American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ARRA Fiscal, Grant and Personnel Administrator Training June

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
Fiscal, Grant and Personnel Administrator
TrainingJune 9, 2009
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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

• ARRA was signed into law by President Obama on
  February 17, 2009.
• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is an
  unprecedented effort to jumpstart our economy,
  save and create millions of jobs, and put a down
  payment on addressing long-neglected challenges
  so our country can thrive in the 21st century.
  The Recovery and Reinvestment Act is an
  extraordinary response to a crisis unlike any
  since the Great Depression.  
• The website Recovery.gov will be the main vehicle
  to provide each and every citizen with the
  ability to monitor the progress of the recovery.

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

• Purposes of the Act
• Preserve and create jobs and promote economic
  recovery
• Assist those most impacted by the recession
• Provide investments needed to increase economic
  efficiency by spurring technological advances in
  science and health
• Invest in transportation, environmental
  protection, and other infrastructure that will
  provide long-term economic benefits
• Stabilize state and local government budgets, in
  order to minimize and avoid reductions in
  essential services

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

• With much at stake, the Act provides for
  unprecedented levels of transparency and
  accountability so that taxpayers will be able to
  know how, when, and where their tax dollars are
  being spent.
• Crucial accountability objectives are
• Funds are awarded and distributed in a prompt,
  fair and reasonable manner
• The recipients and uses of all funds are
  transparent to the public, and public benefits of
  these funds are reported clearly, accurately and
  in a timely manner
• Funds are used for authorized purposes and
  instances of fraud, waste and abuse are mitigated
• Projects funded under this Act avoid unnecessary
  delays and cost overruns
• Program goals are achieved, including specific
  program outcomes and improved results on broader
  economic indicators

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

• VCU will receive two sources of ARRA funds
• Operating funds - 20.5 million dollars for the
  next two fiscal years
• Funds are to be used to mitigate tuition
  increases or to modernize, renovate or repair
  facilities that are primarily used for
  instruction, research or student housing.
• Grants
• Approximately 200 proposals have been submitted
• Some awards have been received
• We expect most of the awards to be received
  closer to September 30

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

• State Comptroller required each institution and
  state agency to name a senior official
  responsible for coordinating recovery-related
  efforts. Pam Currey is responsible for VCU.
• State Comptroller will be issuing periodic
  bulletins with reporting instructions for
  institutions and other state agencies. The first
  bulletin was issued on April 10, 2009.
• Emphasis on monitoring internal controls and
  accurate, timely reporting
• Accounting and reporting for ARRA funds
  represents a significant fiscal process under
  ARMICS.
• ARMICS documentation must be updated to include
  processes and procedures for recording ARRA
  funds. Key controls must be identified and
  tested. Control weaknesses must be indentified
  and mitigated.

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

• State Comptroller is conducting agency readiness
  assessments. Three representatives from the
  Department of Accounts (DOA) met with Pam Currey,
  Sue Robb, Margie Booker and Tricia Perkins on May
  21. The readiness assessment was a five page
  questionnaire. VCU was the first higher education
  institution to be reviewed. Review went well.
  Results will be sent to the State Comptroller.
• General Accountability Office (GAO) issued a list
  of questions that they are using in their reviews
  of 16 states. Although VA is not one of the 16
  states, we have to complete the parts of the
  questionnaire that apply to VCU and retain this
  on file for review by DOA.

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA)Operating Funds VCU Approach

• We have to account for and report the ARRA
  spending separately from other EG expenses. To
  accomplish this, VCU will use a portion of our
  ARRA operating allocation to fund adjunct wages,
  starting with fall semester, and hourly and
  student workers starting with the July 10
  payroll.
• Adjunct faculty in positions J00001 and J00002
• Wage employees in class H1
• Student workers in class SW
• We are excluding graduate teaching assistants and
  work study employees
• The Board of Visitors has approved a plan for VCU
  to use tuition and fee increases for one-time
  initiatives so that we will be well positioned to
  replace ARRA funds in 2012.

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA)Operating Funds VCU Approach

• Separate fund has been established in Banner
  9150EG
• Separate indexes will be established to track the
  spending
• Coding scheme with be your current EG org with
  the first position being replaced with a R
• For example, the Controllers Office EG org is
  121101 so the ARRA org would be R21101
• You do not need to request an index create the
  Controllers Office will automatically create the
  new indexes and orgs.

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA)Operating Funds VCU Approach

• When ePAFs are done in August for the new adjunct
  contracts, you should assign the new Rxxxxx
  index as the budget index to be charged.
• For 12 month administrative adjuncts, you will
  use the ePAF if the new contract has not been
  entered. If it has been entered, you will use the
  NOAEPAF form to change the index.
• An exception report will be run prior to each
  payroll processing to identify any adjuncts not
  charged to a Rxxxxx index. These will need to
  corrected using a NOAEPAF prior to the payroll
  processing.
• If any adjuncts are processed through payroll
  using the old EG index (Fund 9100EG), please do
  not enter labor redistributions to change the
  payroll retroactively. Use the NOAEPAF form to
  change the index for the next payroll.

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA)Operating Funds VCU Approach

• For hourly and student workers, use the NOAEPAF
  form to change the index starting with the July
  10 payroll.
• If any of these employees are processed through
  payroll using the old EG index (Fund 9100EG),
  please do not enter labor redistributions to
  change the payroll retroactively. Use the NOAEPAF
  form to change the index for the next payroll.

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA)Operating Funds VCU Approach

• Permanent budget will continue to reside in the
  EG (Fund 9100EG) org.
• Current budget will be removed from the EG org
  and placed in the new ARRA funded org.
• Details of the budget implementation process are
  still being decided.

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA)Grants VCU Process

• Different coding structure on grant
• Federal Grants will end in FR
• State/Federal Flow Thru will end FS
• Indirect costs will have to be tracked
  separately. New fund, orgs, distribution codes
  and revenue accounts will have to be established.
• Two people in Grants and Contracts Accounting
  have been assigned to process ARRA awards
• David Plunkett Federal awards
• Shavonda Gravely - Pass through funds from the
  State
• OMB has issued a draft of the extensive reporting
  requirements for grants. We are still working on
  the details of the how the data required by OMB
  will be captured and reported.
• More training sessions will be conducted as soon
  as we have more direction on the requirements.

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA)Pending Decisions

• What data will be required in eVA
• The State Comptrollers ARRA Bulletin stated that
  institutions will be required to enter the CARS
  fund/fund detail into eVA
• This will impact purchases on ARRA funded grants
• We have requested an exception to this, but do
  not have a final decision
• Template for reporting to State Comptroller for
  Tier III institutions
• Final OMB guidance on reporting for grants
• OMB is supposed to issue more definitive guidance
  on June 15

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA)Frequently Asked Questions

• Is ARRA funding in addition to my current EG
  budget?
• No, ARRA funding replaces current EG funding
• If I have a full-time faculty member who also has
  an overload adjunct position, should I code their
  adjunct position to the Stimulus index?
• No.
• If I have an adjunct faculty member whose
  contract is not renewed until sometime after
  August 10, should I change the index on that
  position in July?
• Yes, please change it as of July 10.

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

• Questions?
• Contacts
• Tricia Perkins prperkins_at_vcu.edu 828-5474
• Grants and Contracts Accounting
• Margie Booker mrbooker_at_vcu.edu 828-0033
• David Plunkett dcplunkett_at_vcu.edu 828-4025
• Shavonda Gravely gravelysd_at_vcu.edu 828-1346