Agreements

Extramural Agreements Management Review

The Extramural Agreements Division performs periodic Management Reviews of the Area Office agreements functions. It is our goal to review 3 to 4 Area Offices a year, so that each office is reviewed every 2 to 3 years.

Objectives

The objectives of the EAMR are threefold:

to measure the Area's compliance with applicable statutes, regulations, and ARS policies and procedures governing extramural agreements;
to determine where EAD can be of assistance in interpreting and determining the applicability of various Federal and State statutes and regulations and in developing negotiation strategies to resolve conflicting requirements or issues of noncompliance with the Cooperator; and
to identify positive and innovative techniques being used in the Area that can be shared with other Area Offices.

Process

Most reviews will be performed by a team of 2 - 3 people over a three-day period. The team will hold an opening conference with the AAO and all Area personnel involved in the agreements process on Tuesday morning. During the opening conference, the team will discuss the objectives of the review and will solicit issues and/or concerns from the Area personnel that they feel they need the most assistance or guidance.

Following the conference, the team will begin reviewing the Area's agreement files. The team will typically try to review at least 50% of the latest completed fiscal year's agreements. However, files will only be reviewed to the extent necessary to identify developing trends or patterns of noncompliance with established guidelines. The team will also visit with the Area personnel to discuss their roles and responsibilities, identify operational procedures and techniques, and to provide on-site assistance where appropriate. Each team member will randomly select and interview one or two customers from the field in order to determine their satisfaction with the Area in executing their agreements.

An exit conference will be held on Thursday afternoon with all members of the Area's agreements team to discuss the review team's findings and to jointly define and validate the recommendations. A separate exit conference may be held between the review team leader, the Area Director, Associate Area Director, and the AAO to discuss operational processes and procedures.

A draft report of the Team's findings will be provided to the AAO within two weeks of completing the review. The Area will have two weeks to provide their comments and return the draft to EAD. EAD will then issue a final report out within one week. The entire review process should take no longer than six weeks.