Office of Sponsored Programs

Welcome to the OSP Guide to ARRA Reporting

Topic links:

What PIs Need to Know and Do
-The essentials in one place Important Dates
-Overview
ARRA Reporting Training Presentation
Roles and Responsibilities
-Highlights
Policies and Practices
-All the details
Questions and Answers
-In development
Contacts
ARRA Reporting Working Group

We are counting down to the first time MIT will transmit reporting data for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding.

The first quarterly reporting period begins October 1 and closes on Saturday, October 10.

The deadline for Principal Investigators to complete ARRA reports is 8:00 a.m. on Friday, October 9.

If you are a Principal Investigator, see What PIs need to know and do

In the short period of time since the inception of ARRA, we have developed a system that integrates existing data from multiple systems and simplifies the reporting process – a My ARRA module within Coeus Lite.

Overview of our approach

We are being asked to meet a very high standard of timeliness while delivering information that we have not been asked for in the past.

Because compliance is so important, we …

… require that the Principal Investigator completes the report using new Coeus MyARRA pages.

…will submit ARRA award data on the deadline regardless of whether the Principal Investigator has completed the report.

…will place research accounts in restricted status, preventing further spending, if My ARRA reports have not been completed by the Principal Investigator by 8:00 am on October 9.

…have asked Assistant Deans to name an ARRA Administrator in each department, lab or center.

…are delivering automated email notices to inform PIs when the system is ready for access and notifying Department Heads, Assistant Deans, and ARRA Administrators about ARRA awards for which reports have not been completed as the deadline approaches. See Important Dates

Important dates: preparation and reporting

PIs will have access to their data on October 2, 2009 and must complete their report(s) no later than 8 a.m. on October 9, 2009.

MIT will transmit all ARRA reports to FederalReporting.gov at 9:00 a.m. on the last business day of each reporting period (October 9 for this quarter).

MIT will begin transmitting completed reports on October 5, 2009 to avoid anticipated system overloads at FederalReporting.gov. PIs are encouraged to complete their reports as soon as possible.

Because of the high standard for reporting compliance, Department Heads, Assistant Deans, and ARRA administrators will be notified through system-generated emails about reports that are not completed as the deadline approaches. See the schedule below.

There will be two community forums on ARRA reporting requirements and MIT’s implementation for Administrators and interested PIs. The sessions will include an overview of the ARRA process, ARRA guidelines, compliance standards and a demo of the My ARRA module in CoeusLite.

Please join us at one of the following sessions. We anticipate that they will be no longer than 90 minutes.

Tuesday, September 29th at 10am in the Bartos Theater (E15-070)

Wednesday, September 30th at 10am in the Bush room (10-105)

ARRA Reporting Training presentation

Sept. 29 and 30	Wed. Sept. 30	Friday Oct. 2	Monday Oct. 5	Tuesday Oct 6	Thursday Oct. 8	Friday October 9 8:00 a.m.	Friday Oct. 9 9:00 a.m.
My ARRA demonstration, community forum, Q&A session (attend one)	Email: Notice that report data will become available on Oct. 2	Email: Notice to PI and ARRA Administrator that report data is available for review/ completion	Reports completed by this date will be transmitted	Email: For reports not completed, reminder delivered to PI, Department Heads, ARRA Administrators and Assistant Deans	Email: Final reminder to PIs, Department Heads, ARRA Administrators and Assistant Deans about outstanding incomplete reports	Deadline: PIs must complete report. Spending will be restricted on accounts for which reports are not complete.	OSP transmits reports to Federal Reporting.gov

Quarterly ARRA reports are required up to and including the last quarter of the performance period. Today, it is anticipated that ARRA funds may be awarded to projects whose performance periods could end as much as five years from now. Fiscal quarters close on: December 31, March 31, June 30, and September 30.

We will update these pages quarter by quarter as the reporting schedule and requirements are defined.

Highlights: Roles, responsibilities, and important actions you need to take

If you are...

…a Principal Investigator, ARRA award terms and conditions make you responsible for:

Quarterly update on project status
Description of jobs created or retained
Completing reports by the deadline

Only you can do these things.

Learn more about how to carry out these responsibilities and the MIT systems designed to help below in What PIs neet to know and do

… an ARRA Administrator who has been identified as a point of contact because you work with PIs who have received ARRA awards, you will:

Receive training, documentation, and references to help you respond to questions from your PIs
Receive emails notifying you about important dates and actions during the reporting period
Have access to current status in Coeus for ARRA awards in your department

…a Department Head, you will:

Receive email notifying about ARRA awards whose reports are not completed on the sixth, eighth, and final day (deadline) of the reporting period
Play a role in communicating the importance of timely reporting to Principal Investigators in your department
Have access to current status in Coeus for ARRA awards in your department

… an Assistant Dean, you will:

Receive emails notifying you about important dates and actions during the reporting period
Monitor progress of ARRA report completion by PIs
Manage your local process to communicate and follow up with PIs in concert with Department Heads
Have access to current status in Coeus for ARRA awards in your department

Policies and Practices

The following policies apply to the first quarterly reporting for ARRA awards.

We expect to learn a great deal during this first round of reporting and welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions.

Principal Investigators must complete ARRA reports

PIs must submit reports for any award received by MIT before September 30, 2009 for the October 2009 deadline even if the award performance period has not yet begun
MIT reporting will be completed and transmitted using the My ARRA module in Coeus Lite
Because the PI is the only person qualified to provide the scientific update and confirm other data about project staffing levels, only the PI may complete the reports.
MIT has decided NOT to grant ARRA Administrators the right to complete ARRA reports on behalf of a Principal Investigator (by proxy). The system functionality reflects this decision.

To learn more about the how PIs will review and complete reports using Coeus Lite, see My ARRA Users Guide and What PIs Need to Know and Do.

Subaward recipients report through prime award recipients

MIT will not delegate reporting to subaward recipients (at this time).

Because of the small number of ARRA subawards issued by MIT to date, for the first quarterly report we will be working directly with PIs and ARRA Administrators to complete the data fields required for sub-awards. For questions, contact your OSP Contract Administrator.

Responsible parties have access to ARRA report information

The general public will have access to ARRA report information at http://www.recovery.gov within 30 days of the end of the quarter.

The goal in providing a view to ARRA award information In Coeus Lite is to give access to individuals responsible for ensuring that reports are completed by the Federal deadline. That information will allow them to take action, if appropriate.

ARRA Administrators

Department Heads

Assistant Deans

OSP, VPF

For

Your ARRA awards

PIs in your department

PIs in your school

All PIs with ARRA awards

You can

View

Edit,

Complete

View

Edit,

Note: Cannot approve by proxy

View

When reports are not on time, or not in compliance…

By sending regular reminder emails during the reporting period, we aim to minimize the number of such situations.

Department Heads, Assistant Deans, and ARRA Administrators will receive automated emails during the ten-day reporting period to keep them informed about the progress of report completion. For this quarter, individual emails will be sent for each award. In the future, there will be one email that summarizes all outstanding reports within each department. See Important Dates above to review the dates of these email reminders.

All reports will be submitted at deadline

Reports that are not completed and approved by 8:00 am on October 9, 2009 will be submitted “as is.”

Reports that have not been updated will be transmitted with project progress information from the preceding quarter, if any, on the deadline. “As is” reports may include incomplete or inaccurate data.

Accounts will be placed in restricted status

If a PI has not reviewed and completed his or her report by the deadline, MIT will submit all pre-populated data (fed from SAP, Coeus, and Data Warehouse).

Accounts will be put in restricted status and no further spending will be allowed on that account.

The PI will need to contact Michelle Christy (mchristy@mit.edu) to request access to the reporting tool to complete the report.

Occasionally, it may be necessary to correct errors after deadline

FederalReporting.gov has opened a correction window (days 11-21 of the reporting month) to address “material omissions or significant reporting errors,” which are defined as data that may result in significant risk that the public will be misled or confused. Because the majority of the data being transmitted is being pulled directly from our systems of record and is not being entered manually, we expect this situation will not arise frequently.

If the report was approved and the PI or others identify an omission or error, contact your OSP Administrator. The report must be “re-opened” to allow for corrections.

To make changes to the report information after the deadline, the PI will need to request access to the reporting tool and complete the report within the correction window (days 11-21).

The PI cannot complete the report by the deadline

OSP Director Michelle Christy will have the ability and authority to submit a report on behalf of a PI who is unable to do so due to extenuating circumstances. Contact OSP Director Michelle Christy to immediately discuss the situation and name a colleague who can provide specific knowledge of the project so that the report can be completed.

Extenuating circumstances: Because of the high risk associated with non-compliance, extenuating circumstances will be limited to severe illness and death in the family.

Not considered extenuating circumstances are travel commitments, vacations, grant deadlines, and teaching commitments.

Questions and Answers

This section is in development. When we answer questions, we will publish them here.

When we answer questions, we will publish them here.

As needed during the reporting period, we will send out email bulletins with a link to new answers to questions published here.

We are eager to answer your questions completely and accurately, so please be patient if we need to seek further guidance before making a recommendation.

Contacts

Please take advantage of the resources provided on this site.

For questions about the reporting process, first see Policies and Practices section.

For questions about how to interpret data displayed in Coeus MyARRA pages, first see the Data Dictionary in Coeus, then…

For questions not addressed in the resources available:

Principal Investigators:

Contact your ARRA Administrator, who will field questions with help from OSP Contract Administrators.

ARRA Administrators Administrative Officers:

Contact your OSP Contract Administrator if the question is not addressed in the resources provided on this site.

We are eager to answer your questions completely and accurately, so please be patient if we need to seek further guidance before making a recommendation. As we answer questions, we will post them in the Questions and Answers section of this site.

ARRA Reporting Working Group

This group convened to understand ARRA requirements, inform decisions about the development of systems, and provide advice on the Institute’s implementation and policies to carry out award reporting.

Michelle D Christy, Office of Sponsored Programs

John P. Donahue, Office of Sponsored Programs

Steve Dowdy, Office of Sponsored Programs

Gill Emmons, Office of the Vice President for Finance

Deborah L Fisher, Audit Division

Eileen Ghavidel, School of Engineering

Timothy J Gordon, Audit Division

Ronald Hasseltine, Office of the Provost

Colleen Leslie, Office of Sponsored Programs

Doug LeVie, Office of the Vice President for Finance

Doreen Morris, Office of the Provost

Lody Petriv, Office of the Vice President for Finance

Charlene M Placido, Office of the Provost

Jean Roberge, Office of the Vice President for Finance

Sue St Croix, Office of the Vice President for Finance

James White, School of Science

Carol Wood, Office of Sponsored Programs

Thanks to all those who are contributing to this effort. A special thanks to Alison Bell, Noelle Donahue, Michael Dutton, Amy Holden, Sabarinath Nair and John Roberts for all of their work behind the scenes to put the system and resources in place in time for the first reporting deadline.

Please send comments/questions to osp-www@mit.edu

MIT | Office of Sponsored Programs