- Author: Kathleen P Nolan
An automated grants and agreements system is coming to USDA!
On October 1, 2016, National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) will implement USDA's ezFedGrants. The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), and Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) have already implemented the system and other USDA agencies will follow.
EzFedGrants is a new grant and agreement management system that will bring together all the internal and external steps in the agreements process into one system:
- USDA creating an announcement (Opportunity stage),
- The grant recipient applying for an opportunity (Application stage),
- USDA performing the application review for competitive grants (Application stage),
- USDA awarding (Agreement stage),
- USDA or grant recipient requesting changes (Post Award stage),
- The grant recipient requesting reimbursement and submitting reports (Post Award stage), and
- USDA and grant recipient completing the award (Closeout stage).
While the development and implementation of ezFedGrants will occur in phases, the end result will transform NIFA processes and replace existing systems and supporting applications. EzFedGrants will impact the majority of NIFA employees, grantees, and applicants. It will greatly improve USDA grants management capabilities, including the intake of applications, peer review and award processing, financial management of awards, and post-award activities.
Additional details will follow as the USDA nears system deployment.
Thank you,
Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)
Grants Modernization Timeline Release 1