SERA joins SAGE & SPAERC in providing post-award functionality for electronic research administration. Together these systems provide a strong foundation for further improvements intended to make it easier to effectively and efficiently manage research at the UW.

• June 08 - Advance Budget Number request created in SAGE & accessed by GCA in SERA
• Winter 09 - Automated hand-off of eNEA from OSP to GCA
• Future - Automation of additional post-award processes

The introduction of SERA, the System for Electronic Research Administration, marks the debut of post-award functionality to SAGE. On June 12th, the first of three phases is deployed.

Phase I - June 2008

• Advanced Budget Number Request
  • Available for approved and awarded eGC1s
  • Linked to specific eGC1
  • Data pre-populated to reduce data-entry
  • Validated & Data saved to database
  • OSP able to flag applications that are ineligible
  • Print the form, gather signatures & submit to GCA
  • Incremental step before online routing available
  • GIM 9 Updated
• SERA (System for Electronic Research Accounting)
  • Initial Release
  • GCA access to SAGE & SPAERC data
  • Authorized access
  • In preparation of electronic NEA

Phase II - Winter 2009

• Electronic NEA
  • Create NEA in SPAERC
  • GCA access data in SERA
  • Transparency of process in SAGE
  • Email notification to campus

Phase III - TBD

• More Post Award Revisions

SAGE is changing! New functionality is coming in the next 9 months starting with the Advance Budget Number Request form and the deployment of SERA - the new GCA web system.

View the Update and Demo of Advance Budget Request below for more information.

NIH and the Agency for Healthcare Research (AHRQ) have announced plans to move from the current system (PureEdge) to Adobe application forms, and to transition K, F, T, and D award programs from paper to electronic submission. For more details about these changes, including transition dates, please see NOT-OD-08-073.

The Office of Sponsored Programs will be re-organized on Thursday, May 8, 2008 when we implement a new staffing plan. Other important changes are also happening.

Currently, we divide our staff among five teams. The reorganization will collapse the number of teams from five to three. The collapsing of teams will provide more consistent support for the colleges, schools and departments. In addition, we have delegated broad signature authority to OSP administrators and limited authority to the OSP grant and contract coordinators. By expanding authority we anticipate more efficiencies in OSP.

On June 21st, OSP is moving to the UW Towers and we will be providing you with transition information on processing proposals. We may have a few issues to deal with and we will keep you informed.

There are a number of reasons behind the staffing changes:

The new team configuration provides a more equitable distribution of work assignments among OSP staff. Each team will now have more readily available backup for staff members on leave. Promotions, new hires, and changes in delegated authority have altered internal lines of reporting and OSP will be able to be more nimble in our interactions with campus.

For most of campus, the team assignment changes will be invisible; you will retain your current OSP administrator, and proposals and awards will continue to be processed as they are at present. However, a limited number of campus units will be assigned a new OSP administrator.

A few points to keep in mind as we move forward with the reorganization:

Effective May 9, the contact info on the OSP website will be updated to reflect changes in assignments of campus units to OSP administrators. Beginning May 9, you can see if your campus unit is affected by the change at the following URL: http://www.washington.edu/research/osp/contact.html

Applications currently in SAGE will route to the currently assigned OSP administrator.

Applications submitted from May 8th onward will route according to the new plan.

We anticipate an uneventful transition. Staff from ORIS will be monitoring the changes, and will be on hand to resolve technical issues that might arise. OSP will also be on the lookout to make sure that applications route according to the new plan.

Big changes are happening in the world of research administration and SAGE is taking part. Come hear about…

• New functionality being added in June
• Pilot #3 release of System-2-System in July
• Development efforts in progress for release later this year
• And see a demo of the new Advance Budget Request form

Sign Up Here

Major NIH deadlines are fast approaching! Grants.Gov forms are changing from Pure Edge to Adobe format! Now is the perfect time for making sure you are up to speed on Grants.Gov submissions.

Whether you are new to Research Administration or just need a quick refresher, the OSP “Basics” classes are the perfect option. Classes are available during May and June.

Also, every Wednesday in June, OSP will host informal, hour long brown bag sessions to share information on the changes from PureEdge to Adobe PDF.

Check out the Office of Sponsored Program’s Grants.Gov Training Website for up-to-date information and registration.

A new NIH Public Access law is in effect as of April 7. This impacts ALL NIH investigators.

Please visit the New NIH Publication Law page for details.