 212713

## Gulf of Mexico Alliance

- Best Grant Practices
- August 18, 2008
- Corpus Christi, Texas
- Patrick Holland
- IMSG for the NOAA Coastal Services Center

## Presentation Overview

**Center Grant Activities**
**About Your Award**
**NOAA Grants Online & Award Administration**
**Award Action Requests**
**Reporting**
**Helpful Resources**

**Notes:**
Say what you expect them to walk away with & what you’ll give them to get there.
General knowledge of Grants Online
Types of actions that can be taken through Grants Online
Progress and financial reporting. 
Where to find answers to your most common questions.

## Center Grant Activities

**Notes:**
These maps illustrate the NOAA Coastal Services Center’s Grant activities since 1995.  Please see the handout for additional information regarding our grant programs.  

There has been increased focus in the Gulf region recently.  The Gulf of Mexico Alliance, as well as, the Bay Watershed Education and Training (BWET) program has helped 

## About Your Award

**Grant**
**	****Funds and services or anything of value to a recipient in order to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation that is authorized by federal statute.**
**Cooperative Agreement**
** ****   ****A cooperative agreement is a type of grant action which includes substantial involvement of the federal government during performance of the proposed activity.**

**Notes:**
 The recipient is expected to perform the project without substantial collaboration or intervention by NOAA.

## NOAA Grants Online

**	****Grants Online is a fully operational end-to-end          ****	****grants management software application implemented  ****	****by NOAA to:**
**  ****Increase efficiency as measured in reduced cycle times**
**  ****Provide tools to measure and control organizational performance**
**  ****Improve customer service**
**  ****Enable compliance with e-gov initiatives like Grants.gov**** **

## NOAA Grants Online

**Recipient User Roles**

| FUNCTIONALITY / ROLE | Recipient
Administrator | Recipient
Authorized
Representative | Recipient
Business/
Financial
Representative | Recipient
Investigator
(PI/Co-PI) | Recipient User -
Read Only
(Additional
Key Personnel) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Access All Awards for Organization | X | X | X |   |   |
| Access Specific Awards for Organization |   |   |   | X | X |
| Manage Organization User Profiles | X |  |   |   |   |
| Manage Organization User System Access | X |  |   |   |   |
| Reassign Tasks | X | X |   |   |   |
| Initiate Award Action Requests | X | X | X | X |   |
| Initiate Financial and Progress Reports | X | X | X | X |   |
| Submit Award Action Requests |   | X |   |   |   |
| Submit Financial and Progress Reports |   | X | X | X |   |

**Notes:**
 Please ensure that your entire team is in the loop with grant actions

## Award Action Requests

**Notes:**
Each link represents a different type of request.  The “Other” link can be used for requests that do not have a specific link.

The Expanded Authority No Cost Extension does not have any workflow.  Once it is invoked, the extension date is automatically applied to the award.  However, the Grants Office does get notification of this action so that the extension date can also be applied to the accounting system and ASAP to extend the time that the recipient can drawdown their money.   Currently there is no automatic update of the accounting system or ASAP.

The No-Cost Extension and Extension to Closeout will be sent to the Grants Specialist; all other requests are sent to the Program Officer.

## Award Action Request Workflow

**Notes:**
 Has anybody used NOAA’s Grants Online in the past?

## Post-Award Actions

**What is a post-award action?**
**  ****Any change to an approved project or program, such as a ****	****revision to the budget or scope of work, or an extension to ****	****the project period**
**  ****Most post-award actions require prior approval from the ****	****grants officer**
**  ****May require acceptance by organization’s authorized ****	****representative**

**Notes:**
 Please reference the e-mail I sent to each principle investigator on July 2nd.  If anyone needs me to resend the message, please send me an e-mail.

## Types of Post Award Actions

**  ****No-cost time extensions**
**  ****Budget revisions / program revisions / changes in ****	****scope of work**
**  ****Others**
**  ****Equipment purchases (>5K)**
**  ****Foreign travel**
**  ****Changes to award-related personnel**

**Notes:**
 Please reference the e-mail I sent to each principle investigator on July 2nd.  If anyone needs me to resend the message, please send me an e-mail.

## Multi-Year Award Conditions

**No obligation for future funding**
**  ****If an application is selected for funding, the U.S. ****	****Department of Commerce has no obligation to ****	****provide any future funding in connection with ****	****that award.**
**  **
**  ****If an applicant incurs any costs prior to receiving ****	****an award, it does so at its own risk of not being ****	****reimbursed. **

## Reporting Frequencies

**Performance progress reports and financial reports are synchronized and due on the following dates:**
-   April 30, 2009 – covering the period October 1, 2008, through March 31, 	2009 (interim report)
-   October 30, 2009 – covering the period April 1, 2009, through September 	30, 2009 (interim report)
-   April 30, 2010 – covering the period October 1, 2009, through March 31, 	2010 (interim report)
-   October 30, 2010 – covering the period April 1, 2010, through September 	30, 2010 (interim report)
-   April 30, 2011 – covering the period October 1, 2010, through March 31, 	2011 (interim report)
-   January 30, 2012 – covering the period October 1, 2008, through 	September 30, 2011 (comprehensive final report)
**Grants Online will send you automated notifications to remind you when reports are due.**

**Notes:**
 If a report is submitted before the due date, it is considered submitted.  If the report is not submitted, but it is still before the due date, it is considered not submitted.  However, if the report is delinquent, and then submitted, it is still considered delinquent until which time the Program Officer accepts the report (up to 30 days).

Please see the notification table I have included for you.

## Progress Report Details

**	****What needs to be included in a semi-annual ****	****performance progress report?**
- Provide a status of the project in terms of progress toward meeting milestones and deliverables in reference to the timeline described in the proposal/project plan.
- Describe any changes to the project plan and the planned budget versus actual costs.
- Briefly describe planned activities for the upcoming project period.
- Check with your financial office to make sure financial reports are up-to-date and note that in the progress report.
- Grantees should state that there are either no foreseeable circumstances that will require an extension or that they are expecting that there may be a need based on upcoming events that will require an extension to be filed before the next progress report.

**Notes:**
 Please reference the e-mail I sent to each principle investigator on July 2nd.  If anyone needs me to resend the message, please send me an e-mail.

## Final Progress Report Details

**	**
**A comprehensive final progress report is due 90 days after the end of the project period and should . . .**
**  **Clearly state the resulting impact and outcomes of your project and products in the 	coastal management community.
-   Provide a comprehensive report on the project, referencing deliverables and 	milestones described in the proposal.
-   Please ensure that financial reports are up-to-date and a final funding drawdown was 	made through ASAP; after doing this, include the following caption as a stand-alone 	paragraph near the beginning or end of the final progress report, “Final financial reports 	have been submitted to NOAA’s Grants Management Division, via Grants Online, and 	a final funding drawdown has been made through the Automated Standard 	Application for Payments (ASAP).”
-   In a section on equipment, state the intended use for any equipment purchased 	through the grant project after the project ends.

**Notes:**
 Please reference the e-mail I sent to each principle investigator on July 2nd.  If anyone needs me to resend the message, please send me an e-mail.

## Financial Report Details

**	****Financial reports must be completed in             ****	****Grants Online**
**  ****SF-269 – Comprehensive final report provides**
**	****complete disclosure of grantee expenditures and ****	****obligations for each award**
**  ****SF-272 – Semi-annual report used to monitor cash ****	****advances drawn by the recipient to ensure that excess****	****funds are not held on hand**

**Notes:**
 Please reference the e-mail I sent to each principle investigator on July 2nd.  If anyone needs me to resend the message, please send me an e-mail.

Financial reports are generated in Grants Online the day after the end of the reporting period and you have 30 days to complete the report (90 for final report).  

## Reporting Delinquencies

**What happens if I do not submit a progress or financial report?**
**If a report is more than 15 days delinquent, enforcement actions may  be recommended to include . . .**
**  ****Suspension of funding drawdown capabilities (ASAP)**
**  ****Suspension of funded actions (i.e., new applications and ****	****requests for additional/continued funding)**
**  ****Unfunded requests requiring prior approval from the ****	****grants officer will not be approved**
**  ****Suspension or debarment proceedings may commence**
**  ****Debt may be established for the recipient**

**Notes:**
Please contact the program office if you have delinquent reports.  We can work out a plan to get the report(s) submitted

- Reference Documents

**  ****DOC Standard Grant Terms & Conditions – March 2008**
**  ****NOAA Administrative Standard Award Conditions – May 2007**
**  ****Circular A122 ****– ****Cost Principles for Non-Profit Organizations**
**  ****Circular A133 ****– ****Audit of States, Local Governments, and Non-****	****Profit Organizations**
**  ****Circular A21 ****– ****Cost Principles for Educational Institutions ****	**
**  ****Circular A87 ****– ****Cost Principles for State, Local, and Indian ****	****Tribal Governments**

**Notes:**
 Agency business rules vs. regulations

- Resources

**    ****Grants Online Helpdesk: (877) 662-2478**
**	****or *****GrantsOnline.Helpdesk@noaa.gov***
**    ****Grants Online Program Management Office Website: ****	*****www.ofa.noaa.gov/~grantsonline/index.html***
**    ****NOAA Coastal Services Center Funding Website:**
**	*****www.csc.noaa.gov/funding/***
**Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns:**
**	****Patrick Holland**
**	****(843) 740-1181**
**	*****Patrick.Holland@noaa.gov***

## Slide 19