Reminder

Compliance protocols MUST be approved and linked in SeRA to a SPO project record prior to award acceptance. 

See ORA's Award Acceptance Resources for additional information.
Stanford
Office of Research Administration

Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Agreement Workflow

IPA Workflow Process

  1. An IPA is initiated by a VA PI, who decides that VA funding should be used as salary support for a Stanford employee. The VA PI should work with VA administration (see below contact information) to ensure the SU employee contact and employment information, percent effort, and IPA project information are correct.
  2. The half-completed IPA will be sent to the SU Department Finance Manager (FM) from the VA, who will review the VA-provided information, enter the prorated salary, benefits, and vacation/sick accrual information, and confirm the period of assignment. The FM will also coordinate signature from the Department Chair and DFA on the required Letter of Rehire (based on period of assignment).  IPA's being established for Stanford faculty require Provost review and approval. FM will provide Faculty Affairs contacts; Scott Walters: swalters@stanford.edu and Cristen Shinbashi: cshinbashi@stanford.edu, with a copy of the IPA and Faculty Affairs will coordinate and provide FM the Provost approval.
  3. The FM will send the IPA, Letter of Rehire, Provost approval (if applicable), and OSR IPA Checklist to osr_intake@stanford.edu. When needed, OSR Intake will create a parallel PDRF and AAN (creating a SPO# in SeRA), assign both transactions to the Contract and Grant Associate (CGA), who then enters the IPA info into the PDRF and routes the transaction to the SU PI for approval. If the SU employee is PI-eligible, they will serve as the PI in SeRA. If the SU employee is not PI-eligible, their supervising PI or Department Chair will serve as the PI in SeRA.  See OSR Process Notes, below, for new vs. renewal distinction.
  4. When the PDRF is approved by the SU PI and returned to OSR, the CGA conducts a final review and approves the PDRF. The CGA reviews the salary and period of performance information in the IPA and, if accurate, sends the partially-executed IPA to a Contract and Grant Officer (CGO) who signs the agreement and returns a copy back to the CGA. The CGA will then send the partially executed agreement to the VA Administrative Officer via email.
  5. The VA Administrative Officer will internally route the IPA for signature. Once fully executed, the VA Administrative Officer returns a copy to OSR via email. Please note, the time to receive a fully executed copy of the IPA is entirely dependent on the VA’s internal signature processes.
  6. OSR will upload the final agreement into SeRA, the CGA will issue the AAN, which initiates the PTA setup process.

Important notes about IPAs

  • Postdocs, students, and/or general admin support are not eligible to be on an IPA. The SU-employment status must be a permanent employee of Stanford and have been employed for at least 90 days.
  • No scope of work is required to be included in an IPA. Please use the federal fringe benefit rates and include the applicable vacation/disability/sick leave. The IDC rate is 0% (OSR will code the rate in SeRA as Other Sponsored Activity - Off Campus, using a MTDC base).
  • At the end of the Federal fiscal year (September 30th), IPA funds are either expended or revert back to the VA. The account may be held open for up to 60 days so that all open invoices can be paid, but the invoices must be for work completed in the subject fiscal year.
  • The IPA start date should be a future date from when the IPA is initiated. An IPA cannot be used to cover salary retroactively. Please start the IPA process at least 60 days before the proposed start date, to allow for reasonable time to prepare, route, and process all applicable paperwork.
  • Stanford's SRM submits invoices for the SU employee's salary to the VA Accounts Payable group. The salary amount charged must be within +/-5% of the budgeted figure. No funds are transferred to Stanford unless they are invoiced. If the account includes a balance figure, it means actual expenses are less than budgeted. Carry forward is not allowed on an IPA.
  • After 46 months on an IPA, the SU employee must take a two month hiatus from VA-funded activities. A new IPA can be initiated again after the hiatus period.
  • Other federal agencies can use an IPA to support a Stanford employee, although the majority come from the VA. This workflow should support those IPAs as well. Contact your OSR representative if you have any questions about an agency-specific IPA process.

OSR Process Notes

  • A new SPO# is required for the SU employee's first IPA.
  • A renewal PDRF under the same SPO# is appropriate for the two month hiatus, which will drive a new segment in SeRA and a new award in Oracle. This is to account for the break in allowable billing periods.
  • IPA amendments/extensions under an existing SPO# can be processed without a PDRF during the 46 month maximum period. FM should submit the initialed IPA amendment, Letter of Rehire, and OSR IPA Checklist to OSR Intake and reference existingSPO#. Provost approval is not required for amendment/extensions, only new IPA's.

Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Contact Information (as of 10/23/2019)

Stacy Moeder - Email: stacy.moeder@va.gov

Ed Wakabayashi - Email: edward.wakabayashi@va.gov

Sheena Sharma - Email: sheena.sharma@va.gov

Jim Griffith - Email: jim.griffith@va.gov

Timothy Mooney - Email: timothy.mooney@va.gov

Randy Gieben - Email: randy.gieben@va.gov

Julie Salazar - Email: julie.salazar@va.gov

Additional IPA Resources

Questions?

Contact your OSR Contract and Grant Associate (CGA)

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