Significant Financial Interest (SFI)
The PI and all key personnel must read the GIM 10 Financial Conflict of Interest Policy. It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to confirm that all personnel meet the Significant Financial Interest policy.
Note: Any research personnel indicated as investigators in the personnel table on the PI, Personnel & Organizations page must complete a Significant Financial Interest Disclosure using the Financial Interest Disclosure System (FIDS).
Debarment Statement
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator (PI) to assure that his or her research applications and awards follow all applicable guidelines and laws.
The statement reads:
By submitting this application, the PI certifies that the PI and other Key Personnel (anyone involved in the design, conduct or reporting of the research ) have not been debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible or voluntarily excluded from covered transactions be any federal department or agency.
SAGE-to-Workday Integrations
- Award Integration When an Advance Exists: When an Award Setup Request (ASR) is routed to GCA and an award in Advance Spend status already exists in Workday, SAGE now sends the remainder of the award setup data to Workday. This integration will reduce manual entry for GCA and expedite processing of new awards from an existing advance.
- Allow GCA to Select Award Lines to Integrate to Workday: When transitioning from an award in Advance Spent status to a fully setup award in Workday, GCA may now use the associated ASR to select which SAGE Budget worksheets should integrate as award lines in Workday. This prevents duplicate lines from being set up when multiple award lines already exist. When an award in Advance Spend status does not already exist, all award lines will be integrated by default.
Note: This feature is visible within SAGE Central for OSP and GCA only.
- Display Message for GCA for Award Setup Requests for Advance Spend Awards: When transitioning from an award with Advance Spend status to a fully setup award in Workday, the associated ASR now displays a message for GCA to indicate that an Advance exists and provides guidance on system behavior.
Award Setup Requests
- Display Workday Award Number in Header: When viewing an ASR in Processed status or one with an associated processed advance, users now see the Workday Award ID referenced in the header of the ASR.
- Display Workday Budget Totals by Object Class and Ledger: All ASR users can now see the object class, ledger names, and totals within the Budget and Lines section. This represents the amounts by object class that will be sent to Workday via integration to establish the Workday Award Plan.
- Customize View for Budget and Award Lines Section: All ASR users can now customize their Budget and Award Lines section to view or hide the object class/ledger or award line details for more concise viewing.
- Fix: Erroneous Validation Messages on Award Setup Requests: Budget-related validations in an ASR will now only show when specific SAGE Budget or award line data is missing or problematic. The validation message now clearly specifies when a budget is not connected to a request.
Advance Requests
- Advance Request Form Changes: Advance Request formatting has been adjusted to align with the design of the Award Setup and Modification Requests. This consistency improves the user experience and supports the future integration of Advance Requests. Key changes include:
- Request Form Header: When available, the Workday Award ID and the legacy (FIN) budget number now display in the header of the advance.
- Navigation: The right side panel of eGC1 information has been relocated to the General Information section of the left navigation.
- General Information Section: The following eGC1 fields now display in the General Information Section: short title, long title, Sponsored Program Activity type. A new subsection now provides RFA details from the eGC1 for GCA benefit. Additional help text has also been added to clarify alternative department worktag needs. These same fields display in the Review and Submit section and the Request Summary once the request has been submitted.
- Supporting Attachments Section: GCA can now add attachments to the Advance Request.
- GCA Team Assignments Moved to “More Options”: GCA can now assign advances in the same way as other requests, adding consistency to their views and processes.
- Renewal Advance Form Help Text Update: The General Information section of a renewal advance is now updated with help text to prompt users to add information related to the worktags in need of renewal.
Award Requests List
- Label Update for Filter by Principal Investigator: The “By Department/Center” header in the Filter Requests section now reads “By Principal Investigator.” This filter allows users to display all requests for a given PI. Searches can be refined by selecting additional status filters.
eGC1/Applications
- Fix: Applications Tasklist Sort in SAGE Central Not Working Properly: In SAGE Central, the Applications tasklist now properly returns sorted results when more than one sort level is specified.
- Fix: Personnel and Role Type Search Not Working Properly in SAGE eGC1 Tasklist: Searching by personnel lookup and role type in the SAGE eGC1 tasklist is now functioning as expected.
The Application Details section provides basic information for the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), Grant & Contract Accounting (GCA), and campus reviewers. The following image shows this section.
| Field |
Description |
| eGC1 Number |
A unique, system-generated number used to identify an eGC1 and application. It is used in OSP correspondence. |
| Full Application Title |
Enter the complete project title of the application. This title must match the title on the sponsor application. Refer to the sponsor’s instructions for the length permitted. Maximum of 255 characters. |
| Short Title |
Enter a short title (no more than 22 characters, usually assigned by the PI or department) to identify the project within the UW financial system. Upon award, this will be the name of the budget. |
| Requested Start and End Date |
Enter the anticipated beginning and ending dates of the project period. These dates must match the dates on the sponsor application. Specific dates should be used for Royalty Research Fund (RRF) Applications. |
| Sponsor Deadline |
Enter the last date the sponsor will accept the application or the date the application must be postmarked. Include the time of day and the corresponding time zone. See GIM 19: Internal Deadlines for Proposals to Outside Agencies to understand when OSP needs to have your application based on the sponsor’s deadline. Note: this is not required for NAA type applications. |
| Date Needed from OSP |
Use this optional field to enter the date that your department is requesting OSP’s approval process be complete. |
| Signed and Unsigned Sponsor Copies Required |
Optionally, enter a numeric value to indicate the number of signed copies and/or unsigned copies of the application required by the sponsor. Refer to the sponsor’s instructions for this information. |
The eGC1 status indicates where an eGC1 is in the overall creation and routing process. Each eGC1 has only one eGC1 status at a time.
The following image shows the status choices on the My eGC1s page, with Composing selected:
The eGC1 statuses are defined in the following table:
| Status |
Description |
| Composing |
Applications being filled in and not yet ready for routing. Anyone with read/write access to the eGC1 can delete it. |
| Routing |
Application which have been completed and are currently routing to campus approvers. |
| Withdrawn |
Applications which have been withdrawn by an owner, someone with the ASTRA Global Edit role, or someone with read/write assigned access. eGC1s in Withdrawn status have stopped routing, and anyone with read/write access to the eGC1 can edit it. The eGC1 will resume routing when it is recompleted. |
| Returned |
Applications which a reviewer (campus or OSP) has returned for modifications. eGC1s in the Returned status have stopped routing, and anyone with read/write access to the eGC1 can edit it. The eGC1 will resume routing when it is recompleted. |
| In OSP |
Applications which the PI and all required campus units have approved, and OSP received for review. |
| Approved |
Applications which OSP have approved. |
| Awarded |
Applications which the sponsor has awarded. This system will update the eGC1 from Approved to Awarded when the associated Award Setup Request is updated to Processed status. |
| Denied by Sponsor |
Applications which the sponsor has denied. SAGE users can change an application to Denied by Sponsor status if the sponsor is not the UW Royalty Research Fund (RRF), or if there is no child FA. OSP can also change an application to this status. |
| Permanently Withdrawn |
Applications which will not be submitted to the sponsor. SAGE users can change an application to Permanently Withdrawn if there is no child FA; OSP can also change an application to a status of Permanently Withdrawn. |
The diagram below shows the flow of an application through the various statuses:
SAGE – the System to Administer Grants Electronically – is the web-based system used by faculty, researchers, administrators and staff.
You can stay up-to-date on changes in SAGE (and FIDS) by subscribing to our Office of Research Information Services (ORIS) News.
The core SAGE system allows you to carry out several tasks:
- SAGE Budget helps you create an accurate budget for your grant proposal. It auto-populates data from the payroll and financial systems, helps you select proper rates, and calculates totals automatically.
- You can connect a budget to a standard or Grant Runner eGC1 to populate budget data.
- You will need to connect a budget to an Award Setup Request.
- eGC1 Forms are the electronic Grants and Contracts forms you use to route your grant proposal through the University’s internal compliance process.
- Grant Runner applications combine the eGC1 and sponsor forms for some NIH funding opportunities requiring SF424 R&R forms, including Modular, Detailed and Subaward Budgets. With the click of a button, OSP can electronically submit your application via Grants.gov to the sponsor.
- Approvals is the electronic routing engine that stages eGC1s, Advances, and Award Setup Requests for approval by associated departments, colleges, compliance offices, and the Office of Sponsored Programs.
- Advances creates an online request form for an advance budget number.
- Awards allows you to create Award Setup Requests and Modification Requests.
- Subawards submits a request for a new subaward or a modification of an existing one.
Campus research teams and related central offices use the SAGE Suite electronic research administration system to manage application proposals and related items.
-
- SAGE: System to Administer Grants Electronically – is used by campus researchers and administrators
- SAGE Central is used by both the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) and Grants and Contract Accounting (GCA)
In addition, FIDS: Financial Interest Disclosure System is used by researchers designated as investigators; it integrates with SAGE.
The following set of tables gives a high-level overview of who uses each of the different components, and describes the possible actions and the why and/or when.
SAGE: System to Administer Grants Electronically
WHO: Campus research administrators, Principal Investigators, campus reviewers, compliance reviewers
| ACTION |
WHY / WHEN |
| Create SAGE Budgets |
Centralizes data gathering for salaries, benefits, and F&A rates. It can be connected to an application, which automatically populates the eGC1 budget data on the Budget & Fiscal Compliance page. Any changes to the budget will update in real time when the eGC1 Budget & Fiscal Compliance page is viewed.
In addition, if your eGC1 is a Grant Runner application using the RR Detailed Budget form, your budget data will appear in the form.
When creating an Award Setup Request, you will need to connect a budget. |
| Create applications (standard or Grant Runner) |
Required for all sponsored research. The standard eGC1 pages of the application are, in effect, an approvals routing cover letter for the proposal. Only the UW uses the eGC1; it does not go to the sponsor.
A Grant Runner application includes, in addition to the standard eGC1 pages, the sponsor forms for NIH. OSP submits the application “system-to-system.” |
| Approve routing applications |
The Principal Investigator, Multiple-PI, Application PI, academic reviewers (division, department, dean) and compliance reviewers (human subjects, animal use, EH&S, etc.) view and approve the application. At each approval, SAGE captures a PDF snapshot of the application and attaches it to the eGC1’s Approvals History & Comments page. Copies of the attachments are also captured.
Administrators and reviewers have the option to return the application to the research team for changes. They can also add other reviewers (as individuals or a group) to the approval flow as needed. These are referred to as “ad hoc” reviewers (approvers or watchers). |
| Request an advance budget number for awards |
Used when a research proposal is being awarded by the sponsor, but the actual award has not yet arrived. It requests GCA to set up a budget account in the financial system so the research team can start spending the anticipated award money. The preparer completes the request in SAGE, then GCA processes it in SAGE Central. |
| Create Award Setup Requests and Modification Requests for awarded eGC1 applications |
Used when a research proposal has been awarded and the award has been received. A “new” Award Setup Request (ASR) is created. For an ongoing award, a Modification Request might be created. |
SAGE Central
WHO: Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), Grant & Contract Accounting (GCA)
| ACTION |
WHY / WHEN |
| Review and approve eGC1 applications |
OSP reviews the information on the eGC1, such as the sponsor proposal information and compliance questions, after all campus reviewers have approved. |
| Process Award Setup Requests |
Received from campus for reviews and approvals. Forwards to GCA for integration into Workday, with Award budget number. As part of completing the Award Setup Request, the system sends a notification to the requesters. |
| Manage Actions |
Will manage existing items while transitioning to SAGE Central and Workday. |
| Process Advance Budget Number Requests |
Received from the research team, an advance allows the team to spend award money before the actual award arrives. GCA adds a budget number to the Advance and sets up that budget in the financial system. As part of completing the Advance, the system sends a notification to the requesters. |
FIDS: Financial Interest Disclosure System
WHO: Any research personnel designated as an “Investigator” on the PI, Personnel, & Organizations page of the eGC1.
| ACTION |
WHY / WHEN |
| Create a Financial Interest Disclosure for an eGC1
or
A disclosure for a CoMotion tech transfer agreement or IRB approval
or
Complete an Annual Update disclosure |
Investigators are required to disclose any significant financial interests (SFI) such as salary, equity, sponsored travel, etc., that might, or might appear to, bias their research.
An investigator must complete a disclosure for each eGC1, whether or not there are SFI that apply, before the proposal can be marked as Ready-to-Submit = Yes.
The disclosures are reviewed by the SFI Reviewer, in the central Office of Research, who determines if there is a potential for a Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI). The review occurs at the time of award (just-in-time).
Annual Updates: All investigators are required to review and update their SFI at least once a year. The “year” is calculated from the date of the last disclosure created in FIDS. Investigators are notified by email 45 days prior, and again at 15 days prior, to the end of that year’s time.
Full details on using FIDS can be found in its User Guide.
Note: only a UW NetID is needed to access FIDS. |
There are a number of ways to move from page to page within your eGC1 and to save the data you have entered.
Breadcrumbs
Below the main tabs in SAGE at the left side of the page is a breadcrumb trail which you can use to return to your My eCG1s tasklist. When an item is open the breadcrumb reads “Back to My eGC1s” followed by the item number (for example, A999999), and then the name of the page you are on. Selecting the item number returns you to the Details page which is the page you see when you first open an eGC1.
Below the breadcrumb is the page heading made up of the eGC1’s Short Title, ID, and the name of the PI, separated by the vertical bar character. This appears on every page as a quick reference.
Action Bar Icons
On the right side of the page, just below the heading is a set of icons that allow you to do a number of actions. These are described in order from left to right.
- Previous Page: a straight left-pointing arrow moves you to the prior page on the left navigation menu
- Next Page: a right-pointing arrow moves you to the next page on the left navigation menu
- Save Page: a diskette icon which saves a copy of the current values in the eGC1 to the database
- Reset Form: a curved, left-pointing arrow which clears any un-saved values from the page
- Create a copy of this eGC1: a double-page icon which opens a new eGC1 (after confirmation pop-up) that is a partial copy of the original (see the Copy an Existing eGC1 article)
- Delete this eGC1: a trash can, that appears when the eGC1 status allows, and lets you Delete an eGC1
Left Navigation Menu
When you are viewing an eGC1, a navigation menu appears on the left side of the window. It lists all of the pages that are part of the eGC1, and includes links to Save & Close the eGC1 and to Check for Errors. You can click on any page link to move to that page. The page you are currently viewing will be highlighted in the menu. In this example, the PI & Personnel page is highlighted.
If your application is in Approved, Awarded, or Denied by Sponsor status, then an additional “View Funding Status” link displays. Clicking this link will take you to the MyResearch Funding Status page for the application. Note: As of July 6, Funding Status and Non-Award Agreement data may be out of sync with SAGE and Workday until MyResearch is remediated. Please use SAGE to review eGC1 and award status until further notice.
Under the appropriate conditions, one of two additional links will appear: Permanently Withdrawn or Denied by Sponsor. See the linked articles for details.
In the footer of an eGC1 page, there is a Previous link and either a Continue or Next button (depending on the page you are viewing). Just like the arrow icons in the “action bar” clicking Previous will move you to the prior page in the left navigation menu. Clicking the Continue or Next button will move you to the following page.
Closing an eGC1
In order not to lock out a colleague who may also need to work on an eGC1, you should always exit an item using SAGE links.
You have a few options for closing an eCG1:
- Use the Save & Close this eGC1 link in the left navigation menu
- Use the Back to My eGC1s breadcrumb
- Click on the eGC1 FORMS tab
Each of these methods will save any changes that were made, and release the item so that another person would be able to edit it.
Saving eGC1 Data
The data values in your eGC1 are saved whenever you do any of the following:
- Click the Save icon in the action bar
- Navigate to a different page of your eGC1
- by using the Next or Previous arrows in the action bar
- by using the button/link in the footer of a page
- by clicking on a different page link on the left navigation menu
- Click the Save and Close this eGC1 link from the left navigation menu
- Click the Back to My eGC1s breadcrumb
The System to Administer Grants Electronically (SAGE) is the tool that researchers and grant administrators use to prepare proposals for approval and submission to the funding agency. At the UW, the appropriate campus units, compliance offices, and the Office of Sponsored Programs must review and approve all grant and contract proposals.
The Approvals component of SAGE manages the electronic routing of the proposal for approval. It is also used to manage the approvals for Advance Budget Requests and Award Requests for funded proposals.
This guide describes the functionality of the Approvals component for: