Chapter 19-300: State of California Awards

19-310 Standard Agreements

The State of California uses a variety of Standard Forms, issued by the Office of Legal Services, when contracting for services with other State and non-State entities. The resulting contracts are either interagency agreements or standard agreements. Although for agreements between State agencies and the University, interagency agreements are the preferred funding mechanism, standard agreements may be acceptable provided the terms and conditions specific to the particular funded project are consistent with University policy.

19-320 Interagency Agreements

Units of the State of California obtain services from other State entities using an interagency agreement. Interagency agreements are preferred over standard agreements because the dollar threshold for exemption from review and approval by the State Department of General Services is higher and the terms and conditions are appropriate for another State entity such as the University. For example, it should not include clauses dealing with affirmative action, nondiscrimination, required business subcontracting, indemnification or other clauses not required for or applicable to another entity of the State of California.

19-330 Interagency Master Agreements

Interagency master agreements are negotiated by the Office of the President Research Policy Analysis & Coordination Office (RPAC) as an umbrella mechanism for use by all campuses. The interagency master agreement contains all the basic terms and conditions common to any project to be conducted under the agreement. When a State agency desires to fund a project under the interagency master agreement, it is only needs to work out details on the scope of work and the budget with the campus Principal Investigator and Contract and Grant Office. The State then issues a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or a Research Technical Agreement (RTA) which incorporates the terms and conditions of the master agreement by reference.

Copies of initial agreements and any amendments that are negotiated and executed by RPAC and are distributed to campuses via RPAC Memos.

19-340 Federal Flow-Through

The State of California may receive funding from the federal government and, in turn, use that money to fund local governments or other providers of goods and services. In order to fulfill its obligations under the prime federal award, the State must include its federal obligations to subawards and subcontracts. Usually this is accomplished by simply flowing down federal grant or contract clauses in the subagreement which may sometimes create problems. For example, OMB Circular A-102, Grants and Cooperative Agreements with State and Local Governments, contains the federal grants management standards for state governments. As an educational institution, the University is subject to 2 CFR 215 - OMB Circular A-110 (see 19-211), and not A-102. Contract and Grant Officers should make sure that inappropriate federal flow-through clauses are not imposed in State awards.

19-350 Financial Reporting Requirements

Contract and Grant Officers should avoid agreeing to furnish non-federal sponsors with financial reports that are more detailed than those normally provided to federal sponsors. Campus accounting systems are typically geared to automating the production of reports that satisfy federal requirements; anomalies translate into more work and extra costs. In the case of State agencies which expect financial reports to be organized into categories that match up with the project budget or each specific task in the Scope of Work, future problems may be averted if the project budget consists of standard line items that coincide with the budget reporting categories normally used by the campus accounting office.