Federal Program Officer Guidance
1.1. Selecting Official Recommendation Memorandum
The Selection Memo must memorialize the review process. At a minimum, the Memo must
contain the elements listed below:
I. Signature of the Selecting Official identified in the NOFO
II. NOFO applicable to the selection process
III. Application Review and Selection Process
• Describe the administrative review, merit review, technical evaluation, and selection
process performed.
• If any non-substantive document was omitted at the time of application, a
justification must be included to support a program decision to award, and the
document may need to be obtained prior to submission to GMD for funding.
• Describe any negotiation performed before or after the evaluation process.
Any pertinent pre-award correspondence with the applicant must be uploaded in the
Official Award File.
• Describe the Selecting Official’s basis for determination to recommend for funding
based on program priorities.
• Include any guidance/instructions provided to the independent reviewers. Note that
this must align perfectly with the process identified in the NOFO.
• If the project involves Human and Animal Subjects Research, the program must
provide a summary (see HSPP and IRB Policies and Procedures).
• Certification that the Data Management Plan contains all required elements (see NIST
Guidance G 5701.00).
• Summary of any conflict of Interest identified by the reviewers, and how it was
resolved.
IV. Cost Evaluation
• The Program Office must certify that all costs included in the budget are allocable and
reasonable for the specific project.
• A justification for not fully funding any project that is planned to be less than 24
months must be included. See Section 18.C.4.b of the DOC Grants Manual for
additional information.
V. Level of Federal Involvement
• If a Cooperative Agreement is awarded, this section must describe the “substantial
Involvement” that the operating unit expects to have.
• No substantial involvement is anticipated between the Program Office and the
recipient during a grant.
VI. Benefits to the General Public: Describe how the project will benefit the general public.
Guidance for Federal Program Officers processing Congressionally identified Projects (jlc 6/28/2022)
VII. Identify the Federal Program Officer responsible for managing the grant or cooperative
agreement. If a reviewer is selected as the FPO after the review process, a justification
must be included to support the program decision.
VIII. For Group Competitions Only
• List by rank order the results of the merit review of all LOIs or pre-applications (if the
LOIs and pre-applications were mandatory and a basis of precluding applicants from
submitting full proposals), including the review of the LOIs and pre-applications by the
independent reviewers, reviewers’ scores, and the ranked scores of each application;
• List of all applications/proposals rejected and the reason(s) for rejection;
• List by rank order of the results of the merit review of applications/proposals
(including the review of pre-proposals, if such a review will result in one or more
applicants being prohibited from submitting full proposals and thereby not being able
to compete further for an award) by the independent reviewers, to include reviewers’
scores and the ranked scores of each application.
The list below are items to consider when preparing the Selection Memo:
1. If the Selecting Official has delegated this authority, a copy of the written authorization
signed by the Selection Official identified in the NOFO must be Included.
2. Identify the correct NOFO for the competition; pay attention to any amendment issued.
3. Selection criteria matches the NOFO, and scores match the reviewers’ score sheets
4. Funding:
• Funding is in line with the proposed budget and the funding commitment
• Total funding does not exceed the total threshold stated in the NOFO. If estimates
were used in the NOFO, total amounts should not exceed the amount identified in the
NOFO by more than 10-15%.
• Other agency funds - IAA
1.2. Selection Package
The information below contains a list of all the items that must be included as part of the
selection package:
1.2.1. Application Package
The original application submitted to Grants.gov, any application revisions, and any
documentation submitted by the applicant that supports any negotiation performed during
the review and selection process.
Guidance for Federal Program Officers processing Congressionally identified Projects (jlc 6/28/2022)
1.2.2. Selection/Recommendation Memorandum
New award packages must include a recommendation memorandum signed by the Selecting
Official or designee. For guidance on how to prepare a selection/recommendation memo see
section above “Selecting Official Recommendation Memo.”
1.2.3. NIST Director’s Office Approval Memorandum, if applicable
Award packages must include an approval of the NIST Director’s Office Approval Memorandum if
the total obligation amount is expected to exceed $500,000; see NIST site
https://inet.nist.gov/do/directors-office-approval.
1.2.4. Data Management Plan – revised DMP, if applicable
(see Guidance for Review of Data Management Plans)
1.2.5. Research Involving Human Subjects or Vertebrate Animals, if applicable
Prior to submitting an award package, if an application package contain/may contain
human subjects or vertebrate animals research, the Program Office must consult
with the NIST Research Protection office (https://inet.nist.gov/rpo). For guidance, visit
the NIST HSPP and IRB Policies and Procedures page:
https://inet.nist.gov/hspo/hspp-and-irb-policiesand-procedures.
1.2.6. Office of International Academic Affairs (OIAA), if applicable
If applicant is a foreign organization, clearance from the OIAA is required. This
clearance must be included in the selection/recommendation memo; see NIST site
https://inet.nist.gov/mando/directives/405appd.
1.2.7. Inter-Agency Agreement (IAA), if applicable
If the selected application is funded with funds from another agency, a copy of the IAA must be
included. The proposed application must be in line with the Scope of the IAA, and the IAA period
of performance must cover the proposed award period
plus the 120-day closeout period.
1.3. Funding Committed in Grants Management Information System (GMIS)
In addition to submitting a complete Selection package, a financial commitment must be
approved in GMIS - https://portal.cbs.nist.gov/grants-and-cooperative-
agreements/systems/grants-management-information-system-gmis. Below are some items to
consider when entering the commitment project in GMIS:
1. Validate the legal authority entered into GMIS; it must match the legal authority
identified in the NOFO. A complete list of the NIST legal authorities can be found in the
US Code website.
Guidance for Federal Program Officers processing Congressionally identified Projects (jlc 6/28/2022)
2. The Federal Program Officer and Selecting Official listed in GMIS must match those
identified in the selection memo.
3. Award Start Date must not have passed, and it must allow GMD enough time to process
all pre-award requirements (i.e., at least 30 business days).
4. If Inter-Agency Funds are identified, the Inter-Agency Agreement (IAA) number and
expiration date must be included in the GMIS Funding tab
Guidance for Federal Program Officers processing Congressionally identified Projects (jlc 6/28/2022)
