UW Research

UWFT for the Research Community

On July 6, 2023, the UW switched from a nearly 50-year-old finance system to a new one – Workday Finance. With this transition came a great deal of change that is currently impacting the research community. This page brings together information and resources to help you navigate the transition.

Contents

Updated December 6, 2023

Reporting Problems

When you encounter problems, please start by working with your department staff to report the issues using the UW Connect Finance Portal. The problem reports will go to your School/College Shared Environment.

Check with your unit to make sure that there are no approvals pending (e.g. for invoices) or corrections needed in award setup and modification requests.

Reminder: PIs are required to approve subrecipient invoices on a bi-monthly basis using Workday.

If delays continue, or for other pressing matters, please elevate issues to your School or College Senior Research Administrators, and they will escalate the top priorities to Mandy Morneault, Chief Operating Officer in the Office of Research.

Refer to Central Office escalation processes:

Key Resources for Successful Award Setup & Modifications

Award Setup and Modification Volume

What’s Changed for the Research Community?

Organization Codes to Cost Centers

Cost Centers have replaced Financial Organization Codes (Org Codes) across the SAGE Suite. For more information, please review the following job aid: 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

eGC1 Requirements

Some items that used to require an eGC1 will require a Modification Request in SAGE instead of an eGC1. Review When will I need to use an eGC1 vs request a Modification in SAGE? to decide if you will need an eGC1.

New Database for Sponsors & Donors

SAGE now leverages UW’s new centralized sponsor database. When searching for a sponsor, enhanced search functionality includes:

  • Main sponsor name
  • Acronyms
  • Related names
  • Previous names

Searching for a sponsor on the Award Setup Request will look slightly different; however, you will still be able to search by parent name, previous/related names, and acronyms.

If you do not find your sponsor in the SAGE sponsor search, there will be a link from both the eGC1 and Award Setup Request to the new Request Sponsor Form to have the sponsor added. Once the addition is confirmed, you can select the sponsor in SAGE.

Request Sponsor Setup in Funding Entity System (from eGC1)

Request Sponsor Setup in Funding Entity System (from Award Setup Request) 

New Sponsor Request Form 

SAGE Budget Requirements

With UWFT, campus units are required to use SAGE Budget for award setup. SAGE Budget communicates budget information to Grant and Contract Accounting (GCA), provides a consistent format for reviewing budget details, and facilitates a direct flow of data between SAGE and Workday.

Get started using SAGE Budget today! Attend a SAGE Budget class, and review our job aid and user guides.

Principal Investigator Required on SAGE Budget Worksheets: SAGE Budget requires a Principal Investigator on all worksheets. Subaward worksheets default to the PI linked to the primary budget’s worksheet.

Clinical Trials Office (CTO) Budgets (Creating a Clinical Trials Budget for SAGE Awards Job Aid): SAGE Budget will be required on all Award Setup requests, including budgets that will run through CTO review and Oncore billing. To help with Award Line and Award Period setup in Workday Finance, you will enter the following minimum information in a single SAGE budget worksheet with $0 amount. This setup should only take a few minutes:

  • Budget Settings
    • Budget Title
    • Budget Start Date
    • Total number of periods (defaults to 1)
  • Worksheet Settings
    • Primary Worksheet Title
    • Cost Center
    • Activity Location
    • Sponsored Program Activity Category
    • Sponsored Program Activity Type
    • Base Type (F&A need)
  • Budget Entry
    • Add a Principal Investigator for each worksheet
    • Enter $0 budget amounts for their salary
    • No other line item entry is required for the budget

For more information, visit the SAGE Awards page.

Award Setup Requests and Modifications

Award Setup Requests

Create Award Setup Requests from the new Awards tab in SAGE! Review the following information for more in-depth guidance:

Award Modifications

Modifications in SAGE are now available. Please note that TRANSPASUs and re-budgeting will now be accomplished through a modification request. In the meantime, please refer to the following resources to learn more about Modifications:

PI Required Approval on Subrecipient Invoices

Please be aware that PIs need to approve subrecipient invoices on a bi-monthly basis using Workday.

Effort Reporting

Employee Compensation Compliance (ECC) is now live. Check out the Introduction to ECC video for a brief overview of our new certification system. For information on training and office hours, refer to ECC Training Timeline.

Award Portal and Grant Tracker

  • Award Portal provides up-to-date grant and contract information to UW researchers and staff. Financial data does not include expenditure detail, which can be found in Workday.
  • Use Grant Tracker to view information for awards that did not convert to Workday (i.e. awards closed before June 16, 2022). Grant Tracker will be in read-only mode effective July 7, 2023. If you need to contact GCA about an award that did not convert to Workday, please email gcahelp@uw.edu.

MyResearch

As of July 6, 2023, MyResearch Funding Status and Non-Award Agreement (NAA) 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.

Research Administration Data (RAD)

As of July 5, 2023, existing RAD reports are accessible but historical. Until new RAD 2.0 based reporting solutions are available, please request data from grantrpt@uw.edu until further notice.

SAGE Resources

Office Hours

eLearning

  • Award Setup and Tracking in SAGE: In depth instruction on SAGE Awards usage, including creating Award Setup Request and monitoring Award Requests.
  • SAGE Budget eLearning: This on-demand resources 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.

Videos

Instructor-led Classes

  • SAGE Awards: The SAGE Awards course provides an overview of the award and modification process in SAGE. The SAGE Awards section allows research administrators to accurately create and track Award Setup Requests, which is an essential part of the research lifecycle.
    • Upcoming SAGE Awards Classes:
      • Check back for additional SAGE Awards classes soon.
  • SAGE Budget: 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.
    • Upcoming SAGE Budget Classes:
      • Check back for additional SAGE Budget classes soon.

Job Aids

Additional SAGE Budget Training Resources

  • SAGE Budget User Guide: In-depth documentation on all aspects of SAGE Budget.
  • 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.

Workday Resources

Grants Dashboard Desktop Nanolearning

This nanolearning provides an overview of the Grants Dashboard Desktop found in Workday.

Grant Manager Training

Grant Managers are assigned the Grant Manager security role in Workday. Some PIs who do not have administrative support will also receive the Grant Manager role. Check with your unit administrator if you are a Grant Manager and need access to the following training.

Nanolearning Videos

The UWFT nanolearning videos include an overview of financial literacy and Workday topics including:

Terminology

Refer to the Research Administration Terms on Knowledge Navigator for usage and reference of commonly used terms like Proposal, Award, Sponsor Type, and more.

Where to Get Help

  • Workday Finance: Reach out to your unit’s Shared Environment via UW Connect (or via your unit’s support process). Shared Environments are the first point of support for Workday Finance within each unit.​  ​

Stay Informed

Mailing Lists

  • Subscribe to the MRAM mailing list to stay informed of timely and relevant research administration information.
  • 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Announcements

November 30, 2023
11/30/23 SAGE Release Summary
November 13, 2023
11/9/23 SAGE Release Summary
October 17, 2023
Workday Finance Research Impacts & Updates
September 21, 2023
Join us in Celebration – Research Administrator Day Invitation
September 14, 2023
9/14 SAGE Updates: FORMS-H, Award Requests List Search & More
August 21, 2023
SAGE Updates: 8/14 – 8/18
August 14, 2023
SAGE Updates: 8/7 – 8/11
All Announcements