Schools and Libraries

Step 8: Undergo Selective Review

Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they have secured access to all of the resources necessary to make effective use of the products and services for which they receive discounts.

What is a Selective Review?

The Selective Review is a separate component of the Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) review process that follows up on certifications that applicants make on their Forms 471 about the competitive bidding process and the necessary resources to make effective use of requested services.

During a Selective Review, we will look at your competitive bidding documentation to ensure that a fair and open bidding process occurred. We will also review your budget to ensure that you have the money to pay for your non-discount share, and review all of the other resource areas that are part of the Form 471 Item 25 Certifications. Other resource areas covered by the Item 25 certifications include training, professional development, computers, software, electrical capacity, and maintenance to ensure that you can successfully implement technology in your school or library.

The Selective Review takes place at the Billed Entity level. An entity is considered a Billed Entity if it is responsible for making payments directly to a service provider. An entity that receives a bill, but does not make payments to the service provider for that bill, is not a Billed Entity. Generally, this means that the review will take place at the school district, consortium, or library system/consortium level. In a Selective Review, USAC requests and reviews information for ALL Form(s) 471 that were filed by the Billed Entity for the current funding year.

What is the SRIR?

The Selective Review Information Request (SRIR) is the document that USAC will fax/email to inform you that you have been selected for Selective Review and to identify the information you will need to provide to USAC.

During some Selective Reviews, we might look only at your competitive bidding process or specific areas of the Item 25 certifications on the Form 471 application. For example, instead of reviewing all components of the Selective Review (competitive bidding, technology plan, budget and Item 25), we will focus specifically on one or more of them. The SRIR itself will only provide brief instructions on how to complete the document. USAC strongly recommends that you review the Step 8: Selective Review Guidance for complete instructions.

What is the timeframe allowed to complete and submit the SRIR to USAC?

If you receive a Selective Review that covers your competitive bidding process and all of the areas covered by the Item 25 certifications on the Form 471 application, all information requested must be received within 30 calendar days from the date of the SRIR.

However, if you receive a Selective Review that only covers the Item 25 certification areas or your competitive bidding process, all information requested must be received within 15 calendar days from the date of the SRIR.

  • Please note that USAC is unable to grant multiple or lengthy extensions to respond to the SRIR. However, during the course of the selective review, if information you submit is incomplete or raises other concerns related to the review, USAC will contact you for any additional information or supporting documentation that is required to complete the review. If any information you submit leads to a reduction or denial of one of your funding requests, USAC will inform you of its intention to modify or deny the funding request to ensure that you agree with the modification or denial. If you do not agree, you will have the opportunity to submit additional information or documentation to support your position prior to the issuance of an FCDL.

How do I respond to the SRIR?

Confirm Receipt - First, acknowledge that you have received the SRIR by contacting the USAC reviewer named in the SRIR.

Verify the Form (s) 471 and Billed Entity Number - Notify USAC immediately if you have any additional Form(s) 471 for your Billed Entity Number that are not listed on the SRIR cover page. Also, please include any applications that may have been filed under a different Billed Entity Number if that entity belongs to the Billed Entity (e.g., elementary schools within a school district that file their own applications in addition to the applications filed on their behalf by the district). The Selective Review will include those applications as well.

Note: Failure to identify additional applications may delay or jeopardize funding commitments and/or post-commitment disbursements. It may also result in adjustments to any funding commitments that you may receive in the future, or other action. PIA review of applications for the Billed Entity will continue, but no new funding commitments or payments for existing funding commitments for current funding year applications for this Billed Entity will be processed until the Selective Review is completed.

Provide Complete Response - USAC encourages you to provide a full and complete response. USAC urges you to carefully review your response before returning it to ensure that you have provided complete answers to all questions. If your response is not full and complete, your review and the approval of your funding requests may be delayed.

Submit Supporting Documentation - USAC requests copies of documents associated with your competitive bidding process, relevant pages of your operating budget, and a copy of your technology plan. Please indicate on the first page of each submitted document the document title and the corresponding Funding Request Number(s) (FRNs).

Complete and Submit SRIR Certification and Worksheets
The following documents may be enclosed in your SRIR:

  • Selective Review Information Request Checklist,
  • Item 25 Worksheet Summary,
  • Technology Implementation Level Worksheet , and/or
  • Selective Review Information Request Completion Certification

Please complete and submit these documents to your selective reviewer.

Who can respond to the request for information?

The applicant or the applicant's authorized representative can respond to the SRIR. If the applicant's authorized representative responds, the applicant must submit a Letter of Agency or Consulting Agreement authorizing the authorized representative to act on the applicant's behalf. Remember, however, that service providers may not act as the applicant's representative in this case and may not complete the SRIR for any applicant.

How can I get more information on the status of my Selective Review?

Note that the Selective Review is independent of other reviews conducted by PIA which may or may not still be in progress. To learn the latest status of your Form 471 application, please refer to the Form 471 Application Status tool. In addition, the outcome of all of the Selective Reviews or PIA reviews will be provided to you in a Funding Commitment Decision Letter. If you have additional detailed inquiries regarding your Form 471 application status, please contact the USAC Ombudsman's office at 202-776-0200 or via email Ombudsman@usac.org.

 


Last modified on 5/27/2008