A DSP Reminder: IPA Agreement Processing Guidance

The UF Division of Sponsored Programs (DSP) has updated its Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Agreement Processing Guidance. What is an IPA Agreement? The IPA Agreement is the contract between UF and a federal agency that allows a UF employee to go on assignment to the federal agency and provide research, administrative, or other services to the federal agency for a limited period of time.

The assignee remains a UF employee and continues to be paid by UF payroll for the duration of the assignment. The Federal agency may agree to pay all, some, or none of the costs associated with an assignment. Costs may include salary pay, supplemental pay, fringe benefits, and travel and relocation expenses.  Most IPAs do not allow reimbursement of indirect costs, but there are a few federal agencies that do allow a reduced indirect cost rate.

The updated guidance can be found on the DSP website: IPA Agreement Processing Guidance

UF IPA Agreement Processing Guidance

• UF employees considering going on assignment need to first coordinate the activity with their Dept Chair and in some cases the Dean’s Office.
• All IPA agreements must receive UF’s four levels of approval (PI, Dept, College and DSP) using UFIRST Proposal with a related UFIRST Agreement, prior to DSP signing the IPA Agreement.
• Upon IPA full execution the funding is established in a project in Fund 201 using UFIRST Awards.
• C&G Accounting will invoice the federal agency and collect the payments.

UFIRST Instructions

If the assignee is PI eligible,

• In the Proposal and Award SmartForms the assignee is entered as the Principal Investigator.
• The PI will be the Project Manager and their effort commitment will be entered into the Award commitment page.
• No effort commitment is required of the immediate supervisor identified in the IPA agreement.

If the assignee is not PI eligible,

• In the Proposal and Award SmartForms the assignee will be entered as the Principal Investigator, with the assignee’s supervisor, who is PI eligible, entered as the Responsible Faculty Mentor.
• The Responsible Faculty Mentor will be the Project Manager and no effort commitment is required.
• The assignee’s effort commitment is entered into the Award commitment page.
• No effort commitment is required of the immediate supervisor identified in the IPA agreement.

Questions can be directed to ufproposals@ufl.edu or DSP-HSC.