Sometimes it seems that it’s the little things may actually turn out to be of significant importance. Earlier this month, the National Science Foundation, in a one-page notice in the Federal Register, announced that a revised Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) is now available for use by federal agencies making research awards. There are some noteworthy changes in the revised RPPR that are of interest to recipients of research grants and cooperative agreements.

“Diversity enhances scientific discovery.” That’s the key message that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is promoting on its new portal on diversity in the scientific research workforce. NIH emphasizes that “promoting a diverse and robust scientific workforce is critical to advancing NIH-funded scientific discovery and research in support of human health.”

(The following was excerpted from a recent article in the Single Audit Information Service.) The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to provide guidance to states explaining federal requirements for using the Express Lane Eligibility option for determining Medicaid eligibility, in response to a recent audit recommendation by the HHS Office of Inspector General.

There still are a lot of questions left but at least we know a little bit more about the “what,” even though were are still left empty on the question as to “when.” Let me try to clarify a bit.

(The following was excerpted from a recent article in the Federal Grants Management Handbook.) The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued supplementary guidance pertaining to the eligibility of students for assisted housing under the Section 8 housing program, updating previous guidance to be consistent with the Department of Education’s (ED’s) revised definition of “independent student.”

Today I thought I’d rerun a blog post from four years ago — with a few updates — for a new audience to this post that may have missed it back then. The words from 2012 are just as applicable today, if not more so. To wit:

(The following was excerpted from a recent article in the Single Audit Information Service.) Several offices within the Department of Education (ED) plan to establish a working group that will draft guidance on minimum levels of monitoring, risk assessment and mitigation procedures that state educational agencies (SEAs) would perform at charter school subrecipients that have contractual relationships with a charter management organization (CMO) or education management organization (EMO), according to a recent ED Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit. The working group also would reassess modifications to ED’s monitoring procedures for federally funded charter schools with CMO relationships.

Current recipients of National Science Foundation (NSF) funding, as well applicants seeking awards from NSF, should be aware that the agency has made its updated NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) available on the NSF website.