Virtual Financial Management Conference - Wednesday Sessions

This session offers an in-depth exploration of single audits, focusing on their role in ensuring proper management and accountability of federal funds. Participants will gain insights into the history, regulations, and current standards governing these audits. The presentation highlights the difference between financial and compliance audits, emphasizing the importance of maintaining accurate financial records and effective internal controls. A high-level framework for compiling the Schedule of Federal Expenditures will also be introduced along with lessons learned from prior audits.

Content level: Basic 

Learning objectives:

1. Understand the foundational aspects of single audits, including key legislation, criteria under Uniform Guidance, and the distinction between financial and compliance audits.
2. Develop skills for effective single audit preparation, focusing on best practices in internal controls, accurate financial record-keeping, and fostering a compliance-oriented organizational culture.

Financial Management Certificate Required Session: Internal Controls (II)

Track: Grant Accounting

Speaker(s): Virgil Swanier, Associate Director, Post Award and Research Finance, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Victor Medina, Senior Business Applications Analyst, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Matt McPeck, Executive Director, Research Operations, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Sonia Badrinath, Manager, Post-Award & Research Finance, Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Are you hoping to help your primary investigator diversify their funding sources?  Are you taking advantage of Federal funding and non-Federal funding (commercial and philanthropic). In this session we'll go over some of the terminology different agencies and organizations use in addressing their notices of funding opportunities.  We'll touch on some tips and timing considerations for all three funding streams.  We'll talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted funding searches, commercial search programs, and non-commercial/manual funding source activities.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

1. Identify some similarities and differences in various funding announcements such as Broad Agency Announcements vs Requests for Proposals.
2. Provide a variety of funding sources to primary investigators.

Track: Departmental Administration Finance 

Speaker(s): Fran Stephens, Emeritus Director, Office of Research Services, University of Oklahoma (retired)

Faculty come and go at universities usually taking their funded research projects with them. Grant transfers are a process that takes time and patience. With a detailed plan in place, this process can go smoothly for all stakeholders. Join us as we discuss the roles of the stakeholders (central and departmental) when transferring grants and some best practices that we have learned.

Content level: Basic 

Learning objectives:

1. Communicating with all stakeholders (central office, Deans, other universities, etc.).
2. Tools and tips used for smooth transitions.

Track: Non-Financial Post-Award

Speaker(s): Kimberly McKoy, Associate Director for Contracts and Grants, North Carolina Technical and Agriculture State University, Tanisha Hodges, Associate Director of Finance, Wayne State University

The recent changes allow for changes in the subcontract and equipment thresholds. We will go through the steps on how to model the impact to your existing rate. Along with how to model the impact, we will discuss additional areas of consideration.

Content level: Intermediate

Learning objectives:

1. Calculate the impact of the equipment and subawards at your institution.
2. Explain this change to their leadership and the impacts to expect.

Financial Management Certificate Required Session: Facilities and Administrative Costs: (I)

Track: Advanced Finance Topics 

Speaker(s): Eric Wang, Director, Huron Consulting Group

The presentation will include information related to salary and non-salary cost transfers, cost transfer policies and compliance issues around federal guidelines.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

1. Review what internal controls can help reduce the number of cost transfers.
2. Discuss what type of cost transfers cause concerns for Uniform Guidance audit findings. 

Financial Management Certificate Required Session : Internal Controls (II)

Track: Grant Accounting

Financial Management Certificate: Elective

Speaker(s): Connie Hopkins, Lead Specialist, Sponsored Research Services, Cincinnati Children's Hospital

The goal of this session is to assist the grant administrator in gaining a better understanding of applying indirect cost rates to various awards from award proposal preparation to charging indirect cost rates appropriately. This session will provide a brief introduction of the preparation of Indirect Cost Rate Proposal, submission, and negotiation. Then, we will dive into understanding the negotiated rate agreement and various rates, and applying the rates from pre-award to post-award for a grant administrator.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

1. The attendee will gain a general understanding of how F&A rates are prepared and determined/finalized. Then, the attendee will know more about how the negotiated rates are utilized from pre-award to post-award. 

2. Recent F&A audit hot topics will be discussed.

Track: Departmental Administration Finance

Speaker(s): Jennifer Mitchell, Higher Education Consulting Manager, Huron Consulting Group, Shana Foster-Mathews, Director, Research Accounting, University of Texas Medical Branch, Kathy Mustea, Grant and Contract Manager, Duke University

In this session, participants will gain a basic understanding for effort and compensation documentation. We will explore the practices, system requirements, and change management involved in implementing a new Effort Certification/Payroll Confirmation methodology.

Content Level: Intermediate

Learning Objectives: 

1. Develop a basic understanding of the requirements, background, and methodology for documenting effort and payroll.
2. Gain an understanding of how to choose an effort certification system that is right for your institution.
3. Recognize the change management that is required for a successful system implementation.

Track: Non-Financial Post-Award 

Financial Management Certificate Elective : FM (E)

Speaker(s): Marty Bergensen, Senior Director, Huron Consulting Group, Bennie Harris, Associate Director, Programs & Analytics

Establishing and managing federally chargeable service centers is essential in today’s higher education landscape. This session will delve into best practices for overcoming challenges related to compliance, budgeting, rate-setting, and operations. Participants will gain valuable insights into creating a robust service center structure, with an emphasis on internal controls, policies, and procedures to ensure long-term success and regulatory compliance.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

1. Identify best practices for managing federally chargeable service centers, including compliance and budgeting. Learn to design effective internal controls and policies for service center operations.
2. Understand how to develop procedures that ensure compliance and long-term success.

Financial Management Certificate Elective : FM (E)

Track: Financial Leadership

Speaker(s): Michelle Schardein, Senior Associate, Education and Research Consulting, Huron Consulting Group, David Beckstrom, Senior Director, Costing Policy & Management Analysis, University of California Los Angeles

Billing for everything you can in the contract? Are you getting paid in a timely manner? Do you even know the answers to these questions? Come learn from my mistakes. We did leave money on the table. Our clinical trials lost money. (As a side note, this could be considered financially supporting a for-profit company’s activities and jeopardize your non-profit status). We didn’t bill for everything and were not getting paid in a timely manner, if at all. Now, we have systems in place to turn it all around and in the spirit of academia, we want to share our results to help you do the same thing. This isn’t rocket science, but it is medical research and we owe to our current and future patients to get it right in order to continue in this business of improving human health.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

1. Know the common pitfalls and mistakes in clinical trial billing.
2. Get some tools to improve tracking, billing and revenue collection. 

Track: Advanced Finance Topics

Speaker(s): Melissa Mingler, Business Manager, Cincinnati Children's Hospital

This session was designed to engage and guide the learner on the journey of expense review to achieve compliance with federal funders, focusing on the National Institutes of Health. During this planned session journey, Sheleza Mohamed, FACHE, MBA, MHA, CRA, CFRA, CPRA with over 20 years of experience in award management will assist attendees on 1) navigating Uniform Guidance, 2) expand on cost principles, 3) provide an easy to use regulation roadmap, 4) discuss prior approval requirements, and 5) deep dive into best practices of expense review.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

1. Utilize the understanding of cost principles to more accurate conduct expense review.
2. Utilize the regulation roadmap to ensure grantor compliance.

Financial Management Certificate Required Session: Post-Award Financial Management (III)

Track: Grant Accounting 

Speaker(s): Sheleza Mohamed, Director, American Heart Association

There are many rules around certain federal funding training and career development awards. This session will focus on NIH training, fellowship, and career development awards; diving into what mechanisms these may be combined with and how to track the effort across various funding mechanisms.

Content Level: Intermediate

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify rules around what mechanisms can be combined when you have training or career development award.
2. How to effectively track effort across training or career development funding mechanisms.

Track: Departmental Administration Finance

Speaker(s): Tasha Gilson-Durham, Post-Award Manager, School of Medicine, Emory University

An F&A (Facilities and Administrative) space survey is a comprehensive assessment used by universities and research institutions to accurately allocate facilities costs. In this session, we will discuss the steps involved in the space survey process, including planning, data collection, and analysis, to provide a clear picture of space utilization and to allocate costs in an F&A rate proposal. Conducting a space survey helps institutions maximize their research space allocations and ensure compliance with federal regulations.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

1. Learn what a space survey is and why it is an essential part of the F&A Proposal process.
2. Understand the steps involved in conducting a space survey and discover best practices.

Financial Management Certificate Required Session: Facilities and Administrative Costs (I)

Track: Non-Financial Post-Award

Speaker(s): Kathleen VanValen, Manager, Maximus, Steve Sax, Sr Consultant, Maximus

OMB made several changes to the Uniform Guidance effective October 2024.  This session is intended to focus on 2 topics:  the threshold changes to subaward limits and the equipment capitalization threshold limits.  Learn practical approaches from industry experts for how to analyze the impact of these changes at your institution and the steps required to implement these changes and maintain compliance with federal regulations.

Content level: Intermediate

Learning objectives:

1. Attendees will learn about the particular changes in the Uniform Guidance that affect the equipment capitalization and subaward thresholds

2. Attendees will learn how to model the impact of these thresholds on the current indirect cost rate/recovery, and the steps required to compliantly implement these at your institution. 

Track: Financial Leadership

Speaker(s): Carrie Hurney, Principal, Education & Research, Huron Consulting Group, Cathy Snyder, Director of Cost Policy and Analysis, University of California Office of the President

Ensuring that your institution has adequate safeguards against financial conflicts of interest (FCOIs) that may arise over the course of a research project is critical to maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements and sponsor guidelines. Join Huron as they discuss an overview of FCOI management in research.

Content Level: Intermediate

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about how FCOIs arise and how institutions limit or eliminate them.
• Learn the consequences of not maintaining a robust and dynamic monitoring program.

Track: Advanced Finance Topics

Speaker(s): Michael Hill, Education & Research Consulting Sr. Associate, Huron Consulting Group; Lilly Tempel, Consultant, Huron Consulting Group