When developing a proposal with institutions and organizations outside of the University, CSU has an obligation to make a case-by-base determination if the outside entity is functioning as a subrecipient (awardee) or a vendor/contractor (procurement) (2 CFR § 200.330).
According to Uniform Guidance, an organization is considered a subrecipient of a federal award when it:
- Determines who is eligible to receive what financial assistance;
- Has its performance measured against whether the objectives of the federal program are met;
- Has responsibility for programmatic decision-making;
- Has responsibility for adherence to applicable federal program compliance responsibilities; and
- Uses the federal funds to carry out a program of the organization as compared to providing goods and services for a program of the pass-through entity.
According to Uniform Guidance, an organization is considered a contractor (vendor) when it:
- Provides goods and services within normal business operations;
- Provides similar goods and services to many different purchasers;
- Operates in a competitive environment;
- Provides goods or services that are ancillary to the operation of the Federal program; and
- Is not subject to compliance requirements of the Federal program.
SUBRECIPIENT | VENDOR/CONTRACTOR |
Performs a substantive portion of the programmatic effort | Provides similar goods and services within normal business operations to different purchasers |
Responsible for programmatic decision making | No programmatic decision making |
Work performed by the subrecipient’s personnel at their facilities | Provides own tools and training |
Making a status determination is not always straightforward because not all of the characteristics listed above will exist in every case. For example, let’s say that an entity will be providing project evaluation services such as collecting data on outcome measures and providing an analysis to CSU. Is this entity acting as a subrecipient or a vendor or contractor? In order to make an accurate determination, we need to know more information. Questions to ask might include:
- Is the entity providing routine services such as data collection and analysis?
- Will the entity be involved in the design of the project goals?
- Will personnel associated with the entity be senor/key project personnel?
- Who is determining how the work is being performed?
Uniform Guidance instructs us to exercise judgment for each individual case. Fortunately, the Sub v. Vendor Determination form tool on the updated ‘Outgoing Subawards’ OSP webpage can be used to help make an accurate determination.
Check out this memorable analogy is provided in the following NCURA YouTube Video, ‘How to Budget: Contractors’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZSQLa2B-qI
Blog post by Tricia Callahan, Senior Research Education and Information Officer, and Kris Miller, Subaward Manager, Office of Sponsored Programs