Changes to FAS Grants Management Policy and Procedures
The first release of Grantor system is changing the way that grants and agreements are managed for recipients/cooperators. FAS is updating grant and agreement management practices to comply with OMB guidelines. FAS reorganized its Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance programs (CFDA) and established checks and controls to ensure that change requests are within an initial agreement’s scope of work.
Effective immediately, the FAS Grants Management Officer will review all modification proposals to verify that the modification is within the original agreement’s scope of work.
FAS will also utilize the Standard Form 424 (SF-424) series and those forms and instructions prescribed by the Department of Agriculture. FAS will require these forms from applicants for awards of grants, cooperative, joint venture, and cost reimbursable agreements used to implement agricultural extension and teaching activity-based projects that support the FAS Mission Strategies. Your organization is likely using these standard forms for USDA and/or other federal financial assistance transactions. This change aligns with most federal agencies’ federal financial assistance program requirements. These forms will simplify and streamline the process for submission and evaluation of applications, selection of awardees, and initiations of mission program activities; while ensuring that FAS collects the documents and information required to properly document new grants and agreements, as well as post-award administration and monitoring.
More information regarding these changes will be available via the following pending regulations:
- General Administrative Policy for Federal Financial Assistance Joint Venture Agreements (pending)
- General Administrative Policy for Federal Financial Assistance Cost-Reimbursable Agreements (pending)
- General Administrative Policy for Federal Financial Assistance International Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Activities (pending)