I too can give this conference a strong recommendation.  I attended in May 2000
along with our grant accountant.  It was very good for the two of us to do this
together--to hear the same things, etc.  The conference was well organized and
had a lot of valuable information.  There was only one session that was not
good, and that was obviously the fault of the individual presenters who were ill
prepared.  I agree that it might be overwhelming for someone who is brand new,
but participants come away with a good reference notebook which could refresh
her memory when she needs it.  Also, it's good to meet people from the federal
funding agencies--to put a face with a name. All in all, I think it's a good
thing!

Jenny Bradley

"Atella,Mary" wrote:

> I can give the NACM program a strong recommendation.  I attended their
> conference in Las Vegas in April of 1999 with the intention of getting a
> good overview of the various payment methods that the Feds use.  The
> curriculum sounded very similar to what you list below (and that's a lot to
> cover in 2.5 days).  I found it to be very worthwhile and I remember
> thinking that it would be even better for the actual grant accountant level.
>
> Mary Atella
> Director, Sponsored Programs Services
> Colorado State University
> phone:   (970) 491-2083
> fax:   (970) 491-6147
> email:   xxxxxx@colostate.edu
>
>  -----Original Message-----
> From:   Barbara Gray [mailto:xxxxxx@COFC.EDU]
> Sent:   Wednesday, April 11, 2001 2:27 PM
> To:     xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG
> Subject:        [RESADM-L] NACM Conference Experience???
>
> Hi, everyone,
>
> We have a new grants accountant and would like to give her some
> professional development opportunities.  We do plan to send her to NCURA
> fundamentals as soon as we can to get the big picture of university
> research administration.  In the meantime, I'm wondering about the
> quality of a conference that I just received a flyer for.  It is a 2.5
> day conference in June in Baltimore, called "How to Get Paid by Uncle
> Sam," that is sponsored by the National Association of Credit
> Management.   I am not a financial type and I'm unfamiliar with this
> association, so I don't know if this would be a good conference for her.
>
> The conference is billed as a "grants and research finance and
> administration seminar" and covers such topics as PMS, electronic 272
> filing, submitting interim and final financial reports, DOD's electronic
> billing system; allowable costs, government invoice inquiry screens and
> systems accessble throug the net, submitting public vouchers to DFAS
> directly, electronic updates (EDI, EFT, etc.), prompt payment act and
> getting paid interest when not paid on time, DEd's business practices
> and reporting re: student financial aid, NSF Fastlane business
> functions, SF34, DD250, ONR billing rates and payment process, OMB
> circulars, etc.
>
> The registration fee is $550.
>
> If any of you have attended one of these NACM conferences, I'd like to
> know how you rate them, if you think this one would be appropriate for
> someone new to grants accounting (but not general accounting), and if it
> is worth the money.
>
> As always, thanks!
> Barbara
>
> --
> ==================================================================
> Barbara H. Gray, Director
> Office of Research & Grants Administration
> College of Charleston
> 66 George Street
> Charleston, SC  29424
> Campus Location:  407-G Bell Bldg.
> Office: 843.953.5673  Desk: 843.953.5885  Fax:  843.953.6577
> e-mail:  xxxxxx@cofc.edu   URL: http://www.orga.cofc.edu/
> ==================================================================
>
> ======================================================================
>  Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
>  subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
>  via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
> ======================================================================
>
> ======================================================================
>  Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
>  subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
>  via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
> ======================================================================

--
Jenny H. Bradley
Director of Academic Grants and Foundation Relations
Roanoke College
221 College Lane
Salem, VA  24153

Phone: (540) 375-2409
Fax:   (540) 375-2026

email: xxxxxx@roanoke.edu

======================================================================
 Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
 subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
 via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
======================================================================