American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009

Post-Award Financial Administration Reporting

 

Overview

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 was signed on February 17, 2009 by President Obama. Of the $787 billion committed by ARRA, $21.5 billion has been allocated to sponsored research. Unprecedented transparency to the American public as to the spending of taxpayer dollars is required of institutions being awarded ARRA funds.

ARRA Additional Reporting Requirements

Detailed quarterly reports are required for all awards funded by ARRA monies. These reports, for which UT is the prime recipient, are due by the 10th calendar day of each month (without exception) following each quarter. There will be no waivers on the quarterly reports. Non-compliance could be treated as a violation of the award agreement. The reports include information such as cumulative costs, sub recipient expenditures, amount spent on vendors, award data, number of jobs created and retained, etc.

Quarterly report information is almost immediately available for public review on the public website Recovery.gov . A link to this site is provided under the heading ARRA Quick Links.

Report Information Required Directly From Principal Investigator (PI)

When UT is the prime recipient, it is necessary for Sponsored Projects Accounting (SPA) to coordinate with PIs for certain report information that can only be provided by the PI. A few examples include: narrative of the quarterly activities, percentage of completion, and descriptions of the jobs created and retained. SPA is contacting PIs directly with post-award informational packets upon receipt of ARRA awards to facilitate the required information exchange. If you have not received a packet and have been awarded ARRA monies, please notify us at: spa@utk.edu.

Reporting as a Sub-Recipient

If you have received ARRA monies as a sub-recipient, the prime recipient will be coordinating with you to get the required reporting information submitted each quarter. The final award agreement should be reviewed carefully for any special award conditions that the prime may need to include to meet the quarterly reporting deadlines.

Critical Items for Proper Award Management:

• Read the award agreement to be aware of any additional terms and conditions applied to the management of the award
• Request budget revisions as necessary
• Ensure effort certification is accurate and timely
• Cost transfers (including salary transfers) are not allowed unless it is to correct an error
• Monitor the rate of spending to ensure it is in accordance with the work completed
• If there are sub awards, ensure that the sub - recipient monitoring is documented

Contact Sponsored Projects Accounting if further information or clarification is needed concerning post-award administration of ARRA funding at: 974-2591 or email at spa@utk.edu.

ARRA Quick Links

• Recovery.gov
• OMB Guidance on ARRA
• Federal Agency Recovery Act Websites
• UT Office of Research ARRA

ARRA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

NIH : http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/faqs_recovery.html
NSF: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09038/nsf09038.jsp#wtbas
General Recovery Act Questions: http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx?q=content/frequently-asked-questions

Post-Award ARRA Workshops Schedule

Workshops scheduled below will take place in Room 113 (Office of Research Conference Room) at 1534 White Avenue. To register or for questions, please contact Alice Bradley at abradle4@utk.edu or phone: 974-0275.
October 29th, 3 – 4:30pm
December 2nd, 3-4:30pm
Please visit this website for updates on additional workshops to be scheduled.

 

Updated 10/20/2009