Pre-Award Risk Assessment and Award Structuring Course

Module 1: Purpose and Role of Pre-Award Risk Assessment

• Explain why pre-award risk assessment is a decision-making function rather than a compliance exercise.
• Identify how early program design and award decisions drive downstream performance failures and audit findings.
• Recognize oversight expectations from OMB, Inspectors General, and Congress.

Module 2: Regulatory and Policy Foundations

• Review Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200) requirements related to pre-award risk assessment and award conditions.
• Understand risk-based decision-making and internal control expectations.
• Identify documentation standards needed for defensible pre-award decisions.

Module 3: Core Categories of Pre-Award Risk

• Identify key categories of pre-award risk, including financial, programmatic, compliance, capacity, and external risk.
• Distinguish material risk from routine variation or administrative noise.
• Recognize how different risk types require different management responses.

Module 4: Program Risk vs. Recipient Risk

• Differentiate between risks inherent in program design and risks specific to recipient capacity.
• Identify how program structure can amplify or mitigate recipient risk.
• Avoid over-reliance on audit history or financial metrics as sole indicators of risk.

Module 5: Pre-Award Risk Assessment Methods and Inputs

• Evaluate the strengths and limitations of common pre-award inputs, including applications, audits, and financial statements.
• Distinguish high-value risk indicators from low-value or misleading information.
• Apply professional judgment when data is incomplete, outdated, or conflicting.

Module 6: Analyzing Risk and Reaching Defensible Conclusions

• Assess risk based on likelihood and impact rather than checklist scoring.
• Prioritize material risks that could affect performance, compliance, or stewardship of funds.
• Document risk conclusions clearly to support defensible award decisions.

Module 7: Using Risk to Inform Award Decisions

• Determine when to approve, condition, modify, delay, or decline awards based on risk.
• Align award decisions logically with documented risk analysis.
• Recognize when conditions alone are insufficient to address structural risk.

Module 8: Structuring Awards Based on Risk

• Design special award conditions that are targeted, proportional, and defensible.
• Apply phased or incremental funding to manage risk.
• Use prior approval requirements and authorities strategically.

Module 9: Linking Pre-Award Risk to Oversight and Monitoring

• Translate pre-award risk findings into proportional post-award oversight plans.
• Establish escalation triggers and monitoring strategies aligned with risk.
• Use technical assistance as a preventive risk-management tool.

Module 10: Documentation, Defensibility, and Capstone Simulation

• Identify what auditors and oversight bodies look for in pre-award files.
• Avoid common documentation failures that undermine defensibility.
• Apply course concepts through a capstone simulation involving a full pre-award risk assessment and award recommendation.