Working group Track E
Grants management and sponsor compliance
The Grants management and sponsor compliance working group defines the vocabulary of federal award administration — subawards, subrecipients versus contractors, FFATA and FSRS/SAM.gov reporting, risk assessment, and the monitoring obligations set out in 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance). It works with the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP), and federal award-reporting systems such as SAM.gov and Grants.gov to harmonise sponsor-compliance terminology, so a subaward means the same thing to a prime recipient, a subrecipient, and an auditor.
Charter and scope
What this working group covers
The Grants management and sponsor compliance working group defines the vocabulary of federal award administration — subawards, subrecipients versus contractors, FFATA and FSRS/SAM.gov reporting, risk assessment, and the monitoring obligations set out in 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance). It works with the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP), and federal award-reporting systems such as SAM.gov and Grants.gov to harmonise sponsor-compliance terminology, so a subaward means the same thing to a prime recipient, a subrecipient, and an auditor.
- FFATA and FSRS/SAM.gov subaward and executive-compensation reporting terminology
- Subrecipient vs. contractor determination criteria under 2 CFR 200.331
- Subrecipient risk-assessment and ongoing monitoring vocabulary (desk reviews, site visits, Single Audit follow-up)
- Award supplements, no-cost extensions tied to compliance actions, and modification terminology
- Warranties, covenants, and representations-and-certifications language in award and subaward agreements
- Funder-specific compliance terms across federal sponsors (NIH, NSF, DOE, and others)
- Suspension, debarment, and award-closeout compliance vocabulary
Composition
Current composition
Chair
Applications under review
Candidates are being assessed for the 2026 forming round. Two-year term, renewable once.
Submit your candidacy →Co-chair
Accepting candidates
Optional second chair, prioritised for regional or sector balance.
Submit your candidacy →Community seats
Accepting candidates for 12 seats
Seats are allocated against a published rubric covering domain expertise, institutional diversity, regional balance, and an explicit slot for early-career researchers.
Apply for a community seat →Deliverables
Planned and delivered deliverables
- A shared glossary of FFATA/FSRS-SAM.gov subaward reporting terms
- A subrecipient-vs-contractor determination checklist aligned to 2 CFR 200.331
- Mapped vocabulary for subrecipient risk-assessment and monitoring workflows
- Cross-referenced definitions of award supplements, warranties, and covenants used in sponsor agreements
Recent activity
Working-group cadence and milestones
Illustrative working-group cadence for the 2026 forming round. Substantive deliverables and meeting minutes will be linked here as the group convenes.
2026-05-15 · Milestone
Working group forming — call for chair candidates
Open call for chair and co-chair of the Grants management and sponsor compliance working group. Candidates are under review.
2026-04-22 · Release
Domain scope confirmed for v2026.2
Scope of the Grants management and sponsor compliance domain confirmed against the v2026.2 dictionary release plan.
2026-03-10 · Added
Forming round announced
CASRAI announced the 2026 forming round for all 24 working groups, with seat allocations and review rubric published.
Open consultations
Currently in public comment
Currently none open. Subscribe via /get-involved/comment for future calls.
External bodies
Standards and organisations we work with
Going deeper on CASRAI
Related CASRAI guidance
Adjacent working groups
Related working groups
How to join
Apply to a seat on this working group
This working group is receiving candidates for the 2026 forming round. The application is short — name, institution, ORCID iD (optional), the seat you are applying for, and a paragraph on why this domain. Decisions are returned within four weeks of the close of the open-call window.
FAQ
Frequently asked
- What is FFATA reporting?
FFATA reporting refers to the subaward and executive-compensation disclosures required by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, under which prime federal contractors and grant recipients must report first-tier subawards of $30,000 or more. As of March 2025 this reporting moved from the retired FSRS.gov system into SAM.gov's Subaward Reporting module. CASRAI's grants management and sponsor compliance working group tracks this vocabulary so terms like "subaward" and "prime recipient" are defined consistently across research-administration systems.
- What is a subrecipient in federal grants?
A subrecipient is an organization that receives part of a federal award from a pass-through (prime) recipient to carry out a portion of the funded project, as distinct from a contractor that simply provides goods or services on a competitive market basis. Under 2 CFR 200.331, the prime recipient must make a case-by-case determination of subrecipient versus contractor status and then monitor subrecipients for compliance with the applicable award terms. This subrecipient-versus-contractor distinction, and the monitoring vocabulary that follows from it, is a core focus of this working group.
- Is FFATA reporting still required?
Yes, FFATA reporting obligations remain in effect; only the reporting platform has changed. The General Services Administration retired FSRS.gov on March 6, 2025, and subaward and executive-compensation reporting now takes place through SAM.gov, with the underlying $30,000 subaward threshold and executive-compensation disclosure rules unchanged.
- What does this working group do?
The Grants management and sponsor compliance working group is the community body that drafts, reviews and ratifies dictionary entries for the Grants management and sponsor compliance domain. It maintains scope, cross-walks to adjacent standards and the cadence of public review. Its remit is summarised on this page; the canonical terms it stewards live at /dictionary/domain/grants-management.
- Who can apply to join?
Working-group membership is open to qualified practitioners — researchers, research-office staff, librarians, publishers, repository managers, integrity officers, CRIS administrators, regulators and funders. Institutional membership is not required. The qualification test is competence and time, not affiliation. Apply via the working-group application form.
- What is the time commitment?
Cadence: Quarterly virtual working sessions, with vocabulary releases twice a year alongside CASRAI's spring and fall publication cycles.. Time commitment averages four hours per quarter for an active member, more for a chair. Asynchronous review happens between meetings via email. Chairs are recognised on the editorial masthead and serve a two-year term, renewable once.
- How are seats allocated?
Each working group has 12 community seats plus a chair and (optionally) a co-chair. Seats are filled by an open call reviewed against a published rubric: domain expertise, institutional diversity, regional balance, and an explicit slot for early-career researchers. Applications for the 2026 forming round are open and candidates are currently under review — see how to apply.
- Can my institution sponsor a seat?
Institutional sponsorship is welcome but is not a route to a guaranteed seat. Sponsors support meeting infrastructure, public-comment publication and contributor honoraria; they receive named acknowledgement on the working-group page and in release notes. Sponsorship enquiries go to [email protected]. Seat selection remains on merit.
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