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.
Applications
On the Non-Fiscal Compliance page, in the Data & Technology section, if you answer Yes to questions D-2 and/or D-4, the system will automatically add a hold for Export Control. The hold will be added when the eGC1 reaches In OSP status.
Funding Actions
When OSP creates a child Funding Action (FA) for an awarded eGC1, the system will automatically create compliance holds, if appropriate.
The system applies automatic holds to the FA based on the conditions in the following chart.
| Compliance Hold |
Due to |
| Administrative Support |
Budget & Fiscal Compliance page: question F2 = Yes |
| F&A |
Budget & Fiscal Compliance page: question F1 = Yes |
| IRB Approval |
Non-Fiscal Compliance page: question HS-1 = Yes |
| Cost Share |
Budget & Fiscal Compliance page: question F3 = Yes |
| Fed Flow-Through |
Details page has an Originating Sponsor listed with a Sponsor Type of Federal Government |
| SFI/FCOI |
One or more investigators on the PI, Personnel, & Organizations page has an SFI value of Yes or Unknown |
| Export Control |
Non-Fiscal Compliance page: if Yes for any one of questions E-2, D-1, D-2, D-3, D-4. |
| IACUC |
Non-Fiscal Compliance page: question AU-1 = Yes |
| FCOI Training |
One or more investigators on the PI, Personnel, & Organizations page has either not done the sponsor-required FCOI training or the training has expired. |
Campus research teams and related central offices use the SAGE Suite electronic research administration system to manage application proposals and related items. The suite consists of three components that access the shared SAGE Suite database.
- SAGE: System to Administer Grants Electronically – used by campus researchers and administrators
- SPAERC: Sponsored Projects Administration & Electronic Research Compliance – used by the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP)
- SERA: System for Electronic Research Accounting – used by 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, 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. |
| 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 the 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 SERA. |
| Create subaward requests for awarded applications |
Used when a research proposal has been awarded and part of the award needs to go to the subrecipients (subcontractors) that are the UW research team’s collaborators. For a new award, a “new” subaward request (SA) is created along with its parent subaward (SC). For an ongoing award, a “modification” request would be created within the existing subaward (SC). |
SPAERC: Sponsored Projects Administration & Electronic Research Compliance
WHO: Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP)
| ACTION |
WHY / WHEN |
| Review and approve applications |
OSP reviews the information on the eGC1, such as the sponsor proposal information and compliance questions, after all campus reviewers have approved. When OSP approves the application, they place it into a new or existing Cycle. |
| Add Approved applications to a Cycle |
A Cycle holds a “competing segment” for a research team/project/sponsor combination. It’s a container to keep applications, their related advances, funding actions, admin actions, and subawards together. One cycle can be “related” to another, so that more than one segment is associated.
A Cycle is automatically deleted when the last item in it is removed. |
| Create various types of Administrative Actions as needed |
Administrative Actions document various related agreements, adjustments and/or changes, and the finalization of a research project. These actions all appear in the project’s cycle, associated to their appropriate parent item.
Note that all actions (including Funding Actions) start as “unidentified” ones, with a prefix of AA. They are then converted to the specific type needed.
- Non-Award Agreement (NAA) records a generic agreement not pertaining to funding.
- Pre-Award Notification (PAN) records a change to the proposed project before the sponsor awards funding.
- Post-Award Change (PAC) records changes to the project after the sponsor awards the funding.
- Close Out (CO) records the tracked activities to terminate a project upon completion of the research.
|
| Create Funding Actions (FA) for awards |
When the sponsor awards an application, OSP creates a Funding Action as a child of the application. Depending on answers to certain compliance questions, the system may apply one or more automatic “holds”.
Once OSP completes the FA (and all holds are cleared), they transmit it to SERA for GCA to establish a budget in the financial system (if not already done via Advance Request). |
| Process subawards |
OSP reviews the subaward requests, and negotiates the contract with the subrecipient. The request moves through several statuses until, when the agreement is “fully executed” the request becomes Active. It is automatically “Expired” once the End Date is passed.
SCs and FAs can have a many-to-many relationship. The system enforces that all related FAs and SCs must be within the same cycle. |
SERA: System for Electronic Research Accounting
WHO: Grant & Contract Accounting (GCA)
| ACTION |
WHY / WHEN |
| 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 ADV and sets up that budget in the financial system. As part of completing the ADV, the system sends a notification to the requesters. |
| Process Funding Actions |
Received from OSP. GCA adds a budget number, if needed, and sets up the budget in UW financial system. As part of completing the FA, the system sends a notification to the requesters, and the first-level reviewers for the organization code receiving funding. |
| Process Post-Award Changes |
Received from OSP. Not all types of PACs are sent on to GCA. As part of completing the PAC, the system sends a notification to the requesters. |
| Create “Other” items |
Created as needed for various budgetary processes. These items only appear in SERA. |
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. |
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.
