SUBJECT:

New Guidelines for Federal Grants Management - OMB Uniform Guidance

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued new guidelines for federal grants management through one “super” circular referred to as “Uniform Guidance.” Previously, there were three Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circulars that provided this guidance: A-110 (administrative requirements), A-21 (cost principles), and A-133 (audit requirements). This guidance has been designed to reduce the administrative burden on recipients of federal funds as well as the risk of waste, fraud and abuse. The new guidelines will become effective December 26, 2014 for all new awards and funding increments.

There are still many unanswered questions about how federal agencies will interpret and implement the Uniform Guidance. Some of the new federal regulations will make grant management noticeably more flexible and efficient for UC San Diego PIs and support staff. Other changes in sponsor requirements will require adjustments in our business processes. UC San Diego has set up a campus-wide workgroup to coordinate implementation of these changes. The workgroup includes representatives from numerous administration and academic offices, and will coordinate with the University of California system-wide efforts.

A website has been established in Blink where information and updates will be posted as they become available. Following are links to summary information that will be of interest to Principal Investigators and Business Administrators that may influence the sponsored research proposals currently under development.

• New OMB Guidance for Federal Grants Managements:
      http://blink.ucsd.edu/go/uniformguidance
• Uniform Guidance Quick Guide for PI’s and Administrators:
      http://goo.gl/G8gg2g
• University of California Research Policy Analysis and
  Coordination - Uniform Guidance Links:
      http://goo.gl/3ZBW6U

We understand that this initial information does not answer every question. Therefore, we have established a central email address that can be used to post guidance and send questions regarding the implementation and interpretation of the Uniform Guidance: uniformguidancenews@ucsd.edu

I appreciate your support of this campus-wide effort to adopt the new federal guidelines.

Sandra A. Brown Vice Chancellor for Research