Alliance of Artists Communities

Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes

Council on Foundations

Foundations On-Line
(Corporate and private funding)

Google Scholar
(Focuses on academic materials)

Grants.gov

H-Net Discussion Networks

National Assembly of State Arts Agencies

Philanthropy News Digest

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

The Chronicle of Higher Education

The Chronicle of Philanthropy

The Federal Register

Voice of the Shuttle

American Antiquarian Society

Bibliothèque Nationale de France

Boston Athenaeum

Brown University, The John Carter Brown Library

Duke University, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library

Emory University, Robert W. Woodruff Library

Folger Shakespeare Library

Hagley Museum and Library

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library

Harvard University, Houghton Library

Library of Congress

National Gallery of Art

Princeton University Library

Smithsonian Institution

Southern Methodist University, DeGolyer Library

The Clark Art Institute

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Margaret Herrick Library

The British Library

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum of Modern Art

The National Archives and Records Administration

The National Archives and Records, Presidential Libraries

The Newberry Library

The New York Public Library

The New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

The University of Kansas, Kenneth Spencer Research Library

The University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library

The University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Center

UCLA, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

Whatcom Museum of History and Art

Winterthur Museum & Country Estate

Yale Center for British Art

Yale University, Beinecke Library

Uniform Guidance: What You Need to Know

Part of ORPS’ responsibility is to keep faculty and staff at New College abreast of policies and guidelines set forth by federal, state and local government funding agencies. This section aims to highlight important changes in the federal grant guidelines called the “Uniform Guidance” (UG). The UG, written by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), went into effect on Dec. 26, 2014. Following is a summary of how the new guidance will affect faculty and research administrators.

1. The new UG applies to awards granted after on or after Dec. 26, 2014.

• Implications: For renewal or multi-annual grants some agencies may require two different sets of regulations: prior to UG and post UG.

2. Under the UG, federal agencies must accept a university’s negotiated indirect cost rate. There can be exceptions with federal agency head approval.

3. Federal agencies must post funding opportunities at least 60 days prior to a deadline.

4. Voluntary committed cost share is no longer expected. In their Request for Application (RFA) Agencies must either require cost share or not. Language such as “cost share isn’t required but is preferred” is no longer allowed. (CFR 200.306 Cost sharing or matching)

• Implications: Do not add cost share in your proposal unless it is required by the agency.

5. The UG requires procurement methods with dollar thresholds (CFR 200.320 Methods of procurement).

• Purchases under $3,000 are considered “micro-purchases” and do not require competitive quotes.

• Implications:

• Purchases over $3,000 now require at least two competitive quotes from vendors.
• The only exception is when you have a documented need for sole source procurement.

• Purchases between $3,000 and $150,000 require quotes from an “adequate” number of qualified sources.
• Purchases over $150,000 require sealed bids or competitive proposals.

6. Clerical and administrative salaries can be directly charged if they are integral to a project or activity and are also directly allocable. Such costs must be explicitly explained in the budget and/or have prior approval from the sponsor. (CFR 200.413 Direct costs).

7. There is now a clarification of the institutional base salary concept at universities under “personnel compensation”. Institutions must establish consistent written policies that apply uniformly to all faculty members, not just those working on federal grants. The requirements for effort reporting have changed, with an emphasis on strong internal controls. (CFR 200-430 Compensation-personal services)

8. Computers and computing devices can be directly charged to grants if they are essential and allocable. In below the federal Equipment threshold ($5,000) they can be counted in the budget as Supplies. There is no longer a requirement that they be solely used for the project at hand but should be used mostly for the project. (CFR 200.453 Materials and supplies costs)

• Implications: You can now include computers and computing devices in your Supply budget with written justification for their purchase.

9. Institutions must submit performance reports using OMB-approved government-wide standard information collections. Required information includes a comparison of actual accomplishments to those that were proposed for the reporting period, the reasons why goals were not met (if applicable), and an analysis and explanation of cost overruns. (CFR 200.328 Monitoring and reporting program performance).

10. Before issuing an award, the Federal awarding agency will evaluate the risk posed by the institution. The risk assessment will review the institution’s financial stability, the reports and findings from its audits, and its history of performance around compliance and report requirements. (CFR 200.205 Review of risk posed by applicants)

• Implications: Compliance with reporting requirements by individual faculty members at New College will have a positive impact on Agencies’ funding decisions, while non-compliance with reporting requirements by individual faculty members might adversely affect other faculty members’ ability to win future grants.

(This summary was adapted from the Amherst College Grants Office webpage)

Link to full Uniform Guidance:

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/12/26/2013-30465/uniform-administrative-requirements-cost-principles-and-audit-requirements-for-federal-awards#h-6

The Grantspace video library. This is a collection of many videos on various topics hosted by the Grantspace organization. The videos range in subjects from crowdfunding to how to build a better grant board. The videos can be anywhere from 10 minutes to over an hour in length. So if you have some time, it’s worth it just explore what they have to offer.

The Grantsmanship center‘s youtube page offers users many videos on the subjects of grants and grant writing. The videos are generally short in length and focus on individual parts of the grant process. So if you find yourself stuck on a particular issue, you might find something helpful here.

The NIH has a series of videos detailing their peer review process on their webpage.

A short video detailing the NSF’s review process.