Glossary of Terms

Expanded Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) is an optional core user role in Grants.gov.  This role grants all the access and privileges of the Standard AOR role, in addition to privileges that allow the user to modify organization-level settings.

A Federal Financial Report (FFR) is submitted by a Financial Manager. The JustGrants web-based form collects FFR information and communicates it to the Entity Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) account. FFRs may be submitted 10 calendar days or less from a reporting period end date until the due date and must be submitted in sequential order. To enforce FFR compliance, JustGrants collects the FFR and communicates with the ASAP account and will lock out a grantee if they have a delinquent submission. Final FFRs are submitted within 90 days after the project period end date.

Fedwire is one of the two payment methods offered by ASAP. Fedwire transactions settle almost immediately, assuming that there are no payment reviews associated with the account. Your financial institution may charge a fee for this type of transaction. In ASAP, select Fedwire for same-day settlement.

Financial GAMs are used to modify budget details or approve a budget that received a conditional clearance when awarded (a process performed by a DOJ Financial Analyst). There are three types:

• Budget Modification GAM
• Sole Source GAM
• Budget Reduction GAM (COPS Office awards only)

The Financial Manager is one of the six foundational JustGrants entity user roles. This role is responsible for certifying and submitting federal financial reports (FFRs), processing financial Grant Award Modifications (GAMs), and initiating closeout on behalf of the entity. 

Financial Official (FO) is one of the user roles in Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP). The FO enters and maintains banking account information.

Formula and/or block grants are awarded directly by the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) to eligible recipients as authorized by statute. Generally, States, territories, and sometimes Indian tribes and local units of government are eligible for awards under OJP's various block and formula grant programs. Specific eligibility criteria for each program is set forth in the program's governing statute and rules.

A funded award is an award that has been approved for fund disbursement to a grantee and has been accepted by that grantee.

A Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is a publicly available document by which a federal agency makes known its intention to award funds. Also referred to as a program announcement, notice of funding availability, solicitations, or other names depending on the agency and type of program.

Grant Award Administrator is one of the six foundational JustGrants entity user roles. This is the grantee role that manages many aspects of the grant. This role allows a grantee to view and submit performance reports, initiate some Grant Award Modifications (GAMs), review and respond to monitoring issues as applicable, upload documents, and view award, application, and solicitation information. 

A Grant Award Modification (GAM) is a request for a modification to a key element of a funded award. Most GAMs can be initiated by the grantee’s Grant Award Administrator or the Alternate Grant Award Administrator but must be approved by DOJ personnel. Types of GAMS:

• Project Period Extension GAM
• Programmatic GAM (Programmatic Cost GAM and Scope Change GAM)
• Financial GAMs (Budget Reduction GAM, Budget Modification GAM, and Sole Source GAM)

A Grantee, also referred to as a recipient, is the entity awarded funding to carry out a project or program.

A Grantor is the user registered on behalf of their federal grant-making agency to post funding opportunities or manage submissions to these funding opportunities.

The Grants Lifecycle generally includes five stages:

1. Solicitations Posted; Application Period Begins
2. Application Review
3. Award Notification
4. Post-Award
5. Award Closeout

Grants Management System (GMS) previously used by OJP and OVW has been replaced by the Justice Grants System (JustGrants).

Grants Payment Request System (GPRS) has been replaced  by the Department of the Treasury’s Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) system.

For new applicants or grantees, the onboarding process commences when you initiate an application in Grants.gov. Grants.gov is an E-Government initiative operating under the governance of the Office of Management and Budget.

Also see Grants.gov Applicant Management Roles

Applicant Management Roles in the Grants.gov system include two types of user roles: core roles and custom roles. Privileges for the three core roles cannot be modified. The E-Biz POC or a user with the Expanded Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) role can assign roles in the Grants.gov system. Core roles are:

• Standard AOR
• Expanded AOR
• Workspace Manager

Creating and assigning custom roles are useful when the core roles do not meet an entity’s grant workflow needs. Custom roles can be created with a unique name and assigned a custom set of privileges.

Head of Organization (HOO) is one of the user roles in Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP).  The HOO approves changes to users and their roles.

Initial Point of Contact is one of the user roles in Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP).  This role is added by the federal agency and can self-designate all roles and create additional users.