WHAT SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT ED GRANTS? May 1996 U.S. Department of Education Washington, D.C. Richard W. Riley Secretary Madeleine Kunin Deputy Secretary -------------------------------------------- NOTE TO READER: The Information contained in this booklet is a non-technical summary of the Department of Education's discretionary grants process and the laws and regulations that govern it. This booklet should not be relied on as a sole source of information in matters of discretionary grant application, review, award, administration, closeout, or audit at the Department of Education. Nothing in this document is intended to impart specific rights to grant applicants or recipients. Please consult the appropriate regulations in Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations for the specific rules that apply to the Department's programs. Widespread dissemination of this document is encouraged. It may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means. -------------------------------------------- WHAT SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT ED GRANTS? May 1996 TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page Foreword Letter to the Reader 1. Before We Begin o How do I apply for Student Financial Assistance? o How do I apply for formula grants? 2. Let's Get Started o What is a discretionary grant? o How does ED set up discretionary grant programs? o Who runs ED discretionary grant programs? o How do I find out about ED discretionary grant programs? o How do I learn if I am eligible to receive a discretionary grant? o How do I apply for funding from an ED discretionary grant program? 3. On the Paper Trail o What is in an application package? o How do I get an application package? o How does the Department decide what goes into an application package? o What are these certifications and assurances I have heard about and how do they apply to my application? o What are regulations and how do they apply to my application? o What are funding priorities and how do they affect my application? o Is there anything I can do to help shape regulations and funding priorities? o How do I get help filling out the application forms? o Where do I send the completed application? o What happens if I have not sent all the required paperwork to the Department by the deadline? o What happens to an application once the Department receives it? o What happens to my application if the Department finds that I am not eligible to apply? 4. Waiting to Hear o How does the Department review my application? o What criteria do the reviewers use in scoring my application? o How does the Department take into account variations is scoring practices among reviewers? o How can I become an application reviewer? o How does my application get recommended for funding? o Does a recommendation guarantee funding? o How long does it take the Department to decide on my application? o Why does it take this length of time? o Is there anything else I can do in connection with my application while waiting to hear from the Department? 5. Success! o What happens to my application after the program office recommends it for funding? o What steps does the Department take before notifying applicants of funding recommendations? o How do I learn that my application has been recommended for funding? o What am I expected to do in a negotiation? How do I prepare? o Is an application always funded for the whole amount originally requested? o What happens after a negotiation? o What does my Grant Award Notification contain? How do I receive it? o How do I actually get my grant funds? o How long does it take to get my grant funds? o How do I get funds after the first year if my organization receives a multi-year award? 6. Doing It Right o What responsibilities do I have under a Department of Education discretionary grant or cooperative agreement? o What must I do if I need to change some part of my project from the original application? o What can I do to help my request for a change get processed more rapidly? o What are OMB circulars? Do they apply to my grant award? o How do I make sure that I am complying with the regulations that apply to my award? 7. Let's Talk o What is the difference between staff members in a program office and those in the Grants Division? o Does the program officer or grants officer keep in touch with me regularly? How often do I need to talk With them about my project? o Do program officers or grants officers visit my project? o What do I need to do to prepare for a site visit? 8. Wrapping It Up o What happens after the project has ended? o What is my role in this process? What responsibilities do I have after the project has ended? o What happens if I cannot send my final reports by the due dates because I have not finished the work of the project? o What happens if I have completed the work of the project but cannot send my final reports by the due date for some other valid reason? o How do I get help completing my reports? o Where do I send my reports and how many do I need to send? o What happens if the Department does not receive my reports? o Do I have to keep any records related to my grant project after the Department closes out my grant? 9. Just One More Thing o What are the audit requirements related to my grant? o What happens in an OIG audit? o What happens if costs or activities are determined to be unallowable as a result of my audit? Will I have to pay money back? o Can I appeal the Department's decision that I must repay money? Glossary Other Information Sample Grant Award Notification Afterword -------------------------------------------- FOREWORD One of the Department's many functions is working with our partners--individuals, schools, nonprofit groups, state and local governments, and others--to whom the Department gives funding as part of our mission to ensure equal educational access and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation. Our ability to help create a high-performance education system for the 21st century is directly linked to your understanding of the ways to apply for and make proper use of federal grant funds. Over the years we have listened carefully to the questions about the grants process that our customers have asked us. What Should I Know about ED Grants? is designed to 'de-mystify' the grants process within the Department. I hope that in doing so we will communicate to our applicants and recipients a clear sense of their role as our partners in fulfilling the legislative intent of the Department's many discretionary grant programs. I hope you will find this booklet helpful. Please let us know what you think of it and how we can improve it to serve you better. Richard W. Riley -------------------------------------------- LETTER TO THE READER May 1, 1996 Dear Reader: Last year we published What Should I Know about ED Grants? in response to a recommendation from the Vice-President's National Performance Review that the Department undertake a communications effort to inform citizens about the discretionary grants process here. Since that time, thousands of copies have been distributed across the country to organizations, recipients, and the general public, who have given the publication an enthusiastic reception. In response to the demand for copies, the Department' Grants Division is issuing this second printing. Its content does not differ from the first printing. However, it does contain typographical corrections and some updated contact information in the section, 'Other Information'. Please be aware as you read through the booklet that the process of re-inventing government continues to transform the ways that the Department does business with its customers. While re-invention has the ultimate goal of better service for you, it means that policies and procedures in the Department are evolving also. In the coming year, some of them will differ in various ways from those described in these chapters as a result of the major initiative underway in the Department to streamline and re-engineer the discretionary grants process. Therefore, I encourage you to contact program offices or grants management staff members at any time to learn about the most recent developments related to any topic discussed in the booklet. You may also contact my office on (202)708-5601 with your questions. I would like to thank Ronelle Holloman, Mary Jane Kane, Glenn Riley, Kathy Thomas, and their chief editor, Greg Vick, for developing the concept for this publication and for writing and editing its contents. From the favorable reactions to the booklet we have received so far, I know that their efforts will continue to be of great help to you in understanding the discretionary grants process, whether you are a first-time applicant or a previous grant recipient. In closing, I repeat Secretary Riley's invitation to share your comments on the booklet with us. Please send them to the address listed in the 'Afterword' section on the last page. Sincerely, Mary P. Liggett, Acting Director Grants Division Grants and Contracts Service -------------------------------------------- 1 BEFORE WE BEGIN * How do I apply for Student Financial Assistance? * How do I get more information about formula grant programs? This booklet is intended for readers who are interested in applying to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for discretionary grants and cooperative agreements, those who have received an award, or persons who are simply interested in knowing more about the discretionary grant-making process at the Department. It describes how discretionary grant and cooperative agreement programs are created by Congress and administered by the Department and how the public goes about applying for and receiving discretionary grants. This booklet does not contain information about programs of the Department that give student financial assistance or funding through formula grant programs. (NOTE: Words appearing like this the first time they appear are defined in the Glossary.) How do I apply for Student Financial Assistance? The Student Financial Assistance Programs office of the Office of Postsecondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education offers funding to individuals looking for financial help in pursuing their educational goals. Under these programs, the Department makes a variety of grants and loans for postsecondary education. For more information about these programs and their application process, dial 1-800-4-FEDAID (1-800-433-3243). How do I get more information about formula grant programs? Formula grant programs, sometimes referred to as state-administered programs or statutory entitlement programs, are administered by various program offices. Further information about formula grant programs at the U.S. Department of Education is contained in the Guide to U.S. Department of Education Programs (the Guide). [Information about getting a copy of the Guide is given in the section, 'Other Information,'.] You should contact directly the program office that administers the particular formula grant program in which you are interested. -------------------------------------------- 2 LET'S GET STARTED * What is a discretionary grant? * How does ED set up discretionary grant programs? * Who runs ED discretionary grant programs? * How do I find out about ED discretionary grant programs? * How do I learn if I am eligible to receive a discretionary grant? * How do I apply for funding from an ED discretionary grant program? The process of making a federal grant begins long before an applicant or recipient ever sends a piece of paper to the government. Federal grants have their origin in the legislative process of the Congress and the regulatory process of the federal agencies. Even then, it would not be possible for a federal agency such as the Department of Education to make grants without setting up a structure for their orderly administration. This chapter presents the big picture of the way that discretionary grant programs are set up in the Department; it gives you a better idea where grants come from and how you can learn more about the grant opportunities that are available to you. What is a discretionary grant? Unlike a formula grant, which the Department awards to all eligible parties based on a predetermined formula, a discretionary grant is one that the Department awards on the basis of a competitive process. The Department reviews applications competitively in light of the legislative and regulatory requirements established for a program. This process of competitive review affords the Department discretion in determining which applications best address the program requirements and are therefore most worthy of funding. How does ED set up discretionary grant programs? Congress establishes discretionary grant programs through authorizing legislation and appropriations legislation. The Department then usually writes program regulations based on the authorizing legislation, which describe how the programs are to be administered. After these program regulations are published in final form, the Department can solicit applications and award grants. Who runs ED discretionary grant programs? The Department is composed of six broad areas of responsibility for program administration, called Principal Offices. Each is responsible for overseeing a portion of the programs established by the Congress and administered by the Department. The Principal Offices are: * Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs (OBEMLA) * Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) * Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) * Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) * Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) * Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) The Principal Offices are further subdivided into program offices, which administer the Department's discretionary grant programs on a daily basis. The program office conducts the review of applications and makes recommendations for funding to the called Grants Division of the called Grants and Contracts Service, which, in turn, is an administrative unit of the called Office of the Chief Financial Officer. The Grants Division then negotiates and awards the grants. Administering grant awards is a joint undertaking of the Grants Division and the program offices. How do I find out about ED discretionary grant programs? There are different means by which you can get information about the discretionary grant programs at the Department of Education: * To get a general overview of the Department's programs, you can write or phone the Department to get a copy of the Guide to U.S. Department of Education Programs (the Guide), mentioned in the previous chapter. This publication describes the various discretionary grant programs and gives a telephone contact number for each program, which you can call for further information. You can also get this document in electronic format, as described below. * The Department publishes an application notice in the Federal Register to inform potential applicants of each new discretionary grant competition. An Application Notice invites applications for one or more competitions, gives basic program and funding information on each competition, and informs potential applicants when and where they may obtain applications. Program offices often publish an Application Notice for each individual program, but they are encouraged to include their notices in the departmental Combined Application Notice (CAN), generally published in the spring. The CAN lists most of the discretionary grant competitions planned for the coming year, with application deadlines and other basic information. * If you have a modem or access to a modem, you can read the Guide and other information about Department of Education grant programs by dialing the Department's ED Board. You can search and download text files, read application notices posted there, and search for types of discretionary grant funding by Principal Office and type of program. [Information about contacting the ED Board or about obtaining the Federal Register is given in the section, 'Other Information,'.] How do I learn if I am eligible to receive a discretionary grant? The first issue to consider before applying for a grant is whether your organization is eligible to apply for funding from the program. If you are not sure about the grant programs under which you would be eligible, start with the Guide, discussed above. The Guide has an index to help you identify the grant program(s) in which you are interested. The Guide also gives the CFDA number for each grant program, a system of numbering based on the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. It is essential that you use this number when contacting the Department so that you will receive the right information about the specific grant program(s) of interest to you. Once you know the number and title of the grant program(s) under which you want to apply, you may wish to review the program regulations by looking them up in the Code of Federal Regulations. [Information about obtaining a copy of the Code of Federal Regulations is given in the section, 'Other Information'.] The Code of Federal Regulations is updated only once a year. Therefore, it might not include recent changes to program regulations. You should contact the program office listed in the Guide to confirm the status of the program regulations. The application package lists the eligibility requirements, generally drawn from the legislation establishing the program. Eligibility might be limited to a particular type of organization (e.g., only state education agencies), organizations that serve only a particular group (e.g., disadvantaged students only), or organizations that meet some other criteria. In some cases an organization wishing to apply under a particular program must first apply to the Department to be certified as eligible for that program. Requirements vary from program to program; read the application package carefully before preparing your application. How do I apply for funding from an ED discretionary grant program? Contact the program office responsible for the program that interests you and request an application package. Follow the application instructions in the package, which generally require you to complete certain standard forms and send them, along with a narrative description of the proposed project and an estimated budget, to the Department by a certain date. Please note that some program offices publish their application forms in the Federal Register along with their application notices. In those cases you may simply photocopy the forms directly from the Federal Register pages and do not need to get the forms from the program office. -------------------------------------------- 3 ON THE PAPER TRAIL * What is in an application package? * How do I get an application package? * How does the Department decide what goes into an application package? * What are these certifications and assurances I have heard about and how do they apply to my application? * What are regulations and how do they apply to my application? * What are funding priorities and how do they affect my application? * Is there anything I can do to help shape regulations and funding priorities? * How do I get help filling out the application forms? * Where do I send the completed application? * What happens if I have not sent all the required paperwork to the Department by the deadline? * What happens to an application once the Department receives it? * What happens to my application if the Department finds that I am not eligible to apply? Asking for grant funds from the Department of Education is not an inherently complicated process, but it does require that you give us different kinds of information so that we can consider your request fairly and completely. The Department is working toward that day in the future when it can offer applicants the opportunity to do all this electronically through an automated process of data exchange between you and us. For the time being, however, paper is the primary medium of communication--from you to us, from us to you. Applying for discretionary grant funds means that you have to complete and send to us two or more different forms. This chapter tells what those forms are, why each is needed, how to get copies of them for your use, and where to send them. What is in an application package? New discretionary grant application packages include the Application Notice, program regulations and/or legislation, and all forms and instructions needed to apply for a grant. Some application packages contain a Dear Colleague letter from a Principal Office official, which gives an overview of the particular program and discusses any funding priorities in effect for a particular competition. How do I get an application package? Application packages are available from the specific program office that is responsible for a particular program. Some application packages are also published in the Federal Register for an applicant to photocopy and use. The program office for the program in which you are interested can tell you how to get a copy of their application package. How does the Department decide what goes into an application package? Certain forms are required by the Department's regulations or applicable statutes. Others are required by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Whatever the case, the Department needs the information requested on the forms in order to process your application. The Department is aware of the paperwork burden that the grants process imposes on applicants and recipients. As part of the federal effort to improve service to the public, the Department of Education is continuously trying to determine the ways that paperwork can be lessened and welcomes your suggestions. What are these certifications and assurances I have heard about and how do they apply to my application? Various federal requirements are imposed on applicants and recipients as a condition for receiving grant funds. Application packages contain forms that an applicant is required to sign, promising to abide by various federal laws, regulations, and executive orders that apply to recipients. For example, standard assurances relate to such items as civil rights or environmental laws; one of the certifications requires that you agree to maintain a drug-free workplace. Some programs give funding to a recipient, who then distributes some of the money to other persons--e.g., fellowship holders, contractors, and others. In these cases, recipients might be required to get certain forms signed by those persons as well. What are regulations and how do they apply to my application? Regulations are rules of general applicability (i.e., they apply to all applicants and/or recipients in a particular program). The Department publishes program regulations in the Federal Register (which are later made part of the Code of Federal Regulations) before soliciting applications and awarding new grants in a program. The Department also publishes administrative regulations that apply to all grant recipients. One group of these administrative regulations is collectively known as EDGAR (Education Department General Administrative Regulations). [Information about obtaining a copy of these regulations is given in the section, 'Other Information,'.] What are funding priorities and how do they affect my application? For some programs, the Department publishes funding priorities in the Federal Register to identify what activities will be funded in a given year. If the Department publishes an absolute priority for a program, it will then fund only those applications that address that priority. For example, a published absolute priority to fund only projects that increase the amount of time students are engaged in the study of mathematics and science would require that only those projects that are designed to achieve this result could potentially receive funding. If the Department publishes competitive priorities for a program, applicants meeting those priorities might receive additional points during the competitive review process. There are also invitational priorities, which encourage applicants to address certain issues. If you are considering submitting an application, be sure to read all the material in the application package carefully to identify any published priorities. Is there anything I can do to help shape regulations and funding priorities? Yes. Members of the public have the opportunity to offer comments on proposed regulations and funding priorities. Before the Department formally publishes regulations and funding priorities, it issues a notice of proposed funding priorities or a notice of proposed rulemaking (regulations) with a request for comments by a certain deadline. Sometimes, the Department accepts comments at publicly announced hearings. You can review the Federal Register for Department of Education notices of proposed priorities and rulemaking and provide comments during the specified comment period to the persons named or at the places identified in the notices. How do I get help filling out the application forms? The specific program office for a particular program can answer your questions about the required forms. The notice inviting applications for a competition, published in the Federal Register, gives the name of a contact person. In addition, application packages often contain a 'Dear Colleague' letter, which usually gives the name of a contact person for applicant inquiries. Some program offices also sponsor pre-application workshops to assist potential applicants in the application process. Where do I send the completed application? For most grant programs, the Application Control Center, an area of the Department's Grants and Contracts Service, is the only place in the Department of Education that is authorized to accept applications for discretionary grants and cooperative agreements. A few programs, however, are authorized to accept their own applications. Some of these programs are located at the Department's headquarters facilities in Washington, D.C. Others are located in the Department's regional locations throughout the country. The application package for each program gives the address and other specific mailing information. Read and follow very carefully the mailing instructions given in each application package. What happens if I have not sent all the required paperwork to the Department by the deadline? The Department has an absolute policy of not accepting applications that arrive after the deadline for a particular program's competition, known as the deadline date (or the 'closing date'). To be assured of consideration, an application from an eligible applicant--with all forms and other required paperwork--must arrive in the Application Control Center (or other place specified in the application) by the closing date. The Department notifies an applicant that an application will not be considered if it is received after the closing date. What happens to an application once the Department receives it? The Department's headquarters--or, in some cases, a regional receipt point--records each application, assigns to it a PR/Award number and sends it to the appropriate program office, which screens the application for eligibility and completeness. The program office then conducts a competitive review of all eligible applications, ranks them, and recommends the most highly ranked applications to the Grants Division for funding. Grant applications recommended for funding in the Department's regional offices are sent to the grant administrator for that region. The Grants Division (or regional grants administrator) then negotiates with the successful applicants and awards the grants. What happens to my application if the Department finds that I am not eligible to apply? If an application does not meet the eligibility criteria for the particular program to which it was sent, the Department notifies the person who signed the application that the application is not eligible and will not be considered. The letter from the Department explains the reason(s) that the application is not being reviewed in the competition. -------------------------------------------- 4 WAITING TO HEAR * How does the Department review my application? * What criteria do the reviewers use in scoring my application? * How does the Department take into account variations is scoring practices among reviewers? * How can I become an application reviewer? * How does my application get recommended for funding? * Does a recommendation guarantee funding? * How long does it take the Department to decide on my application? * Why does it take this length of time? * Is there anything else I can do in connection with my application while waiting to hear from the Department? Having to wait for any desired outcome is always a challenging experience. But it is even more so when one is waiting to learn the fate of an application to the Department for funding, since the future of programs and individuals at an applicant organization is often linked to the Department's decision. Frequently, some months elapse between an application deadline and the day when applicants learn about the funding recommendations made for a particular group of applications. The Department is always seeking ways to reduce the time period between application deadline and award day and welcomes your suggestions to that effect. Nonetheless, some waiting is always involved, due to the volume of applications the Department receives as well as the added time required for the Department to act on its commitment to give each application a fair and thorough review. This chapter describes what happens to your application after the Department receives it and includes a couple of suggestions for what you can do in the meantime. How does the Department review my application? In addition to recruiting federal employees within and outside the Department to serve as grant application reviewers, the program office recruits non-federal persons from outside the Department who have expertise in the subject area(s) of the applications being considered. Each reviewer reads and scores a group of assigned applications. After the reviewers score the applications, the program office conducts an internal review to assure that the reviewers' scoring sheets are correctly completed and that the application meets all the requirements of the program. These two review processes become the basis for a final listing of applicants that the program office recommends for funding. What criteria do the reviewers use in scoring my application? Reviewers score each application against the selection criteria published in the Federal Register as part of the program regulations, which are discussed in Chapter 2 of this booklet. Or, reviewers use the selection criteria in EDGAR if there are no program regulations. In reviewing applications, reviewers are not permitted to use additional criteria or consider any information that is not in the application. How does the Department take into account variations in scoring practices among reviewers? Program officials have the option of using a computer program in the review process to normalize reviewers' scores. This normalization compensates for the tendencies of some reviewers to score applications higher or lower than other reviewers for the same group of applications. With normalized scores, the program officials are able to prepare a rank order list of applications that negates, as much as feasible, any unusual variations in scoring. How can I become an application reviewer? Contact the staff members in the program office that handles grant programs in your area of expertise and inform them of your interest. Phone numbers for program offices can be found in the Guide. Usually, a staff member asks a person expressing interest in taking part in the review process to send a resume or curriculum vitae in order to evaluate the person's credentials as a potential reviewer. How does my application get recommended for funding? Your application must score highly and meet all other requirements of the program to be recommended for funding. Does a recommendation guarantee funding? No. An award is not final until the negotiation has been successfully concluded and a Grant Award Notification has been signed by the grants officer and mailed to the applicant. (This process is discussed in further detail below.) How long does it take the Department to decide on my application? Although the time varies from program to program, it takes approximately six to eight months from the time the Department receives a new grant application to the time the award is made. Why does it take this length of time? The Department must carefully follow all of its own procedures, as well as requirements established by Congress and OMB, in reviewing applications and awarding grants. We must assure that the review and award process is fair to all applicants. This takes time. However, as part of its ongoing effort to improve service to its applicants, the Department is studying ways to shorten the review period and consequent waiting period for applicants. Is there anything else I can do in connection with my application while waiting to hear from the Department? Yes. You might want to take time to review thoroughly the program regulations and other guidance contained in the application package to make certain you have a good understanding of the program's requirements. If any questions come to mind, jot them down and keep them with your copy of the application materials. This puts you in a good position to negotiate, should the Department let you know of a favorable decision on your application. -------------------------------------------- 5 SUCCESS! * What happens to my application after the program office recommends it for funding? * What steps does the Department take before notifying applicants of funding recommendations? * How do I learn that my application has been recommended for funding? * What am I expected to do in a negotiation? How do I prepare? * Is an application always funded for the whole amount originally requested? * What happens after a negotiation? * What does my Grant Award Notification contain? How do I receive it? * How do I actually get my grant funds? * How long does it take to get my grant funds? * How do I get funds after the first year if my organization receives a multi-year award? The big day has finally arrived. You receive from the Department a notification by letter or phone that your application has been recommended for funding. You breathe a sigh of relief and then the question undoubtedly crosses your mind: What next? In a sense, it can be said that it is at this point that the real work begins, since further interaction in the form of the negotiation between you and the Department is usually required before the Department can actually provide any funding for your project. And then, of course, come the actual activities of your project, which go on for a year or more. This chapter delves into the details of the way that your funding recommendation turns into a grant award, what takes place during the negotiation, and the process of turning that prized grant award into the dollars that are essential for you to carry out your project successfully. What happens to my application after the program office recommends it for funding? Once the program office completes its review, recommends specific funding amounts for applications, and ranks applications in order of funding recommendation, it sends the list of recommended applications and amounts, called the slate, to the Principal Officer of the program office for final review. If the Principal Officer concurs in the slate recommendations, he or she signs the slate, making the recommendations official, at which point the program office is authorized to send the recommended applications to the Grants Division along with any recommendations for changes to the budget and any questions that the program office has for the applicant. After the Grants Division receives your application, staff members review program office recommendations, analyze the budget, negotiate the details of the award with your organization's representative, obligate the grant funds for your organization (see obligation in the section, 'Glossary,'), and sign your official Grant Award Notification. This phase of the process takes from four to seven weeks. The answers to the following questions describe these steps in further detail. What steps does the Department take before notifying applicants of funding recommendations? After receiving the application and supporting materials from the program office, the Grants Division creates an official grant file for each application and assigns each file to a grants specialist. The grants specialist then makes a careful review of the materials to make sure all required forms (including certifications and assurances) are complete and correct. The cost analysis comes next. This process determines if the proposed costs of an applicant's budget are allowable, allocable, and reasonable. In analyzing costs, the grants specialist reviews the recommendations of the program officer, the itemized budget, and parts of the narrative portion of the application to determine how the costs relate to the activities and objectives of the grant. In addition, the grants specialist might make note of any additional questions about certain cost items that the budget does not adequately address, including those related to insufficient justification for claimed indirect costs. How do I learn that my application has been recommended for funding? About the same time that the program office is getting recommended applications ready to send to the Grants Division for its review (as mentioned above), it usually sends out notification letters to applicants. These letters let applicants know whether or not their applications have been recommended for funding. The program office might also send letters to a third group of applicants, advising them that they are in a 'hold' funding status. While this latter group is not yet actually recommended for funding, having ranked slightly lower than the recommended group, they still have a chance of being recommended if additional funds become available or if one or more of the recommended applicants declines an offer of award. At the same time, the Department is also sending notification letters to members of Congress from states where recommended applicants are located. As a result, applicants sometimes receive news of funding recommendations from their congressional delegations as well. After having reviewed the application package and having completed the cost analysis, the grants specialist contacts the applicant to schedule a mutually agreeable time for negotiating the grant. Usually, that person is the one listed in block #3 of the federal form that acts as the cover page of the application (Standard Form 424 or SF-424). In general, it is the practice of the Grants Division to do a negotiation by telephone, although occasionally they are done in person. In cases where the Grants Division determines that there are no substantive fiscal or regulatory issues pertaining to the application, a negotiation might just be carried out by letter. The length of the negotiation depends on the number of questions you might have, the questions the program officer and grants specialist might have, the nature and complexity of the application, and the possibility of future continuation grants. As each grants specialist reminds applicants, the phone negotiation does not constitute an award. Keep in mind that, at the point of negotiation, any proposed funding is still a recommendation only, and the award is not official until you have received the signed Grant Award Notification. (A sample of a Grant Award Notification is in section "Sample Grant Award Notification") Sometimes the program officer and/or program staff take part in the negotiation, depending on the concerns of the program office and the nature of the grant. Other times the grants specialist shares the program officer's concerns with you and asks you to respond in writing. What am I expected to do in a negotiation? How do I prepare? The grants specialist expects you to answer questions about your application that came up during the panel review or the subsequent review conducted by the program office. The grants specialist also discusses with you the budget for the project. More often than not, applicants need to make reductions and other changes to the original, proposed budget as a result of the negotiation. One of the best things you can do to prepare for a negotiation is to have in mind ways of adjusting the proposed activities discussed in the application, so as to achieve the stated goals of your project even if your budget is modified or reduced. In general, applicants are asked to respond in writing to both programmatic and budgetary questions and to prepare revised materials. In such cases, you can plan on being asked to provide the basis for the amounts requested in your budget. An example: If you are requesting six computers, please tell us why. Is it because the program is operating in six school buildings? Or is there another rationale? Another example: If you are requesting travel funds, a grants specialist asks for details to support your estimate (Who is traveling? To what location? For what purpose? What amounts are for air fare, per diem, or mileage?). A surprising number of budget adjustments must be made during the negotiation due to computation errors. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of checking your budget figures thoroughly before you send your application and revised materials to the Department. Other items that are discussed during a negotiation are budget period, project period, EIN, and the regulations that apply to your grant. The EIN is the IRS-assigned employer identification number, which your institution or organization enters in block #6 of the Standard Form 424. For you to get your money, it is very important that the EIN is correct because it becomes the basis of the entity number, which identifies your account in the Department. Once the grant is awarded, an entity number is entered into block #7 of the Grant Award Notification. The Department, in turn, links the entity number to a Payment Identification Number (PIN) , which you use to draw down your award funds electronically. The grants specialist guides you through applicable regulations during the negotiation. One important thing to remember is that different regulations apply to a grant award, depending on the program to which you have sent an application and the type of recipient you are. State and local government entities have different regulations from institutions of higher education (IHEs), nonprofit organizations (NPOs), or commercial entities. Throughout the negotiation the grants specialist keeps a careful written record of the details discussed, which is turned into a written memorandum for the official grant file. Based on the items discussed during your negotiation, applicants are asked to send revised materials, generally within a very short time. If you have questions while preparing your revised materials, contact your grants specialist as soon as possible for technical assistance. It is extremely important to return the revised materials by the deadline to which you have agreed. Remember to send an original for the official grant file and one copy for the program office. (NOTE: At approximately the same time as the negotiation is taking place, it is recommended that you work with your business office to set the grant up on a schedule that coincides as much as possible with your institution's or organization's administrative and accounting needs as well as the needs of the project.) Is an application always funded for the whole amount originally requested? No. In some cases the reviewers or program office might determine that certain proposed activities in the application are unnecessary and recommend deleting them and their associated costs from the award. In others, the grants specialist who performs the cost analysis might determine that the amounts requested for particular items are excessive and negotiate a different amount with you. In addition, some programs have cost-sharing requirements. This means that the program legislation or regulations require that the recipient contribute some percentage of the total project costs during the budget period being funded. Be sure to read application materials carefully to learn if you are required to include cost-sharing contributions in your application budget. The grants specialist who negotiates your award with you also calls any requirements for cost-sharing to your attention during the negotiation. What happens after a negotiation? After a negotiation, the grants specialist enters the negotiated amounts, budget and project periods, the names of key personnel, entity number, and other applicable data into the Department's computer system and prints the Grant Award Notification. At this point, the Grant Award Notification is still not official, however, since it has not yet been signed by a grants officer. The grants specialist carefully checks revised materials to make sure that all computations are correct and that all issues have been addressed. If the revised materials contain errors or are incomplete, the grants specialist contacts you for further revisions. Once revised materials are complete and correct, the grants specialist presents the official file and Grant Award Notification to the grants officer who actually signs the document and makes the obligation for the award. What does my Grant Award Notification contain? How do I get it? After it is signed by the grants officer, your Grant Award Notification is ready for mailing out. Some Grant Award Notifications contain attachments, which spell out additional terms and conditions of the award, and enclosures that give further guidance on administrative procedures (e.g., where to mail required reports). The attachments and enclosures contain important information about your award; you are urged to pay particular attention to them as you read your Grant Award Notification. Grant Award Notifications for the first or interim years of multi-year awards contain information about anticipated future periods and tentative levels of funding. Two copies are mailed to each institution. One copy goes to the certifying representative (the person who signed block #18 of the SF-424). The second copy goes to the person listed in block #5 of the Grant Award Notification, who is usually the project director. The Department mails a book containing the Education Department General Administrative Regulations with each project director's copy. These materials generally arrive by mail a short time thereafter. How do I actually get my grant funds? Some recipients who have never had a grant from the Department or another federal agency might expect to receive a check for the grant amount with the Grant Award Notification. However, the Department has established an indirect procedure for paying out grant funds to recipients. If you have not previously received a grant award from the Department, you will receive a package from the Department's Financial Payments Group at about the same time that you receive the Grant Award Notification. This package contains information and instructions to follow after receiving your signed Grant Award Notification so that your organization can establish an entity number with the Department in order to request funds through the Education Department Payment Management System (EDPMS). If you have received an ED grant before and have already established an entity number, you do not receive the financial information package. Instead, the Grant Award Notification will include an attachment that gives the latest payment request information. In either case, the Department generally makes advance payment on grant awards to a recipient using one of two methods: 1) Automated Clearing House/Electronic Funds Transfer (ACH/EFT) or 2) FEDWIRE - Electronic Funds Transfer. How long does it take to get my grant funds? With the ACH/EFT method, funds will appear in your bank account approximately two days after you have sent a payment request. With the FEDWIRE method, approved payments are electronically transferred the next day. How do I get funds after the first year if my organization receives a multi-year award? During the course of the first year or each interim year of a multi-year award, the staff of the program office that is responsible for administering your particular grant reviews different kinds of information about the progress that your project is making under the award. This information is gathered primarily from reports that you are required to send to the Department. (You will find more details about reporting requirements under grants in Chapter 8.) If the program office determines that your project has made substantial progress with the current funding already received and if Congress appropriates funds, the program office staff will recommend to the Grants Division that funding for your award be continued into the next year. After receiving this recommendation from the program office, the staff of the Grants Division will prepare another Grant Award Notification that gives details of the time period and amount of funding for the next phase of your award. -------------------------------------------- 6 DOING IT RIGHT * What responsibilities do I have under a Department of Education discretionary grant or cooperative agreement? * What must I do if I need to change some part of my project from the original application? * What can I do to help my request for a change get processed more rapidly? * What are OMB circulars? Do they apply to my grant award? * How do I make sure that I am complying with the regulations that apply to my award? Recipients often ask what is required for them to do their projects 'right.' In fact, there is more than one answer to that question since a grant project is really a combination of different efforts: performing the substantive activities related to the project's professional discipline or field of endeavor, managing the personnel and the other administrative aspects of a project, learning and following the various requirements of law and regulation that govern federally funded projects, and undertaking the whole project within the framework of the organization that has received the grant and is sponsoring the project activities. This chapter presents some of the most frequently asked questions recipients have about trying to do it all 'right.' As your project progresses, you will undoubtedly think of others. What responsibilities do I have under a Department of Education discretionary grant or cooperative agreement? During the course of the first year or each interim year of a multi-year award, the staff of the program office that is responsible for administering your particular grant reviews different kinds of information about the progress that your project is making under the award. This information is gathered primarily from reports that you are required to send to the Department. (You will find more details about reportin; You have the following major responsibilities when undertaking a project funded by the Department of Education: * performing the work promised in the application; * exercising proper stewardship of federal funds; * complying with all legal and regulatory requirements; and * reporting all required information to the Department. In addition, each award for a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement imposes specific responsibilities on a recipient, depending on the program from which you receive funding. What must I do if I need to change some part of my project from the original application? The first step is to determine whether or not the planned change requires approval. Please note that many changes do NOT require the prior approval of the grants officer. You are urged to read the book containing the EDGAR regulations that comes with your award package to determine whether or not this is true for your case. If you determine that a planned change does not require prior approval, you can avoid having to prepare unnecessary paperwork to send to the Department. If, after reading the regulations, you are still not certain, call your grants specialist for technical assistance. Changes that require prior approval are called administrative actions and generally take from 15 to 30 days to process. It is the goal of the Grants Division to reduce the paperwork burden on recipients, including those related to administrative actions, to the full extent allowable by regulation. However, if prior approval is required, you need to send to the Grants Division an original and one copy of your request. The Grants Division sends the copy to the appropriate program officer for a written recommendation for approval or disapproval. The grants specialist then prepares a written recommendation and presents the documents to the grants officer for a final decision of approval or disapproval. What can I do to help my request for a change get processed more rapidly? You can take a number of steps that greatly add to the speed with which we can process your request for a change to a project. Most of them seem to be minor, but multiplied over thousands of grants, such small items add up to great gains in efficiency on the part of the Department, and help us do a better job for you. For example: Always use your PR/Award number. Also called your 'grant number,' this number gives the Grants Division a great deal of information. We recommend you even put it on the outside of your envelopes, so that in the event your grant is reassigned to another grants specialist, your correspondence can be properly redirected before we even open the envelope. The PR/Award number is the only quick and accurate way we have to access your official file or your records in our data system. Always have it handy, even when leaving a phone message. Always send an original and one copy. Both the Grants Division and the program office keep records of each action. Since our copiers stay very busy, we can serve you much more quickly if you make the copy before you send it. Always check your computations in budgets more than once. We recommend that you ask others on your staff to help proof the math portions of your application, revised materials, or prior approval requests. Computation errors are one of the biggest causes of delays in processing your requests. Read carefully the attachments and enclosures that came with your Grant Award Notification. The attachments and enclosures sent with your Grant Award Notification contain important information that can simplify administering your grant on such topics as getting payment, sending required reports, and following special terms and conditions. When in doubt, ask. If you are not sure about something, do not hesitate to contact your grants specialist. Grants specialists are here to give you technical assistance and to help you understand grant regulations and the award documents. Their guidance can help you to make sure that your documents are complete the first time you send them in and to avoid sending unnecessary paperwork. What are OMB Circulars? Do they apply to my grant award? The Office of Management and Budget, in the Executive Office of the President, issues OMB circulars, documents that act as guidance for federal departments and agencies on a variety of topics. Some circulars establish federal policy on matters of grant administration. It is important for you to remember that OMB circulars do not apply to Department of Education grant awards until the Department adopts them in regulations that specifically govern the Department. [Information about obtaining OMB circulars is given in the section, 'Other Information'.] How do I make sure that I am complying with the regulations that apply to my award? Carrying out your project in a way that is consistent with the requirements of federal regulations is really a process that begins before you even receive a Grant Award Notification. From the time that you are notified that your application has been recommended for funding and is likely to receive a grant from the Department, we suggest that you make yourself very familiar with the program regulations. You can find these regulations in the application materials that the Department originally sent to you. As time passes, we encourage you to develop the same knowledge of the administrative regulations found in the copy of the EDGAR book mailed to you with your Grant Award Notification. The table of contents at the beginning of each part of these regulations helps you locate the area(s) of interest to you. If you still have questions after reading through the regulations, call the grants specialist whose telephone number appears on your Grant Award Notification under the line that reads 'Education Grants Staff.' If that person is not available, you can talk with the grants officer who signed your Grant Award Notification. -------------------------------------------- 7 LET'S TALK * What is the difference between staff members in a program office and those in the Grants Division? * Does the program officer or grants officer keep in touch with me regularly? How often do I need to talk With them about my project? * Do program officers or grants officers visit my project? * What do I need to do to prepare for a site visit? As the previous chapter implies, a big part of doing it 'right' is two-way communication between the Department and its recipients about recipients' activities throughout the life of a grant project. Naturally, recipients often wonder to whom in the Department they should be talking, how often, and under what circumstances. This chapter describes the various staff in the Department whom recipients encounter during a grant project, their role in the process of grant administration, and the place that departmental monitoring holds in your project. What is the difference between staff members in a program office and those in the Grants Division? The program offices and the Grants Division work cooperatively to administer the Department's programs. However, persons in these offices have different roles in the grants process. Program officers are responsible for developing program regulations, application notices, and application packages; they oversee the review and ranking of applications sent to the Department. Program officers provide detailed recommendations to the Grants Division on grant applications and participate in a negotiation, as necessary. They also monitor funded projects and make recommendations to the Grants Division on requests from recipients for revisions to a project. (See monitoring in the section, 'Glossary'.) Grants officers have final authority for both the award of grants and for the approval (or disapproval) of changes to projects supported by grants. They work on a daily basis with grants specialists, who report to them. Grants specialists are responsible for analyzing application budgets and negotiating grants with those applicants recommended by the program officer for funding. You must send all requests for revisions to a project funded by the Department to the 'Education Grants Staff' member whose name appears in Block 3 of the Grant Award Notification. This will usually be the grants specialist assigned to your project. He or she consults with the program officer before making a recommendation to the grants officer for a final decision on your request for revisions. Should you receive a grant, take special notice of the names of the program officer, the grants officer, and the grants specialist that appear on your Grant Award Notification. Does the program officer or grants officer keep in touch with me regularly? How often do I need to talk with them about my project? Receiving your Grant Award Notification symbolizes the beginning of a partnership between your organization and the Department of Education. On-going dialogue is a significant feature of that relationship. Monitoring discretionary grants and cooperative agreements is the most important aspect of the Department's participation in such a partnership. The Department provides both oversight and technical assistance to recipients through a continual process of review and evaluation of a recipient's project activities. The Department's monitoring can take many forms, some of which include: * regular phone calls; * letters between the Department and the recipient; * review of independent evaluators' reports of recipient progress; * activity reports that the recipient sends; * face-to-face meetings between ED employees and recipient staff members at professional meetings; * 'site' visits by ED staff members to a recipient's location. The types and extent of monitoring vary by program and the type of recipient. Whatever the case, the Department intends to provide some monitoring for all projects, so as to enhance two-way communication that furthers the goal of better stewardship of federal funds. You should feel free to contact the Department's program officers and/or grants officers and specialists about your project as often as necessary in order to make substantial progress in carrying out your project activities. The Department welcomes efforts from its recipients to initiate and sustain communication. ED staff members stand ready to answer your questions and help you understand federal requirements and procedures better. Do program officers or grants officers visit my project? There is no way to predict exactly which recipients will receive a site visit from the Department. However, in view of the fact that the Department has limited resources for travel and makes well over 10,000 awards for discretionary grants and cooperative agreements each fiscal year, the likelihood that any particular recipient will receive a site visit in any given year is very small. From time to time there seems to be a misunderstanding among some recipients that the Department chooses only 'troubled' projects for site visits. Nothing could be further from the truth! Ideally, the Department seeks to make site visits to a representative sampling of recipients and projects across programs. There are numerous reasons for a site visit to a recipient's location, most of them favorable. Recipients should view site visits as unique occasions, which present an opportunity for staff members from the Department and recipient organizations to get to know one another better. They also permit the recipient to present information about the progress of its project in depth and detail. What do I need to do to prepare for a site visit? Since the requirements of each program and the procedures of each program office vary, you should ask for guidance from the program office and/or Grants Division staff members assigned to your project about preparing for an announced site visit. -------------------------------------------- 8 WRAPPING IT UP * What happens after the project has ended? * What is my role in this process? What responsibilities do I have after the project has ended? * What happens if I cannot send my final reports by the due dates because I have not finished the work of the project? * What happens if I have completed the work of the project but cannot send my final reports by the due date for some other valid reason? * How do I get help completing my reports? * Where do I send my reports and how many do I need to send? * What happens if the Department does not receive my reports? * Do I have to keep any records related to my grant project after the Department closes out my grant? Finishing project activities by the end of a budget period or the project period is really only half of the story of a grant project. The other half is telling the sponsoring agency--in this case, the Department of Education--about it. You should put as much care into timely, accurate, and comprehensive reporting of activities you undertake as you put into planning those same activities when writing the application. Your reporting, in turn, becomes the basis for the Department's evaluation of the effectiveness of its programs as well as its own reporting to Congress, the General Accounting Office, and the public. This chapter gives some frequently asked questions about the required reports and points you toward staff members in the Department who can help you complete them. What happens after the project has ended? The Department begins steps to close out a grant officially after the expiration or termination of grant support (i.e., usually after the end of the project period). During closeout, the Department determines that all applicable administrative actions as well as the required work of a grant project have been completed and that all federal funds have been properly accounted for. What is my role in this process? What responsibilities do I have after the project has ended? You are responsible for preparing two basic types of reports for discretionary grants and cooperative agreements: financial reports and performance reports. (Cooperative agreements might require additional items as well.) The terms and conditions of all grants require that you send reports after the end of the project period. In addition, discretionary grants or cooperative agreements of more than one budget period require that you send reports intermittently during the life of the project as well. For all reports, be sure that you always provide complete and accurate information. The Department must have all of your required reports in order to close out a grant. Therefore, you are responsible for sending to the Department all financial and performance reports as well as any other documents required as a condition of the grant. Interim financial or performance reports are due according to the schedule of due dates shown in your Grant Award Notification and its accompanying materials. Final financial and performance reports for all awards are due within 90 days after the end of the project period (or the termination of the grant, if that occurs). What happens if I cannot send my final reports by the due dates because I have not finished the work of the project? You can request an extension of the project, and you can do so up to 45 calendar days before the end of the project period. However, we recommend that you notify your grants specialist of such a request sooner than that if at all possible. You must clearly justify a request to extend a project period and demonstrate that: a) the extension does not involve the obligation of additional funds; b) time is needed to carry out the activities already approved; and c) the extension does not violate any statute or regulation. You must send the written request, with one copy, to your grants specialist. The Department looks at each request on a case-by-case basis. The Department can waive the 45-day requirement for written requests for a time extension to a project if: a) you could not have known of the need for an extension on or before the start of the 45-day time period; or b) you can show that failing to give a 45-day notice was otherwise unavoidable. What happens if I have completed the work of the project but cannot send my final reports by the due date for some other valid reason? The Department might extend the due date for your final reports or other required documents if you send a request in writing with a strong justification for the need to do so. How do I get help completing my reports? Your program officer can give you guidance on the required content and format for the performance report(s) you are required to send. For help with the type of financial report that the Department requires from most recipients, the SF-272, you can ask for help from the payment contact person in the Financial Payments Group. The phone number of the Financial Payments Group staff member assigned to your state or territory is included in the information sent with your Grant Award Notification. For some grants, the Department requires that the recipient also send another type of financial report, the SF-269. You can direct questions about the latter report to your grants specialist. Where do I send my reports and how many do I need to send? Keep in mind that the terms and conditions of grant awards require that you send to the Department different types of reports: performance reports and financial reports (discussed above) and audit reports (discussed in the next chapter). Refer to the attachments and enclosures with your Grant Award Notification to learn the address to which you must send your reports (or other required documents). Note also that different reports go to different places. As always, remember to send an original and one copy of each report or required document. Always write your PR/Award number on all documents. What happens if the Department does not receive my reports? Your reports and other required documents give the two people who worked most closely with your project, the program officer and the grants specialist, the opportunity to learn directly from you about your project's activities and achievements and your management of federal funds. Not sending reports or other required documents can place your organization in non-compliance with the terms and conditions of the grant award. Noncompliance status jeopardizes your chance for future funding from the Department. Therefore, it is critical that you send all your reports by the due dates to the proper persons. Do I have to keep any records related to my grant project after the Department closes out my grant? Yes. Grant closeout affects neither the recipient's legal requirements for retaining all records of a grant project nor the rights of a federal agency to have access to those records. Almost all ED programs fall under the record retention provisions of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), which require you to maintain grant records for three years after the completion of the activities for which grant funds were used (usually interpreted by the Department as three years after the end date of the project period). Your grants specialist can answer any questions you have about record retention. -------------------------------------------- 9 JUST ONE MORE THING * What are the audit requirements related to my grant? * What happens in an OIG audit? * What happens if costs or activities are determined to be unallowable as a result of my audit? Will I have to pay money back? * Can I appeal the Department's decision that I must repay money? The project activities are finished, the Department has received all the required reports, and the records of your project are safely stored away for the next few years. That just about takes care of everything, right? Not quite. During the life of a grant project, you will most likely be required to get an independent audit of your project and its expenditures and to send a copy of the audit report to the Department for its review. In some instances the Department conducts its own audit of your grant project after the end of the project period. This is one reason that it is important that you observe and follow the record retention requirements discussed in the previous chapter. This chapter discusses a few things you should keep in mind with regard to departmental audit requirements and procedures, especially in those (hopefully rare) instances where you might have to give some of the grant money back. What are the audit requirements related to my grant? In all cases, it is crucial to keep in mind that the time to start planning for an audit is before the grant begins. One of the most important contributions to wise management of federal funds is a well-established system of financial management and control for grant funds. In fact, 'audit readiness' is a natural by-product of the proper conduct of federal grant activities, since accepting federal funds carries with it the Department's expectation that the recipient will exercise good stewardship of public funds. One way to insure that your systems are adequate to meet audit standards is to work closely with the business office in your agency or institution or with outside financial consultants before the start of the first budget period. Doing so enables you to anticipate any areas of fiscal accountability that might require particular attention (e.g., creating and maintaining complete and accurate time and effort records for the work of grant project personnel). The audit requirements of EDGAR depend on the type of recipient and the total dollar amounts of awards received. States and local governments receiving between $25,000 and $100,000 in federal funds must have an audit done annually, in accordance with OMB Circular A-128. Institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations receiving over $100,000 in federal awards are required, under OMB Circular A-133, to have an audit done at least every two years. It is important to remember there are two types of audits for discretionary grant projects. The first type is the one your organization arranges to have done by independent auditors in response to requirements of OMB Circulars A-128 or A-133, as discussed above. The second type is an audit for fiscal and program compliance done by the ED Office of Inspector General (OIG). These occur less frequently and not every recipient receives one. The OIG is the area of the Department that reviews your A-128 and A-133 audit reports. OIG audits are most frequently triggered by serious audit findings identified during an OIG review of the A-128 and A-133 audit reports. You must send copies of your audit reports to the address given in the instructions that accompany your Grant Award Notification. What happens in an OIG audit? The OIG audit follows several specific steps, which include an entrance conference, survey, fieldwork, exit conference, draft audit report, and final audit report. The entrance conference is held to explain the purpose of the audit, establish working arrangements, obtain copies of necessary documents from your organization, and answer any questions you may have. During the survey phase, OIG auditors gather from you general information on your organization. In the third phase, fieldwork, auditors study specific activities or operations and examine pertinent documents, records, and procedures. The exit conference takes place before the OIG issues its draft report. The exit conference gives your organization an opportunity to comment on OIG findings and provide additional information before the draft report is issued. The draft report presents the preliminary OIG findings and recommendations. You will have 30 days to respond to the findings in a draft report. Your comments will be included as an attachment to the final report. The final report gives the name of an official in the Department who is responsible for resolving the issues discussed in the report. Sometimes, the final report will ask you to offer comments on that version in 30 days as well. What happens if costs or activities are determined to be unallowable as a result of my audit? Will I have to pay money back? Sometimes an audit reveals information about deficiencies or weaknesses in activities carried out under a grant. Whether they concern monetary or non-monetary concerns, such items are called audit findings. Sometimes this information is related to expenditures for items or services that the Department determines are not allowed by ED (or other federal) regulations. If this happens, the Department takes steps to recover the money from the recipient, starting with the audit resolution process. The Department's Audit Resolution Specialist assigned to your audit conducts an objective review of the auditor's findings and recommendations. You may be asked to provide further information in addition to your initial response to the audit. The audit resolution process is designed both to protect the Department's interests in ED- funded programs and activities and to be fair to its recipients. An authorized management official in the Department writes a Program Determination Letter (PDL), notifying you of management's decisions on the auditor's findings and recommendations. If there are audit findings, the letter will indicate the corrective action you are asked to take and/or the amount you are asked to repay. Detailed instructions regarding the method of repayment accompany repayment requests. Can I appeal the Department's decision that I must repay money? The Program Determination Letter will include any information on appeal procedures that might be available to you and your opportunity to provide further documentation. You need to adhere to these procedures carefully, particularly with respect to the deadline for submitting an appeal. -------------------------------------------- GLOSSARY Administrative regulations. Regulations that implement (1) guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) contained in circulars that apply to the administration of all federal grants and cooperative agreements, (2) Presidential Executive Orders (where regulation is necessary), and (3) legislation that affects all applicants for or recipients of federal grants and cooperative agreements; see also EDGAR (defined below). Application Control Center. The area of the Department of Education [in the Grants and Contracts Service (defined below)] that is officially authorized to receive applications for discretionary grants and cooperative agreements. Application notice. A notice published in the Federal Register (defined below) that invites applications for one or more discretionary grant or cooperative agreement competitions, gives basic program and fiscal information on each competition, informs potential applicants when and where they can obtain applications, and cites the deadline date (defined below), for a particular competition. Application package. A package that contains the application notice for one or more programs and all the information and forms needed to apply for a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement. Appropriations legislation. A law passed by the Congress to provide a certain level of funding for a grant program in a given year. Assurances. A listing of a variety of requirements, found in different federal laws, regulations, and executive orders that applicants agree in writing to observe as a condition of receiving federal assistance. Audit finding. A conclusion about a monetary or non-monetary matter related to an auditor's examination of an organization, program, activity, or function, which frequently identifies problems and provides recommendations for corrective action in order to prevent their future recurrence. Audit resolution process. The process by which the Department determines whether costs under a grant that have been identified in an audit report as questioned or unsupported are actually allowable or unallowable and initiates action to have recipients return unallowable expenditures. Audit Resolution Specialist. The Department staff member who reviews audit reports on recipients' projects and develops the proposed recommendations to management for settling cases of expenditures not allowed under discretionary grants or cooperative agreements; these recommendations become the basis for decisions issued in the Program Determination Letter (defined below). Authorizing legislation. A law passed by the Congress that establishes or continues a grant program. Budget period. An interval of time into which a project period is divided for budgetary purposes, usually twelve months. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. Publication and database produced by the General Services Administration that lists the domestic assistance programs of all federal agencies and gives information about a program's authorization, fiscal details, accomplishments, regulations, guidelines, eligibility requirements, information contacts, and application and award process; also called the CFDA. Certification. A statement, signed by an applicant or recipient as a prerequisite for receiving federal funds, that it 1) meets or will adhere to certain conditions and/or 2) will undertake or not undertake certain actions. CFDA number. Identifying number for a federal assistance program, composed of a unique two-digit prefix to identify the federal agency ('84' for the Department of Education), followed by a period and a unique three-digit code for each authorized program. Closeout. The process during which the Department determines that the recipient has performed all required work of a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement and undertakes all necessary administrative actions to make any final fiscal adjustments to a recipient's account. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Compilation of all final regulations issued by federal agencies and published annually by the National Archives and Records Administration; divided into numbered 'Titles'; Title 34 contains the regulations of the Department of Education. Competitive review process. The process used by the Department of Education to select discretionary grant and cooperative agreement applications for funding, in which applications are scored by subject-area experts and the most highly scored applications are recommended for funding. Continuation grant. Additional funding awarded for budget periods following the initial budget period of a multi-year discretionary grant or cooperative agreement. Cooperative agreement. A type of federal assistance; essentially, a variation on a discretionary grant (defined below), awarded by the Department when it anticipates having substantial involvement with the recipient during the performance of a funded project. Deadline date. The date by which the Department must receive a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement application for it to be considered for funding. Discretionary grant. An award of financial assistance in the form of money, or property in lieu of money, by the federal government to an eligible recipient, usually made on the basis of a competitive review process. ED. The acronym for the U.S. Department of Education (i.e., Education Department). ED Board. An electronic bulletin board service (BBS) of the Department of Education that gives information on discretionary grant, cooperative agreement, and contract opportunities at the Department. EDGAR (Education Department General Administrative Regulations). Administrative regulations governing ED discretionary grant and cooperative agreement programs found in Parts 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 85, and 86 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations (defined above); a book issued by the Department that contains a reprint of these regulations. Employer identification number (EIN). The number the Internal Revenue Service assigns to every employer; used by the Department as the basis for the entity number (defined below). Entity number. The number the Department creates, using the employer identification number (defined above), to identify a recipient (as distinct from the award itself) in its dealings with the Department; enables the Department to establish an account and to identify the correct recipient to receive the funds awarded under a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement. Federal Register. Daily compilation of federal regulations and legal notices, presidential proclamations and executive orders, federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other federal agency documents of public interest; prepared by the National Archives and Records Administration for public distribution by the Government Printing Office; publication of record for ED regulations. Financial Payments Group (Financial Services). The administrative unit of the Department of Education that makes payments of federal funds to recipients of discretionary grants and cooperative agreements and receives recipients' completed SF-272 reports. (See Financial report, below.) Financial report. A document the recipient sends to the Department showing the amounts and/or types of expenditures made under an ED discretionary grant or cooperative agreement; usually made on a federal form, SF-272; for some grants, the financial report is also made on another federal form, SF-269. Formula grant. A grant that the Department is directed by Congress to make to recipients, for which the amount is established by a formula based on certain criteria (e.g., population) that are written into the legislation and program regulations; directly awarded and administered in the Department's program offices (defined below). Funding priorities. Activities, identified by the Department in advance of a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement competition, that applicants are asked to include in an application so as to receive preference in the review process; they include absolute priorities (the applicant must address them in order to be considered for funding), competitive priorities (the applicant can choose whether or not to address them and the application might receive additional points for doing so, depending how well the applicant addresses the priority), and invitational priorities (the applicant is encouraged to address the stated priorities, but the application does not receive extra points for doing so). Grant application reviewer ('reviewer'). An individual who serves the Department by reviewing new discretionary grant and cooperative agreement applications; also referred to as 'field reader' or 'peer reviewer.' Grant Award Notification. Official document signed by the grants officer stating the amount and the terms and conditions of an award for a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement. Grant programs. For the purposes of this booklet, programs of discretionary grants and/or cooperative agreements administered by the Department of Education. Grants and Contracts Service (GCS). The organizational unit of the Department of Education that has authority for overseeing the Department's assistance (grants) and procurement (contracts) processes; holds responsibility for the related functions of establishing indirect cost rates and developing automated systems for processing grants and contracts. Grants Division. The administrative unit of the Grants and Contracts Service (defined above) responsible for negotiating, awarding, administering, and closing out all of the Department of Education's discretionary grants and cooperative agreements. Grants officer. The only person in the Department of Education who has the authority to award its discretionary grants and cooperative agreements and to establish or revise their terms and conditions. Grants specialist. The staff person in the Grants Division (defined above) who reports to the grants officer and who negotiates discretionary grants and cooperative agreements and handles the details of administering them on a daily basis. Indirect costs. Costs of an organization incurred for common or joint objectives, which cannot be readily and specifically identified with a particular grant project or other institutional activity. Monitoring. Activities undertaken by ED staff members to review and evaluate specific aspects of a recipient's activities under a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement; they include 1) measuring a recipient's performance, 2) assessing a recipient's adherence to applicable laws, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the award, 3) providing technical assistance to recipients, and 4) assessing whether a recipient has made substantial progress. Negotiation. Preaward discussions conducted by the Grants Division to establish the conditions and amount of a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement; based on recommendations from the cognizant Principal Office, a cost analysis of the applicant's budget, and a review of proposed activities. Notice of proposed rulemaking. An announcement published in the Federal Register (defined above) of proposed new regulations or modifications to existing regulations; the first stage in the process of creating or modifying regulations. Obligation. An entry made by a grants officer in the Department's automated accounting system that authorizes the Financial Payments Group (defined above) to make payments of federal grant funds to a recipient. Office of the Chief Financial Officer. A major organizational unit in the Department that includes the Grants and Contracts Service and the Grants Division as well as the Financial Payments Group (defined above). Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circulars. Administrative policy documents that give instruction to federal agencies on a variety of topics, including the administration of federal grants and cooperative agreements. Payment identification number (PIN). A number associated with a recipient's entity number (defined above), which enables the recipient to draw down cash payments authorized by a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement award. Performance report. A report of the specific activities the recipient of a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement has performed during the budget period or the project period. Principal Office. For the purposes of this booklet, one of six organizational units of the Department responsible for administering programs that award discretionary grants and cooperative agreements: Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs (OBEMLA); Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI); Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE); Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE); Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS); and Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE). Principal Officer. The Department official who is head of one of the six Principal Offices listed above; holds the rank of assistant secretary or its equivalent. Program Determination Letter (PDL). An official written notice from an authorized Department of Education management official to an audited recipient that sets forth the Department's decision on findings in an audit report, including all necessary actions and repayment of funds for which the recipient is responsible. Program office. A sub-unit of a Principal Office that conducts the daily work of administering ED discretionary grant and cooperative agreement programs, including the review and ranking of applications. Program officer. Program office staff person responsible for 1) developing program regulations (defined below), application notices, and application packages (defined above), 2) overseeing the review and ranking of applications submitted under their programs, 3) providing detailed funding recommendations to the Grants Division for applications, 4) participating in negotiations, as necessary, 5) providing technical assistance to applicants and recipients, 6) monitoring funded projects, and 7) making recommendations to the Grants Division about recipients' requests for revisions to project activities and budgets. Program regulations. Regulations that implement legislation passed by Congress to authorize a specific grant program; they include applicant and participant eligibility criteria, nature of activities funded, allowability of certain costs, selection criteria under which applications will be selected for funding, and other relevant information. Program staff. Individuals who report to program officers and handle day-to-day program office responsibilities as assigned by the program officer. Project period. The total amount of time (sometimes several years) during which the Department authorizes a recipient to complete the approved work of the project described in the application; project periods of more than one year are divided into budget periods (defined above). PR/Award number. The identifying number for a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement award, composed of seven parts (e.g., H029A31234-93C): 1. Principal Office designator (H) 2. CFDA numeric suffix of the program (029) 3. Alphabetic sub-program identifier (A) 4. Last digit of the fiscal year of the competition (3) 5. Unique application identifier (1234) 6. Fiscal year of the funding (93) 7. Sequential order of the most recent funding action in a Fiscal Year (C) The first five parts remain the same throughout the life of the project period while the last two parts change by budget period. Regulations. For purposes of this booklet, federal rules of general applicability that are authorized by federal laws or other federal authority and contained in the Code of Federal Regulations (defined above). Slate. The official list of recommended applicants and award amounts in a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement competition. Standard Form 424 or SF-424. A standard grant application form, sometimes referred to as the application 'cover page,' used by the Department of Education and other federal agencies. Student financial assistance. ED funding in support of undergraduate or graduate students attending colleges, universities, and other postsecondary institutions that meet the Department's eligibility requirements; provided by Student Financial Assistance Programs in the Department's Office of Postsecondary Education and administered separately from the Department's discretionary grant and cooperative agreement programs; sometimes referred to as 'student aid.' -------------------------------------------- OTHER INFORMATION 1. U.S. Department of Education o General Information To get more information about any aspect of the Department, its structure, or its program, or to get answers to questions not answered by this booklet, contact: Goals 2000 (800) USA-LEARN o U.S. Department of Education Guide to Programs You can ask for a copy of the Guide in one of the following ways: By telephone (voice): (202) 708-8773 By mail: Department of Education Management Support Division GCS Room 3616, ROB Washington, DC 20202-4653 By modem: The text of the Guide can be downloaded from ED Board, one of the Department's computer bulletin boards. (See information below for guidance in using ED Board services.) o ED Board (This is the computer bulletin board that lists opportunities for getting grant, cooperative agreement, and contract funding from the Department of Education. It contains such items as Federal Register notices announcing competitions and the Combined Application Notice. Information on ED Board can be downloaded.) Dial-in number: (202) 260-9950 Modem speed: 14,400 bps Settings: 8 data bits/1 stop bit/no parity Terminal emulation: VT 100 Line feeds: recommended (NOTE: ED Board can also be accessed via the FedWorld bulletin board on (703) 321-8020 or via the INTERNET at: gopher://gcs.ed.gov/ http://gcs.ed.gov 2. INTERNET Those with access to the INTERNET can tap a rich collection of education-related information at the U.S. Department of Education's OERI Gopher/FTP/World Wide Web site. The material at the site concentrates on statistical information and educational research and improvement and contains such items as research findings and syntheses, full-text publications, directories of effective programs, and other similar data. You have the following options for access: ED/OERI WWW server: Point your WWW client software to our uniform resource locator (URL) http://www.ed.gov ED/OERI Gopher server: Point your Gopher client software to gopher.ed.gov All other Gophers: NorthAmerica >USA > General > U.S. Department of Education FTP: ftp.ed.gov log on anonymous (same material available on Gopher server) (NOTE: The Department does not offer public access Gopher or WWW clients. You cannot access the server through Telnet sessions with the Department's site. You must either have an appropriate Gopher or WWW client, such as NCSA Mosaic or Lynx, at your site or be able to telnet to a public access client elsewhere.) You can address suggestions or questions about the contents of the Gopher, FTP, and WWW servers to one of the following e-mail addresses: inetmgr@inet.ed.gov gopheradm@inet.ed.gov wwwadmin@inet.ed.gov 3. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance gives comprehensive information on grants and other forms of assistance available from programs across the whole federal government. In addition, it provides a wealth of information on such topics as the organizational structure of federal agencies and grant proposal writing. The catalog is sent to a number of distribution points, including U.S. Government Depository Libraries in each state, Federal Executive Boards in major metropolitan areas, and offices of state and local governments. It is often available in the reference sections of major libraries as well. You can also purchase a subscription directly from the Government Printing Office. For further information, please contact: Superintendent of Documents Attn: New Orders Box 371954 Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954 or any of the U.S. Government Bookstores located in major cities throughout the nation (see 10., below). Data on catalog programs can also be searched through the Federal Assistance Programs Retrieval System (FAPRS), a computerized question-answer system designed to provide rapid access to information in the catalog via key-word and criteria searches. States have designated access points where you may request a search of FAPRS to be made. Catalog data may also be purchased on floppy diskettes (or magnetic tape) for use at local sites. For further information on FAPRS, designated access points, or purchasing the catalog in data format, please contact: Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog Staff (WKU) General Services Administration Ground Floor, Reporters Building 300 7th Street, SW Washington, DC 20407 Telephone: (202) 708-5126 Toll-Free Answering Service: 1-800-669-8331 4. Federal Register The Federal Register is published daily, Monday through Friday, and provides a uniform system for making available to the public regulations and legal notices issued by federal agencies. The Government Printing Office distributes paper, 24x microfiche, and online versions to U.S. Government Depository Libraries (see 9., below). It is often available in the reference sections of other major libraries as well. You can also purchase your own paper or microfiche subscription. For further information, contact: Superintendent of Documents Attn: New Orders Box 371954 Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954 or any of the U.S. Government Bookstores located in major cities throughout the nation (see below). Telephone orders can be made with a credit card by dialing: (202) 512-1800 (voice) (202) 512-2250 (fax) (202) 512-2265 (TDD) The Federal Register is also available as an online database. Public access is available in the following ways: o Telnet to swais.access.gpo.gov, login as guest (no password required) o Use a modem to dial (202) 512-1661, type swais, login as guest (no password required) o Reach the database via the World Wide Web at the URL: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/ o Dial (202) 512-1530 (voice) for information and assistance with online services Other questions about the Federal Register can be directed to customer service on (202) 523-5227. 5. Code of Federal Regulations The Government Printing Office distributes the Code of Federal Regulations to each U.S. Government Depository Library (see 9., below). The Code is often available in the reference sections of major libraries as well. You can also purchase volumes directly from the Government Printing Office. For further information please contact: Superintendent of Documents Attn: New Orders Box 371954 Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954 or any of the U.S. Government Bookstores located in major cities throughout the nation (see 10., below). Telephone orders can be made with a credit card by dialing: (202) 512-1800 (voice) (202) 512-2250 (fax) (202) 512-2265 (TDD) 6. Federal Legislation You can obtain copies of pending and enacted federal legislation by contacting the Senate or House of Representatives at the following numbers: Senate Document Room: (202) 224-7701 House Document Room: (202) 225-3456 (NOTE: You must know the bill or law number in order to ask for copies of legislation.) For further information about ordering other congressional documents, contact the Government Printing Office on (202) 512-1800. 7. Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) EDGAR is composed of Parts 74-86 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations (see 5., above). Since it is designed primarily for the benefit of recipients of discretionary grants and cooperative agreements, the Department provides copies, as a matter of practice, only to those who have already received an award. If you are a recipient who did not receive a copy with your award package, you may ask for one by contacting the grants specialist named in block 3 of your Grant Award Notification. An electronic version of EDGAR can be downloaded from the ED Board (see 1., above). 8. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars To order OMB circulars by telephone, call (202) 395-7332. You can send written requests to: Office of Management and Budget EOP Publications Room 2200, NEOB 725 17th Street, NW Washington, DC 20503 You must know the number of the circular that you wish to receive. 9. U.S. Government Depository Libraries U.S. Government Depository Libraries are found in each state and act as official repositories for federal documents, such as some of those mentioned in this booklet. To learn the location of the libraries in your state, you can purchase a copy of the booklet, A Directory of U.S. Government Depository Libraries, from one of the regional U.S. Government Bookstores (see 10., below). Or, you can call: (202) 512-1119 (voice) (202) 512-1432 (fax) Those with INTERNET access can send a message to: inspect@access.digex.net 10. U.S. Government Bookstores In addition to buying publications directly from the Government Printing Office, you can find them at any of the 24 regional U.S. Government Bookstores throughout the nation. Bookstores are located in the following cities: Atlanta, GA Dallas, TX Laurel, MD Portland, OR Birmingham, AL Denver, CO Los Angeles, CA Pueblo, CO Boston, MA Detroit, MI Milwaukee, WI San Francisco, CA Chicago, IL Houston, TX New York, NY Seattle, WA Cleveland, OH Jacksonville, FL Philadelphia, PA Washington, DC Columbus, OH Kansas City, MO Pittsburgh, PA Please call directory assistance to get the most recent phone numbers for any of the locations. 11. Federal Information Center The Federal Information Center provides a wealth of information about the operations and offerings of the federal government, including telephone contact numbers that you can dial to get grant-related information from other Federal departments and agencies. You can contact the Federal Information Center between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (eastern time) at: 1-800-347-1997 12. Miscellaneous sources of information o National Grants Management Association (NGMA) is a private membership organization of representatives of federal and state grantor entities, non-governmental organizations, college and university officials, and other persons responsible for administering assistance programs. The organization provides monthly and annual training conferences in the Washington, DC area and publishes a semi-annual journal and a quarterly newsletter. Membership is available by paying annual dues. For further information, contact: NGMA 1414 Prince Street Suite 375 Alexandria, VA 22314 (703) 519-1712 o The Foundation Center The Foundation Center provides information about non-federal sources of funding. In addition to its publications and extensive collection of materials at its several locations in the U.S., the Center also offers an Associates Program and a Cooperating Collections Program at numerous sites throughout the nation. You can obtain more information by contacting the Center's headquarters at: The Foundation Center 79 Fifth Avenue, Dept. JG New York, NY 10003-3076 212) 620-4230 -------------------------------------------- EXPLANATION OF BLOCKS ON THE GRANT AWARD NOTIFICATION --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Items preceded by an asterisk (*) differ or do not appear on formula or block grants. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- For Discretionary, Formula, and Block Grants (See Block 4 of the Notification) 1. Recipient Name -- Legal name of the recipient, name of the primary organizational unit that will undertake the funded activity, and the complete address of the recipient. The recipient is commonly known as the 'grantee.' 2. *Project Title -- A brief description of the project that includes the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) title and/or the project title as shown on the grant application form, the date(s) of the application, and any negotiated amendments. 3. *Project Staff -- This block contains the names and telephone numbers of the U.S. Department of Education and recipient staff who are responsible for project direction and oversight. *Receipt Project Director -- The recipient staff person responsible for administering the project. This person represents the recipient to the U.S. Department of Education. *Education Program Staff -- The U.S. Department of Education staff person responsible for the programmatic concerns of the Department. *Education Grants Staff -- The U.S. Department of Education staff person responsible for the administrative and business-management concerns of the Department. 4. *Award Information -- Unique items of information that identify this notification. PR/Award Number -- A unique, identifying number assigned by the Department to each application. On funded applications, this is commonly known as the 'grant number.' Action Number -- A numeral that represents the cumulative number of steps taken by the Department to date to establish or modify the award through fiscal or administrative means, Action number '01' will always be 'NEW AWARD.' Action Type -- The nature of this notification (e.g., NEW AWARD, CONTINUATION, REVISION, ADMINISTRATIVE). Award Type -- The particular assistance category in which funding for this award is provided, i.e., DISCRETIONARY, FORMULA, or BLOCK. 5. *Award Periods -- Project activities and funding are approved with respect to two different time periods, described below: Budget Period -- A specific portion of time for which Federal funds are being provided from a particular fiscal year to fund a recipient's approved budget. The start and end dates of the budget period are shown. Project Period -- The complete length of time for approved activities, from the start date of the first budget period to the projected end date of the final budget period. A project period may contain one or more budget periods. 6. *Authorized Funding -- The dollar figures in this block refer to the Federal funds provided to a recipient during the award periods. *This Action -- The amount of funds obligated (added) or de-obligated (subtracted) by this notification. *Carry-Over -- The amount of funds, remaining from the previous budget period, that are authorized by the Grants Officer for use in the current budget period. This item does not appear on all notifications. *Budget Period -- The total amount of funds of all obligations during the stated budget period, plus any authorized carry-over *Project Period -- The amount of funds obligated from the start date of the first budget period to this date. This amount does not include carry-over. Recipient Cost-Share -- The funds, expressed as a percentage, that the recipient is required to contribute to the project, as defined by the program legislation or regulations and/or the terms and conditions of the award. 7. *Administrative Information -- This information is provided to assist the recipient in completing the approved activities and managing the project in accordance with U.S. Department of Education procedures and regulations. Payment Method -- The means by which Federal funds are transferred to a recipient's account. Most grants are paid through the U.S. Department of Education Payment Management System (EDPMS). Entity Number -- A unique, identifying number that the Department assigns to each recipient for payment purposes. The number is based on the recipient's Internal Revenue Service tax identification number. *Regulations -- The parts of the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) and specific program regulations that govern the award and administration of this grant. *Attachments -- Additional sections of the Grant Award Notification that discuss payment and reporting requirements, explain Department procedures, and add special terms and conditions in addition to those established in Block 9 of the award. Any attachments provided with a notification continue in effect through the project period until modified or rescinded by the Grants Officer. 8. *Legislative and Fiscal Data -- This block gives the name of the authorizing legislation for this grant, the CFDA title of the program through which funding is provided, and U.S. Department of Education fiscal information. Appropriation, FY, CAN, Object Class -- The fiscal information recorded by the U.S. Department of Education accounting system to track obligations by award. Amount -- The amount of funds provided from a particular appropriation and common accounting number (CAN). Some notifications authorize more than one amount from separate appropriations and/or CANs. The total of all amounts in this block equals the amount shown on the line, 'THIS ACTION' (see 'AUTHORIZED FUNDING' above (Number 6)). 9. *Terms and Conditions of Award -- Requirements of the award that are binding on the recipient. *Grant Officer -- The U.S. Department of Education official authorized to award Federal funds to the recipient, establish or change the terms and conditions of the award, and authorize modifications to the award. For Formula and Block Grants Only: (See also Numbers 1, 4, 5, & 8 above) 2. Project Description -- A brief statement that identifies the date of the application, the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) title, and any amendments. 3. Education Staff -- The U.S. Department of Education staff persons to be contacted for programmatic payment questions. 6. Authorized Funding Current Award Amount -- The amount of funds that are obligated (added) or de-obligated (subtracted) by this action. Previous Cumulative Amount -- The total amount of funds awarded under the grant before this action. Cumulative Amount -- The total amount of funds awarded under the grant, this action included. 7. State Application Identifier (SAI) Number -- A twelve-character number assigned by a state clearinghouse to applications that require state review or that are covered by Executive Order 12372. 9. Terms and Conditions of Award Authorized Official -- The U.S. Department of Education staff person authorized to award Federal funds to the recipient, to establish or change the terms and conditions of the award, and to authorize modifications to the award. -------------------------------------------- AFTERWORD We hope that you have found the information in this booklet to be helpful. We welcome your comments and suggestions for future editions. Please send them to: Director Grants Division, GCS U.S. Department of Education Washington, D.C. 20202-4700 ---------- End of Document