SLD Requesting Consortia LOAs
Message Posted March 16, 2005
Lead Consortia members were required to obtain signed and dated Letters of
Agency from every member of the consortium before the 471 could be
submitted. In previous years, the SLD contacted some consortium applicants
and asked for a random sample of LOAs as proof that the lead consortia
member complied with this requirement. We are finding this year that they
are contacting many, if not most, lead consortium applicants and asking for
copies of ALL LOAs -- not just a random sample.
So if you are the lead entity of a consortia, please be sure you have these
LOAs on hand and ready to submit to the SLD. If you are a member of a
consortium, please make certain that you have signed such an LOA and
submitted it to your consortium lead.
Below is the guidance regarding Consortium Letters of Agency that is posted
on the SLD's website at:
http://www.sl.universalservice.org/reference/letters.asp.
LETTERS OF AGENCY
The authorized person on the Form 471 — the person whose signature appears
in the Form 471 Item 34 — certifies that he or she is the person authorized
to submit and certify to the accuracy of the application. This person must
be authorized to represent any and all of the entities for which discounts
are sought in the funding requests featured on the application. During its
review of the Form 471, the SLD may require copies of the documentation that
confirms this person’s authorization to represent all of the entities
featured on the Form 471.
The evidence that establishes this authorization — and therefore, that
establishes the relationship between the authorized person and the entities
featured on the form — is generally a Letter of Agency (LOA). A Letter of
Agency (LOA) is most commonly signed by consortium members and kept on file
by their consortium leader to verify their knowledge of their membership and
participation in the consortium. Other vehicles to establish this
authorization could be a project agreement, a contract, a letter agreement,
or other similar document.
A consultant — or anyone signing as the authorized person who is not a
school or library employee — should also have an LOA from the applicant
expressly authorizing the consultant to represent the applicant.
Whatever the form of the document establishing the above authorization, it
must contain all of the following:
-- The name of the person filing the application (the consortium leader or
consultant)
-- The name of the person authorizing the filing of the application (the
entity who will receive discounted services, such as a consortium member)
-- The specific timeframe the LOA or authorizing document covers (for
example, the E-rate Funding Year 2003)
-- The signature, signature date, and title of an official who is an
employee of the entity who is authorizing the filing of the application (the
entity who will receive discounted --services, such as a consortium member)
-- The type of services covered by the LOA or authorizing document (such as
“Internet services” or “networking equipment”).
NOTE: The timeframes of these authorizations cannot be open-ended, such as
“until terminated by either party.”
In certain situations, other documentation may be accepted as proof of
authorization. For example, for consortium applications, the consortium
lead member must either collect Letters of Agency from each consortium
member or be able to provide some other proof that each consortium member
knew it was represented on the application. Consortia which have a
statutory or regulatory basis and for which participation by schools or
libraries is mandatory must be able to provide documentation supporting this
certification, including copies of the relevant state statute or regulation.
NOTE that the Letter of Agency must be certified BEFORE the filing of the
Form 471.
A sample Letter of Agency that can be used as a reference guide is available
at: http://www.sl.universalservice.org/data/pdf/LOA%20Sample_clean.pdf.
Julie Tritt Schell
jtschell@comcast.net
(717) 730.7133 (voice)
(717) 730.9060 (fax)
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