October 18, 1994 -   Stanford University. . . . . President of Stanford University, Gerhard Casper said a settlement between Stanford University and the United States Government was made yesterday which would settle all disputed matters related to the billing of indirect costs for the years 1981 to 1992.  In the settlement, Stanford was to pay only $1.2 million. . . .However, the cost to Stanford for this settlement was $25 million in outside accounting firms and consultants!!!

How will your salary and your research look after being reduced for such proportional costs?   Or worse, what will it do to our programs?  In addition, the Office of Research Integrity publishes a list of names, on the Internet, of those cases the U.S. Office of Special Counsel has investigated at http://www.osc.gov/press.htm - How would you like your name to appear in that list?

This training program is designed to increase your understanding of OMB Circular A-21 which may assist you in preparing budgets and managing grants - all of which can help protect you from incidents such as those above.  The Contracts and Grants office will assist you in these efforts and is a major source for interpretations of A-21.

The Contracts and Grants Office of the Agriculture Program uses OMB Circular A-21 to manage all contracts and grants.  This circular,  produced by the office of Management and Budgets (OMB), establishes principles for determining which, if any, costs are applicable to grants, contracts, and other agreements between the Federal government and educational institutions.  These principles are designed so that the Federal Government will not fund more than its fair share of total costs in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.   

Click the right arrow below to proceed