Sub-Contracts

Cindy Jarvis, Assistant to the Director, Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) and Jaime Bunner, Assistant Director, Financial Services

Is this a subcontractor or a vendor?

• The terms subcontractor and subrecipient mean

the same in the WVU system and will both be used during this presentation.

• This determination needs to be made at the

proposal stage as it can impact the facilities and administration rates (F&A) portion of the budget.

• Determines who is eligible to receive what financial

assistance. OSP consults the Excluded Parties list before entering into a subrecipient relationship.

Criteria for Determining a Subcontractor:

• Has its performance measured against whether

the objectives of the federal program are met.

• Has responsibility for programmatic decision

making.

• Has responsibility for adherence to applicable

federal program compliance responsibilities.

• Use the federal funds to carry out a program of

the organization as compared to providing goods or services.

Criteria for Determining a Vendor :

• Anyone who provides goods and services within normal

business operations;

• Anyone who provides similar goods and services to

many different purchasers;

• Anyone who operates in a competitive market; • Anyone who is not subject to certain compliance

animal welfare);

• Must work with WVU Procurement to issue a service

agreement.

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CORPORATION CHECKLIST FOR DETERMINATION OF VENDOR/SUBRECIPIENT NAME OF ORGANIZATION: SPONSORING AGENCY: CONTRACT/GRANT: RELATIONSHIP DETERMINED:

[ ] VENDOR [ ] SUBRECIPIENT Does the organization operate in a competitive environment?

Does the organization provide goods and services within normal business operations to different purchasers?

Does the organization provide goods or services that are ancillary to the operation of the program?

Are services being performed routine services that could be performed for the general public or general research/scientific community rather than unique to the project?

Is the contribution made to the project one of services performed rather than independent research?

Is the organization free from programmatic compliance requirements?

Is the organization using funds to carry out a program of the organization rather than providing goods and services to WVURC’s program? Is the organization free to decide how to carry out the activities of the program?

Is work being performed unique to the project and designed specifically to enhance the scientific research goals and outcomes of the program?

Does organization have distinct deliverables to deliver to the research goals of the project?

Will organization contribute deliverables with little direct supervision from WVU’s PI?

Is there an identified investigator at the organization?

Does the organization have publishing rights and responsibilities?

Will the organization have rights to resulting patentable or copyrightable technology?

Does the organization make measurable, significant, scientific contributions to the final report or product?

Is the organization required to adhere to applicable program compliance requirements?

YES NO VENDOR SUBRECIPIENT

OSP Subcontract Initiation Process:

•

If subrecipient is named in the proposal and subsequent award, then OSP will need the following in order to establish a subcontract: Statement of work specific to subcontractor’s activities: 1. Statement of work should give enough detail that it would hold up in court if there is any question as to what is expected.

•

2. If possible tie deliverables in statement of work to payments.

•

Line item budget 1. Line items in accordance with budget lines approved in the proposal.

2. Include proper fringes and F&A.

Specify deliverables

Agency Specific Terms and Conditions

• OSP will then issue a subcontract flowing down all

agency required terms and conditions – CFDA number, award name and number, if the award is R&D, the name of the Federal Agency, ARRA requirements, etc.

• Subcontractor is required to agree to all applicable

terms and conditions of the prime award.

Institution Specific Terms

• One article will indicate to whom invoices are to be

sent. Typically this is the Principal Investigator (PI). If this is not the PI, it must be someone with direct knowledge of the subcontractor’s effort.

• Insurance requirements are identified. • Liability language is an absolute requirement

.

OSP Processes

• Negotiations of all terms and conditions are conducted by

OSP. Any requested changes to the Statement of Work are forwarded to the PI for their approval.

• Once subrecipient returns signed subcontract, OSP will enter

requisition into MAP and forward electronically to designated approver within the PI’s department/college.

• Designated approver and PI (or other departmental contact if

requested) will receive hard copy for their records.

WVU Internal Processes

• After OSP issues requisition, departmental/college

approver forwards requisition to Procurement and a purchase order (PO) is issued.

• Procurement sends executed purchase

order/change order to subrecipient for their records. Subrecipient should include PO number on all invoices.

• WVU department/college business officer uses PO

to pay invoices once approved by PI.

• PI should review each invoice to ensure that

charges match deliverables.

WVU Processes continued

• If the subrecipient is not named but a contractual

line is included in the proposal, the principal investigator will need to work with Procurement on a Request for Proposals (RFP) which will seek a bid or get a sole source justification approved.

• Once a subcontractor is identified then the process

will continue as outlined above.

WVU Policy and Guidelines

A copy of the WVU OSP subcontracting guidelines can be found on the OSP web page at:

http://osp.research.wvu.edu/subcont racts

This includes our Subrecipient Monitoring Policy:

http://osp.research.wvu.edu/r/downl oad/22728

OMB Circular A-133

• A Pass Through entity is required to: – Monitor the activities of subrecipients as

necessary to ensure that Federal awards are used for authorized purposes in compliance with laws, regulations, and the provisions of contracts or grant agreements and that performance goals are achieved.

New Subcontractors

• New subcontractors asked to fill out a

Subcontractor Questionnaire

• Subcontractor Questionnaire asks for A-133 audit

results

• If A-133 isn’t applicable, subcontractor required to

answer questions about compliance issues

• Level of risk determined by answers

PI/Departmental Responsibilities

• Responsible for monitoring periodic progress

reports and invoices from the subcontractors for compliance with the terms of the contract.

• Invoices should be checked to ensure that they are

indicative of progress (i.e. amount of money spent is reflective of the work completed).

• Noncompliance with technical reporting

requirements or dissatisfaction with level of subcontractor progress should be reported immediately to the Office of Sponsored Programs.

Subrecipient Monitoring Responsibilities of Financial Services • Issues subrecipient monitoring letters of inquiry

every year

• Ensures that subrecipients receive required A-133

audits if applicable

• If A-133 audits are not applicable, other

verification of financial integrity is required

• Based on information received a risk level is

assessed. If risk is high, request documentation of internal controls, grants management procedures, etc.

Subrecipients Who Don’t Respond • Subject to withholding of future

payments

• Possible termination of subcontract

agreement

• No new subcontracts issued

Subcontract Closeout

• Final invoice submitted • Required cost-share has been met and reported • Patents and/or inventions are properly reported • Technical report(s) completed and mailed to

WVU PI

• All property reports have been completed

Questions?