Grants Management General Statement of Assurances (GSA) and Self Assessment (SA)

 

General Statement of Assurances (GSA):

The General Statement of Assurances (GSA) is completed in Grants Management Enterprise (GME), located on the Entity Information page - General Statement of Assurances.

It is best practice to keep in mind that in order to start, edit, and submit the GSA, the user or users must have the required GSA roles in GME:

  1. LEA General Statement of Assurance Update: This user can initiate, edit and complete the GSA.
  2. LEA Entity Authorized Signer: This user can review and submit the GSA to ADE.

Please Note: Consultants and contractors are not be assigned the LEA Entity Authorized Signer role. This role is reserved for individuals directly employed by the organization and have the qualifications to sign contracts on behalf on the organization.

  • District: Board President or Superintendent
  • Charters: Charter Contract Signer
  • Other Type of Entities (Non District or Non Charters): Comparable Authorized Official

Please submit completed W-9 forms to Grants Management using the Grants Management's General Request template in ADE Help Desk.

 

Self Assessment (SA):

The purpose of the Self Assessment is to provide the entity information that is required when accepting and using federal grant funds. Each section provides measures to assist in evaluating performance and compliance with federal grant requirements. The Self Assessment is also meant to assist entities in evaluating and recognizing areas where improvement is needed or where minimum requirements are not being met.

It is best practice to keep in mind that in order to start, edit, and submit the Self Assessment, the user or users must have one of the following required Self Assessment roles in GME:

  1. LEA Business Manager: This user role allows to initiate, edit and submit the Self Assessment.
  2. LEA Self Assessment Update: This user role allows to initiate, edit and submit the Self Assessment.

Please Note: A user only needs one of those two roles in order to initiate, edit and submit the Self Assessment. A user is not required to be assigned both roles.

 

General Statement of Assurances (GSA), Self Assessment (SA) and SAM.gov Frequently Asked Questions:

For additional guidance, please refer to:

 

General Statement of Assurances (GSA):

Once the GSA has been reviewed, the LEA Entity Authorized Signer will receive a notification that it was accepted. If the GSA is declined, the LEA General Statement of Assurance Update will receive a notification. Please review the Checklist within the GSA in GME, as it will outline what needs to be corrected. Once corrected, the LEA Entity Authorized Signer will need to change the status to "General Statement of Assurance Signed" in order for the GSA to be reviewed again.

The targeted date by which to submit the GSA is March 1st of each year prior to the upcoming fiscal year.

An LEA or entity should aim to submit the GSA by the targeted date as an accepted GSA is one of the requirements for funding applications to receive substantial approval and director level approval.

Please allow 48 business hours for processing, beginning from the time the GSA is in "General Statement of Assurance Signed" status.

Yes, the LEA or entity must complete the Self Assessment prior to submitting the GSA.

 

Self Assessment (SA):

The targeted date by which to submit the Self Assessment is March 1st of each year prior to the upcoming fiscal year. The Self Assessment must be in Self Assessment Submitted status prior to submitting the General Statement of Assurances (GSA).

An LEA or entity should aim to submit the Self Assessment by the targeted date as a submitted Self Assessment is systematically required before an LEA or entity can submit the GSA to ADE.

The Self Assessment submission is required to be completed for all LEAs and entities applying for funding through the Grants Management Enterprise (GME) system.

Please Note: LEAs/other educational entities who are not applying for federal funding must also complete the Self Assessment and provide the appropriate response that they are not applying for federal funding.

The Self Assessment is required of all LEAs and entities applying for funds per ADE policy. It is designed to assist both ADE and LEAs/other educational entities in assessing areas for improvement in terms of federal compliance. The Self Assessment is not meant for monitoring purposes meaning ADE will not use this information to audit LEAs or entities. The information will instead be used to help ADE develop training and individual technical assistance.

No, there is not an approval level for the Self Assessment. A user with the appropriate role can start and complete the Self Assessment without a required approval from another role.

Please Note: The Arizona Department of Education does not approve the Self Assessment. The Self Assessment only has to be completed and submitted by the LEA or entity.

Arizona Department of Education (ADE) does not offer any guidance to LEAs or entities regarding how to answer any of the questions in the Self Assessment. ADE encourages users to answer the questions to the best of their abilities and knowledge. 

 

System Award Management (SAM) Registration:

Yes, the SAM.gov website is a free service.


The Core Data page is available to users logged into Sam.gov under Entity Dashboard and can be printed by following these directions.

The SAM.gov website does not automatically update information to GME. Therefore, once the individual has updated the SAM.gov account, a copy of the Core Data page must be submitted to Grants Management using the Grants Management's General Request template in ADE Help Desk or uploaded as a related document at the time of the GSA.

This information can be obtained from SAM.gov.

Yes, please upload all pages.