Product Updates

SAGE Release Calendar

The SAGE Release Calendar provides SAGE users with awareness of work in progress and a schedule for upcoming releases.  You can also review historical release details in the Release History section.

Upcoming Releases

Release Date System Downtime Release Description
Late February, 2024 Yes Integration of ASR SAGE Budgets to Workday Plans

Release History

Below are the dates of our historical project and maintenance releases.  Not included are production support patches that may have gone out intermittently in response to urgent needs.

This document covers the years 2022 to the present. A second document covers the years 2017-2021.

Review the SAGE Product Updates for more detailed information on features and fixes for any of the release dates below. The updates are generally linked from the Release Description.

2024 Releases Delivered

Release Date Release Description
February 22, 2024 SAGE Suite Release Notes

  • SAGE
    • Award Setup Requests
    • Modification Requests
    • SAGE Budget
  • SAGE Central
    • Award Setup Requests (OSP & GCA only)
    • Admin Actions (OSP)
  • Performance Improvements
February 6, 2024 SAGE Suite Release Notes

  • SAGE
    • Award Request List Filters
    • Award Search Update
    • Budget Alert & Validation for 03-62 (subaward) Line Entries

2023 Releases Delivered

Release Date Release Description
December 20, 2023 SAGE Suite Release Notes

  •  SAGE
    • Additional data available in the Award Requests List
    • Added filter by Award ID and filter by PI
    • Sync of current and past Workday awards to SAGE
    • “Processed” status filter for Advances reactivated
    • Additional fields added to SAGE Budget export
  • SAGE Central
    • Changing sponsor on non-award agreements issue fixed
November 30, 2023 SAGE Suite Release Notes

  • Fixes and Features
    • SAGE Awards
    • SAGE Advances
    • SAGE Budgets
  • Infrastructure Improvements
November 9, 2023 SAGE Suite Release Notes

  • Subawards
  • Holds on Award Setup (ASR) and Modification (MOD) Requests
  • Required Fields on Award and Budget Setup
  • Miscellaneous Maintenance
  • User Interface Design Component Updates
September 14, 2023 Awards Updates and Grant Runner Forms-H

  • Search in Award Requests List
  • Change the Linked SAGE Budget from an Award Setup Request
  • Grant Runner Updated with FORMS-H
  • Additional Maintenance and Fixes
August 31, 2023 SAGE Maintenance and Fixes
August 17, 2023 SAGE Maintenance Release

  • SAGE users can delete modification request when created in SAGE in Composing status, but not modification requests created by OSP in SAGE Central and sent to Campus to complete (even though status is in Composing).
  • OSP can delete modification requests when created in SAGE Central in OSP Setup status.
  • Ability to change an incorrectly connected eGC1 or Budget on Award Setup Requests
  • Campus users will not be able to delete a SAGE Budget that is connected to an ASR
  • Modification requests will display in the Award Request List based on the Award
    Application (eGC1) Contacts & Access page.
  • Ad hoc reviewers of Award Setup Requests (ASRs) can now view, open and approve ASRs in their request list
  • SAGE Budget rounding error correction
August 10, 2023 SAGE Maintenance Release

  • Modification Request Validations: The following validations have been added to Modifications to ensure the form is completed correctly:
    • A message will display on the “Review & Submit” section to confirm the Award Preparer is added to the “Access & Roles” section.
    • A gray check mark will display next to each section of the Modification that has been completed.
  • Users Able to Approve Advances: Previously, campus approvers were unable to approve advances when a newly created eGC1 included only the Cost Center, and the Organization Code (Org Code) did not exist. This fix allows these Advances to be approved by department approvers.
  • Approval Workflow Now Generates Correctly When Award Preparer Is Added: Approval workflows for Award Setup Requests and Modifications were not generating correctly when an award preparer was added to the eGC1 after the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) had created the Award Setup Request or Modification. Campus users can now refresh the Approvals page to generate the correct approval workflow so that the Award Setup Request or Modification can be submitted.
  • Deletion of OSP-Initiated Award Setup Requests: As noted in a previous announcement, Award Setup Requests initiated by OSP cannot be deleted by campus users in order to prevent accidental loss of OSP work.
  • eGC1 Search Fix: When searching eGC1s in advanced search, duplicate eGC1 search results have been removed.
  • Advance Budget Extension Request End Dates: An issue with Advance Budget Extension requests where the end date was not calculating correctly has been fixed.
  • Budget Display for Award Setup Requests: When searching for budgets to connect to an Award Setup Request, SAGE will display only budgets that are not already connected to an eGC1 or Award Setup Request.
July 19, 2023 ORIS FT SAGE Modifications Release

  • Award Modifications (MODs): Campus and OSP can create and route Award Modification Requests
  • SAGE Central: Filter Award Request List by OSP and GCA individual and/or team assignments
July 7, 2023 ORIS FT SAGE Release

  • Award Setup Requests
  • Cost Centers
  • SAGE Central
  • UW Centralized Sponsor & Donor Data
March 16, 2023 SAGE Maintenance Release

  • HR/Payroll Web Service Update
  • FCOI Label Updates in FIDS

2022 Releases Delivered

Release Date Release Description
December 27, 2022 SAGE Maintenance Release
September 22, 2022 SAGE Maintenance Release

  • Grants.gov Cipher and Cloud Migration Transition
  • Adjustments to Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) Labels
June 8, 2022 SAGE Maintenance:  .NET Framework Upgrade

  • A technical infrastructure release only to upgrade the .NET Framework to version 4.8, across the SAGE Suite.
  • This update is necessary to keep the infrastructure stable, secure, and covered under Microsoft support plans.
February 23, 2022 SAGE Maintenance: Grant Runner Forms-G updates
January 28-29, 2022 SAGE Budget: Legacy Budget Format Deprecation

February 22, 2024 SAGE Suite Release Notes

Contents

Award Setup Requests

Help Text Added for Supporting Attachments

Award Setup Requests (ASRs) now provide the following guidance in the Supporting Attachments section: “Please upload all attachments that support your request. Common examples of supporting attachments include correspondence with the sponsor, compliance protocols or approvals, agreement documents and notices of award, and copies of reports.

Award Setup Requests (OSP & GCA only)

Budget Amounts Display by Workday Ledger, Object Class, and Spend Category

OSP and GCA can now see a breakdown of the ASR’s linked budget amounts by the categories needed for Workday plan setup. The amounts are aggregated by Ledger, Object Class, and Spend Category for each award line and period. This feature allows GCA to more easily enter the amounts needed for the Workday plan, and supports the end of February budget integration release by allowing GCA to preview the amounts that will flow to Workday.

This view is also intended to be made available to campus via SAGE in the future.
award setup request workday ledger, object class, spend category

Budget Data Toggle

In the ASR budget section, OSP and GCA can now customize their view of budget data by toggling Object Class Details and Award Line Details on or off. Whichever setting is applied in the Budget and Award Lines section is also displayed in the Review section.

award setup request budget expand, collapse, and customize details view buttons

Modification Requests

Start/End Date Labels and Help Text Updates

The Modification Request Form labels in the General Information section have been updated to clarify the dates GCA is requesting.

  • Current Authorized Spending Start/End Date has been updated to Award Line(s) / Budget Period Start/End Date

Below the dates, the following help text displays for further clarification: “If the sponsor requires financial reports/invoices per budget period, provide the funded period’s start date for new Award Line(s) to be set up in Workday. For a single report/invoice at the end of all budget periods, use the Award Setup Request start date that established the award unless your department/unit prefers new annual Award Line(s) and SAGE Budget periods.

SAGE Budget

SAGE Budget Alert & Validation for 03-62 (subaward) Line Entries

As an added reminder, SAGE Budget now displays an alert that the 03-62 (subaward) line entry is for the proposal budget only. Additionally, Award Setup Requests that include 03-62 as a line entry will be blocked from submission, and users will be reminded to instead create a subaward worksheet.

Fix: “Do Not Round” budget setting resulting in unexpected rounding

An issue has been fixed where the “Do Not Round” with 0 decimals setting selection was rounding up instead of truncating at the decimal level set by the users.

Fix: Some employee benefits not defaulting for staff entries

An issue has been fixed where some employee benefits were not defaulting in the SAGE Budget personnel section, due to the change from Job Classification to Job Family within Workday. The employee selection now pulls from the new Workday Job Family values.

SAGE Central: Admin Actions (OSP)

Fix: Cost Center changes resulting in multiple codes displayed

An issue has been fixed where changes to the Cost Center Code in an Admin Action were saving multiple times, causing an unexpected display of information.

Fix: Incorrect sponsor saved on add/change

An issue has been fixed where the incorrect sponsor displayed in the Admin Action after changing or adding a sponsor.

Performance Improvements

Error handling improvements

The SAGE team continues to review error logs and address issues that create additional load on the system.

February 6, 2024 SAGE Suite Release Notes

Contents

SAGE Award Request List Filters

The following enhancements to the Filter List provide more options to help users quickly and easily find their awards:

  • New Filters: Users can now select the new “All Statuses” or “All Request Types” filters.
  • Filter Defaults:
    • When filtering “By Award” and selecting a Workday Award ID, SAGE will automatically set the secondary filter to “All Request Types,” however users can choose to select only the request types they need before applying the filters.
    • The Filter List now clearly indicates which status and request types are selected by default (default selections are blue and include a checkmark).
      • For campus users, “All Statuses” and “All Request Types” will be selected by default.
      • For the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) and Grant & Contract Accounting (GCA), default statuses will be selected for their team’s statuses only.
  • Reordered Filters: Based on user feedback, filtering “By Award” and “By Department/Center” now displays at the top of the Filter List.

The Award search label has been updated from “Application (eGC1) ID” to “Request Application (eGC1) ID,” for added clarity around which eGC1 users are searching.

Reminder: Modification requests will only display in search results when a modification eGC1 was entered on the request.

SAGE Budget Alert & Validation for 03-62 (subaward) Line Entries

As an added reminder, SAGE Budget now displays an alert that the 03-62 (subaward) line entry is for the proposal budget only. Additionally, Award Setup Requests that include 03-62 as a line entry will be blocked from submission, and users will be reminded to instead create a subaward worksheet.

December 20, 2023 SAGE Suite Release Notes

Contents

Features and Fixes

SAGE Awards

New Data in the Award Request List

The following data has been added to the Award Requests List, for quick, at-a-glance context around each request:

  • Short title (added for Modifications; already exists for Awards)
  • eGC1 (added for Modifications; already exists for Awards)
  • Cost Center ID (added for Award Setup Requests; may not appear for Modifications)
  • Principal Investigator
  • Workday Award ID
  • Sponsor Name
  • Prime/Originating Sponsor Name

Filter Enhancements in the Award Requests List

The following enhancements for filtering the Award Requests List improve performance and provide more filter-by options:

  1. Award Filter Buttons
    • To improve performance when selecting award filters, users now need to select the new “Apply Filters” button at the top of the Filter Requests sidebar in order for the filtered results to display. Users can also remove all filters by selecting the new “Clear Filters” button
    • awards filter apply and clear buttons
  2. Filter by Award ID
    • Users can now filter the Award Requests List by Workday Award ID to see all Award Setup, Modification, or Advance Requests (ASRs, MODs, and ADVs) for a given award. This is helpful in confirming if a request has already been started, or to quickly monitor outstanding items for a particular award.
    • Note: When filtering by Award ID, users will only see items that they have permissions to view per the “Access and Roles” section. When searching for a given award, users will see all results, though they will only be able to view items they have access to.
    • Note: There is a known bug where recently processed ASRs may not display the Workday Award ID in the Award Requests List.
  3. Filter by Principal Investigator (PI)
    • Users can now filter the Award Requests List by PI. This allows users to view all requests (ASRs, MODs, and ADVs) for the selected PI.

filter by award id or principal investigator

Workday Awards Now Sync to SAGE

Workday awards are immediately available in SAGE for users to create subaward and MOD requests once the new ASR or ADV is processed in SAGE. The data sync also backfills data from converted awards and awards processed prior to this release.

SAGE Advances

Update: Status Filter for Processed Advances is Reactivated

The “Processed” status filter found on the Advance Tasklist is now reactivated for users. To protect system stability, the filter had been temporarily deactivated while performance improvements were pending.

SAGE Budget

Budget Export Fields Added

Cost Center, Security Grant Hierarchy, and worksheet-level Principal Investigators have been added to SAGE Budget exports. When budget exports are attached to MODs, these details will help GCA with the required setup in Workday.

November 30, 2023 SAGE Suite Release Notes

Contents

Features and Fixes

SAGE Awards

Search Award Request List by eGC1 or Request ID

Users are now able to search for Award Setup, Modification, and Advance Requests from within the Awards section by either the Request ID (ASRxxxx, MODxxxx, ADVxxxx) or the Application (eGC1) ID (Axxxx) associated with the request. This is an exact-match search, so the full ID is required.

award request tasklist search results

Note: For modifications, searching by Request ID is more accurate, since the eGC1 associated with the request may not always be populated.

SAGE Advances

Fix: Advance Extension Requests Budget Selection

Advance Extension requests no longer require selection of a budget number or sub budget, and can proceed with submission to GCA.

SAGE Budget

Fix: SAGE Budget Contacts and Access Caching Issue

An issue has been resolved where SAGE Budget contacts and access were not refreshing properly when navigating between budgets. The system now refreshes as expected, and users no longer have to do a manual refresh to see the accurate list of individuals.

Infrastructure and Performance Improvements

Improved Load Balancing Across Production Servers

In order to better handle the volume of users in SAGE and improve system stabilization, a change was made on 11/20/2023 to modify the approach used to balance users and system calls across the multiple production servers that support SAGE. ORIS and UW-IT have collaborated on the solution and are jointly monitoring its success and stability.

Optimized SQL Server Settings for Improved Stability and Performance

In order to improve performance of the SAGE Suite applications, a review of the SQL Server has been performed, and settings have been modified per best practices. Indexes have also been added to support improved performance.

Improved Error Handling for Award Request Workflow Status Delays

When the event handling service does not return the new status for a request that is returned, denied, or approved within a reasonable timeframe, the system will only retry a specified number of times before the user will get a message to try refreshing later. This will prevent possible system issues if retries continue indefinitely.

Note: This update will go out independently of the other updates, shortly following the release.

Refactored Approach to Search and Future Filters

The technical approach to award search and filtering was refactored to address past performance issues. This refactoring supports the search feature and will yield significant improvements for users with the additional filtering coming in the December release.

November 9, 2023 SAGE Suite Release Notes

Contents

Subawards

Award Lookup Now Used for Subaward Setup

Subaward requests can now be submitted using SAGE. With the transition to Workday, subawards are now associated with Awards, rather than Funding Actions (FAs). To set up a new subaward, users will search and select their award, and the eGC1 data will default based on the award selected.

subaward request award lookup buttonsubaward request award lookup resultssubaward request award details

Funding Action (FA) Validation and Lookup Removed

Since subawards are now associated with awards, the subaward FA lookup is no longer active or needed, and the validation has been removed. For legacy subawards, the FA fields will continue to display for reference.
subaward request details with F A data

Holds on Award Setup (ASR) and Modification (MOD) Requests

OSP and GCA Can Apply Holds to ASRs and MODs

OSP and GCA can now set and remove holds on ASR and MOD Requests. A new Holds section is available in the left navigation. After saving holds, an entry will display in the Comments & History section of the ASR/MOD.
A S R and MOD holds section

History of Holds Added to Comments & History Section

Campus, OSP, and GCA can view the history of holds activity on the Comments and History section of the ASR or MOD request.
holds data in comments and history section

Holds Banner Displays on ASR and MOD Requests

When holds are applied to an ASR or MOD request, users will now see a banner at the top of the request, alerting them to the hold. The campus banner will be informational only, and highlighted in blue. The OSP and GCA banner will be red, and indicate any action that may be needed before moving the item forward in the workflow.

Campus banner
SAGE holds banner

OSP & GCA banner
SAGE Central holds banner

Required Fields on Award and Budget Setup

Required Fields on SAGE Budget Worksheets

The SAGE Budget worksheet settings have been updated to show an asterisk next to fields that are required for ASR and MOD requests. These fields support the Workday award data needs.
sage budget worksheet settings required fields

In the SAGE Budget Salary and Benefit Costs section, additional help text has been added to remind campus that a person must be entered with the Principal Investigator role to provide the necessary grant PI data to Workday for award setup.
additional heop text for principal investigator requirement

Required Fields on Award Setup Requests

Required fields on the Award Setup Request now display an asterisk next to the field label. When the user clicks in a required field and navigates away, additional red highlighting will draw their attention back to the fields required.
award setup request required fields example

Miscellaneous Maintenance

eGC1 Status Updated to “Awarded” When Awards Are Processed

When awards are set up in Workday and the award setup request is marked as “Processed” in SAGE, the associated eGC1 status will now change from “Approved” to “Awarded.”

OSP Ability to Change the Linked eGC1 on Award Setup Requests

When OSP initiates an ASR and while it is in “OSP Setup” status, OSP can now change the linked eGC1 if an error has been made, prior to sending the ASR to campus. OSP will need to refresh the “Access & Roles” section after changing the eGC1 to see updated eGC1 data.

Modification Start and End Dates Display for Schedule Changes

On Modification Requests, when users select the Schedule Changes category, the “Current Authorized Spending Start Date” and “Current Authorized Spending End Date” fields will be visible and enabled for users to enter the dates. Existing MOD requests already processed with the Schedule Changes category will display the date fields without any dates populated.

Removal of Deny Reason for Requests

An issue was preventing the deny reason on requests from saving properly. Until a full fix can be completed, in the interim, the deny reason field has been removed and OSP or GCA will now enter the reason as a comment instead. The denial reason field will be added back into a future release.

Advance Extension Requests No Longer Show Former Budget Numbers

The former budget numbers no longer display for users on new Advance Extension Requests.

Award Request List Default Set to 25 Rows for OSP and GCA

In order to improve performance and reduce load on systems, the defulat setting of the Award Request List for OSP and GCA will initially show 25 rows instead of 50 rows. Users can still set it to up to 50 rows if needed, for now, but with dome deteriorated performance expected.

Fix: Truncated Comments on Requests with URLs

ASR and MOD request comments with URLs in them now show proper alignment without truncation.

Fix: SAGE Budget Personnel Side Panel Freezes

The SAGE Budget TBD personnel entry has been updated to prevent side panel freezing when users clicked out of fields quickly, prior to SAGE saving the data.

Update: Missing PI Validation Message on Award Setup Requests

The language used on the Award Setup Request Review and Submit page when the SAGE Budget worksheet PI is missing has been updated to direct users back to SAGE Budget to add a worksheet PI.

Fix: Cannot download previous version of attachments on Requests

Users can now select the current or prior version of attachments on ASRs, MOD, and Advance requests.

Fix: Animal Use Protocols Not Always Saving Country Data

An issue with the saving of “Country” data when a new institution was added to Animal Use protocols on the eGC1 has been fixed.

Temporary Change: Advance Tasklist “Processed” Filter Deactivated

Due to performance issues, we have temporarily deactivated the “Processed” status filter on the SAGE Advance Tasklist. While we work on improvements, this temporary solution will protect system performance and mitigate risk. In the meantime, if campus users need to locate a processed advance, they should use Advanced Search and search by either the Advance number or the eGC1 number to find an item.

Please note that SAGE Central filters will not change, but we recommend avoiding filtering for all “Processed” advances until we patch the issue next week.

User Interface Design Component Updates

A required Angular Material version upgrade has been completed, which has slight impacts to the SAGE user interface. The design changes of note include the following:

SAGE Budget, Advances, and Awards Sections: Excess table spacing has been reduced, small font sizes have been increased, and all capital letters on buttons and table headers have been removed to improve readability and accessibility.

SAGE Budget Icons: Subaward and Fabrication worksheet icons have been updated in the left navigation and the Budget Summary section within the Other Costs table. The More Actions menu (three dots) has been replaced with a Delete Worksheet button for Internal, Subaward, and Fabrication worksheets in the left navigation.

user interface design components example

September 2023 Awards Updates and Grant Runner Forms-H

New Features & Completed Updates

  • Search in Award Requests List: Users can now search in the Award Requests list by eGC1 ID or Request ID (Advance, Award Setup Request, or Modification Request).
  • Change the Linked SAGE Budget from an Award Setup Request: Users can now disconnect a mistakenly connected SAGE Budget from an Award Setup Request in “Composing,” “Returned,” or “Withdrawn” status.
  • Required Field Validations: The Award Setup Requests will now show a validation message if the worksheet/award line PI or Security Grant Hierarchy are missing. Users will be guided back to the SAGE Budget worksheet settings to make those updates.
  • Cost Centers in Copied eGC1s: When an eGC1 is copied, the Cost Centers from the original eGC1 will now flow to the copy and be added to the approval graph automatically. Only active Cost Centers will be copied.
  • Error Message Improvements: Award Setup Requests and Modification Request error pages will now display additional information to assist with troubleshooting.
  • Grant Runner Updated with FORMS-H
    • FORMS-H Research Plan Form Now Available in Grant Runner: The updated PHS 398 Research Plan form is available for National Institutes of Health (NIH) applications. This update will support the high volume opportunities due early October, such as R01, R03, and R21 types. For more information, review our previous NIH FORMS-H announcement.
    • Legal Names on Forms: As a result of the SAGE changeover to display preferred name on eGC1s, an adjustment was made to Grant Runner forms to instead show Legal Name by default for the PD/PI, since this is most often the name that matches the eRACommons account. The legal name will now sync across SF424, Key Persons, and RR Budget forms for the PD/PI. In the future, we will add a feature to allow users to explicitly identify what their eRACommons name and login is to further reduce discrepancies and allow submissions to go through more smoothly.
    • Future FORMS-H Releases: The PHS 398 Career Development Award Supplemental form and PHS Fellowship Supplemental form are targeted for release in Grant Runner later this fall.
  • Budget Visibility on Award Setup Requests: An issue was resolved where budget detail on Award Setup Requests was at times not showing for items that were in a read-only state for the user, such as “Processed.”

SAGE Release History 2017-2021

Below are the dates of our project and maintenance releases for the years 2017-2021.  Not included are production support patches that may have gone out intermittently in response to urgent needs.

Review the SAGE Product Updates for more detailed information on features and fixes for any of the release dates below. The updates are generally linked from the Release Description.

Release History for

2021 Releases Delivered

Release Date Release Description
September 2, 2021 September 2021 Advance Maintenance Release
June 22, 2021 Advance Budget Request Approval Change
June 8, 2021 Advance Budget Requests Streamlining

  • Advance eligibility determined by system
  • New design for ease of entry
  • Electronic routing replaces paper approvals and expedites SFI reviews
  • Streamlined business unit processes
  • Prepares for future Workday forms and processes
  • GIM 9 alignment with new process
April 21, 2021 SAGE Maintenance
February 25, 2021 SAGE Maintenance

  • APL Fixed Fee
  • Sea Pay

2020 Releases Delivered

Release Date Release Description
December 17, 2020 SAGE Maintenance
October 6, 2020 SAGE Maintenance
August 19, 2020 SAGE Maintenance
June 25, 2020 SAGE Budget Redesign
May 5, 2020 SAGE Grant Runner Forms F
January 8, 2020 SAGE Maintenance Release

  • Session Timeout Handling Improvements

2019 Releases Delivered

Release Date Release Description
Sept 26, 2019 SAGE Maintenance Release

  • SAGE eGC1: New Project Types Added: Cooperative Agreements & Other Transaction Authority
  • SAGE eGC1: Layout Improved for Non-Fiscal Compliance Question Review
  • FIDS: SFI Entity Type Updated: Foreign Government/Institute of Higher Ed
  • Post-Award Change (PAC) Updated in SPAERC, SERA & Campus Notification
  • AUMS Renewal Reminders Automated
July 31, 2019 SAGE Maintenance

  • Sponsor Deadline Added to eGC1 Approvals Section
  • PI Assurance Statement Updated with Multiple PI Guidance
  • Application PI Added to Priority Email Notifications
  • Non-UW Authorized SAGE Users Can Now Create New eGC1s
  • PI Titles Removed from Cover Letter to Sponsor
  • Updates to SAGE Budget Salary & Wage Details
  • Federal Agency on Grant Runner SF424 Populated from Grants.gov Opportunity Data
  • Ergonomics Questions Added to AUMS Application
May 21, 2019 SAGE Budget Maintenance

  • Personnel entry improvements
  • Budget reporting/export improvements
  • F&A setup improvements
  • Copy budget improvements
  • Copy expense feature
Feb 20, 2019 General SAGE Maintenance

  • Grant Runner Budget Sync performance improvements
  • Grant Runner proposals can route with Grants.Gov and NIH errors when RTS=No
  • Prefix and Suffix added to SAGE Budget
  • Hyperlinks added to task lists for easy eGC1 to SAGE Budget navigation
  • SAGE Budget usability improvements
  • SPAERC routing and cycle view updates
  • Other minor updates across SAGE Suite
Jan 17, 2019 Budget Rounding Revisions

SAGE Budget will convert its rounding approach to round-up on tie (like Excel) and to sum up the rounded line item values in totals and sub-totals, when the budget property is set to round. This will bring SAGE Budget totals in sync with the federal RR Detailed Budget totals when budgets are connected, and make for easier Excel comparisons.

2018 Releases Delivered

Release Date Release Description
Nov 28, 2018 Grant Runner Budget Sync Feature

  • Sync SAGE Budget data with Grant Runner RR Detailed Budget form
Oct 11, 2018 Grant Runner Improvements

  • Updates to conform with V2 header to support applications via Grants.gov and NIH.
Sept 27, 2018 SAGE Maintenance Release

  • New links to MyResearch from your eGC1
  • Funding Action changes to add clarity to award terms and conditions
May 17, 2018 SAGE Compliance Release 2

  • Compliance question and form layout revisions, to improve clarity and usability
  • Zipline and Hoverboard integrations to pull protocol data through to SAGE
  • Provide a more direct way for Principal Investigators to access Compliance questions in SAGE
April 10, 2018 SAGE Grant Runner Improvements

  • NIH Required Fields Added to HSCT form
  • eGC1 Data Sync Improvement with Grant Runner Forms
  • Improved Accessibility for Keyboard and Tab Order Functionality
  • Error Messages Enhanced
03/08/2018 SAGE Grant Runner Release

  • Import ClinicalTrials.gov data into Human Subjects & Clinical Trials form in Grant Runner
  • Provide warning on eGC1 when Application PI or Multiple PI does not have an ASTRA role
  • Support for Fellowship Grants
  • Update person web service version
01/25/2018 Grant Runner Maintenance

  • Human Subjects & Clinical Trials Form Usability Improvements
  • Required Fields for Study Import from PDF
  • Improved Clinical Trial Required Fields Logic for HSCT Form

2017 Releases Delivered

Release Date Release Description
12/21/2017 Grant Runner Update: FORMS-E

FORMS-E updates, necessary for NIH proposal submissions with due dates on or after 1/25/2018.

  • Update of all existing Grant Runner forms to include FORMS-E
  • Introduction of the new Human Subjects & Clinical Trials form
11/07/2017 SAGE Maintenance:  Budget Updates

Based on user input, this maintenance release will address high priority issues and pain points in the SAGE Budget module.  The updates will include:

  • Fixes to cascading behavior on the Period Updates screen
  • Creation of a new setting to allow users to turn salary cascading OFF.  By default it will be ON.
  • Improved decimal handling to fix truncation issues and allow flexibility to store decimals in amount fields while viewing the figures as whole numbers.
  • Fixes the update salaries feature to no longer reset the Inflation Rate
10/17/201 SAGE Compliance Improvements

Part I of II releases focused on streamlining and improving compliance question content and system usability.  Key highlights include:

  • Remove compliance questions no longer needed
  • Relocate fiscal compliance questions to the Budget page
  • Relocate other administrative questions to Details and Personnel sections of the eGC1
  • New Locations page allows more detailed identification of sites where research is proposed to take place. This page will also include the Space Planning and International Involvement questions.
9/12/2017 SAGE Maintenance: Personnel Roles and Approvals

Included in this release are the following updates:

  • Introduction of a new “Application PI” role
  • Flowing the Application PI to the Grant Runner forms
  • Adding Application PI to the approvals grid
  • Adding Multiple PIs to the approvals grid
  • Receipt of approval email notifications for both Application and Multiple PIs
8/8/2017 Grant Runner Updates

  • NIH Career Development Opportunities are now supported
  • Expansion of NIH validations on individual form check for errors
  • PDF printing of individual forms now matches the NIH format present on the full application PDF
  • Preliminary FORMS-E work
  • Minor bug fixes

SAGE Maintenance Updates

  • OAW is no longer an automatic approver on Non-Competing eGC1s
  • Various bug fixes
7/5/2017 SAGE Integration with Workday

  • Updates to person search throughout SAGE
  • Updates to SAGE Budget to accommodate new workday data structure for personnel, positions, wages, and benefits.
  • Relocation of Additional Organization Approvers to PI, Personnel and Organizations page
6/7/2017 Grant Runner Update

  • NIH validations now included in Grant Runner
  • Revised Check for Errors page
  • Single PDF of all sponsors forms available
2/21/2017 SAGE Subawards – Final Release

This was the 3rd and final release for the Subawards in SAGE project.  This release focused on:

  • Creation of a Managed Access page, for adding additional user permissions to a given subaward
  • Expansion of the Subrecipient Profile for OSP use
  • Performance and validations improvements

New Resources! Award Setup and Modification Requests in SAGE

eLearning, live classes, and training resources designed to help you navigate the new Award Setup and Modification request processes in SAGE. Learn more at UWFT for the Research Community.


Award Modifications in SAGE Job Aid

Detailed instructions for creating and routing Award Modifications in SAGE.

Award Modifications in SAGE Job Aid


Award Setup and Tracking in SAGE eLearning

In depth instruction on SAGE Awards usage, including:

  • Creating Award Setup Requests
  • Monitoring Award Requests

Award Setup and Tracking in SAGE eLearning


SAGE Award Setup Workflow Video

An overview of the SAGE Award Setup workflow.

SAGE Award Setup Workflow Video


What’s Changing in SAGE? Video

A high-level overview of changes coming to SAGE, including SAGE Award Setup Requests, Cost Centers, SAGE Budget and Award Lines, and more!

What’s Changing in SAGE? Video


SAGE Budget Classes

With UWFT, campus units are required to use SAGE Budget for award setup. The SAGE Budget class provides an overview of how to establish budget settings, add personnel and costs, create sub budgets, and link budgets to an eGC1. Learn more and register

Upcoming SAGE Budget Classes:


SAGE Office Hours

In response to requests for advanced SAGE Budget resources, we’ll be offering virtual SAGE Budget office hours twice a month. Drop in and ask our SAGE experts any questions you might have, get help setting up your complex budgets, and learn how SAGE Budget can work for you.

Upcoming Office Hours:

July

August

September

October

November

December


SAGE Budget eLearning

A new self-paced SAGE Budget eLearning resource is now available for your exploration. This companion piece to the live SAGE Budget course allows you to learn/reference all aspects of SAGE Budget via lectures with demonstrations. Content covered is similar to that in the live class but highly flexible in that you can search for and view specific content as you need it.

NOTE: This resource is not a substitution for the live course and does not count toward fulfilling certificate requirements.


Organization Code to Cost Center Job Aid

Cost Centers have replaced Financial Organization Codes (Org Codes) across the SAGE Suite. For more information, please review Organization Code to Cost Center Job Aid. If you have questions or run into issues, please review the following table to better understand possible causes and assist SAGE Customer Support (sagehelp@uw.edu) staff with resolving your issue: SAGE Org Code to Cost Center Support.


Additional SAGE Budget Training Resources

  • SAGE Budget User Guides: In-depth documentation on all aspects of SAGE Budget.
  • SAGE Budget Job AidA step-by-step guide on creating and managing budgets in SAGE.
  • SAGE Budget Training Site: The SAGE Budget training site offers a “sandbox” for you to explore and experiment with SAGE Budget without affecting production data. Once you are ready to create a real SAGE Budget for routing, visit the production site.

NOTE: SAGE Budget requires a UW NetID to log in and at least one authorized role. If you are new to using SAGE and need access, visit Accessing SAGE for more information.


Mailing Lists

  • Subscribe to the MRAM mailing list to stay informed of timely and relevant research administration information. Keep an eye out for our quarterly “Research Community Guide to UWFT” that compiles information and resources you need now to help prepare for the changes coming with UWFT.
  • Subscribe to the ORIS mailing list for information on SAGE maintenance, feature releases, and system availability.

Monthly Research Administration Meeting (MRAM)

  • MRAM is open to staff interested in research award administration at the UW. In addition to other research administration topics, we share relevant UWFT information at MRAM. Visit the MRAM website for more information.

July 2023 ORIS FT SAGE Modifications Release

Release Summary

  • Award Modifications (MODs): Campus and OSP can now create and route Award Modifications, and filter modification requests by request type and status from the Award Requests list. The following resources will be shared with campus:
  • SAGE Central
    • Filter Award Request List by OSP and GCA individual and/or team assignments

ORIS FT SAGE Release

Release Highlights Include:

  • SAGE Awards: The new SAGE Awards feature will replace email communication and provide a seamless award setup request process
    through autofill of eGC1 and SAGE Budget data, and integrations with Workday Finance. Additional SAGE Award highlights include:

    • Award Setup Requests: The Award Setup Request process in SAGE will be used to create new awards. SAGE Budget is now required during the Award Setup Request process. Learn more about creating an Award Setup Request.
    • Award Requests List: The Award Requests list will provide a centralized look for campus and central offices at in-progress award requests.
  • Cost Centers: With Finance Transformation, Cost Centers will replace Financial Organization Codes (Org Codes) across the SAGE Suite.
  • SAGE Central: SAGE Central will provide a centralized view of awards for the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) and Grant & Contract Accounting (GCA).
  • UW Centralized Sponsor & Donor Data: SAGE will now utilize a new centralized sponsor database. If SAGE users cannot find a sponsor in the SAGE sponsor search, rather than emailing OSP, there will be a link to the new Request Sponsor Form to have the sponsor added. Once the addition is confirmed, users can select the sponsor in SAGE.

New Terms/Abbreviations

  • Award Setup Request (ASR)
  • Modification Request (MOD)
  • Advance Request (ADV)
  • Funding Entity Core Data Management (FECDM)
  • Research Integration Platform (RIP)

March 2023 SAGE Maintenance Release

SAGE Suite-Wide

HR/Payroll Web Service Update

As part of the Finance Transformation Workday changes, the HR/Payroll data source used by SAGE for personnel information has undergone some restructuring. The SAGE-side changes are mostly unnoticeable to users, but were quite extensive, impacting all places where UW people are searched for and selected throughout the SAGE Suite. Below are the high level areas where the data source has been updated.

  • eGC1 Personnel search
  • eGC1 Approvals – add approvers and watchers
  • Principal Investigator searches suite-wide
  • Contacts & access updates suite-wide
  • Task list searches by personnel suite-wide
  • Saving of comments and history suite-wide
  • FIDS profiles
  • AUMS profiles and supervisor search
  • SAGE Budget UW personnel selection
  • SAGE Budget UW personnel pay details

Preferred Names for Personnel, Contacts and Access

At the request of faculty and other SAGE users, the Office of Research has changed the way UW staff names display across the SAGE Suite, to show Preferred Names, instead of legal name. This change is in effect for new adds or changes to UW personnel on SAGE work items only. Previous records will continue to show the name saved at the time it was originally selected. To help our administrative staff reconcile names, the Personnel Chooser will display both preferred and legal names, but upon selection, only the preferred name will be saved to the eGC1, Subaward, etc.

Personnel Chooser Update

personnel chooser results with preferred name

Note: Due to time constraints we may not be able to update ALL areas of SAGE with preferred name for this release. We will focus initially on PI and Personnel and Reviewer names for approvals, then incrementally update other areas such as contacts and access in subsequent releases.

Person Search Behavior Changes

There are a few key person search changes to be aware of:

  1. 2 character minimum on first and last name searches. If you are used to searching for people by last name, first initial, you will need to temporarily change your approach to get results. You must enter at least 2 characters for either the first or last name. As usual, you can also search by only the first or last name. For example,
    1. Correct: Searching by “Chung, Ju” will return all staff with a last name beginning with “Chung” and first name beginning with “Ju”.
    2. Correct: Searching by “Judy” will return all staff with the name “Judy.”
    3. Incorrect: Searching by “Chung, J” will not return results, since the first name criteria is less than 2 characters.

This 2-character minimum requirement for first name is expected to be removed over the next couple of months, to support the common search needs for last name, first initial.

  1. PI & Personnel search criteria on the eGC1 will be applied against preferred name. When searching for and adding new PIs or Personnel to eGC1s, the personnel chooser shown above will search against “preferred name”. If you type in legal names as your search criteria, you may not get results if that person’s preferred name is different than their legal name. In the future (likely post FT go-live), we will look to build a more flexible solution that can search both legal and preferred names.
  2. SPAERC Applications Tasklist personnel search.
    1. Personnel Lookup Link: When SPAERC users search for eGC1 personnel using the personnel lookup link, the results will display based on the unique identifier for that person, so it will not matter if the eGC1 itself displays the legal name (for past items) or preferred name (items going forward). All records for that person will be returned based on their unique employeeID.
    2. Free-form Tasklist Search: When SPAERC users search any task list using the free-form PI last name and first name fields, those will be matched against the name saved on the work item (e.g. eGC1, FA, subaward, etc.) Keep this in mind as the work item could either include legal or preferred name depending on when it was created.
      free form search in SPAERC

FIDS Management Tool

Adjustments to FCOI Labels

Related to recent adoption of PHS rules for FCOI by a broader range of sponsor types, the language in the FIDS Management Tool for reviewers has been updated from “PHS” to a more generic phrasing of “IRR” to indicate Institutional Review Required.

December 2022 SAGE Maintenance Release

SAGE Infrastructure Updates

Switch to new Clinical Salary Service End Point

UW IT has made a change to their Clinical Salary service, which requires SAGE to update to their new end point.

Switch to new Space Service End Point

UW IT has made a change to their Space Web service, which requires SAGE to update to their new end point.

FIX: Update procedure causing task list performance issues

One of the procedures supporting the subaward task list has been improved in its design in order to improve performance when searching.

Upgrade front end developer tools

The front end engineers have upgraded to a new set of tools and a consolidation of code into a monorepo architecture. This update provides important streamlining benefits, allowing SAGE to deploy updates in a targeted way, and for code to become more easily managed and maintained.

SAGE Budget

FIX: SAGE Budget salary refresh causing display issues

An issue was resolved in the viewing of salary details in SAGE Budget, occurring at times when salary data was refreshed by the user.

FIX: SAGE Budget re-saving issue in salary details view

An issue was resolved in the viewing of salary details in SAGE Budget, where re-saving of the select allocation details caused clinical salary to be omitted.

September 2022 SAGE Maintenance Release

SAGE Grant Runner

Grants.gov Cipher and Cloud Migration Transition

Grants.gov is migrating their infrastructure to the cloud. This migration includes changes to their security protocols required for system-to-system solutions like SAGE Grant Runner. Grant Runner has been updated to redirect opportunity lookup and submissions to their new cloud environment, and to comply with the required security updates.

There are no new Grant Runner features being released with this update, and no user impact is expected.

Bug Fix: SAGE Performance Issues Due to Grants.gov Status Check Batch Job

An update has been made to a status checking component of SAGE to consolidate the calls to Grants.gov and improve performance issues reported by users.

SAGE Suite-Wide

Technical Updates – Transition to New Developer Tools

As part of an ongoing effort to improve the SAGE infrastructure, modernize the technology, and streamline the technical work, we are releasing updates that better manage the code used for developing our user interfaces. This update will provide developers with better tools for test automation and code compartmentalization by business area. The result is an increase in our ability to release more quickly and with higher confidence in code quality.

Adjustments to FCOI Labels

As sponsors of all types have matured their financial conflict of interest (FCOI) policies, more have come into alignment with the rules originally adopted by Public Health Service (PHS) sponsors. Terminology across SAGE that previously referred to “PHS Training” has been updated to “FCOI training” to avoid confusion about proposals and awards with non-PHS sponsors.

January 2022 Legacy SAGE Budget Retirement

Legacy SAGE Budget Retirement

Thanks to valuable user feedback, the Office of Research Information Services (ORIS) launched a redesigned SAGE Budget tool in 2020 with a more streamlined, efficient, and intuitive look and feel. This new design also lays a foundation for upcoming integrations between SAGE and Workday.

Over the last year, we’ve collected your feedback and have added several features to ensure the current SAGE Budget format meets all of your core needs (e.g. APL and Fixed Fee). We are now ready to retire the legacy format, which allows us to focus our continued enhancements in the new format only. This is especially important as we prepare for the critical role that SAGE Budget will play in communicating award budget information to the financial system when the UW goes live with Workday Finance.

Upgrading of all Legacy Budgets

With the retirement of legacy SAGE Budget, all existing budgets in the legacy format will be upgraded to the new (current) budget format. Upgrading means:

  • When you open your budget, it will open in the new (current) version.
  • Those who had access to the legacy budget will have the same access on the upgraded version.
  • On the History page, snapshots of previous budget versions will now display in the new (current) format.
  • All costs and settings (like targets and salary caps) that were enabled on the legacy budget will be enabled on the upgraded budget.
    • Note: Auto Adjusting Entries (AAE) will not be available in the new (current) format. AAE will be converted to a standard costs line on the primary worksheet, with a note, “Converted Auto Adjusting Line.” The following budget details will remain the same:
      • object/sub-object code
      • cost amount
      • periods

Budget List Updates

The following changes have been made to the budget list:

  • The option to create a legacy budget has been removed
  • The Format column has been replaced with a Created Date column
  • An “Upgraded” indicator displays when a budget has been upgraded by the system

The default sort order on the budget list remains the same, descending by last edited date. You can still search for your budgets by Principal Investigator (PI) name, budget number, or budget title.

budget list with new look

Other Budget Updates (released in advance)

The default Prorated Direct Cost (PDC) rate that displays when you enable APL on a budget worksheet has been updated from 35.2% to 35.0%.

SAGE eGC1

Ad Hoc Approver Improvements

Two changes were made to the list of roles that display when adding an ad hoc approver to an eGC1 approval flow:

  • Several out-of-date roles have been removed.
  • The list has been alphabetized.

SAGE Subawards (released in advance)

Subaward Expiration Fix

Subawards that reached Expired status were not updating to Active status when a modification was processed which pushed the End Date into the future. That issue has been fixed so that the overall Subaward reflects accurate status information.

Subaward History Now Includes All Subaward Status Changes

The Subaward History now includes events for each time the Subaward Status changes. Previously, the Subaward History only included status changes for Subaward Actions. This will provide more information about when the overall Subaward transitioned through process steps.

September 2021 Advance Maintenance Release

SAGE Advances

Replace Attachments on Advances

Attachments to the new Advance request tool can now be replaced with new versions of the document after the Advance has been routed for review. Prior to this update, once an Advance had been routed, you could only upload attachments as additions without a clear relationship to the existing attachments they replaced. This update brings attachment functionality in line with the eGC1, making it easier to maintain attached documents and identify the latest versions.

advance attachment table with expanded options menu

When there are multiple versions of an attachment, the latest version will display at top and click the expand arrow to see prior versions.

advance attachment versions

Warning on Advances Related to Award with Automatic Carryover

When an award includes automatic carryover, and a department would like to begin spending on a future period that is not yet fully authorized, a temporary budget extension is more often the appropriate choice rather than a renewal advance request. To help inform users, a new warning will display after clicking to create an advance when SAGE detects that the advance is related to an award (funding action) that includes automatic carryover. You can choose to either proceed with an advance, or, be redirected to the temporary budget extension form.

create advance automatic carryover warning

Notification of Advance Extension to Reviewer from Organization Receiving Funding

An email notification will now be sent to the Advance Reviewers for the Organization Receiving Funding on Advance Extensions when the advance is routed to GCA. This will keep campus reviewers informed, while not requiring direct approval in SAGE.

Advance Reviewers Now Display on Advance Approval Graph

The names and NetIDs for the people designated in ASTRA to approve for an organization will now display on the Advance approval graph. This will make it easier for Advance Preparers to identify who to coordinate with when needed.

advance approval list of organization reviewers

Improved Visibility to Cost Share and Compliance Updates

The Cost Sharing and Non-Fiscal Compliance sections of the new Advance request will now display an “Updated” indicator to make it easier for reviewers to identify when the responses in the Advance have been altered from what was listed on the related eGC1.

example of updated indicator on non-fiscal compliance section

SERA

Add Link to Cycle View from Advances in SERA

GCA will now be able to navigate to the associated cycle from within Advance requests in SERA. This will make it easier for GCA to quickly reference information about how the advance fits within a broader award.

sera advance request header example

GCA can Replace Cost Share Addendum with New Version

GCA can utilize the new attachment versioning functionality to replace Cost Share addendums when an Advance is in “In GCA” or “Processed” status. This will allow GCA to ensure the Advance request record contains the latest version of the Cost Share Addendum.

SPAERC & SERA

Advance Extensions Display on FAs and in Cycle View

Advance Extension requests will now display alongside New and Renewal type requests on the Funding Action and Cycle view in SPAERC and SERA. This will provide OSP and GCA with visibility to how Advance Extensions fit within the broader award.

Funding Action:

list of related advances on a funding action

Cycle:

cycle view including an advance

FIDS

Priority Review Indicator Now Displays for All Disclosures Related to Advances

All SFI disclosures that are triggered for review by a routed Advance will display in FIDS with a “Priority Review” flag. Previously, this flag was only set for Advance-related disclosures that went to “Review Required” status. Now disclosures that resolve to “No Review Required” will also be flagged for priority review. This will provide ORC with an easy way to identify all disclosures with a related Advance in routing.

June 2021 Advance Budget Request Approval Change

Based on user feedback, we have made updates that streamline the SAGE Advance Budget approval process and Advance Reviewer role setup in ASTRA.

Advances with financially responsible division or sub-division level organization codes can now be approved by either a division OR department level ASTRA-authorized Advance Reviewer.

If no division level Advance Reviewer is set up, the advance will automatically forward to the department level Reviewer, if one is authorized in ASTRA.

Need Both Division and Department Level Reviewers?

If you need to assign someone the Advance Reviewer role at both the division and department level, make sure to assign division-level authorizations first, before department-level.

Reminder: An Advance Reviewer is Required

The Advance Reviewer role is required to approve advance budget requests in SAGE. If there are no Advance Reviewers authorized for your organization in ASTRA, the advance will be blocked from routing, and a notification will be sent to sagehelp@uw.edu.

What if I already authorized Advance Reviewers in ASTRA at the division level?

If you already authorized Advance Reviewers in ASTRA at only the division level, you can either keep your authorizations as is or you can remove the division level reviewers and replace them with a department level reviewer.

Please keep in mind, if there is no division level reviewer, a department level reviewer is required.

June 2021 Advance Budget Request Streamlining

The Advance Budget Request process has been revised, in order to introduce streamlining and address pain points in the current process. Below is a comparison of current state to future state process.

Current-to-Future Streamlining

advance process current and future

Release Highlights

  • Advance eligibility determined by system, streamlining processes through
    • Deprecation of Advance Eligibility web form
    • Elimination of OSP role in Advance Request process
  • New design for ease of entry
  • Electronic routing replaces paper approvals and expedites SFI reviews
  • Streamlined business unit processes
  • Prepares for future Workday forms and processes
  • GIM 9 alignment with new process

Advance Eligibility Determination Automated

With this release, users will go directly to SAGE as Step 1 of the Advance Budget Request process. SAGE will systematically determine if your eGC1 is eligible for an advance, based on the following business rules:

Advances will be allowed if:

    • The eGC1 is in “Approved” or “Awarded” status
    • The eGC1 is not a Non-Award Agreement or a Pre-Application
    • The eGC1 does not have a related Funding Action that has made it to GCA for processing

As a result of this automation, two major streamlining shifts are introduced:

  • OSP will no longer be involved in the eligibility determination process. This allows requests to go directly to GCA once campus approvals are complete and any compliance issues are resolved.
  • The Advance Request Eligibility web form will be deprecated. Users will complete the entire advance request process from within SAGE.

The system eligibility check will not cover whether a sponsor allows pre-award spending. Advance preparers will still need to verify pre-award eligibility before proceeding.

New design for ease of entry

The advance request form is redesigned for a more intuitive and streamlined entry process. Design features include:

  • Left navigation panel contains sections to be completed or reviewed, with status symbols indicating when sections are considered complete
  • Data collected at time of proposal defaults from the eGC1 for reduced entry
  • Key eGC1 details are visible in a collapsible right side panel for reference

advance product update advance layout

  • Helpful alerts indicate when SFI disclosures or PHS Training requirements are not met.

advance product update S F I

  • Easy review and update of Non-Fiscal Compliance responses from the original eGC1. Users are prompted to update missing protocol information at time of Advance. This allows the SAGE system to connect to Zipline and Hoverboard, and expose the protocol status and details within SAGE over the life of the Award. Users will be asked to confirm that they have reviewed the non-fiscal compliance questions to further ensure accuracy and completeness.

advance product update N F C

Electronic routing for approval and SFI reviews

Approvals of advance budget requests will now happen within SAGE, eliminating the former paper process. A new ASTRA role is available for departments to use in designating their Advance Reviewers. Preparers will also be able to include ad hoc approvers on Advances.

advance product update approvals

Streamlining Business Unit Processes

By taking a holistic approach to business process reengineering for advance requests, three of our business units will experience time savings and improved processes.

  • OSP removal from review role for advances. By automating the eligibility checks for advances, and systematically confirming when SFI reviews have been completed, OSP no longer needs to be a part of the advance request process. The time savings realized can be applied to other areas. OSP will still have visibility into advances through SPAERC, and will be alerted to their presence in a more prominent way when setting up Funding Actions.
  • Office of Research SFI alerts. The Office of Research will now receive notifications of only the relevant SFI reviews associated with the advance request, upon submission of the Advance Request. FIDS reviewers will also benefit from improvements to their tasklist that call special attention to reviews required for advances, to aid prioritization of work.
  • GCA SERA updates. Grant and Contract Accounting will no longer need to print paper copies of key documents like approvals, and will have more relevant SAGE and Finance system data in their request view, reducing the number of systems/views they need to hop between to complete processing. The SERA user interface will also have a more modern and user friendly layout.

GIM 9 Alignment with advance request process

The GIM 9 policy updates will reflect business process changes introduced in conjunction with this release, to add clarity, bringing policy and system behavior in sync, including providing flexibility on the length of the request, and contributing to overall streamlining of advance processing.

Helps Prepare for Future Workday Forms and Processes

The redesign and technical infrastructure work in this release are significant in laying the groundwork for the SAGE Finance Transformation work to come. The improvements that will directly support the FT efforts include:

  • New design patterns will be used in future post-award intake forms. Users will benefit from a familiar data entry experience across advance, award setup, and award modification requests when Workday goes live. This will allow them to navigate easily within and between forms, and simplify training and onboarding efforts. The new design patterns will also allow ORIS to develop the new FT intake forms more quickly, as they leverage the existing work done on Advances.
  • Creation of a new Approvals and Workflow engine. With this release, a new Approvals and Workflow engine has been developed using more modern technologies and a configurable design that will scale well for the FT work to come. Eventually this new engine and approvals design will replace the eGC1 approvals as well.
  • Development of new Microservices for Advances. The development of microservices for advances lays the groundwork for being able to easily flow data between SAGE and Workday, as well as support data flows to MyResearch and EDW in the future.

New Advance Reviewer ASTRA Role Assignment

All fiscally responsible organizations (Departments, Divisions, Sub-Divisions) selected on an advance request will need to have one or more people designated in ASTRA as an “Advance Reviewerfor the corresponding span of control (Organization Code). Division level reviewers will approve for Sub-Division organization codes. Department level reviewers can approve for division level organization codes, if no division level reviewer has been designated.

You can look up a unit’s ASTRA Authorizer using this tool on the ASTRA website. Select Organization and enter your unit’s 10-digit code.

All ASTRA Authorizers for existing SAGE Division Reviewer and Department/Center Reviewer roles have been granted authority to assign the new Advance Reviewer role.

Note: If an Advance Reviewer has not been designated, the Advance cannot begin routing for review. The ORIS Support Desk will be notified of missing reviewers and will help you resolve the issue. Once a reviewer is designated and approves the advance, the system will automatically route it to GCA.

April 2021 SAGE Maintenance Release

SAGE General

New Funding Action (FA) fields added to SAGE API for GCA Budget Setup

The following fields have been added to the SAGE API, allowing GCA significant time saving in their budget setup automation work.

  • FA Number
  • Prepared By
  • Approved By
  • F&A Explanation
  • Disposition of Balance
  • Intellectual Property
  • Frequency of Report
  • Final Report

Following this SAGE API release, MyResearch squirrel will be updated so that GCA can fully access the FA data for budget setup automation (MyResearch release timing TBD).

SAGE eGC1

Budget Connection Issues Resolved

The following issues with budgets that are connected to eGC1s have been resolved:

  • Bad routing state caused by having a budget connected to a second eGC1
  • Linked budgets not opening correctly on non-editable eGC1

SAGE Budget

Minor Polish Updates

  • From the budget list, you can now right click on the budget title and it will open in a new tab.
  • When adding personnel costs, the new row is now added to the top of the salary and benefits table for greater visibility.
  • When viewing budget history snapshots, the banner text has been reworded for added clarity.

SAGE Grant Runner

Sponsor Budget Map Ordering

A minor issue with personnel ordering on the Sponsor Budget Map has been fixed.

 

February 2021 SAGE Maintenance Release

SAGE Budget

SAGE Budget Infrastructure and Styling Updates

The SAGE Budget infrastructure has been updated, enabling ORIS to deliver features more efficiently moving forward.

SAGE Budget has also been updated to include UW fonts and branding.

Previous Format

budget list with current look

New Format

budget list with new look

Sea Pay Added to Current Format Budgets

Proposals that include Sea Pay costs can now use SAGE Budget.

Steps to add Sea Pay to a budget:

  1. Turn on Sea Pay using the toggle in worksheet settings.

Include sea pay toggle

Note: With Sea Pay enabled, additional fields will display in the personnel side panel for each period.

  1. Enter the person’s hours of Sea Pay for each period. SAGE Budget will calculate the amount of Sea Pay using the hourly benefit rate for (01-86).

Note: The Sea Pay Benefit Rate is editable. When a custom Sea Pay Benefit Rate is entered, SAGE Budget will use it to calculate the Sea Pay benefits.

When both APL and Sea Pay are enabled in the worksheet settings, SAGE budget will use the APL 01-86 hourly benefit rate (instead of the standard APL benefit and leave rates) to calculate Sea Pay benefits.

personnel period side panel with A P L benefits and sea pay

When Sea Pay costs are added to a personnel cost, an “anchor” icon displays next to the person’s name.

sea pay personnel anchor icon

When the budget is connected to an eGC1, Sea Pay costs will appear on the eGC1 Budget & Fiscal Compliance page. For a Grant Runner eGC1, they will appear on the RR Detailed Budget.

Proposal Budgets that Include APL Fixed Fee Can Now Use SAGE Budget

Fixed Fee costs can be added to primary, internal, and fabrication worksheets and display as 19-40 costs on that worksheet. Fixed Fee costs can also be charged against subaward worksheets.

Steps to add Fixed Fee to a worksheet:

  1. Navigate to the worksheet’s settings. When APL is turned on, the Fixed Fee toggle will display. By enabling the Fixed Fee toggle you can select your Fixed Fee Base type and customize the Fixed Fee rate.

fixed fee toggle in worksheet settings

  1. Select one of the standard Fixed Fee base types or customize the base.

fixed fee base choices

When Custom is selected, a modal opens allowing you to select the object codes you want to include in the Fixed Fee base. Expanding each object code offers you the ability to select or deselect sub-object codes.

fixed fee custom base modal

On Subaward worksheets, Fixed Fee can be charged against the subrecipient’s costs.

To do so, enable Fixed Fee on the primary worksheet, and ensure 03-62 (outside services – subcontract) is included in the Fixed Fee base type. The Subaward worksheet settings will display the Fixed Fee rate and base type, read-only. Fixed Fee will be calculated on 03-62 lines items on the primary worksheet and on any subaward worksheets.

fix fee information on subaward worksheet

The Fixed Fee amount for a primary, internal, or fabrication worksheet is displayed in the Worksheet Totals.

fixed fee in worksheet totals section

The Fixed Fee total and amount for each worksheet is also displayed in the Project Totals within the Budget Summary.

Note: Fixed Fee is not part of a subrecipient’s cost to UW and will not appear in a subaward worksheet’s totals. Instead, you will see the amount of Fixed Fee charged against the subaward worksheet on the budget summary only.

fixed fee in project total section

Details on Fixed Fee calculations can be found in the SAGE Budget User Guide by clicking on the (?) icon next to the Fixed Fee toggle in worksheet settings.

Additional SAGE Budget Improvements

  • A help link to the SAGE Budget User Guide was added to the APL and Sea Pay sections in the worksheet settings.
  • Users can now see the full description of personnel sub-object codes and the Academic/Summer % effort.

SAGE Wide

SAGE Databases Have Been Updated for Use in RAM Cube

Updates have been made to productionize the data in the Research Administration Management (RAM) cube, enabling improved reporting for the Office of Sponsored Programs.

December 2020 SAGE Maintenance

Deployment Features:

  • Export Control and EH&S approval graph changes
  • Grant Runner validation and usability improvements
  • Award Signature update for RRF
  • Addition of optional WIAP column in SPAERC tasklist

SAGE Approval Graph

Export Control added as “Watcher” on Applications with Foreign Entity Involvement

An Export Control “Watcher” node will automatically be added to the eGC1 approval graph when one or both of the following data-related Non-Fiscal Compliance questions are marked “Yes”:

  • D-2. Is the project intended to assist a foreign country’s military or space activities?
  • D-4. Will the project involve travel to or collaboration with a person or entity in a sanctioned country (e.g., Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria)?

Once the application reaches “In OSP” status, an automatic Export Control hold is applied to the application. OSP can manually remove the hold.

Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) Select Agents Reviewer Update

Previously, EH&S Select Agents were listed as approvers when “Select Agents and Toxins” were chosen on the Non-Fiscal Compliance section (EHS-1) of an application. Now, EH&S Select Agents are listed as “Watchers” who will receive notice of the application, but are not required to take action. The select agents and toxins description has also been updated to remove the text “EH&S approval of this eGC-1 is required due to federal regulations.”

The following image shows an approval graph with the both the Export Control watcher and the EH&S Select Agents watcher.

Approval graph changes in December 2020 release

SAGE Grant Runner

Validation Update

An ORIS implemented validation on the Grant Runner Research Plan form has been removed to align with the NIH validation. The Progress Report Publication List or Progress Report will no longer have an ORIS validation on Renewal and Resubmission applications. If the attachment is required by the NIH, users will still see an NIH validation when they run a “Check for Errors” on their application.

Help Links and Guidance Updates

A help link has been added to the RR Subaward Budget and the PHS Human Subjects & Clinical Trials Study forms. Detailed instructions will guide Chrome users through the steps of downloading and opening the editable forms. The following image shows part of the form and the help instructions.

h s c t form showing help for pdf download

SPAERC

RRF Funding Actions No Longer Require an Award Signature

When RRF is listed as the sponsor, the Award Signature field now defaults to “Not Required.” The field will still be editable when the FA is “In OSP” status.

Washington Innovation Advantage Program (WIAP) Column Available on Task List

A new column can be optionally displayed on the SPAERC task lists for Funding Actions and Admin Actions The column will display the value selected in the WIAP field (Yes, No, blank). Users can sort the task list by that column. The following image shows the Funding Actions task list with the WIAP column highlighted.

added W I A P column on task list

October 2020 SAGE Maintenance Release

SAGE eGC1

New School of Medicine watcher on the eGC1 Approval graph

The School of Medicine will now be included as a Watcher on the eGC1 approval graph when any of the following Interdisciplinary Organization Units reviewers have been selected on the PI, Personnel, & Organizations page of the eGC1:

  • Radiology Services
  • Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute (ADAI)
  • Center on Human Development and Disability (CHDD)

The following image shows an approval graph with CHDD added and the School of Medicine watcher node.

example approval graph showing watcher node

SAGE Budget

Accessibility improvements and bug fixes

Accessibility improvements were made to all type-ahead search features in SAGE Budget. Now users who solely use a keyboard can fully navigate those features.

In addition some minor bugs were identified and fixed:

  • Special characters no longer cause errors in the type-ahead searches
  • The F&A base type for subawards has been removed from the Budget Summary totals table
  • Currency fields now display the zeros to the right of the decimal point
  • Budget titles that exceed the maximum length no longer cause errors

SAGE Grant Runner

Sponsor Budget Map issue with custom roles resolved

An error that occurred on the Sponsor Budget Map when a user entered a custom role in the Other Personnel section that exactly matched a Key Personnel role has been resolved. Users can now enter any custom role for Other Personnel.

SPAERC

Award Signed Date

A new Award Signed Date field has been added to FAs, NAAs, and PACs. This field is intended to capture the date when the last signature needed for the agreement was obtained. The field will require the user to either enter a date or select “Not Required” prior to approval for all new agreements. This adds a valuable data point for award reporting, and will be used by the School of Medicine and Clinical Trials Office to verify that agreements have been signed prior to enlisting participants in clinical trials studies.

The following image shows the new fields on a Funding Action.

funding action with new award signature fields

August 2020 SAGE Maintenance

SAGE eGC1

Updated list of Countries and States on Grant Runner Forms

Grants.gov has updated their country and states list on forms version 3.0. Currently NIH does not have any opportunities using forms version 3.0 but they do have plans to use this form set in late Fall 2020. Proactively, we have updated Grant Runner forms version 3.0 to display the new country and state codes. Users will not see this change until NIH releases the opportunities using the new forms version. The updated forms are:

  • SF 424
  • Performance Sites
  • R&R Key Person Expanded form
  • PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Inclusion Enrollment form

Updates to Grant Runner Forms F

Some minor updates to Forms F were made including improving some validations and updating the expiration dates on the following forms:

  • PHS 398 Career Development Award Supplemental form
  • PHS Fellowship Supplemental form
  • PHS Assignment Request form
  • PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement
  • PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Inclusion form

SAGE Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

  • Grant Runner HSCT exemption numbers not clearing
  • Subaward form not allowing new lines in Internet Explorer
  • eGC1 Contacts & Access page conflicts with connected Budget contacts

SPAERC

Improve Visibility to FCOI Review Required

“ Review Required” has been bolded on the PI, Personnel, & Organizations page in SPAERC to make it easier for OSP reviewers to see.

shows bolded display of Review Required in SPAERC

Bug Fixes

  • The FA Current Amount was not displaying in the cycle details for applications connected to a current (V2) budget.
  • Returned eGC1s connected to a current (V2) budget were uneditable.

AUMS

Bug Fixes

  • From the OHN view, some details were not displayed in read-only mode.

SAGE Budget

Remove Worksheet Filter from Budget Summary Page

During internal testing, a minor variance was found in how rounding was applied to budget totals on the Summary when the worksheet filter feature was used. To avoid any discrepancies while further work is done on that feature, the worksheet filter has been temporarily removed from the Summary page.

June 2020 SAGE Budget Redesign Release

SAGE Budget Redesign

SAGE Budget has been redesigned to streamline the proposal budgeting process and lay a foundation for future integration opportunities between SAGE and Workday. For this initial release, users will have the option of using old SAGE Budget (legacy) or the new design (current). This will help ease the transition and allow users to acclimate to the new changes without impacting critical deadlines.

Highlights

  • Temporary option to work in legacy budget design or new budget
  • New navigational structure for easy viewing of all budget components and worksheets
  • Quicker, easier budget setup
  • Improved Budget Summary roll-up layout for reviewers
  • Streamlined personnel & cost entry, with easy editing of details
  • More tailored entry of subawards
  • Improved export to Excel
  • Updated architecture to enable future integrations with Workday for post-award setup

Opt-In to New SAGE Budget (temporary)

A redesigned Budgets task list includes the ability to create budgets in the current or legacy designs. This is a temporary feature to ease the transition from old to new at a pace that does not hinder deadlines.

example budget list

For existing legacy budgets, users have the option to:

  • Upgrade — Upgrading will convert your legacy budget to the new design. Once upgraded, you can no longer work with the former budget in legacy.
  • Copy — Copying will duplicate your budget in the same format which gives you the opportunity to upgrade the copy and try out the new design without changing the original legacy budget.

After a stabilization period (length TBD) SAGE Budget will transition completely to the new design, upgrading all legacy budgets in the process. Users will be alerted well in advance of this full transition.

New Navigational Structure

The revised navigational structure creates better visibility to the various worksheets (sub-budgets) that comprise your overall budget. Key components of the navigation include:

  • Summary (All Worksheets) — a read-only summary of your budget that rolls-up costs from all worksheets. From the summary you’ll have the ability to filter to view particular worksheets, reducing the need to bounce back and forth between screens.
  • Worksheets — Worksheets are where the budget building and editing occurs. Each budget contains, at minimum, a Primary worksheet. Users can add additional worksheets for:
    • Subawards
    • Internal sub-budgets that have a different F&A rate or rules than the Primary worksheet
    • Fabrication sub-budgets

Special Note: Unlike legacy SAGE Budget, in the new design the primary (lead) worksheet no longer includes the roll-up data from sub-budgets. The Summary serves as the full budget roll-up view.

  • Budget Settings — Basic identifying information and setup details related to your overall budget such as sponsor, period start and end dates, access, caps and limits.
  • History — Users can view point-in-time snapshots of the budget and create a snapshot of the budget prior to sharing it with collaborators.
  • Collapse Panel — Allows for more budget viewing space by minimizing the navigation panel without compromising easy navigation between worksheets and summary.

navigational structure

Quicker Budget Setup

Creating a new budget from the Budgets task list will land users on the Budget Settings page, where they can enter their periods, budget title, sponsor, calculation preferences, etc. Budget Start Date is the only field that is required prior to adding costs, significantly reducing the information required upfront so you can quickly get started and refine settings later.

quicker setup

Budget Summary View

The Summary view was redesigned with reviewers in mind. The Summary contains a read-only roll-up of all worksheet expenses, plus the following highlights and features:

  • Salary and Benefits combined into a single “Salary and Benefit Costs” section
  • Sub-totals by Personnel role type
  • Total costs section at top for quick reference
  • Combined totals by object code for all worksheets, with quick access to each cost’s source worksheet for more detail
  • Expand and collapse of object codes to see high level totals or view detailed expenses
  • Ability to customize what personnel cost detail is displayed (for example, Annual Base Salary, Person Months, Percent Effort)
  • Facilities & Administrative details like rate, location, base type, and cost detail by worksheet
  • Ability to add, edit, and delete a note for specific personnel and costs
  • Ability to filter the Summary view to specific worksheets

summary salary

budget summary other costs

budget summary project totals

Worksheet Expense Entry with Side Panel Details

The budget worksheets are where the budget building and editing takes place. There are a number of key improvements made to expense entry, in order to streamline entry and improve usability. Features and highlights include the following:

Worksheet Settings

  • Set up details related to a specific worksheet (sub-budget) such as title, organization receiving funding, base type, location, and F&A rate.

Personnel Entry

  • Quick search for UW personnel using type-ahead, SAGE Budget still pulls in salary details from Workday.
  • Personnel detail happens in a side panel, no more pop-ups.

first budget personnel side panel

Other Costs Entry

  • Easy in-line entry of Other Direct Costs
  • Option to enter quantity and price in side panel

other costs side panel

Subaward Entry Improvements

Subawards can be added to your budget as either 03-62 lines on primary and internal worksheets, or as a subaward worksheet. Both methods of entry have been streamlined and tailored to the unique needs of subawards.

03-62 Lines

  • Breakout of Subaward Total Direct Costs from Subrecipient F&A to ensure accurate calculation of Total Direct Costs less Subrecipient F&A for the overall budget

Subaward Worksheets

  • Quicker personnel entry
  • Streamlined F&A entry

Excel Export Improvements

The layout of the Excel export has been improved, providing users with a more readable format. The following export formats will be available with this first release, with the goal to add more formats in the future based on user feedback.

  • Summary (budget roll-up) with Excel sheets for each period’s detail
  • Individual worksheets
  • SF424 Detailed Budget format

budget export example

Updated architecture to enable future integrations with Workday

The underlying infrastructure of SAGE Budget has been upgraded to allow for easier support and maintenance, and to enable further streamlining with the eGC1, personnel tracking, sponsor forms auto-population, and future integrations to Workday.

May 2020 SAGE Grant Runner Forms F Release

These are the Grant Runner updates for Forms F:

  • The expiration date for every form has been updated to 02/28/2023
  • PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement
    • Added new Human Fetal Tissue Section with the question: Does the proposed project involve human fetal tissue obtained from elective abortions?
    • If answered Yes, two new attachments are requested
      • 1. HFT Compliance Assurance
      • 2. HFT Sample IRB Consent Form
    • Renumbered form fields, as needed
  • PHS 398 Career Development Award Supplemental Form
    • Added new attachment titled “Description of Candidate’s Contribution to Program Goals” to the Environment and Institutional Commitment to Candidate Section
    • Renumbered form fields, as needed
  • PHS Fellowship Supplemental Form
    • Added new attachment titled “Description of Candidate’s Contribution to Program Goals” to the Institutional Environment and Commitment to Training Section
    • Renumbered form fields, as needed
  • PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information
    • Reworked the form summary page to require an answer and supporting explanation (if applicable) for the question “Does any of the proposed research in the application involve human specimens and/or data?” for all applications
    • Study record changes
      • Defaulted Clinical Trial Questionnaire question “1.4.a Does the study involve human participants?” to Yes, since study records are only available when the answer to the “Are Human Subjects Involved?” question on the R&R Other Project Information form is Yes
      • Separated “Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Children” attachment into two attachments – “Inclusion of Individuals Across the Lifespan” and “Inclusion of Women and Minorities”
      • Renamed “Enrollment of First Subject” field to “Enrollment of First Participant”
      • Added “Inclusion Enrollment Report Title” field to the Inclusion Enrollment Report
      • Removed “Brief Summary” attachment
      • Renamed “Narrative Study Description” attachment to “Detailed Description”
      • Added a new question and checkbox – “Is this an applicable clinical trial under FDAAA?”
      • Renumbered form fields, as needed
  • PHS Assignment Request form
    • Clarified instruction text displayed on form
    • Changed several field labels
    • Removed fields
      • Do Not Assign to Awarding Components
      • Do Not Assign to Study Sections
    • Added “Rationale for assignment suggestions” text box

January 2020 SAGE Maintenance Release

SAGE Suite-Wide

Session Timeout Handling Improvements

When any open SAGE Suite application is left idle for 40 minutes (this can vary if you have other applications open that require UW authentication), users will now see an on-screen warning that their SAGE session will time out in 5 minutes without further activity. Renewing your 45 minute session can be done by simply clicking “Keep Working” in the warning pop-up. If your session expires, the system will automatically redirect you to a login page. This change will provide clear and consistent handling of session time-outs, reducing user confusion and accidental data loss.

SAGE eGC1

Improved eGC1 Status Handling at the Time of Award

An eGC1’s status changes to “Awarded” when a child funding action is initially sent to GCA. However, there were certain circumstances when the eGC1 status wasn’t updating appropriately if the child funding action was returned to OSP and then re-parented to a new eGC1. To catch these cases, the eGC1 status will also update to “Awarded” if the child funding action is “Re-Sent by OSP” to GCA. Existing eGC1s in “Approved” status with a child funding action in “Processed” status were updated to “Awarded” status.

SPAERC

Update Subaward Expiration Rules (delayed release)

The nightly batch job that updates the subaward status was simplified, and now evaluates Subaward End Date only. If the Subaward End Date is in the past, then the status is changed to “Expired”. If a new modification is approved, the subaward status will be changed to Active once again.

SERA

Funding Action and Post-Award Change Receipt Contact Updates

The electronic Funding Action (FA) and Post-Award Change (PAC) receipt PDFs that are sent to award contacts have been updated to include updated OSP and GCA contact information in the footer.

FIDS

SFI Value of Compensation Label Update

The significant financial interest form in FIDS has been updated to clarify that the “Value of Compensation” should be annualized — “Annual Value of Compensation”.

MyResearch Integrations

RegID included in SAGE API to MyResearch

RegID is now being provided from SAGE to MyResearch as a unique identifier to associate people to their eGC1s and Awards. While working in this area, an issue was resolved that had caused RegID to not be captured for PI changes on funding actions. Historical gaps in RegID data were also corrected.

September 2019 SAGE Maintenance Release

Products Updated

SAGE eGC1

New Project Types added to eGC1

Two new project types have been added to the eGC1. Users can now select “Cooperative Agreement” or “Other Transaction Authority” (a federal designation) from the list, in addition to the current options.

FIX: Sponsor Deadline warning displays when it should not

SAGE and SPAERC users were seeing a sponsor deadline warning message in cases where the deadline had not exceeded our internal due date, causing confusion. The issue was occurring due to time zone differences between east and west coast, and has now been resolved to disregard time of day when comparing the dates.

Update to Read-Only Non-Fiscal Compliance Page for EHS-1 and D-1

In a prior release, an update was made to the Non-Fiscal Compliance page of the eGC1, in order to display the full list of options a user was asked to choose from when responding to the Environment Health and Safety and Data and Technology questions. The display caused confusion for users and has now been updated with a more intuitive presentation of the responses, for added clarity.

Removal of Grant Runner attachment validation for spaces in file name

An old Grant Runner validation disallowing spaces in file names has been removed, to align with NIH current rules for file naming conventions. For details on all allowable characters, see the eGC1 and Grant Runner Attachments article.

Validation Update for Grant Runner

A validation has been added to Grant Runner, to indicate that the RR Research Plan attachment “Program Report Publication List” is required for Renewal applications. This coincides with a recent NIH update of the same.

Applicant PI Added to Email Notifications – Part 2

When an Applicant PI is identified in the personnel listing of an eGC1, that individual will now receive all priority notifications that the primary PI receives. This work was divided across two releases due to the volume of updates to be made, and work is now completed.

SAGE Suite-Wide

Caching Updates to Improve Releases

In the past, certain types of system updates would require the user’s cache to be reset before the change would be visible or to prevent unexpected behavior. The cache was automatically reset every 24 hours, but at times caused help desk calls the day after a release. Technical improvements have been made across the SAGE Suite that will no longer require users to clear cache to see certain changes.

SAGE Budget

FIX: Error on selection of staff with no salary or effort in Workday

An update has been made so that staff with no salary or effort in Workday will still be selectable in SAGE Budget, with a default of 0 in both salary and FTE fields. The user can manually update both salary and FTE as necessary, to project future salary for the individual.

FIX: Excluding Compensation Allocations with Earning Codes

Some personnel with special earning codes related to APL work were flowing through to SAGE Budget with multiple distribution rows, all at 100%. An update has been made to filter out these special APL Workday entries, so that the appropriate Institutional Base Salary is represented in SAGE Budget.

FIX: $25k cap for Subawards incorrectly applied to TDC budgets

For budgets using the base type Total Direct Costs (TDC), when an 03-62 subcontract expense was entered as a line item on the parent budget (and not as its own sub budget), the $25k cap on amount subject to F&A for subawards was incorrectly being applied. The total amount subject to F&A for the 03-62 line item was also showing an incorrect figure. Neither issue occurred when using sub budgets for subaward expenses. These issues have now been fixed.

SPAERC & SERA

Updates to Post-Award Change (PAC)

In order to improve the data quality, reporting, and analytics around award data, the following changes have been made to the Post-Award Change in SPAERC and SERA:

  • Addition of Revised Start Date field, displayed for the PAC Requested Change type “Start Date Change”
  • Addition of Revised End Date field, displayed for PAC Requested Change types “Extension”, “Early Termination”, or “Relinquishment”
  • Addition of Temporary End Date field, displayed for PAC Requested Change type “Temporary Budget Extension” (formerly called “Advanced Extension”)
  • Addition of Modification Number field
  • Addition of Originating Sponsor Award Number field, which will pre-populate from the parent FA data, when present.

Updates to PAC Notification PDF

The above new PAC fields will also be displayed on the PDF attachment that is sent to campus when a PAC has been processed.

Updates to Pending Actions Report

The above new PAC fields are also included on the GCA Pending Actions Report

PAC Requested Change Type Updates

The following changes have been made to existing PAC types:

  • “Advanced Extension” is now relabeled as “Temporary Budget Extension”
  • “Significant Financial Interest” has been removed
  • “Create Program Income” has been removed
  • “Change of Award” has been removed
  • “Change in Authorized Action” has been removed

The removed PAC Requested Change types will continue to display on historical PACs.

Update to Cycle View of PAC Data

When in the SPAERC or SERA Cycle view, the PAC row will now display the new Revised Start Date, Revised End Date, and Temporary End Date fields when populated.

Intellectual Property Provisions validation message update

The validation message that appears when the Intellectual Property Provisions question is not answered will now match the current question label, for added clarity.

SERA only: Future budget biennium selection removed

The Budget Biennium field, updated by GCA in many of the items in SERA, will no longer show future biennium dates for selection. This change will help prevent erroneous biennium selections.

SPAERC only: Grant Runner Submit no longer displays timeout error

Upon submission of Grant Runner applications in SPAERC, the system was displaying time-out errors that were misleading and likely to cause unnecessary alarm or confusion. The error tracking has been updated to improve the quality of the messages received by OSP on submission.

SPAERC only: Activity Locations Page Expanded by Default

The eGC1 Activity Locations page in SPAERC will now display as expanded by default, for easier viewing of relevant data without additional clicks.

AUMS

Automation of AUMS Renewal Reminders

In order to streamline processes for the Office of Animal Welfare (OAW) and Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S), the renewal reminders for AUMS screening will now be system-generated. The email notifications will be delivered as follows:  For existing AUMS applicants who are still working with animals or whose animal exposure status is unknown, reminder emails will be sent on the following cycles, unless a new application is submitted prior:

  • 35 days prior to renewal date (to applicant only)
  • 7 days prior to renewal date (to applicant only)
  • 1 day past renewal date (to applicant and their supervisor, when the applicant is an active employee.)

Applicants who are former staff, now inactive in Workday, will also receive the reminder notifications, since these individuals may continue to work with animals either on a voluntary basis or through an affiliation with the UW.

If the applicant no longer works with animals, the email will direct them to change their animal exposure status accordingly. (See next entry). When their animal exposure status is marked as “Inactive. No further work with or around animals”, no more reminders will be sent.

AUMS Status for No Further Work with Animals

The AUMS Profile now includes a field to indicate Animal Exposure Status. This will allow existing applicants to communicate to EHS & OAW that they no longer work with animals, or are again working with animals. When the exposure status is set to “Inactive. No further work with or around animals”, the individual will no longer receive any renewal reminders.

Profile History Display in AUMS OHN Module

When an AUMS applicant changes their animal exposure status in any way, the AUMS system will log the change, and the history of changes will be visible to the Occupational Health Nurses in EH&S and other authorized AUMS administrators. This will provide a helpful trail of when exposure status has changed for an applicant.

AUMS Ergonomic Questions now trigger “Consult Required” Review Action automatically

When an applicant has responded in the affirmative on any of the ergonomics questions on the AUMS questionnaire, the application’s  Review Action will be automatically set to “Consult Required” to ensure an occupational health nurse reviews the application appropriately.

FIX: Can’t update AUMS Supervisor

An issue preventing the changing of an applicant’s supervisor in both the AUMS Applicant and OHN modules has been resolved.

FIDS

SFI Entity Type update

A change has been made to the Entity Type field when users are adding or updating SFI in FIDS. The “Foreign Government” entity type is now relabeled as “Foreign Government/Institution of Higher Ed” to better align with NIH disclosure requirements.

FIDS Reviewer: Update to Related Sponsored Research display

To better assist FIDS reviewers in monitoring compliance, a change has been made to the display of Related Sponsored Research (eGC1s). For eGC1’s that are in “Awarded” status the system will now show the most current and relevant related eGC1s based on the end date of the Funding Action instead of the end date of the eGC1. This will mitigate the accidental omissions of eGC1s whose anticipated start and end dates differ greatly from the Funding Action start and end dates.

For additional helpful context, the start and end dates of eGC1s will display in the list, when the eGC1 has not yet been awarded. Once awarded, then the Funding Action start and end dates will display in the list, along with the FA Number for reference.

MyResearch Integrations

SAGE Data Integrations with MyResearch

The following SAGE data was added to a web service to enable MyResearch future work.

  • eGC1 data needed for Current and Pending Support generation
  • New PAC fields mentioned above, for use in Award View
  • Carryover funding action field and new PAC fields in the SAGE web service will also enable GCA automation of award setup and changes in the financial system

July 2019 SAGE Maintenance Release

SAGE eGC1 & Approvals

Sponsor Deadline Added to Approvals Section

In order to give reviewers/approvers better visibility to the application’s sponsor deadline, the deadline now appears on the Approval Graph in the Application Details section.

PI Assurance Statement Updated with Multiple PI Guidance

The Assurance Statement for Principal Investigators on eGC1s has been updated to include a statement guiding them on their responsibilities for ensuring Multiple PIs from external organizations provide proper assurance, in compliance with federal regulations. The newly included verbiage reads as follows, and is visible on the Certify and Route page when the PI is logged in, and on their approval page when they have not yet noted their assurance:

If this is a multiple PI application, I understand that if I am the eGC1 PI, my approval of the eGC1 indicates I have obtained written assurances from external PIs named in this application that include this Non-UW Multiple PI Assurance Statement.

Application PI Added to Priority Email Notifications

When an eGC1 contains personnel with the Application PI role, the Application PI will now receive the following email notifications to ensure they are alerted to important changes:

  • Final Sponsor Documents Required for eGC1 – reminder email for deadlines sent if eGC1 has not been marked “Ready to Submit”
  • eGC1 Returned by Reviewer (campus reviewer) – to inform owners their submitted eGC1 has been returned by a campus reviewer
  • eGC1 Returned by Reviewer (OSP) – to inform owners their submitted eGC1 has been returned by OSP
  • eGC1 Received at OSP – eGC1 has reached OSP and will begin the central review process; includes OSP assignment
  • Application Review Notice (auto generated by OSP) – generated after central review and includes OSP review comments
  • Requested Documents Ready for Pickup – signed and scanned documents are uploadable to an application and are ready for pickup
  • FCOI Just-In-Time notification – to indicate eGC1 has reached JIT
  • Funding Action email w/Funding Action pdf attached
  • Post Award Change email w/PAC pdf attached

FIX: Non-UW authorized SAGE users cannot create new eGC1

Non-UW SAGE users, such as partners as SCCA or Fred Hutch, were receiving errors when attempting to initiate new eGC1s. The system restriction has been updated, so that all persons with a valid UW NetID and an appropriate SAGE Astra Role can perform their SAGE duties as expected.

FIX: Common Interdisciplinary Org Unit Reviewer checkboxes can’t be unchecked

An issue was resolved where eGC1 preparers who had previously checked one of the Interdisciplinary Organizational Unit Reviewers to add to the approval graph, and then later wanted to uncheck the unit, were unable to do so. Users can now check and uncheck as necessary before completing the eGC1.

FIX: Activity Locations without an address display blank in summary table

In the case where a location sourced from the GeoSims database does not have an address, the summary table on the Activity Locations page will now show the test “Not Provided” for consistency and clarity.

FIX: Editing Activity Locations or International Involvement sections in Firefox causes page to freeze

An issue with Firefox and locking/freezing of the Activity Locations page on edit has been resolved.

SAGE Budget

SAGE Budget Updates to Workday Salary Data Displayed for Personnel

In order to clean up and clarify the salary distribution data presented to SAGE Budget users, the following updates were made:

  • Make Institutional Base Salary more easily configurable in SAGE and update existing rules
    • SAGE Budget can now be more easily updated when new Compensation Plans are added to Workday. This will ensure salaries in SAGE Budget reflect each person’s Institutional Base Salary. This release also brings SAGE Budget up to date with the Compensation Plans currently in Workday.
  • Distribution % for Administrative and Endowed Supplements no longer factor in FTE
    • Administrative and Endowed Supplements will now show the Distribution % direct from Workday. Previously, these Compensation Plans used the same Distribution % calculation as General Salary, which incorrectly reduced the total pay for people with supplements tied to part-time positions.
  • Administrative and Endowed Supplements now included for Non-Faculty Personnel
    • SAGE Budget will now include Administrative and Endowed Supplements in Institutional Base Salary for any UW personnel who have them. Previously, these Compensation Plans were only included for faculty.

Other Minor SAGE Budget Fixes

The following SAGE Budget issues are now resolved:

  • FIX: 07 Retirement Benefit percent does not update when changing personnel from APL to non-APL
  • FIX: The Update (Benefit) Rate button in personnel salary and benefits by period does not work
  • FIX: 01-70 Changing between exemption rate settings for 01-70 staff does not result in refreshed benefits rates for individual personnel entries

SAGE Grant Runner

Populate SF424 Federal Agency from the Opportunity Data

The SF424 Grant Runner sponsor form will now default in the Federal Agency from the opportunity information retrieved from Grants.Gov, instead of the sponsor listed on the eGC1. This will improve accuracy on the Grant Runner form and reduce the risk of issues at the time of submission.

FIX: Error on History & Comments page for Grant Runner eGC1s (Released via patch on 6/19/19)

An issue has been resolved that was causing an error for users when they would navigate to the History and Comments section of the Approvals tab for an eGC1.

SPAERC Updates

  • PI Titles Removed from Cover Letter to Sponsor
  • Additional Fields Added to SPAERC Application Search
  • Assignee Fields in SPAERC are Updated to Display First and Last Name

SERA Updates

  • FIX: Unprocessing of FAs/PACs/ADVs Can Cause Errors

AUMS Updates

  • Ergonomics Questions Added to AUMS/AHA Application
  • Update verbiage on renewal applications

FIDS Updates

  • Change of Review Status Now Allowed in Reviewer Module
  • FIX: Application PI eGC1s are not displaying properly in FIDS
  • FIX: FIDS SFI not displaying when in FIDS Reviewer detail

May 2019 SAGE Maintenance Release

Feature Highlights: Improving SAGE Budget Usability

The SAGE team is focusing in 2019 on expanding and improving SAGE Budget capabilities, and streamlining proposal budgeting processes. This release includes several high-value features that were identified by budget preparers across campus who responded to a budget-focused survey and subsequent focus groups.

SAGE Budget

New Salary Cap Feature

In SAGE Budget you can now indicate when the sponsor has a salary cap, allowing you to set a custom salary cap value from the newly-renamed Targets & Caps tab.

target and caps tab salary cap fields

From the worksheet, you’ll be able to see what the cap is, and which personnel exceed it.

salary cap indicators on the worksheet

When you open the details for individual personnel, you’ll see their total uncapped salary in addition to their capped total for improved transparency.

update periods salary totals showing capped and uncapped salary

Improved Visibility to Salary and Benefit Totals

When updating the period details for personnel, you’ll now have better visibility to Period Salary Totals, Period Benefits Totals, and for the first time, visibility to the combined Salary & Benefit Total. This will make it easier to copy this total into sponsor budget forms, while also improving the layout to reduce scrolling. (See “Total Salary + Benefits” in image above)

New Summer Tuition Amount Field

To make it easier and more transparent to budget for summer tuition (the rate which normally differs from other academic quarters), you’ll now be able to enter a discrete Summer Tuition Amount for personnel with student sub-object codes. You’ll also be able to enter a Summer Tuition Amount for stand-alone tuition lines in the 08 object code.

tuition section of the update periods screen

Copy Budget Improvements

Copying SAGE budgets and sub-budgets will now prompt you to update the Title of the new budget, and after confirmation will open the new budget in a new browser tab. This will make it more intuitive for you to identify the new budget from the original when copying.

budget copy dialog

Streamlined and More Accessible Expense Entry

Keyboard and mouse navigation in the expense entry screens has been improved to make the experience more intuitive and accessible. This will reduce the amount of time to enter expenses for users who navigate using keyboard or mouse.

General SAGE Suite Maintenance Items

SAGE

Activity Locations Entry Updated for Consistent Experience

The eGC1 Activity Locations page has been updated to make the entry of locations mirror the experience found on the Non-Fiscal Compliance page when entering Human and Animal protocols. This will make the entry experience more intuitive and the system more maintainable.

Improved eGC1 Performance

Testing of SAGE response time revealed that the Details and PI, Personnel & Organizations pages were slower than other parts of the eGC1. Those pages have been updated to drastically improve performance, allowing you to navigate with less waiting.

Compliance Question E-2 Has Been Updated

Non-Fiscal Compliance question E-2, concerning export of hardware, equipment, specimens, etc. has been updated to clarify that you do not need to report personal use laptops.

Fix: Country Field Displaying for Manually Entered Animal Use Institutions and Activity Locations

An issue causing the Country field to not display for manually entered Animal Use Institutions and Activity Locations has been resolved.

SAGE Grant Runner

New Grant Runner Warning for Expired NIH Funding Opportunities

When using Grant Runner, you’ll now see a warning at the top of the Check for Errors pop-up if you choose an NIH funding opportunity that closes prior to the Sponsor Deadline on the eGC1 Details page. This will provide you with transparency to the conflict, but will not prevent you from routing the eGC1.

grant runner opportunity expiration warning

Improved Usability for Country & State Entry on Grant Runner Forms

The Key Persons Expanded and Performance Sites forms on Grant Runner eGC1s have been updated to provide a more intuitive experience when entering Country and State. This also resolves an issue that could result in the State not saving.

February 2019 SAGE Maintenance Release

General SAGE Suite Maintenance Items

SAGE

Submission deadline warning notification no longer sent for RRF eGC1s

Principal Investigators and Preparers of eGC1s to the Royalty Research Fund (RRF) will no longer receive the automated email sent from SAGE 3-6 days prior to the Sponsor Deadline when the proposal is marked as not ready for submission. This notification was not applicable to RRF proposals and caused confusion.

SAGE Budget

Add links to connected eGC1s and Budgets on SAGE task lists

When an eGC1 is connected to a SAGE Budget, links between the two will now display on the My eGC1s and My Budgets task lists, making it quicker and easier to navigate between the two.

my e g c 1 page showing connected budget link

my budgets page showing connected e g c 1 link

Prefix and/or Suffix fields added for personnel in SAGE Budget

Users can now enter a Prefix and/or Suffix for personnel in SAGE Budget. These will display on the Budget worksheet, and when using the Grant Runner Budget Sync feature will flow directly to the NIH RR Detailed Budget form on the connected eGC1. This ensures personnel will display on the sponsor form with their preferred titles/credentials.

Budget Sync performance improvements

The new Grant Runner Budget Sync feature has been optimized to now perform faster, allowing users to complete their proposals more quickly.

SAGE Grant Runner

Allow Grant Runner eGC1s to route with Grants.gov and NIH errors

The Certify & Route page of the eGC1 has been updated to make routing choices more clear and intuitive.

Additionally, when using a Grant Runner eGC1, as long as the eGC1 is marked “Ready to Submit” = No, users will now be allowed to route their eGC1s for review while there are still outstanding NIH and Grants.gov errors.

A new warning displays on Certify & Route page when there are grants.gov and/or NIH errors:

example of warning message

SPAERC

Add Award Modification Number to Cycle View

The Cycle view in SPAERC has been updated to include a “Mod Nbr” column to reflect Award Modification Numbers on Funding Actions and Modification Numbers on Subaward Actions.

Changes to Defaulting Behavior on Funding Actions

Defaulting logic for the Disposition and Carryover fields on Funding Actions has been revised to improve data accuracy.

  • If Payment type is changed to Cost Reimbursable from another value, then the Disposition of Balance field is reset to “Not Applicable”
  • If Payment type is changed to Letter of Credit from another value, then the Disposition of Balance field is reset to “Not Applicable”
  • If Sponsor is changed to Royalty Research Fund (RRF) from another value, then
    • Disposition of Balance field is reset to “Return to Sponsor”
    • Carryover is reset to “Automatic Carryover”
  • If SNAP is checked after a value is already set in the Carryover field, then the Carryover value is reset to “Automatic Carryover”

OSP Team C assignment updates

The rules that govern who the default OSP reviewer will be for eGC1s that have been routed for review have been updated to facilitate the appropriate eGC1s being assigned to OSP’s new Contracts Team. eGC1s will be assigned to the Team C Administrator under the following conditions:

  • Application Type = Non-Award Agreement (new) or Non-Award Agreement (continuation)
  • After the Fact (ATF) is marked “Yes” and the Sponsor Type is “Private Industry” or “Foreign Private Industry”

SERA

Add validation in SERA for missing short title

The Short Title on Funding Actions is now required in SERA prior to save in order to resolve an error that occurred when the Short Title was saved blank.

January 2019 SAGE Budget Rounding

Feature Highlights: Improving SAGE Budget Usability

The SAGE team will be focusing the next six months on expanding and improving SAGE Budget capabilities, and streamlining proposal budgeting processes. This is the initial release in a series of SAGE Budget improvements to come in 2019.

SAGE Budget Rounding Changes

The SAGE Budget approach to rounding has been changed to better match user expectations and needs. These changes will facilitate accurate integration of budget data into sponsor budget forms when using the new Budget Sync feature.

Context:

Historically, SAGE Budget has used display-only rounding for individual expense items, and banker’s rounding for totals.

Display-only rounding is the equivalent of using the decimal display setting in Excel versus the round() formula. With display-only rounding, you may see a $5 on screen, but the stored value may really be $4.60. This can be confusing for users when viewing totals of display-rounded numbers.

For example, you might see:

$5 + $5 = $9 when the underlying values are $4.6 + $4.6 = $9.2 (rounded to $9)

The old display-only approach to rounding also resulted in an inability to fully reconcile SAGE Budget numbers to sponsor budget formats, where sponsor budgets require whole dollar entries.

Key Rounding Changes:

  • Display-only rounding of expenses will no longer be used in SAGE Budget. Rounding is now applied to each expense individually, not just to budget sum totals.
  • Budget sub-totals and totals now display the sum of the rounded expense totals.
  • Banker’s rounding has been replaced by Rounding Up approach on tie break. (Example: When rounding to whole dollars, $2.50 will now round up to $3, instead of down to $2.)
  • Users now have the choice to round to whole dollars or to cents (new!) or to not round.
  • When Grant Runner Budget Sync feature is used, the rounded values will flow to the RR Detailed Budget with 100% accuracy.

These changes to rounding in SAGE Budget will result in a clearer, more intuitive approach to display of rounded values that accurately matches sponsor budgets that require whole dollars entry.

Important Note for Existing Budgets:

Existing budgets set to whole dollar rounding at time of go-live will be migrated to the following settings:

  • Rounding is changed to Do Not Round
  • Decimals display is changed to 0
  • Banker’s rounding is used on tie

These settings will maintain the integrity of historical budgets and to allow users to make intentional decisions on whether to apply the new rounding methodology to active budgets.

When you Copy a budget with the above legacy settings, the new budget (and any child sub budgets) will automatically convert to the new rounding settings.

Converting Existing Budgets to New Round Approach:

To convert your existing budget to the new rounding approach, go to the Properties tab of your main worksheet, and select the appropriate rounding option.

When you change the rounding settings in the Properties for your parent budget, all sub-budgets will inherit that same rounding setting as well.

SAGE Budget: Period Updates Screen Improvements

Dynamic Update of Expense Totals

Users will no longer need to manually SAVE between changes to expenses to see the sub-total and totals update. Entry of personnel and other expenses will trigger a recalculation and refresh of the expense totals upon navigating away from the field where the entry occurred.

SAGE Budget: Properties and Settings Improvements

To improve the usability of the Properties and Advanced Settings pages, the following adjustments have been made:

Properties Tab Changes

  • The Properties page has been streamlined to combine what was formerly the Advanced Properties onto the main Properties page, for added visibility and convenience
  • New section headings add clarity to the choices available
  • New help text guides users when making selections
  • The same above changes have been applied to the Properties portion of the Budget Setup Wizard
  • The Properties page now has improved keyboard accessibility
  • As mentioned in the Rounding section above, the rounding setting now includes an additional option to round to Cents, in addition to Whole Dollar and No Rounding options.

Targets and Limits Tab Changes

  • Users will now enable Targets and Limits from the Targets and Limits tab.
  • The Budget Setup Wizard no longer includes the Enable Targets and Limits question, and will instead be enabled from the Targets and Limits tab upon completion of the wizard setup.

General SAGE Suite Maintenance Items

SAGE eGC1

Discontinuation of Human Subjects Just In Time Reminder Email

The email notification sent from SAGE to PIs and Administrators at Just in Time when human subjects is marked as YES on the eGC1, has been discontinued. Campus feedback indicated that this email often caused confusion, since it was not an official notice of action from the sponsor, and that the reminder was not helpful to their processes.

Fix: Display of Activity Locations and Non-Fiscal Compliance Page

The Activity Locations and Non-Fiscal Compliance pages were displaying beyond the right border for Internet Explorer users, causing read-only users in SAGE to be unable to access certain expand/collapse controls on the page. The issue has been resolved.

SAGE Budget

Update to APL Manual Entries in SAGE Budget

SAGE Budget has been updated to clarify to which APL expenses can be manually entered (sub-object codes 19-00 and 19-20) and which are based on the APL setting on the Properties tab (sub-object codes 19-10 and 19-40).

SAGE Grant Runner

Fix: Cognizant Federal Agency POC Field Display – RR Subaward Budget

An issue with display of the Cognizant Federal Agency POC field on the RR Subaward Budget form has been resolved. The saved data is now displaying as expected on the Grant Runner form.

Link to Sponsor Budget Map from RR Detailed Budget

Users will now see a convenient link to the Sponsor Budget Map page from the header of the RR Detailed Budget page, when using Budget Sync. This will serve as a helpful reminder to users that this new page exists and may need actions on their part to fully sync data from SAGE Budget to the RR Detailed Budget.

AUMS

Clearance Email and PDF Attachment Updates

The clearance email, sent from the AUMS system, has been updated to clarify contact and other helpful information for recipients.

FIDS

Fix: Update to Display of SFI Percent Ownership in Reviewer Module

The SFI Percent Ownership has been updated to address a display issue caused by a rounding setting in the FIDS reviewer module.

November 2018 Grant Runner Budget Sync

Sync SAGE Budget to Grant Runner RR Detailed Budget

eGC1 preparers using Grant Runner now have a new feature that allows them to sync a connected SAGE Budget to the NIH RR Detailed Budget. This capability provides a more streamlined experience for preparers by reducing redundant entry. It also eliminates the need for reviewers to cross check the various parts of the application where budget data is stored.

Highlights

  • Personnel and expense data flows directly from SAGE Budget to RR Detailed Budget, when connected.
  • When updates are made to a connected SAGE Budget the changes will automatically flow to the RR Detailed budget.
  • On the new Sponsor Budget Map page on the left navigation, the following actions can be taken:
    • View or change the default flow of data from SAGE Budget to the RR Detailed Budget
    • Define custom personnel roles and custom categories for other direct costs
    • Customize the order of Personnel with an easy drag & drop feature
    • Identify Participant Support Costs, and associated numbers of participants
  • When users disconnect a SAGE Budget they have the option to keep or clear the data in the eGC1 budget page and the RR Detailed Budget.

What to expect

Connecting your SAGE Budget to a Grant Runner eGC1 with an RR Detailed Budget form triggers the two budgets to sync. When the sync occurs a new Sponsor Budget Map page displays on the left navigation menu and the RR Detailed Budget form becomes read-only. Changes to where the data flows to on the RR Detailed Budget can be made on the Sponsor Budget Map page. Additions and deletions of expenses or changes to expense amounts will be made on the SAGE Budget. The Budget Justification attachment will still be attached on the RR Detailed Budget directly.

  • Finance & Administrative (F&A) flows to section H. Indirect Costs on the RR Detailed Budget with one row per distinct F&A rate and base type combination.
  • The Sponsor Budget Map displays how data flows from SAGE Budget to RR Detailed Budget. SAGE Budget expense items are grouped into sections by Object code. Within each section they are ordered by sub-object code. SAGE Budget data is displayed on the left side of the page. The RR Detailed Budget expense category to which the expense will flow is shown on the right side.
  • Reorder Personnel. Use the drag and drop functionality in the Salaries and Wages section of the Sponsor Budget Map page for easy reordering of Senior/Key personnel.
  • Define Custom Personnel Roles. Drop-down menus allow for remapping to several default personnel project roles or you can create a custom role.
  • Change Defaulted Data Flow. Many expense categories can be changed to flow the data from SAGE Budget to an alternate category on the RR Detailed Budget. Use the drop-down menus at right to specify any changes to the flow.

SAGE Budget Changes (Enablers)

The following changes were made to SAGE Budget, in order to fully meet the data needs of the RR Detailed Budget.

  • Application PI Role Added. Users will now see the Application PI role available in the personnel section of SAGE Budget. Personnel assigned to the role Application PI on the SAGE Budget will flow through to the RR Detailed Budget as the Principal Investigator (PD/PI). If the SAGE Budget had a PI listed in addition to the Application PI, the PI will flow to the RR Detailed Budget under the role of Faculty, and that role can be modified on the Sponsor Budget Map if necessary.
  • Additional Role Updates. The Fellow role is no longer available in SAGE budget. , iInstead new roles have been added to match those in the RR Detailed Budget. The new roles include: Faculty, Post Doctoral Associate, Graduate Student, Undergraduate Student, Secretarial/Clerical.
  • TBD & Non-UW Personnel: Monthly Salaries Now Editable. In order to identify Base Salary on the RR Detailed budget for TBD and Non-UW Personnel, the UW Monthly Salary and Clinical Monthly Salary fields are now editable in the SAGE Budget personnel entry section (for TBD and Non-UW Personnel entries only).
  • Travel Destination Logic Modified. In order to improve data quality and reduce the need for adjustments to the budget, the travel destination (domestic or foreign) will now default based on the sub-object code chosen by the user. If “foreign” is explicitly referenced in the sub-object code name, then “foreign” will become the defaulted destination location. Users can adjust the destination as needed for sub-objects codes that could apply to either.
  • Sub-Object Codes added. A detailed analysis comparing sub-objects codes between the Finance System and & Sage was completed, and the missing object codes were added to SAGE Budget to keep the two systems synchronized.

eGC1 Updates

  • Improved Error Messages. Validation messages on the RR Detailed Budget have been improved to now include the specific period and section that requires the user’s attention.
  • Validation Icons Added. The Sponsor Budget Map has the same validation icons as the rest of Grant Runner. If there are unmapped items on the Sponsor Budget Map the user will see red exclamation points on the individual sections to indicate which section needs their attention. Once in the section the field in question is highlighted red. When the mapping issue has been resolved, the validation icon will turn to a green checkmark.

Help Documentation and Resources

The SAGE User Guide has been updated with detailed instructions for the Budget Sync feature. Users can access it by clicking on the help icon (?) on the Sponsor Budget Map page and on the RR Detailed Budget form. SAGE 102 courses will also include a section on the Budget Sync feature and using the Sponsor Budget Map.

September 2018 Maintenance Release

Goal: Improve Award Data Quality & Transparency

Add link to MyResearch funding status details page from eGC1

For eGC1s that are in the Status of Approved, Awarded, or Denied by Sponsor, there will be two places where a user can link directly to MyResearch, to view processing details like holds placed on items, or comments left by OSP or GCA as funding actions are being set up.

  • eGC1 task list, via eGC1 Status hotlink
  • eGC1 left navigation

For eGC1s that are in Composing, Routing, or In OSP status, the left navigation element will not be shown, and the hotlink from the eGC1 status on tasklist will behave as it currently does (Routing or In OSP status takes a user to the Approvals page; Composing items have no hotlink on Status).

Add New Fields and “Terms & Conditions” section to the Funding Action

In order to streamline the award setup process and provide clarity on the terms and conditions, the following new fields will be added to the Funding Action in SPAERC and SERA:

  • Carryover (options: Requires Sponsor Approval, Automatic Carryover, Subject to Sponsor Limitations)
  • Carryover Explanation (when subject to sponsor limitations)
  • Disposition of Balance (options: UW to Retain, Return to Sponsor, Subject to Sponsor Limitations, Not Applicable)
  • Disposition Explanation (when subject to sponsor limitations)

There are three additional fields also added to the funding action that will improve our reporting, analytics, and sponsor award lookup capabilities:

  • Award Modification Number
  • Originating Sponsor Award Number
  • Non-Monetary Amount

In order to provide a more consolidated area for setup and viewing of award terms, a new section called Terms & Conditions will be added to the Funding Action. The new fields above, plus the previously labeled “GCA Flags” will bundle under this section, along with Payment Type and Equipment.

Changes to eFunding Action Receipt (Notification) to Campus (SAGE-327, SAGE-206)

The new Funding Action fields listed above will be added to the eFA Receipt PDF, which is sent to campus when GCA completes processing of a new action. The new Terms and Conditions section referenced above will be added as well, and all available data in that section of the FA will display. These changes will give campus more comprehensive information on new awards, and will match the language of the FA with that of SPAERC and SERA, which will aid communications between campus, OSP and GCA.

The body of the email that contains the FA Receipt PDF will now include an explanatory statement related to budget setup, to clarify that budget data will not appear in MyFinancial Desktop, Grant Tracker, and Ariba until the day after budget setup is completed in the Finance System.

Add New Fields to GCA Pending Actions Report

The new funding action data fields will be added to the GCA Pending Actions Report in SERA.

Default Funding Action Fields when the Sponsor is Royalty Research Fund

To streamline award setup when the Sponsor is Royalty Research Fund (RRF), many of the Funding Action fields will default a value but remain editable.

Update SPAERC Funding Action tabbing for accessibility and efficiency

SPAERC users can now easily tab through the fields of the Funding Action and perform their entry using only the keyboard and with a logical flow. This change will bring the funding action up to accessibility standards and provide users with added efficiency gains through less scrolling and repositioning of the cursor.

Goal: Comply with Sponsor System-to-System Requirements

Grant Runner Update to New Grants.Gov Header and Hash SAGE-70)

Grants.Gov has changed the way that proposal submission data files are to be structured, with the addition of a new header and hash. The changes will allow for a cleaner way of identifying a unique funding opportunity and formset, through introduction of a PackageID into the header. The Grant Runner system is updated to comply with this new change.

Grant Runner Update to New Grants.Gov Web Services (SAGE-71, SAGE-193, SAGE-204)

Grants.Gov has replaced the web services that provide funding opportunity details and submission status, to new ones, coinciding with the new PackageID introduction referenced above. Grant Runner is updated to now call the following new services:

  • GetOpportunityList
  • GetSubmissionList

Goal: Improve Technical Infrastructure & Monitoring

The following SAGE technical work supports the goal of improving monitoring of new SAGE work being released.

  • Additional unit tests added to Non-Fiscal Compliance section
  • Preliminary release and monitoring of new services to be utilized by Budget Sync October release

Goal: Deliver small enhancements that add clarity for users or deliver high value capabilities

FIDS: Minor Language Change on Submit Disclosure Page

The affirmation statement found on the FIDS Complete Disclosure page was changed to remove a School of Medicine-specific reference that could more generally apply. The statement now includes the agreement to include “further details of my financial interests, as requested by the Office of Research and, when applicable, the Office of the Vice Dean for Research, or their equivalent in my school/college…”.

AUMS: Language change in Consult Email

The email that AUMS applicants receive when a consult with the Occupational Health Nurse is required has been updated with new contact information and guidance, due to recent organizational and business process changes in EHS.

August 2018 SAGE Maintenance Release

SAGE

Updated EH&S reviewer emails

Automated emails sent to eGC1 reviewers in Environmental Health & Safety have been updated to reference the new Non-Fiscal Compliance questions.

Originating Sponsor now required for eGC1s with flow-through funding

When the eGC1 indicates the presence of flow-through funding on the Details page, selection of an Originating Sponsor will now be required prior to completing the eGC1.

Minor updates, infrastructure, and bug fixes for Non-Fiscal Compliance

Following the 5/17 release of the Non-Fiscal Compliance page, a number of minor updates, infrastructure improvements, and bug fixes are included to stabilize that section going forward with completion of the SAGE Compliance Improvements project.

SPAERC

Assign NSF sponsored eGC1s to GCC in OSP upon completion

When the eGC1’s Sponsor or Originating Sponsor is the National Science Foundation, the OSP assignment will now default to the GCC role on the appropriate team.

Assign eGC1s with IPA/JPA/Staff Assignment SPA Type to GCC in OSP upon completion

When the eGC1’s Sponsored Program Activity Type is the IPA/JPA/Staff Assignment, the OSP assignment will now default to the GCC role on the appropriate team.

Auto-Generated Cover Letter now allows standard and fellowship opening on all eGC1s

The Application Cover Letter to Sponsor auto-generated documented in SPAERC now allows OSP to choose between “Standard” and “Fellowship” openings. Previously, this choice only displayed on eGC1s that included personnel with a role type of “Fellow.”

SPAERC background lightened for improved contrast/readability

The background color in SPAERC has been lightened to provide more contrast with the text to improve readability.

May 2018 Compliance Release 2

New Non-Fiscal Compliance page

The eGC1 Compliance Questions and Explanations pages have been replaced by a new page called Non-Fiscal Compliance. This consolidation provides a more streamlined experience for preparers and reviewers.

Updated questions reflect current institutional needs, with improved clarity in mind.  Links to supporting guidance have been added to assist preparers in understanding the policies and regulations behind each question. You can review the updated questions by visiting this page..

Design improvements make the page easier to navigate and gauge progress toward completion.

human subjects with H S 1 C answered yes

eGC1s that are in routing at the time of this release will display the old compliance questions that existed when the eGC1 was initially routed.

However, any eGC1 that is returned or withdrawn after the release will be reset with the new compliance questions. Answers to the previous questions will no longer display. Plan for additional time to re-complete that page in case a return or withdrawal is necessary.

Zipline and Hoverboard linked to eGC1

Human Subject (Zipline) and Animal Use (Hoverboard) protocols can now be linked to your eGC1. Searching by IRB Application Number or IACUC Protocol Number will allow you to pull in real-time information, reducing manual back-and-forth between systems and improving the accuracy of protocol details in SAGE.

animal use section with hoverboard protocol

Improved Collaboration

Send page link to PI, Reviewers

From any standard eGC1 page (excluding Grant Runner forms), the URL is now a direct link that you can copy and share with others who have access to that eGC1. This will be particularly useful when collaborating with the PI on completing the Non-Fiscal Compliance page.

direct U R L for e G C 1 page

Multi-User Editing (limited)

Currently, only one person can edit an eGC1 at a time. However, the Non-Fiscal Compliance page can now be edited, even while someone else is working in other areas of the eGC1. This will avoid situations where the PI could be blocked from contributing to the Non-Fiscal Compliance page while the administrator is currently editing other areas of the proposal.

April 2018 SAGE Grant Runner Release

SAGE Grant Runner

NIH Required Fields Added to HSCT

To assist researchers in filling out the Human Subjects & Clinical Trials (HSCT) form, NIH required fields are now indicated with an asterisk and red highlighting. These same fields will have validation messages when the user clicks “Show Form Errors” at the top of the form. All NIH errors and validations will continue to show when the full application is checked by clicking “Check for Errors” in the left navigation of SAGE.

eGC1 Data Sync Improvements with Grant Runner Forms

To help prevent data inconsistencies when multiple browser sessions are open, the data sync between the eGC1 and Grant Runner forms has been improved.  When you make updates to information in the eGC1 that flows through to Grant Runner forms, those updates will now automatically sync with each save/refresh of the eGC1.

Improved Accessibility for  Keyboard and Tab Order Functionality

To meet accessibility standards, all Grant Runner forms are now accessible using keyboard only functionality.  In addition, tab order has been improved to be more logical and intuitive, reducing the number of times the user has to press the tab key.  

Error Messages Enhanced

Question numbers have been added to error messages on all Grant Runner forms. This update will help users quickly identify the specific error within a form.  This will be especially helpful for longer forms such as the new Human Subjects & Clinical Trials form.

March 2018 SAGE Grant Runner Release

SAGE Grant Runner

Grant Runner Support for Fellowship Opportunities

Grant Runner can now be used for Fellowship (F) Award opportunities with the inclusion of the PHS Fellowship Supplemental Form.

Import ClinicalTrials.gov Data into Human Subjects & Clinical Trials Form

For studies where a ClinicalTrials.gov record is already present, researchers can now choose to import a subset of that data into the new Human Subjects & Clinical Trials (HSCT) form in Grant Runner. This will save entry time.  Users will now see a button next to the ClinicalTrials.Gov Identifier (question 1.5) labeled “Import from ClinicalTrials.gov”. On Import from ClinicalTrials.gov, Grant Runner will verify that the identifier is valid, and if so, will populate the HSCT Full Study with the following ClinicalTrials.gov fields:

  • Study Title
  • Conditions or Focus
  • Eligibility Criteria
  • Age Limits (minimum, maximum age)
  • Recruitment Status
  • Brief Summary
  • Narrative Study Description
  • Primary Purpose
  • Interventions (type, name, description)
  • Study Phase
  • Intervention Model
  • Masking
  • Allocation
  • Outcomes and Measures (name, type, timeframe, description)

Any previously entered data on the HSCT Full Study will be overwritten.

After import, the eGC1 preparer is free to edit any of the information as necessary.  

ClinicalTrials.gov data is NOT updated directly from SAGE. It is still the PI’s responsibility to maintain accuracy of data on the ClinicalTrials.gov site.

SAGE eGC1

Provide warning when Application PI or Multiple PI does not have an ASTRA role

When adding an Application PI or a Multiple PI on the PI, Personnel, & Organizations page, if the selected personnel does not have an ASTRA role that grants them access to SAGE, you will now receive a warning.  This information will allow eGC1 preparers to request ASTRA roles in advance to avoid delays at time of routing and approval.

Fix:  Adding the Same Person Twice in Contacts & Assign Access Results in Error

Users were getting confusing validation messages when attempting to add themselves or another person to more than one role on the Contacts & Assign Access page.  This validation issue has been resolved.

SAGE General Updates

Data Source Update

SAGE Suite will now use the new version of Person Web Service (PWSv2).  PWSv2 is commonly used in the SAGE Personnel Chooser when searching for non-UW people.

Fix: SAGE Personnel Chooser Doesn’t Always Search by Pressing “Enter” Key

In some areas of SAGE, the Personnel Chooser was requiring users to click on “Enter” to search.  This issue has been resolved and now you can search by either clicking on or pressing the “Enter” key.

 

January 2018 SAGE Grant Runner Release

Human Subjects & Clinical Trials Form Usability Improvements

The following areas were given some fine-tuning and polish, in order to improve the usability of the new Human Subjects & Clinical Trials (HSCT) form:

  • Display a warning message when you change the Human Subjects response from YES to NO on the Other Project Info form, to indicate that HSCT form data will be removed as a result
  • Fix defects related to navigation within the form
  • Improve usability in form display, navigation, and error messaging

Required Fields for Study Import from PDF

When importing a study to the Human Subjects & Clinical Trials form using the fillable PDF, you are now required to complete the following fields at minimum:

  • Study Title
  • Clinical Trials questions 1.4.a through 1.4.d

Obtaining the responses to these questions upon import will better enable the SAGE system to communicate clear form rules and requirements to users through validations and on-screen prompts.

Improved Clinical Trial Required Fields Logic for HSCT Form

SAGE will now use the NIH Clinical Trials Code provided with each opportunity to include or not include relevant sections on the HSCT form.

The system will also factor in the responses to the four Clinical Trials questions (1.4.a through 1.4.d) on HSCT, to determine when the clinical trials sections should be enabled.

These updates will provide clarity for users on what sections of the form are required and which are not applicable.  The rules are implemented as follows:

  • When clinical trials are NOT allowed per the opportunity:
    • Sections 4 and 5 are not editable, and
    • When you import a study from a fillable PDF which contains entry in sections 4 & 5, any data entered in those sections is removed upon import and will not be included in submission
  • When clinical trials questions 1.4.a through 1.4.d include at least one NO response, then the application is NOT considered a clinical trial, and sections 4 & 5 are not editable

Form Order Update in Left Navigation

Due to the dependencies between forms, the Other Project Information form now displays above the Human Subjects & Clinical Trials form.  This helps you complete the forms is a logical order, thereby reducing confusion when opening the Human Subjects & Clinical Trials form for the first time.

Opportunity Opening and Closing Date Updates

Due to time zone differences and the date/time stamp used by NIH on the opportunities posted on Grants.Gov, the open and close dates were displaying in Grant Runner as one day earlier than on the Grants.Gov and NIH websites.  SAGE now factors in this 3-hour time difference so that the open and close dates display correctly.

Fix:  Application PI Validation on RR Detailed Budget

An issue was resolved which now allows the RR Detailed Budget PD/PI validation to work properly when an Application PI is listed on the eGC1.  The validation will now ensure that the  first and last name of the first PD/PI listed match those  of the Application PI, when present, and as shown on the SF 424.  This is an NIH requirement.

eGC1 Fix:  Printing Draft Routing Sheet Results in Error

Users will no longer receive an error when attempting to print the Draft Routing Sheet from the Certify & Route page of the eGC1.

December 2017 SAGE Grant Runner Release

FORMS-E Changes to Existing Forms

NIH will require the use of FORMS-E application packages for due dates on or after January 25, 2018.  Grant Runner now includes the FORMS-E version for the following agency specific forms.  

  • PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement
  • PHS 398 Research Plan
  • PHS 398 Career Development Award Supplemental
  • PHS 398 Modular Budget (expire date change only)
  • PHS Assignment Request
  • PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information (New!!)

Federal-wide form updates that will also be incorporated into FORMS-E packages, and which are supported by Grant Runner, include:

  • RR Budget and Subaward Budget
  • RR Other Project information

NIH Form Change Resources

Review more information on:

High level FORMS-E summary of changes across all impacted forms

NIH: New Human Subjects Clinical Trial Form

NIH: FAQS for Application Forms, Form Updates, and Choosing the Correct Forms

New Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information Form

Grant Runner now includes the new PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information Form.  You will have the option of completing the form in its entirety directly in Grant Runner, or importing a completed PDF version of the form into Grant Runner.  Due to the length of this form, it is recommended that you preview the form in Grant Runner or in PDF format, early in the proposal development process to plan appropriately for the information collection involved.

SAGE Subawards

Subrecipient Re-Certification Status and Form

When completing the subaward request in SAGE, a prompt will display below the subrecipient’s name if their certification status is in an expired state and needs re-certification. This prompt will have a link to the Subrecipient Certification PDF form that can be uploaded in the Attachments section of the Subaward Request once completed. Attachment of the Subrecipient Certification form is not required prior to submission of the subaward request. This status prompt and link will also display in the Subaward Overview Summary section.

SAGE eGC1

Non-Award Agreement Application Types

SAGE now provides a dedicated, streamlined eGC1 format for submitting Non-Award Agreements to OSP by requiring only the set of fields necessary for these application types. You will now select Application Types “Non-Award Agreement (new)” or “Non-Award Agreement (continuation)” for the following types of agreement:

  • Confidentiality Agreement
  • Data Use Agreement
  • Memorandum of Understanding
  • Unfunded Collaborative Agreement
  • Unfunded Research Agreement
  • Affiliation Agreement
  • Material Transfer Agreement

Note that you should select “Non-Award Agreement (continuation)” to extend an existing agreement beyond the initial term.

Activity Locations Survey

We want your feedback on the new look and feel of the Activity Locations page. Click the “Give Feedback” link at the top of that page and let us know what you do/don’t like about the design as we evaluate updates to other parts of SAGE.

November 2017 SAGE Maintenance Release

SAGE Budget: Enhancements & Bug Fixes

Cascading Behavior for Salary Data Can Now be Turned Off

If you prefer to manually enter wage-related values across all years of your multi-period budget, you may now choose to turn off cascading of salary data on the Line Setup screen. Cascading of salary data will be turned on by default.

Updates to Cascading of Salary Data

When cascading is ON/selected for salary data, and you have multiple budget periods, you will experience the following:

  • When you change either the Monthly Base Salary amount or Salary Inflation Rate, all future period Monthly Salary Base values will be updated.
  • The “Effort” section values, salary inflation rate, and any prior period entries will be unaffected by cascading, so that any custom entries will be retained.

Inflation Rate Auto-Update

On the Update Periods screen for Salary, if you click “Update Salary” for a particular period, the Inflation Rate will no longer reset to the original value. The inflation rate will remain unchanged, and only the Monthly Base Salary and related salary total calculations will be updated, with cascading updates to future periods when cascading is on/checked.

Decimal Handling Improvements

On the Period Update screen for any line item, when you enter a decimal into an entry field, the full number entered will be visible when you click in the cell, regardless of the Display Setting for decimals. When you click away from the cell the value displayed will be based on the Decimal Settings in the Properties tab – Advanced Budget Settings.

APL Benefit Rates and Amounts Corrected

On the Update Periods screen for Salaries on an APL budget, you will now see both the APL Benefit Rate and the APL Leave Rate displayed. This will be helpful in understanding and verifying the Total Benefits calculation, which is equal to the combined APL Benefit and Leave Rates multiplied by the Period Salary.

In addition, when you click the “Update Rate” link, the APL Benefit Rate and the APL Leave Rate will refresh with the correct values.

APL Pro-Rated Direct Cost Updates

For APL budgets, SAGE is now updated with the current Pro-Rated Direct Cost (PDC) rate and updated calculation logic. The calculation of the PDC cost amount is based on total APL modified total direct costs multiplied by the PDC rate. The PDC amount also now shows as a distinct line item on the parent budget, under object code (19).

Roll-up of Total F&A Updated

The parent budget total F&A is now showing the combined roll-up of all F&A, inclusive of internal UW sub budgets. Users no longer need to add the parent and sub budgets together for a combined total.

F&A Base Calculation for Non-MTDC budgets that include subcontracts

For budgets that include one or more subcontracts, the $25,000 cap for inclusion of subcontract costs in UW’s F&A base will only be applied when the base type is MTDC. All other base types will calculate F&A on the full amount of the subcontracts. The custom base type can continue to be used for situations where the sponsor has irregular rules around how F&A can be charged.

October 2017 SAGE Compliance Release 1

As part of a larger effort to improve usability and content of the eGC1 Compliance page, this release makes a number of alterations to better focus the Compliance page on non-fiscal compliance questions. This was accomplished by either removing questions or relocating them to more intuitive sections of the eGC1.

There are more changes coming to the Compliance page in a later release that will build upon these enhancements.

Compliance Page Changes

Question Change
FG-1 Cost Share Relocated to Budget & Fiscal Compliance page
FG-2 Conducted off campus Replaced by Activity Locations section
FG-3 F&A at less than federally negotiated rate Relocated to Budget & Fiscal Compliance page
FG-4 New, rental or renovation Relocated to Activity Locations page
FG-5 Compensation for overtime Removed
FG-6 Deliverables Removed
FG-7 Administrative support Relocated to Budget and Fiscal Compliance page
FG-8 Interdisciplinary facilities Relocated to the PI, Personnel & Organizations page
FG-9 Review by other organization Relocated to the PI, Personnel & Organizations page
NG-1 Advancement assistance Removed
NG-3 Originating sponsor Relocated to the Details page with other sponsor information

New Activity Locations Page

A new page has been added to the eGC1 that centralizes details related to the location of research activities in a proposal.

This page includes relocated questions, as well as more detailed tracking on each location where UW work will take place. The sections on this page are:

Activity Locations

  • Includes identification of each location where UW research activities are taking place along with details helpful for budgeting and F&A rate determination.
  • The Location Search integrates with the UW’s space tracking system GeoSIMS, allowing you to partially enter a facility name, address or facility code and populate the eGC1 with the data for that location.
  • You can also manually enter locations not found in GeoSIMS.

Space Planning

  • Includes the “construction or renovation” question formerly on the Compliance page, along with approval details when answered ‘Yes’.

International Involvement

  • Includes the international involvement question and country identification formerly on the Details page. Country is now sourced from the more comprehensive international standard ISO 3166.

This new page introduces an updated, intuitive and more modern experience for SAGE. Based on feedback from users, we will be incrementally updating SAGE to new design standards with each new release.

Fiscal Compliance Combined with Budget

The existing FG-1, FG-3, and FG-7 compliance questions related to fiscal compliance have been relocated to the top of the Budget page (now rebranded “Budget & Fiscal Compliance”), along with the useful explanations when ‘Yes’ is selected.

Details Page Updates

The existing NG-3 “originating sponsor” compliance question has been relocated to the Details page directly below the Sponsor selection.

The international involvement question has been relocated to the Activity Locations page.

PI, Personnel, & Organizations Page Updates

The existing FG-8 Compliance question on interdisciplinary facilities, service centers, etc. has been relocated to the PI, Personnel, & Organizations page. In a previous release, the FG-9 “other organizational reviewers” question was relocated to this page as well. With these two changes, you can now better manage your eGC1 approvals in one location.

SAGE Toolbar Update

The “reset form” icon on the upper SAGE toolbar has been removed. Removal of this rarely used feature will allow the application design to progress to more modern standards.

SPAERC: Intellectual Property Questions Added to FA/PAC/NAA

A new question has been added to the FAs, PACs, and NAAs in SPAERC for OSP post-award administrators to indicate when an agreement includes an upfront exclusive commercial license or ownership over the project’s intellectual property. CoMotion will receive notification when these are marked YES in order to get a jump start on IP negotiation.

SPAERC: BUG FIX – Internal OSP Notes no longer display in SAGE Subawards “Latest Update”

An issue that was causing internal OSP notes for subawards to display in SAGE under “Latest Update” for requests in process has been resolved. The “Latest Update” will now only display the most recent status update and any accompanying comments to/from campus and OSP.

September 2017 SAGE Maintenance Release

Personnel Roles and Approvals

New “Application PI” Role

For certain types of funding applications, there is a need to list a PI (Principal Investigator) on the sponsor application forms that differs from the PI on the eGC1. This is often the case with NIH Career Development mentored opportunities and Fellowships, when the PI on the sponsor forms does not meet the eligibility requirements necessary to serve as a UW PI.

In order to better identify and accommodate this situation, a new personnel role type has been created on the “PI, Personnel and Organizations” page, called “Application PI”. When the Application PI role is selected, additional contact details for person will display and be editable. This will allow preparers to call out the contact information to be used on the sponsor forms. This is particularly important for NIH applications using Grant Runner.

This new role should only be used when there is a need to designate a different PI on the sponsor forms than on the eGC1.

“Application PI” flow to Grant Runner Forms

When an Application PI role is assigned to a personnel entry, and Grant Runner is being used to complete the sponsor forms, then the Application PI name and contact information will automatically flow through to the SF 424 and Key Person Expanded forms where the Application PI is listed.

“Application PI” and Approvals

When an Application PI is identified in the Personnel section of the eGC1, that individual will automatically be added to the approval graph, directly after the eGC1 PI. As such, they will automatically receive the same approval notification email that the eGC1 PI receives.

When the Application PI initiates their approval, they will be presented with an Assurance Statement, in the same way that the eGC1 PI is. Their approval will also represent that they have read and are providing the appropriate assurance as required by the sponsor.

“Multiple PI” Approval Changes

In order to improve efficiency and ensure compliance with federal rules around provision of assurance statements by Multiple PIs, SAGE will now automatically add personnel with the role type of Multiple PI to the approval graph. As is the case for the eGC1 PI and Application PI, the Multiple PIs will automatically receive approval notification email, and will be presented with an Assurance Statement at time of approval.

 

Bug Fixes: SAGE Suite

Budget: Cannot add personnel on the day they end one position and start another

You can now add personnel to a budget as they transition from one position to another.

Budget: Refresh Rate updates

Now on the Update Periods modal when you “refresh rate” for a period:

  • The rate will update for that period and no other periods.
  • If you have previously set a custom rate, the “custom” checkbox will be cleared.

Now on the F&A tab in a budget, when you “refresh rate” the “custom” check box and any justification text will be cleared for all periods and reset to the base rate.

PI & Personnel: Improved error handling on attempt to enter same person twice

When a user inadvertently attempts to add the PI to the Personnel section of the eGC1 or attempts to add one of the personnel as a PI, the system will now provide a clear message that a person can only be added to the PI, Personnel & Organizations page once.

 

August 2017 SAGE Grant Runner Release

Grant Runner Updates

Grant Runner Support for Career Development Opportunities

Grant Runner now includes the PHS 398 Career Development Award Supplemental form, allowing you to use Grant Runner for most Career Development (K) Award opportunities.

One exception exists for those mentored opportunities in which the PI listed in the SF 424 application form is not the same as the UW PI on the eGC1. This situation occurs when the PI on the application form does not meet UW PI eligibility requirements and the mentor is listed as the eGC1 PI. For these K Award activity codes that draw applications from individuals ineligible to be a UW PI, another method should be used for sponsor form completion, or wait to complete the eGC1 until the mid-September SAGE release when that capability will be delivered.

Expanded On-Form Validations

While checking for errors on individual forms in Grant Runner, you see more of the NIH validation errors display. This expansion focuses on identifying those fields required by NIH but not by Grants.gov. For Example: the Research Plan – Specific Aims attachment, which is required by NIH for opportunities other than DP1 and DP2.

Individual Form PDFs for Forms D

You can now view or print a single Grant Runner form and its related attachments in the PDF format used by NIH reviewers. This feature offers an easy side-by-side comparison of the form with the eGC1.

FORMS-E Work

NIH requires the use of application packages with a Competition ID of ‘FORMS-E’ for due dates on or after January 25, 2018.

Opportunities using FORMS-E will begin to post on October 25, 2017. In preparation, we have completed development on  FORMS-E for all existing Grant Runner forms, plus the new Career Development form. These changes will not be visible to users until the FORMS-E opportunities begin to post in October 2017.

The following FORMS-E Grant Runner forms are ready to go, when the opportunities that utilize them post in October:

  • Cover Page Supplement
  • Assignment Request
  • Research Plan
  • Career Development Award Supplement

The new Human Subjects and Clinical Trials form will be released in October, 2017, and more information on that form will be shared out closer to that time.

Update of Progress Bar Language for PDF Generation

When you click the “View Grant Runner Forms (PDF)” link, you no longer see the word “submitting” while the system is generating the PDF. This change prevents unnecessary confusion.

Fix:  PDF File Size Too Large for Viewing

Large file sizes on Grant Runner attachments were preventing the full application PDF from rendering, due to size limitations enforced by the server. The size threshold has been increased to the level recommended by Grants.Gov.

eGC1 Updates

OAW Removal as Reviewer on Non-Competing eGC1s

The Office of Animal Welfare changed their business processes and will no longer review the following eGC1 application types:

  • Non-Competing Revision
  • Non-Competing Renewal
  • Non-Competing Supplement

eGC1 users no longer see the “Animal Subjects” reviewer on the approval graph, for the above application types.

Fix:  Broken links in the footer of the eGC1 task list

At the bottom of the task list, the “About SAGE” and “Learning” links are fixed and you are directed to the appropriate support documentation for those topics.

FIDS Update

Fix:  Investigator Title Changes Being Overwritten by Workday Titles

An issue arose following the Workday implementation whereby manual updates that investigators made to their title were not saving properly, and instead were being overwritten by the Workday titles. This issue has been resolved.

SAGE Budget

Fix:  Sea Pay period update page closes worksheet section when saved

An issue has been fixed for SAGE Budgets that utilize Sea Pay where previously opened/expanded sections of the budget worksheet were closing on SAVE.  These sections will now remain open on SAVE.  

Fix:  Sea Pay period update page has SAVE button in wrong place

The Update Periods page for SAGE Budgets that utilize Sea Pay has been updated to move the SAVE button from the bottom to the top of the page, for a more consistent user experience.

July 2017 SAGE HR/P Release Fixes

Release date: 7/11/2017

SAGE was updated July 6th to reflect Workday salary and payroll data. This release includes a few fixes to the SAGE system.

Re-enabled Items

We’ve re-enabled the following

  • Personnel Chooser: Re-enabled the ability to search for group NetIDs
  • Approvals Tab: Re-enabled the Advanced Search
  • Subcontract Sub Budgets: Re-enabled the ability to set custom fringe benefit rate settings for sub budgets of type Subcontract

Fixes

  • eGC1 PDF: The PDF version now displays the complete Compliance Details column as well as the new Additional Organizational Unit Reviewers section
  • SAGE Budget for Student Aid: The Update Periods window for (08) Student Aid now displays the correct summary amount and no longer displays the unnecessary  “Line Setup” button.
  • Update or Convert Salary: If you edit a HEPPS Salary and Wages line, the Line Setup modal will provide a link to “Convert” the salary if:
    1. You have access to the budget
    2. The Last Period End Date is in the future
    3. The line was added via “Add Personnel” rather than “Add TBD”

    For Salary and Wages lines created or last updated with Workday data, the Line Setup modal will allow you to “Update” the salary if the above criteria are met.

July 2017 SAGE HR/P Release

SAGE General Updates

Updates throughout SAGE Suite.

Data Source Updates

SAGE Suite will now use Workday data rather than HEPPS data.

Infrastructure Updates

Technology updates were made to modernize and stabilize SAGE system as areas of the software were updated.

SAGE Personnel Chooser (throughout SAGE Suite)

Search Options

Now search by EmployeeID, in addition to Name and UW NetID 

Academic Appointments and Positions

When a Position and Academic Appointment are linked, they will be combined and displayed in one line

Displayed Fields

  • Employee Name will display legal name
  • Title will display the more useful Academic Appointment title when available. If not available, then Position title will display.
  • Academic Appointment Type will display next to Title. This is new data available through Workday that provides information about the nature of the Academic Appointment.  Academic Appointment Types can be Primary, Joint, Dual, or Admin.  Academic Appointment Types are not applicable to Positions.
  • Associated Organizational Units will display:
    • Organization Name and Code display for Positions and Academic Appointments associated with a Position
    • Supervisory Organization Name and Code display for Academic Appointments not related to a Position
    • An indicator of a person’s Primary Position now displays next to the unit where the Primary Position resides. Primary Position replaces the former “home department” concept when determining necessary approvals.

SAGE eGC1 PI, Personnel, & Organizations Page Updates

Additional Organizational Reviewers Moved to Renamed PI, Personnel & Organizations Page

The former FG-9 Compliance page question for identifying additional organizational reviewers has been moved to the PI, Personnel & Organizations page, to align it with the personnel entries that are also feeding the approval graph.  While selecting personnel, if joint appointment units need to be identified, you can now do so from the same page.

View Approval Graph link added to PI, Personnel & Organizations Page

The View Approval Graph link will now show in two places on the eGC1 — on the Certify and Route page (as always) and now also on the PI, Personnel & Organizations page.  While you are changing personnel and adding additional organizational reviewers, this newly added link will allow you to quickly view the impact of your changes on the approval graph.

Primary Position Organization Code Added to Personnel Summary List

Once a person and their corresponding position have been added to the list of personnel, you will now see the organizational units for both the selected position and primary position for the chosen person.  This will be a reminder that the primary position’s organizational unit will appear on the graph as well as the selected position.

SAGE Compliance Page Update

The additional organizational unit reviewers question (FG-9) has been relocated to the bottom of the PI, Personnel, & Organizations page (see above for more details).

SAGE Approvals Updates

Approval Graph Generation

  • Primary Position Unit will now be used for adding Reviewers/Watchers to the Approval Graph, as the unit associated with the Primary Position replaces the concept of “home department”.
  • Selected Unit will continue to be used for adding Reviewers/Watchers to the Approval Graph, but the unit will be derived as follows:
    • If the selected line is for a Position, then SAGE will use the Position’s Organization Code
    • If the selected line is for an Academic Appointment linked to a Position, then SAGE will use the linked Position’s Organization Code
    • If the selected line is an Academic Appointment not linked to any Position, then SAGE will use the Supervisory Organization Code associated with the Academic Appointment

SAGE Budget Updates

Restructured to accommodate Workday data integration.

Object Codes

Object Codes

Are less granular in Workday with only one digit of sub-object code.  They are associated with Job Profile and linked to Position rather than Distribution. Impacted Object codes are 01 Salaries and wages, 07 Employee benefits, and 08 Scholarships and awards.

  • All ‘01-1X’ → ‘01-10’; ’01-2X’ → ’01-20’; etc.
  • ’07-06’ → ’07-00’
  • ’08-02’ → ’08-00’

Historical sub-object codes are still available for manual selection – if desired; user can select the old/more descriptive title description.

Multiple Object Code Types

The extra modal for Multiple Object Code types has been eliminated.  The system defaults the object code to the one associated with the person’s Primary Position.

Benefit Rate & Costs

Default Benefit Exemptions

SAGE will now derive insurance and retirement benefit eligibility using the person’s Primary Position Object Code based on info provided by MAA as part of UW GIM 3 fringe-benefit-load-rate.  This derivation of benefit exemptions works for all object codes except 01-70 (professional staff), which will default to “None” (no exemptions).  For ’01-70’, there will also be an alert/message asking verify and update health and/or retirement benefit eligibility for professional staff personnel.

Earning Codes

In Workday, Earning Codes replaces the concept of Earn Types.  Earning Codes are less granular and do not map exactly to historical Earn Types.  Earning Codes will display on the Line Update page under Pay Type, providing additional context about salary and wages.

Institutional Base Salary (UW Monthly Salary)

Salary and wages that are considered IBS will now be pre-checked based on the updated GIM 35 definition of IBS.

RRD

Reduced responsibility cannot be uniquely identified in Workday, so the RRD personnel notification email from SAGE that’s sent post-award has been discontinued.

Non-Salary Distributions

Object Code ‘07’

SAGE does not receive any retiree Supplement data from Workday.  Retirees without regular salaries but with active Academic Appointments can be added to your budget but salary and benefit information must be added manually using the [Starting Monthly Salary] field.

Object Code ‘08’

Stipends information under object code ’08’ is available as Stipends without benefits under ’08-00’ (less granular object code).  Stipends under Object code ‘08’ are not considered UW Salary or IBS, and are excluded from benefit calculations.

Salary Amounts

There are 2 separate branches of distributions in Workday: planned compensation and period pays. Both are included in salary calculations for all salary fields.  If current planned compensation and period pays, we will include those.  If no current planned compensation or period pays are available, SAGE will utilize future dated data.

Update or Convert Salary

The SAGE Budget worksheet will now display an “H” icon next to Salary and Wages lines last updated with HEPPS data.

If you edit a HEPPS Salary and Wages line, the Line Setup modal will provide a link to “Convert” the salary, which will remove all HEPPS earning lines, and re-add the person’s latest salary lines from Workday.  Prior to the removal, the system keeps a snapshot of the HEPPS earning data.  The instant of the snapshot can be viewed using the History tab of a budget.

For Salary and Wages lines created or last updated with Workday data, no “H” indicator will display.  The Line Setup modal will allow you to “Update” the salary (no conversion is needed).

Budget Periods

The Update Periods modal has all periods displayed on the same page for the selected line item.

With the right access, the user can update salary and benefit for each period (and thereafter).  However, if the selected record is personnel from HEPPS, then the Update Salary link will not be visible.  The Update Salary link only works for Workday data.

The display of Sea Pay personnel and salary info has been rearranged and shown with multiple periods.  # of Hour info for each period can be entered on the same page.

Worksheet Line Setup (Non-Personnel)

The “NOTES” icon has been removed, and a note section is added to the line Item setup page. Instead of going to Period 1, 2, etc., user can access the new Line Item Update page directly by using the “Go to Iine Item Update”.

The Line Setup page includes all periods on the same page.  Other than the calculated fields such as % and totals, cells for all periods can be edited together.  However, the totals are not recalculated upon entry, but upon leaving.  User will only be able to view the new totals after Return to Worksheet.

June 2017 Grant Runner Release

Grant Runner Updates

Expansion of Validations

Key changes to Grant Runner validations and error checking.

  • All NIH Validations Included — SAGE will now incorporate all NIH validations into the error checking process, when users click the “Check for Errors” link. These validations are the same rules applied by ASSIST and eRA Commons. This should help users to identify issues earlier in the process, in advance of proposal submission.  SAGE will display both NIH errors and warnings. Warnings will not block submission, but may reveal other issues to be considered prior to submission.
  • Revised Check for Errors Page — The redesigned Check for Errors page will provide a full set of validation checks and errors for eGC1 pages as well as Grant Runner forms. For quick access, a new “Check for Errors” link has been added below the set of Grant Runner forms (see image below) on the left navigation menu. It will continue to display in its usual location on the Certify & Route page. 
  • Form Level Validations — The “Show Form Errors” link at the top of each Grant Runner form displays data entry validations on that form only (for example, date formats, required fields, etc.). Users should use the Check for Errors process for complete business rule validations and error checks.

Single PDF of Sponsor Forms Available

Grant Runner users will now be able to generate a single PDF that combines all of the sponsor forms and the related attachment content. The layout of the PDF will be the same as the NIH reviewers see, and can be printed or circulated via email.  To generate the single PDF, users will click on the new View Grant Runner Forms (PDF) link, found in the left navigation menu, just below the set of Grant Runner forms. (See image below).

left navigation menu with new grant runner links

Activity Code field added

The Activity Code for the selected opportunity will display on the Abstract & RFA/RFP page for Grant Runner applications. This field is read-only.

Standard eGC1 Updates

The new Check for Errors link on the left navigation menu will also appear for non-Grant Runner (standard) eGC1s.

February 2017 SAGE Subawards Release 3

This final release for the SAGE Subawards Project includes priority items requested by preparers as well as some updates that will allow OSP to manage subrecipient profile data more effectively.

Managed Access

To make it easier for subaward preparers to cover absences and to allow for broader department review and access to subawards, you can now add additional users (beyond the three UW contacts) with either read/write or read-only access.

Expanded Subrecipient Profile

To improve OSP’s ability to report subaward information to sponsors and auditors, we have added the following attributes to the subrecipient profile in SAGE:

  • Employer Identification Number (Federal Tax ID)
  • DUNS and DUNS +4
  • Country

Subrecipient Types have also been revamped to better align with reporting requirements.

Attachments Display Changes

  • From a link on the Subaward Overview page, you can now view a consolidated list of attachments for the entire subaward.
  • On the subaward request details page, the Attachments section now visually separates attachments that departmental subaward preparers uploaded from those that OSP did.

Performance Improvements

Using the Subawards section of SAGE and SPAERC will now be faster and more responsive, allowing you to accomplish what you need to get done with less waiting.

Improved Validations

The Start and End Dates on subaward requests are now checked by the system to ensure they make sense within the context of the broader award and subaward. This will help alert you to any easy mistakes made when preparing a request.

Other Enhancements

SAGE Tasklist

  • The SAGE tasklist now displays the most recent BPO number, rather than the one listed on the first request. Searching the tasklist will also now only return subawards where the most recent BPO matches your search criteria.

Subaward Overview Page

  • A visual cue has been added to the Request in Process section on the Subaward Overview page to make it easier for users to identify how to open the details of request.
  • A new Modification Number field has been added, which will be populated by OSP in SPAERC but will be visible on the Subaward Overview page in SAGE as well. The Modification Number will confirm the sequence of changes to the subaward agreement.
  • You’ll now see the BPO number associated with each request, within both the Requests In Process and Processed Requests section of the Subaward Overview, for easy reference.

November 2016 SAGE Maintenance Release

General Updates

Grant Runner: Detailed and Subaward Budget Form Version Update

Grants.Gov will be releasing new versions of select forms by end of October, primarily due to some forms reaching their expiration dates. Two Grant Runner forms will be updated as a result: RR Detailed Budget and RR Subaward Budget. The RR Detailed Budget will display a new “Total Costs and Fees” calculation for each period, and for the cumulative budget. This will be visible for any opportunities utilizing version 1.4 of the RR budget form.

Updates to Human Subjects HS-1-B question

Clinical Research Budget and Billing (CRBB) has provided improved language and helpful alerts surrounding the HS-1-B compliance question. If you answer YES to HS-1, (Does this application involve the use of human subjects?), the HS-1-B compliance question appears. It will ask you about the use of UW Medicine Health System clinical services, procedures or tests in regards to human subjects use, and provides additional details intended to help you answer the question more easily.

Primate Center added to AUMS notifications

The AUMS review complete email was updated to include the Health and Safety specialist in the Primate Center on the email distribution list.

Training environment permissions updated to allow subawards testing without having the Subaward Preparer ASTRA role

The SAGE training environment has been updated to allow any user with a UW NetID to create test records in the Subawards section. Users no longer need to have the Subaward Preparer ASTRA role while working in the training environment. They will, however, still need to have the Subaward Preparer ASTRA role when working in the production (live) environment. The training environment release was made on 11/1/2016.

Fixes

Approval comments made after approval will no longer change the approval date (260583)

An issue which was causing the “My Approval Date” of an eGC1 to be updated when an approver comment was added at a later date, has been fixed. With this change, the original approval data will remain intact, when a subsequent comment is added.

Minor update to subawards return email

An update has been made to the subawards Notification of Return email, to clean up some accidental html characters displaying in the content.

 

September 2016 SAGE Subawards Release 2

This SAGE update introduces to you easier collaboration with the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), more subaward status transparency and a refreshed user interface.

Collaboration

If you are a Subaward Preparer, you are able to:

  • Withdraw a subaward request with “In OSP” status
  • Cancel a subaward request either “In OSP” or “Withdrawn” status.

OSP can return subaward requests that are “In OSP” or “OSP Assigned” status  and will include an return comment so you can revise and resubmit.

Transparency

For better transparency, a history of changes and comments now displays on your subaward.

You can track the following types of events and comments from the Subaward Overview and within each Subaward Request:

  • Status Changes (includes returns with explanations and related comments)
  • Ad hoc OSP comments to you about a subaward
  • OSP Assignment changes
  • Changes to attachments
  • Changes to OSP Assignment Date, Issue Date, and Fully Executed Date

The Subaward Overview page allows you to either view a comprehensive list of events for all related subaward requests, or filter to see only those for a particular request.

Ease of Use

Subawards refreshed design makes it easier for you to find the information that matters most.

Two new sections on the Subaward Overview Page:

  • Request In Process – This section helps you quickly identify the current request being worked on. This section includes requests that have not reached Active status (i.e. Composing, In OSP, OSP Assigned, Withdrawn, Returned, or Issued).
  • Processed Requests – This section includes any requests your items that have been processed for this subaward (i.e. Active, Expired, or Canceled).

You and OSP now share the same interface, which makes it easier for collaboration on subaward development.

My Subawards Task List

The “Latest Request Status” column helps you easily identify the status of requests that are still in process.

Your subaward requests in either “Returned” or “Withdrawn” status also have an arrow icon next to the status to help you identify those requiring action.

June 2016 SAGE Maintenance Release

General Updates

Grant Runner: PHS Assignment Request Form

The new PHS Assignment Request Form, introduced with the Forms-D changes, is now available in Grant Runner. This new form will be available to all applications in progress as well as new Grant Runner applications where applicable.

SAGE Budget: Update to Tuition Inflation Rate Default Value

The default tuition inflation rate in SAGE Budget has been changed from 10% to 3%, to provide a more realistic figure and reduce the need for manual overwrites.

FIDS: Suppress annual SFI disclosure overdue email

At the request of the Office of Research, the third and final reminder email sent to investigators that have not submitted an SFI disclosures for 365 days will no longer be sent. This final email cc’ed all related principal investigators which caused confusion/frustration.

Fixes

Error with Attaching Budgets to an eGC1

An issue was resolved which was causing an error when users were attempting to connect SAGE Budgets to an eGC1 under a certain set of circumstances.

Investigator status reverting to Yes on Connect of Budget

An issue was resolved which was causing the investigator flag on the eGC1 personnel list to revert to YES when a user connected a SAGE Budget to an eGC1.

Personnel role selection changes and investigator flags

An issue is resolved which was occurring when a user changed the role type on personnel from one where Investigator status was automatically defaulted to YES (such as PI or Co-PI), to a role where they should be able to designate YES or NO (such as Mentor). The system was not displaying the YES/NO option in these cases until the screen was refreshed. It will now display the correct investigator options in real time.

Object Code 38 (Unallocated) costs in SAGE Budget not itemized in NIH export

An issue has been resolved so that costs in object code 38 (Unallocated) will now be itemized under Other Direct Costs in the SAGE Budget Excel export that matches the NIH Detailed Budget form format.

May 2016 SAGE Subawards Release 1

The new Subawards section in SAGE marks a change in both business process and system usage.

Former State:

  • All subaward intake actions managed through Ariba

New State:

  • Subaward intake initiates through SAGE, provides OSP the ability to issue agreements at an earlier stage
  • Procurement setup & invoicing for subawards continues to initiate through Ariba

New in SAGE: Subawards

For this initial release, the following new capabilities and features are available to campus users through SAGE:

  • A new SUBAWARDS tab

new subawards tab in sage

  • Create a new subaward request and submit to OSP
  • Create a new modification request and submit to OSP
  • Search/View subaward requests and current status from My Subawards tasklist
  • View a detailed summary of all subaward modification history
  • Help documentation available through the “?” icons

Important ASTRA Permissions

Users must have the “SAGE Subaward Preparer” role to create new subaward and modification requests. ASTRA: Who Can Authorize me?

Outgoing Subaward Resources

Upcoming Releases

Over the next few months additional releases will provide other functionality, such as:

  • returns and resubmit capability
  • visibility to OSP comments and hold details

Based on your feedback, enhancements will be prioritized following this initial release.

 

March 2016 SAGE Maintenance Release

General Updates

A New OAW Compliance Question for Significant Protocol Changes

A new compliance question, AC-1-D, has been added to identify grants that will require a Significant Change at the time of submission. An answer is required if the Animal Use question AC-1 is answered “Yes”.

A few textual enhancements (for existing compliance questions) were made to allow OAW to process the grants more efficiently, and they include:

  1. Removing the facility name and location of the work to be done on the AC-1-A for UW work
  2. Requesting the 3-year approval date range
  3. Updating electronic document submission contact info.

Sub-Object Codes 05-47 and 05-48 Added to Sage Budget for Grandfathered Awards

Effective July 1, 2016, UW’s equipment capitalization threshold will increase from $2,000 to $5,000. This change applies to all competing proposals submitted to sponsors on or after May 1, 2016. The following changes were made in Sage Budget to accommodate this threshold change:

  1. Two new object codes will be added to (05) Supplies and Materials to allow grandfathered awards to continue to use the old threshold for non-capitalized equipment:
    • 05-47 Non-Capitalized Equipment ($2,000-$4,999) – Grandfathered Awards
    • 05-48 Non-Capitalized Equipment – M&E Tax Exempt ($2,000-$4,999) – Grandfathered Awards
  2. These two new object codes will be excluded from F&A calculation when using the following cost bases for budgets associated with grandfathered awards:
    • Exclude 05-47 and 05-48 form Total Direct Costs less Equipment & Tuition (TDC less E&T)
    • Exclude 05-47 and 05-48 from Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC)
  3. The following object code descriptions will be updated as listed below to reflect the new threshold of $5,000:
    • 05-40 Non-Capitalized Equipment (less than $5,000)
    • 05-41 Non Capitalized Equipment –M&E Tax Exempt ($200 – $4,999)
  4. The following object code descriptions will be updated as listed below to reflect their INACTIVE status upon 4/1/2016:
    • 06-10 Inactive – Computing Equipment ($2,000-$4,999)
    • 06-12 Inactive – Computing Equipment – M&E Tax Exempt ($2,000-$4,999)
    • 06-90 Inactive – Other Equipment (Non-computing) ($2,000-$4,999)
    • 06-92 Inactive – Other Equipment (Non-computing) – M&E Tax Exempt ($2,000-$4,999)

Personnel with an Invalid NetID will not be selectable

With this change, all active staff in the Person Web Service will continue to show in the results on staff search, but those without NETIDs will not be selectable, and users will see a note indicating that the NETID must be established before the person can be selected.  Allowing personnel without NETIDs to be selected as personnel caused errors on the personnel list afterward.

Grant Runner Forms-D Implementation

Grants.Gov will be updating its systems to FORMS-D, for all applications submitted for due dates on or after May 25, 2016. The Grant Runner forms that will be updated to comply with FORMS-D requirements are identified below. There may be some application packages which include both a FORMS-C and a FORMS-D as options, and in this case users will be prompted in SAGE to select the appropriate one based on the due date. Per NIH, FORMS-C application packages will be set to expire after the May 7, 2016 AIDS due date.

Update of PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement to Forms-D

For Grants.Gov FORMS-D, users will notice the following changes applied to the Grant Runner Coverage Page Supplement form:

  • A new “Vertebrate Animals” section, which includes questions on euthanization and use of AVMA guidelines.
  • Removal of the PD/PI section
  • Removal of the Disclosure Permission section
  • The ability to add Program Income information for 10 budget periods (previously 5)
  • Re-ordering of fields to accommodate the new additions and removals

Update of PHS 398 Research Plan to Forms-D

For Grants.Gov FORMS-D, users will notice the following changes applied to the Grant Runner PHS 398 Research Plan form:

  • New “Data Safety Monitoring Plan” attachment
  • New “Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources” attachment

Creation of a New PHS Inclusion Enrollment Form for Forms-D

For Grants.Gov FORMS-D, users will notice a new form called “PHS Inclusion Enrollment Report” in Grant Runner. This single form will replace the 2 separate forms in FORMS-C applications (Cumulative Inclusion and Planned Enrollment Report). With the Forms D changes, users will notice some additional fields to identify the type of reporting being done (“Delayed Onset Study?”, “Enrollment Type?”, “Existing Data Set or Resources?”) When “Delayed Onset Study” is marked YES, the remainder of the form will not be editable, per form rules.

Store activity type code for Grant Runner Applications

In order to aid in the analytics of Grant Runner usage, the SAGE system will begin to retrieve and store the Activity Type code from Grants.Gov, as we are retrieving submission status information.

Fixes

Error when Inactivating Advances

An issue that was causing users to receive an error when trying to discard advances has been fixed.

December 2015 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features

eGC1 Permanently Withdrawn status change by user

SAGE users can now permanently withdraw eGC1s that are in “Withdrawn” or “Returned” status. Previously, only OSP could mark eGC1s as “Permanently Withdrawn”. This will provide SAGE users with a way of quickly removing eGC1s from their tasklist that are no longer being considered for submission to a sponsor.

eGC1 Denied by Sponsor status change by user

SAGE users can now mark “Approved” eGC1s as “Denied by Sponsor” and attach related documentation. Previously, only OSP could set eGC1s as “Denied by Sponsor”. This will provide SAGE users with a quick way of clearing eGC1s from their tasklists that are no longer being considered by sponsors, and improve the accuracy of proposal data.

Continue reading »

October 2015 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features, Changes and Bug Fixes

eGC1   

  • A new multi-select Country field has been added to the eGC1, to track where international work will be performed.  This field will be visible to users only when they answer “YES” to the question of whether work will be performed internationally.  This country-level data will be used in reporting and analytics.
  • The Sponsored Program Activity Type field on the eGC1 and FA was amended to allow users without a mouse to utilize the drop down control with keyboard alone. This change supports making the SAGE application more accessible.  The expand/collapse capability in the drop down is also removed, since this was causing some confusion with users.  The list of selectable options will be fully expanded, within their respective categories, making for a more intuitive user experience.
  • Bug Fix:  An issue that was causing eGC1 approval snapshots to not display attachments that had newer versions uploaded after the snapshot was taken has been fixed so that all point-in-time versions of attachments display in approval snapshots.

SAGE Reporting Update

The Subaward Status Report will be located in the BI Portal and will replace the existing static report found on the OSP website.  This version will be near real-time (data refreshed nightly), giving campus more timely information on the status of their pending subawards, and will alleviate the time consuming preparation done by OSP in posting the current static report.

Note: This report will be available in the days following the SAGE release.

September 2015 SAGE Maintenance Release

EHS-2 Compliance Question Update

The EHS-2 question on the Compliance Questions and Explanations pages of the eGC1 has been updated on all new eGC1s created after the September 2015 release.

Updated logic for the display of the HS-1-B Compliance Question Explanation

The HS-1-B question on the Compliance Explanations page of the eGC1 will now display under the additional condition of a Contract that is utilizing Just-In-Time human subjects approval.

Compliance question HS-1-B was not displaying/hiding in real time, when Project Type = Contract

Conditional questions and instructional text in the Human Subjects section of the Compliance Explanations page of the eGC1 now update in real-time when the eGC1 is for a Contract.

 Prevent multiple RegIDs for the same person from being entered into SAGE

When a user is erroneously assigned multiple RegIDs at the University, it has caused problems with accessing their FIDS information. A change has been made to disallow multiple RegIDs for the same person in the SAGE database.  Upon logging into SAGE, the user will receive an error that is also recorded in the SAGE Suite error log. This error will alert the SAGE team to take the necessary action to resolve the issue with UW IT.

Grant Runner Validation Update on Detailed Budget

A validation was added to the Grant Runner detailed budget form to disallow zero entries in the “other” cost field. This will help mitigate submission errors.

SERA   

Older FAs in SERA have problems opening

An issue that had prevented Funding Actions that predated the creation of the Authorized Action field from being opened in SERA has been fixed.

July 2015 SAGE Maintenance Release

Overview:  Sponsored Program Activity Revisions

The majority of the July maintenance release is focused on updating the way sponsored program activities are defined and clustered in SAGE on both the eGC1 and on Funding Actions.  Prior to these changes, the “Funding Purpose” field on the eGC1 and the “Type of Award” field on the Funding Action tracked different but similar values.  This causes confusion for consumers of the data and challenges in reporting to federal sponsors, since neither field aligns cleanly with the categories used for federal reporting.

With the below changes, the eGC1 and FA activity types will be brought into alignment with each other, and with the federal reporting categories.  Additional fields are also being added to extend automation of reporting further.

Continue reading »

May 2015 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features

Grant Runner: Update Detailed Budget Roles to Free Text

On the Grant Runner detailed budget forms (project and subaward budgets) the key persons role type has been converted from a drop-down list to an open text box, to allow users to enter a wider range of other roles not previously listed. For example, users can now enter “Consortium PI” on the subaward budgets, or any other role type necessary.

Grant Runner: Round budget indirect totals to whole number

NIH Guidelines ask for detailed budget figures to be entered as whole dollars. In the indirect cost section of the detailed budget, where the total was automatically calculated based on rates and base amounts, cents were included without allowing users the ability to change the figure to a whole number. With this update, the indirect cost totals on the project and subaward detailed budgets and the modular budget forms will be rounded to the nearest whole dollar.

Provide visibility to missing investigator emails (201633)

In order to ensure attention is drawn to situations where an investigator may not receive a disclosure notification email, due to a missing email address, the PI & Personnel page of the eGC1 is being updated to display available email addresses.  The available email address will display for everyone listed on the PI & Personnel page, and when one isn’t available a message of “Email Address Unlisted” will display in its place.

In addition, if a disclosure notification fails to send to an investigator due to no email address being available, then the eGC1 Preparer will be sent an email they can forward to the investigator.

Require Email and Phone Number for eGC1 Preparer (206089)

In order to ensure that eGC1 preparers receive key email notifications generated from SAGE and SPAERC, including the newly added email above which forwards disclosure notifications when investigators cannot be reached by email, the Preparer’s phone number and email address are now required on the eGC1.

Fixes

PI entry erroneously cleared

Under certain circumstances during the updating of a PI on the eGC1, the entry was not saving correctly, resulting in the PI entry being blanked out and at times causing an error that the user could not resolve. This fix corrects the issue, allowing PI changes to be saved appropriately.

FCOI JIT Email Update

The primary contacts on the eGC1 will now only receive the FCOI JIT email once, rather than anytime the contacts listed on the eGC1 change.

March 2015 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features

eGC1 Sponsor Deadline Now Includes Time of Day and Time Zone

In order to better monitor and meet proposal submission deadlines, eGC1 preparers will now be asked to provide the specific time of day and time zone for which the applications are due. These fields will display alongside the existing sponsor due date field, and will be required entry.

Added Space between Box and Number in PI Addresses on Grant Runner Forms

A minor update was made to add a space between the word “Box” and the box number in the PI address on the SF424 and Key Persons Expanded forms in Grant Runner. This change will now present the address in the appropriate format.

Grant Runner Now Supports More Special Characters

In an early February 2015 release, Grants.Gov updated their systems to allow many of the special characters that were problematic with submissions in the past to go through successfully. With this release we are updating SAGE Grant Runner to take advantage of this change as well. Grant Runner will no longer generate a validation error when users enter special characters such tildes, curly quotes, umlauts and other accent marks. This update will result in fewer submission errors and a more accurate read of the intended content.

Fixes

Removed Lines in eGC1 PDF Format

A recent upgrade of our PDF software caused inadvertent lines to show around tables of information in the eGC1 PDF due to a new default released with the software. We have applied an update that will revert the eGC1 PDF back to its former look and feel.

December 2014 Grant Runner Detailed and Subaward Budgets Release

New Features

Grant Runner Detailed Budget Implementation

The Grants.Gov RR Detailed Project Budget form will be made available in Grant Runner. This form supports the NIH SF 424 research opportunities where funding greater than $250,000 per period is being requested. With the addition of this form, users will be able to utilize Grant Runner for a much wider range of opportunities, taking advantage of the streamlining and time savings that Grant Runner is known for.

Key Features Include:

  • Pre-filled data on the institution, project start and end dates
  • Summary view of period totals, with expand capability to view/edit details
  • On screen highlighting and messages to assist in identifying and correcting errors that lead to submission problems
  • Auto-calculations of sub-totals and totals, with totals refreshing with each new entry
  • Easy to read cumulative budget summary section at bottom
  • Copy previous period feature (see separate listing for detail)

Continue reading »

November 2014 SAGE Maintenance Release

Fixes

Grant Runner Check for Package Errors Page Print Issue

An issue that was causing users to receive an error when attempting to print the Check for Form Package Errors page in Grant Runner has been fixed.

October 2014 SAGE Maintenance Release

Fixes

  • An issue in FIDS that caused disclosure notifications to be sent to investigators who had already completed a primary eGC1 disclosure has been fixed. Investigators will only receive notifications if they have not already been sent one and if they have not already completed a primary disclosure for that eGC1.

September 2014 Grant Runner Fixes

Fixes

Grant Runner Error Message Corrections

A few minor corrections were needed for some of the validation messages.

  • The error message associated with the Congressional District on the Performance Sites form was not fully displayed in the summary of error list at the top of the form.
  • A pop-over message was inadvertantly showing when it should not have been for item 10 on the Research Plan form.
  • Error messages associated with the attachments for the Other Project Information form were not clearing after the errors were resolved until the form was refreshed.

Grant Runner Read-Only View Display Issue

The income budget periods section of the Cover Page Supplement form was inadvertently being hidden in the read-only view.

Grant Runner Conditional Attachment Issue

On the Grant Runner Research Plan form, when the Application Type changed from Resubmission to New, and the user had already uploaded the Introduction to Application attachment, that attachment was appearing in the submission even though it was no longer required due to the type change. This scenario is unlikely to occur much if at all, but the fix assures that the conditionally-required attachment will not be submitted if the application type changes to one where this attachment is not applicable.

August 2014 Grant Runner Release

New Features

eGC1 Abstract & RFA/RFP Data Required

  • On the eGC1 Abstract & RFA/RFP page, the RFA/RFP Number, Funding Announcement Title, and Funding Announcement URL will now be required. For Grant Runner applications, the URL will be defaulted, but users can edit as necessary.

Grant Runner Design Enhancements

Grant Runner Accordions for Section Breaks

Expandable accordions have been implemented, to allow users to see a more streamlined view of the form data. They are primarily used:

  1. When a section of data is read-only, standard information that the user does not need to pay as much attention to. The SF 424 organization information is an example.
  2. Where users might want to see a summary view of larger collections of data within a form. Modular Budget, Key Persons Expanded, and Performance Sites forms are examples of forms where summary data is presented in accordions, with ability to expand to view more details.

Wherever accordions are used, users will also see an “expand all/collapse all” link for quick “open/close” of accordions.

For SPAERC views, all accordions will be open by default, per OSP’s request.

Grant Runner Validation Changes

Across the entire Grant Runner form set, validation improvements have been made to add clarity and provide a better user experience. Updates include:

  • Required fields with missing data will be highlighted with a red border, for easy identification
  • Additional popover help text will display as the user is moving through fields, to guide users with detail of errors or omissions needing to be fixed before completion.
  • A “Show Form Errors” feature link was added at the top of each form, to allow users to see all remaining errors on a given form at one time, with the guiding popover help text.
  • The “Show Form Errors” feature will also display a summary list at the top of the form of all errors/omissions found.
  • Where errors are found within an expandable accordion section, the user will see a red icon (exclamation point) to indicate an error that might at times be hidden from their view.

This release also incorporates more of the NIH-specific requirements that exceed Grants.gov requirements, for a more comprehensive list of errors that are expected to cause problems on submission. Note that there is still work to be done to more fully incorporate NIH requirements, especially those that are activity type-specific. Future releases will be targeted for continued work in NIH requirements and error identification.

On a final note, users will continue to be able to see the entire list of errors across all forms, using the ‘Check for Form Package Errors’ link on the left navigation menu.

Grant Runner Infrastructure Improvements

The Grant Runner section of SAGE has been updated to a more modern infrastructure. This will allow ORIS to more easily maintain and support the forms, and offers opportunities to improve the speed by which new forms can be incorporated into the system. This applies to only those applications using Form Set C.

Grant Runner: Key Person Expanded Update

The Key Persons Expanded form incorporates the new expandable accordion, which allows the user to see a high level summary of the persons included, while expanding to see each person’s full detail.

This form will also now default the zip code (based on the box number) for the PD/PI and for any other persons added through use of the UW Directory “person lookup” feature.

Grant Runner: Modular Budget Updates

The Modular Budget form includes the new accordion feature which displays summary information for each budget period when closed, and exposes full period detail when expanded.

Additional updates to this page include:

  • Validation of budget start and end dates against project start and end dates, to alert users when budget periods fall outside of the project period range.
  • Validation of period start and end dates to assure they do not overlap with a prior period.

Grant Runner: Other Project Information Updates

The Other Project Information page will now hide from the user’s view any questions that are not applicable, because they are conditioned upon another question’s yes/no answer. This is to reduce confusion over when questions are expected to be answered.

Grant Runner: Performance Site Updates

The Performance Sites form incorporates the new expandable accordion, which allows the user to see a high level summary of the sites included, while expanding to see each site’s full detail. The user will also be provided with better help text for the congressional district field.

Grant Runner: PHS 398 Research Plan Updates

The Introduction to Application attachment (item 1) will only display when the eGC1 Application Type is a Resubmission or Revision. This is to reduce confusion over when the attachment is to be used.

Grant Runner: SF 424 Updates

The SF 424 form incorporates some new design elements to provide a more streamlined user experience.

  • Expandable accordions are used to initially hide from view the details of the standard read-only organization information on this form, so that users can more easily focus on the required entry fields.
  • Sections are re-ordered slightly, to make for a more intuitive, logical flow.

Additional enhancements/updates to this form include:

  • The “Total Federal Funds Requested” field will be defaulted based on the modular budget totals, to keep these numbers in sync
  • The “Total Federal and Non-Federal Funds” field will now be auto-calculated
  • Added informational text to read-only fields that are editable in the main eGC1 sections (e.g. Application Details, PI information)
  • Various UW contact ZIP Codes will now be defaulted, based on the box number provided in the address
  • Fixed a bug related to the length of the opportunity title
  • Fixed a bug related to CFDA number not displaying

Grant Runner: Wizard Detail Manager Eliminated

User feedback indicated that the Wizard Detail Manager feature of Grant Runner was confusing and an additional burden to users, since the information editable through that section was data the users were accustomed to editing elsewhere for standard eGC1s. This feature will be removed from Grant Runner, and the affected data will be editable in the eGC1 instead.

  • Application title, start and end dates, application type, and organization code are editable on the Details page.
  • PI Details are editable on the PI and Personnel page.
  • Opportunity information is incorporated on the Abstract & RFA/RFP page.

May 2014 SAGE Release

New Features

SAGE eGC1s and Approvals Search Enhancements

Users will see a few new search features available to them, on the eGC1 and Approvals task lists.

  • Users will now be able to jump more directly to a particular eGC1 from their My eGC1s or My Approvals pages, using a new eGC1 search field located on the task lists.
  • Users can now search in My Approvals by personnel name. Search results will include all eGC1s for which they are an approver or watcher, where the chosen person is listed on the PI & Personnel page regardless of role type.
  • The PI Name field has been added back to the My eGC1s Advanced Search tool, to allow users to quickly enter all or part of a PI’s name and initiate a search. This feature was removed in January, when the Personnel Search feature was added, but by user request, both fields will now be available for those that like the speed of being able to quickly find eGC1s by PI name.
  • When a user performs an Advanced Search from the My eGC1s task list, they will be able to export their search results to Excel.

Addition of University District Building to Location List

  • The University District Building has been added to the off campus locations list found on the FG-2 compliance explanations section of the eGC1. It will now be easier for eGC1 Preparers to select that building when projects are eligible for the location designation of “off campus”, and will no longer need to enter the location address.

Suppression of HSD JIT and GIM 19 notifications for ATF and Industry Sponsored Clinical Trail eGC1s

  • Human Subjects Just-In-Time email notifications and GIM 19 deadline email notifications will no longer be sent to contacts for eGC1s that are after-the-fact or industry sponsored clinical trials.

Updated handling when users attempt to remove themselves from an eGC1 or Budget

  • When users remove themselves from an eGC1 or budget, they will now receive a warning, alerting them that their access to that eGC1 or budget may be affected. When users remove their last access to an eGC1 or budget, they will now be redirected back to their task list.

March 2014 SAGE Maintenance Release

Fixes

  • On the eGC1’s Cost Sharing page, a small bug was causing an error when attempting to enter in data into the Third Party Cost Sharing fields for the first time. This has been fixed.
  • At times a 99 error would occur when editing an eGC1 where a budget was linked to multiple eGC1s and one of the eGC1s was in Denied or Permanently Withdrawn status. This has been fixed.

January 2014 SAGE Release

New Features

SAGE eGC1 copy feature expanded to copy all sponsor info

As requested by campus in the ORIS Survey, the SAGE eGC1 copy feature will be expanded to also copy the sponsor address and contact information (if the sponsor on the original eGC1 is still active). Users will need to review the information to ensure it is up to date and accurate, but this change should reduce their data entry efforts.

SAGE Search Enhancements: Personnel look up added to eGC1s search

The PI Name field has been replaced with a more general Personnel field which allows users to search for any person listed on the PI & Personnel page. Once they have selected a person, they can refine their search by using the Role Type (Principal Investigator, Fellow, etc.) drop-down menu. They can also combine this search with the new Search Scope feature to find all the eGC1s a researcher is named on.

SAGE Search: Show all results beyond access

Users now have the option of expanding searches to include all eGC1s. The search results will display all eGC1s that match the specified criteria. This enhancement will allow users to more easily find proposals that include personnel they’re responsible for. Previously, search results were limited to only those eGC1s that users could access. They will still only be able to open eGC1s they have access to. However, the research results now display a new column containing a link to the eGC1 contacts so users may contact them to ask questions and/or to request access.

Addition of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance to Locations list

Research administrators for clinical trials have indicated an increase in work performed at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, and therefore requested to see this site added to the Locations drop down list in the compliance explanations section (FG-2). They will no longer need to select “other” and manually enter an address for SCCA with this change. SCCA is considered off-campus.

December 2013 Grant Runner Release

New Features

Grant Runner Infrastructure Changes for better Supportability

  • This Grant Runner release is focused primarily on infrastructure changes that will allow ORIS to better maintain this component of SAGE into the future, and to more rapidly expand the system to include new forms.   These changes will be mostly transparent to users, aside from a few minor tweaks to look and feel.

Grant Runner –  blocking of the checkbox for optional forms while editing

  • To prevent unintended errors and confusion, users will not be able to uncheck the checkbox for an optional form while they have that form open for editing. This forces the user to close out of the form completely before they can take the action of unchecking the form and thereby removing it from the submission.

Grant Runner – Re-ordering of Mandatory Forms

  • With the release of the form C changes, Grant Runner mandatory forms appear in a less-than-ideal order for users.  We are bundling into this release the re-ordering of the forms, so that the SF 424 is always the first mandatory form shown.

November 2013 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features

Additional FG-3 compliance question validation for RRF eGC1s

  • eGC1s that have Royalty Research Fund (RRF) as the sponsor will display a validation error if question FG-3, the question about F&A cost reimbursement, on the Compliance Questions page is marked as ‘Yes’. RRF requires FG-3 to always be marked as ‘No’, so this validation error is intended to ensure that the eGC1 preparer selects the correct response prior to completing the eGC1.

Increase character limit in “Reason” field when adding Approvers and Watchers

  • The “Provide a reason” field when adding an Approver or Watcher on the Approval Flow Screen has been increased from 250 characters to 1000. Department and School reviewers who add additional Approvers and Watchers like to include detailed instructions in that comment box and needed a higher character limit.

We now will show all recipients on the TO line of SAGE auto-generated email notifications.

  • SAGE users will be able to see all persons who received the same Auto-generated SAGE email on the TO: line of the email. This was a frequent request from campus through our help desk and survey responses.

Fixes

Inadvertent sending of disclosure notifications

  • Fixed the system to prevent investigators from receiving disclosure notifications when an old awarded eGC1 is opened. The system will now only trigger disclosure notifications when there is an investigator change made to the eGC1 (addition of an investigator or change of personnel to an investigator role).

HSD JIT email notifications are suppressed for RRF eGC1s

  • Human Subjects Just-In-Time emails will no longer be sent to the owners of eGC1s where the Royalty Research Fund (RRF) is the sponsor. RRF is an internal UW sponsor and operates differently than external sponsors. Unique characteristics of RRF opportunities include shorter application/review/award timelines and the lack of “fundable score” notifications. These unique characteristics therefore made the Human Subjects JIT email irrelevant and confusing for the owners of the eGC1.

New clarifying message displayed when clicking on Investigator Disclosure History and FIDS Profile is not yet established

  • If an Investigator has never completed a disclosure in FIDS, or does not have any disclosure history for the past 12 months, a new user-friendly message stating there is no history will display when the Investigator Disclosure History link is clicked.

New error message displayed when you have attachment upload errors due to hidden or invalid characters in file name

  • A new error message will display in SAGE if you attempt to upload eGC1 attachments with invalid characters in the file name. To correct this issue, rename the file on your computer by directly typing in the characters before attempting to upload it in SAGE.

September 2013 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features

New Public Health Service (PHS) Sponsor Web site

  • To make it easy to find the list of current Public Health Service sponsors, we created a new PHS Sponsors web page.The FCOI online training and other communications will have links to this page.

SAGE Record retention – Removing aged eGC1 attachments

  • In compliance with the UW Records Retention policy, on October 1st, 2013, we will be removing attachments from grant applications (eGC1s) which were never awarded and have a sponsor deadline before January 9, 2009. This will free up storage space and simplify data management. The eGC1s without their attachments will remain in SAGE for reporting purposes. We informed all affected PIs on September 19, 2013.

Users are no longer able to send disclosure notifications from eGC1’s where the sponsor name is “Pending – Notify OSP of Correct Sponsor”

  • If the sponsor has not yet been filled in, you will not be able to send the notifications either. This will help ensure that the correct disclosure rules and requirements are applied when the investigators are updating their SFI in FIDS.

We have improved the organization of the disclosures on the PI & Personnel pages.

  • The primary disclosure will display in italics, followed by related disclosures ordered from most recent to oldest. Users will be able to view the one-year history of all of an Investigator’s submitted disclosures by clicking the new Investigator Disclosure History link.

August 2013 Grant Runner Form Set C

New Features

Changes were made to several of the Grant Runner forms with the new Form Set C version.

  • Performance Sites: You may now list up to 300 sites.
  • PHS398 Checklist: This form will no longer be in the set. Its fields were moved to the PHS398 Cover Page Supplement.
  • PHS398 Cover Page Supplement: You may now enter up to 200 stem cell lines. The fields from the Checklist form were moved to this form.
  • PHS398 Research Plan: The Planned Enrollment and Cumulative Inclusion Enrollment attachments will become their own new online forms.
  • RR Key Person Expanded: You may now add up to 100 key persons.
  • RR SF424: There is a new, required field for Change/Corrected applications, “Previous Grants.gov Tracking ID.”  The Cover Letter attachment will be moved to this form.
  • Cumulative Inclusion Enrollment: This is a new, optional form where you can enter enrollment data directly. This form replaces the corresponding attachment on the Research Plan.
  • Planned Enrollment: This is a new, optional online form where you will be able to enter enrollment data directly. This form replaces the corresponding attachment on the Research Plan.
  • Cover Letter: The form will no longer appear; its attachment will be added to the RR SF424 form.

July 2013 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features

Notification dates were added to the PI & Personnel page.

  • To help administrators know when to follow up with investigators, the PI & Personnel Page now displays the date when each investigator was notified by SAGE email to create a disclosure for an eGC1 and when the eGC1 reaches the Just in Time (JIT) phase.

Fixes

  • We fixed several bugs related to PI Assurance so that PI Assurance values will be retained and displayed appropriately. We also corrected all of the eGC1s that were affected by the bugs.

June 2013 SAGE Release

Fixes/Enhancements

In SAGE Budget, we revised how calculations are made for salary distributions.

  • In the March 2013 release, we revised salary calculations to include additional earn types. We found a few rare cases where SAGE Budget lists inaccurate salaries when the salary distributions have not yet been entered into the HR database. We have now revised SAGE Budget to account for the distributions which are not in the database.

We updated our tools’ styles.

To ensure that our tools have a more consistent look and are easier to maintain, we made some changes in our code. In some newer browsers, you may notice slightly different colors, rounded corners, and other minor changes. The changes were made in the following tools:

  • SAGE – System to Administer Grants Electronically
  • FIDS – Financial Interest Disclosure System
  • SPAERC – Sponsored Projects Administration & Electronic Research Compliance (for OSP)
  • SERA – System for Electronic Research Accounting (for GCA)

April 2013 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features

SAGE Budget: Preliminary Benefit Rates are now available to users of SAGE Budget.

  • GIM 3 has been updated to display both current benefit rates and preliminary benefit rates for future budgeting as they become available.
  • SAGE Budget will use the correct rate based on the period start date and whether the user has opted to use current and preliminary rates or current-only rates.
  • Budget preparers can use a global update feature to update their budgets quickly when preliminary rates become available each year.
  • The period entry page for a given person will indicate whether the rate being used is current or preliminary for that period.

An ASTRA information page will display instead of an error message at sign in.

  • When you attempt to log in to SAGE without the required ASTRA role, SAGE will display a list of people in your unit who can authorize access to SAGE. You able to choose an authorizer and send him or her a message to request access to SAGE.

Designated Subcontract Actions (SA) attachments are viewable in SAGE.

  • Subcontracts Actions (SA) attachments will now be viewable in the Related Documents section of the Attached Documents page if the SA is in Active or Closed-Out status and if the type of attachment is not a To/From Communication.

EH&S has a new compliance question: “Will the project involve scientific diving?”

  • Anyone diving under the University of Washington’s auspices must have current certification as a University of Washington Scientific Diver and adhere to the standards set forth in the UW’s Diving Safety Manual. EH&S will contact you to assist in meeting Diving Safety Program requirements prior to diving.

March 2013 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features in SAGE

  • SAGE Budget: In the Salaries and Wages section of the Worksheet, additional earn types such as administrative supplements are selected by default, but users may deselect them.
  • eGC1: Related disclosures are now displayed in the Compliance Details column in the Personnel section, on the PI & Personnel page.
  • eGC1: The Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Department revised their compliance questions. The changes were made to reflect regulatory and EH&S program updates.

November 2012 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features

  • The Advance Budget Number Request form signature disclaimer was modified to show new wording.
  • The Ready to Submit (RTS) field on the Certify & Route page is now required on all eGC1’s.
  • Users will be unable to withdraw the eGC1’s once RTS is answered “Yes” and the eGC1 is at “In OSP” status. They will have to request that OSP return it.
  • A new message will display informing users which OSP person is handling their application in case they need to contact OSP for a correction and return of the eGC1.

August 2012 SAGE and FIDS Release

New Features

These changes were made as a result of introducing the new Financial Interest Disclosure System (FIDS) which integrates with SAGE.

On the eGC1 PI & Personnel page:

  • eGC1 Preparers can select Investigator status.
  • Disclosure notifications to investigators to complete a disclosure in FIDS can now be sent.
  • Each investigator’s SFI status will display based on the information in FIDS.
  • The PHS FCOI training status will display.
  • The FIDS disclosure status will display.
  • Changes may be made to the PI or personnel after the eGC1 has been approved by OSP.
  • The history of any post-approval PI or personnel changes will be displayed.

On the Certify & Route page:

  •  An eGC1 cannot be completed until all investigators have received disclosure notifications.
  • The Ready to Submit question cannot be answered as “Yes” until all investigators have completed their disclosures in FIDS.

May 2012 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features

  • The Security and Export compliance questions have been revised, and a new one has been added concerning access to classified national security information. Answering “Yes” to the new question will generate a new Security Reviewer approver node on the approval graph.
  • The SAGE Budget export now contains data formatted to simplify data entry for the SF424 forms. You will find this information following the usual export data.
  • When adding an ad hoc approver or watcher, a new validation checks for any mismatch between the Role chosen and the level of the associated organization code.
  • When OSP marks an eGC1 as eligible for an Advance Budget Review, the eGC1 owners will automatically receive an email message.
  • When users look up personnel, the results will contain the employee identification number. This will allow users to quickly differentiate between personnel with similar names.
  • You may now delete an eGC1 sooner. You must have read/write access, it has been more than six months since the eGC1 has been completed, and the eGC1 is in Withdrawn or Returned status.

Fixes

  • If you create new budget and complete all of the steps until you reach the access page where you add and remove an admin/budget contact, you will see the full budget navigation instead of the wizard.
  • Hyphenated names now display properly.
  • Advance budget is marked as ineligible when a user copies an older eGC1.

April 2012 SAGE Release

New Features

  • Budget and eGC1 Preparers, formerly known as Creators, may be updated by anyone with Read/Write access. This allows you control who gets notifications for an eGC1.
  • Users can enter or update access information once, and it will display on the centralized access page shared by both an eGC1 and its connected SAGE Budget.
  • Users with global edit access for an eGC1 will also have read/write access to the connected budget.

Fixes

  • A validation message will be displayed if a user attempts to add a person a second time on the eGC1 PI and Personnel page.
  • All new approval snapshots will be in PDF format; the HTML option has been removed.
  • Personnel from older eGC1s who showed up as duplicate owners will now be displayed once.

January 2012 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features in SAGE

  • The Advance Budget Form has updated instructions. We have created a new Advance Budget Job Aid which you can find on the My Advance Requests page.

Fixes

  • The SAGE Budget wizard can now handle F&A rates correctly for grants which go beyond the agreement dates.
  • On applications which use human subjects and stem cells, you cannot leave comments without choosing a Type on the Compliance Explanations page.
  • SAGE will only copy valid 4th level org codes. Incorrect and expired org codes will be removed from copied eGC1s.
  • In Grant Runner, the PHS398 cover letter Update and View links will now display correctly.
  • You will not be able to select or copy inactive sponsors on your eGC1, and SAGE will remove inactive sponsors from copied eGC1s.

October 2011 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features

  • The new School of Medicine compliance sub question, HS-1-B, will generate a message to let you know what type of Clinical Research Budget & Billing Support Office (CRBB) review is needed.  This question is triggered only for eGC1s which involve the use of human subjects, and will appear once the Project Type and HSD Application type are selected.

Fixes

  • Human Subjects compliance question HS-2 now displays in the SAGE Approval Application Summary when the research involves the use and/or creation of human embryonic stem cells.

August 2011 SAGE Maintenance Release

New Features

  • SAGE users will be required to select or specify an organizational code which ends in fewer than four zeros.
  • When an eGC1 with any EH&S compliance question answered “yes” is funded, EH&S will be notified.

Fixes

  • Fixed the PAC notifications so that all Pre-Award Budget Contacts, eGC1 Creators, and Administrative Contacts will now receive Post-Award Change (PAC) email notifications.
  • The F&A checkbox displays correctly when the F&A rates are customized at the period level in SAGE Budget.

July 2011 SAGE Release

New Features

  • New Grant Runner submission page shows all status information for Grant Runner Applications, including Grant Tracking Number, Sponsor Assigned Number, and History & Comments.
  • The “Application Documents Information” section now displays on the “Certify & Route” page.
  • The “Attachments & Routing Questions” page has been renamed “Attached Documents” and no longer includes routing questions.
  • The “Certify, Complete & Print” page has been renamed “Certify & Route”.
  • The “Ready to Submit” question has moved to the “Certify & Route” page of the SAGE eGC1.

June 2011 SAGE Maintenance Release

Fixes

SAGE Budget: When a line item is deleted from the budget worksheet, the page refreshes to reflect the change. However, if a budget has Targets & Limits enabled, the F&A values displayed are not immediately updated. The next time the page is refreshed, the displayed F&A values will be correct, and the Total Project Costs will include the F&A change.

April 2011 SAGE Budget Versioning and eGC1 Integration

New Budget Features

  • Budget period naming conventions have been enhanced to include the most common period names.
  • Budgets built in SAGE can now be connected to an eGC1, so that any updates made to the budget automatically display on the budget page of the connected eGC1.
  • Budgets in SAGE route with the eGC1 they’re connected to and anybody with access to eGC1 will also have access to the budget.
  • The worksheet in SAGE Budget displays the eGC1 number and status of connected eGC1s.
  • Fiscally responsible departments can now be specified on the setup screen for sub budgets.
  • New Budget Edit Numbers in the Budget History enable users to see when a budget has been revised and to read comments associated with those changes.
  • OSP Administrator/Coordinator now has read access to Budgets built in SAGE.
  • SAGE saves all changes to budget and assigns a unique Budget Edit number and timestamp to versions created at critical points in workflow, such as at submission or approval.
  • Users can access a read-only view of a budget at a specific point in time from the Budget History and copy, print, or export it to Excel.
  • Users can access an Excel version of a connected budget from the eGC1 Attachments page under Connected Budget Data.
  • Users with the appropriate permissions can view or withdraw the eGC1 and budget from the Budget History tab.
  • Ability to define lines that automatically adjust their amounts to make selected total match target amount.
  • Ability to include fixed fee on APL budget
  • Ability to see sub-budget information for awards where proposal includes an associated SAGE Budget.
  • Added ability to modify Administrative and Pre-Award Budget contacts regardless of eGC1 status
  • Budget title field width reduced to better match maximum characters allowed

Fixes

  • Error when opening Targets and Limits auto-adjusting entries with read-only access.
  • Cascade non-salary line items when a period is added
  • When a user adds TBD personnel to a sub budget, the salary that is created in the setup screen is not transferring to the period set up. The first period starting monthly salary should match the value defined on line setup, instead it is $0.
  • Corrected TBD personnel starting monthly salary on sub budget not copying to periods
  • Changes to how dates are calculated in SAGE Budget may cause a discrepancy between effort months and period length in a select number of budgets. Each of the affected budgets has a salary line item where the number of effort months originally calculated does not match the number of effort months that the current date calculation produces. This means that the effort months in the budget period now exceed the period length.
    • Symptom: When you click through salary details, you will see the following error message when you attempt to tab off the affected period: “Effort Months cannot exceed the number of months in the period (there are currently x months in this period). To increase the effort months, you will need to lengthen the period at the Periods tab.”
  • Changing period dates flips academic/summer months on salary lines
  • Period months incorrect when period start and end dates are in months of different durations (e.g. 28, 30, 31 days)-Current production issue discovered during Budget 2.2 user acceptance testing. When creating a period that has dates that start/end mid-month in months with a different number of days, the period months on salary lines may be calculated as a whole number where a user may otherwise expect them to be. For example: a period starting on 1/16/2011 and ending on 4/15/2011, period months comes out to 3.0161.
  • In a Grant Runner application that has been withdrawn or returned for updates, if an Appendix file is added immediately after updating the Research Strategy file, the Appendix file will appear in the Strategy section.
  • The Advanced Search for Approvals has two issues. First, if both the Date Approved After and Before fields are used to set a date range, the system will not return any results. Using just one date fields works correctly. Second, if a very large number (such as an org code) is mistakenly entered in the eGC1 Number field, an error (99) will occur.

March 2011 SAGE Maintenance Release

The UW Box Number is Now a Required Field

When a user chooses the Organization Code Receiving Funding, the UW Box Number will be automatically populated. Users can still edit the field as needed.