OMB Circular A-81 (known as the Uniform Guidance) took effect for all federal proposals and awards on December 26, 2014. The Uniform Guidance consolidates eight sets of federal regulations into one to streamline the proposal submission and award management processes. The Uniform Guidance significantly reforms federal grantmaking to focus resources on improving performance and outcomes with the intent to reduce administrative burdens for grant applicants and recipients, and to reduce the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse.
Federal agencies (NIH, NSF, Dept. of Energy, etc.) are developing their own agency-specific policies that conform to the Uniform Guidance. Existing federal awards will continue to be governed by their original terms and conditions. The Uniform Guidance applies to new federal awards issued on or after December 26, 2014. For existing awards, PIs are encouraged to contact OSP to determine which federal regulations govern their award.
UWM and the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) must adopt the new regulations and agency policies, and therefore are reviewing its current policies and procedures to ensure they are consistent with the new guidance. We will modify our policies and procedures as necessary and use this new regulation as an opportunity to update our existing practices.
We also will continue to monitor the impact of the Uniform Guidance on operations affecting the preparation, submission, and management of grant proposals and awards. Updates regarding the Uniform Guidance will be posted to this website regularly.
If you have questions about the Uniform Guidance and how it will affect your grant proposals or awards, please contact the Uniform Guidance Management Team at or-osp-uniformguidance@uwm.edu.
UWM Guidance Documentation
OSP has developed documents to provide PIs with guidance on the implementation of the Uniform Guidance:
- Proposal Preparation Guide: Uniform Guidance and Proposal Development (July 2015) (PDF)
- Post-Award Management Guide (COMING SOON)
- Subaward Management Guide (August 2018) (PDF) and Editable Zip File Download of Appendices
- Uniform Guidance Update (January 2015) (.ppt)
- Subaward Update (March 2015) (.ppt)
Federal Regulations and Supplemental Materials
The links below contain the original Uniform Guidance text, and supplemental materials that interpret, supplement, and/or analyze the text.
- U.S. Chief Financial Officers Council Frequently Asked Questions (PDF) (updated May 2021)
- Office of Management and Budget Circular A-81 (also known as the Uniform Guidance and 2 CFR 200)
- Office of Management and Budget Policy Statements for the Uniform Guidance
- Uniform Guidance Crosswalk from Existing Guidance under A-110 to A-81 (PDF)
Procurement
The Uniform Guidance, in its current form, will have an impact on procurement actions associated with federal funds. OMB has provided the research community with a two year waiver from the new procurement requirements. Therefore, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will continue to comply with current State of Wisconsin procurement policies and will not adopt new procurement regulations until July 1, 2017.
Please monitor this website for additional details regarding updates to University procurement policies.
Agency Specific Guidance
As materials become available on individual federal agency implementation of the Uniform Guidance, links and/or materials will be posted below.
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Education
- Department of Justice
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Institute of Museum and Library Services (PDF)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Endowment for the Arts
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- National Institutes of Health Grants Policy Statement
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Naval Research