“towards an electronic office of sponsored projects”

April 24, 2007 10:30amTowards an Electronic

Office of Sponsored Projects

NCURA Region VI & VII MeetingResearch Administration:

Striving for Gold at the SummitApril 22 – 25, 2007

Park City, Utah

“Towards an Electronic Office of Sponsored Projects”



SpeakersDenise Metke

Manager

Huron Consulting [email protected]

Kevon Balls

Project Director

University of Utah

Administrative Computing Services

[email protected] Pianka

Manager

University of Utah

College of [email protected]



Topics of Discussion Taking inventory Determining needs Determining a plan Getting started Training and reporting Best practices and pitfalls



University of Utah ~ $300 million externally sponsored

research and development 29,000 students 15,000 faculty and staff 1,297 research labs; 48 instruction labs



Catalyst for Moving Forward Momentum coming off a PeopleSoft Grants

implementation Recent transition to electronic Conflict of

Interest Disclosure and IRB application Desire for integrated electronic research

administration Need for access to information Federal Grants.gov initiative



Where We Wanted to Go Build on enterprise system implementation Electronic on-campus proposal submission

site Integrated research information

One stop shopping for PIs CoI, IRB, OSP, Financials Reporting and deadline reminders



Why We Needed to Go There Integrated data management Refined reporting systems 24 hour access for faculty and staff Integration with Grants.gov



Where to Begin? Self assessment

Can we purchase an “off the shelf” system? Do we need to custom build a system? Do we have the expertise in-house? Do we need to hire a consultant? How much time do we have? Do we need to do this all at once? How much will this cost?



Utah Decisions Combination of off the shelf system and

custom built system ERICA system for CoI and IRB PeopleSoft Grants for OSP Custom built internal proposal submission site –

eProposal Custom built portal for “one stop shopping” – PI

Portal



Utah Decisions Hire Huron Consulting Group

Project direction Best practices and specific expertise Familiar with Utah organization and processes

Assemble in-house team Vice-President for Research Office of Sponsored Projects Financial Solutions Administrative Computing Services Research Integrity and Compliance Utah faculty and staff members



Utah Decisions Funding and staffing constraints Phased implementation approach

ERICA - 2004 PeopleSoft Grants – 2005 eProposal – 2006 Electronic Workflow - 2007 PI Portal – 2007 to 2008



Case Study Focus on eProposal

Project planning and approach Business process improvements System design Training Lessons learned



Project Planning and Approach Desire to lay a strategic foundation Funding constraints dictated need to provide

accurate assessment of resources and financial needs

Desire to engage functional organizations, PIs, and other constituents to support the project

Research best practices Conference calls with other Universities Discussed core systems and ancillary systems



Project Planning and Approach Allow time to establish relationships and

begin communication process Allow initial assessment of processes and

product functionality to understand requirements and potential gaps

Lay groundwork for solid project planning and approach Develop a plan you can stick to



Project Planning and Approach Strategic imperatives

Self-service functionality - simple, easy, fast Security – easy to manage

Transparent to end user System – easy to build and adaptable



Project Planning and Approach Why not direct access to PeopleSoft

Grants? Training intensive Difficult to manage security Integrity of core system Not as intuitive or user friendly



Project Planning and Approach Separately funded Dedicated team One year duration

From information gathering to final roll-out Milestones to report progress, gain

consensus, course correct when necessary



Project Planning and Approach - TimelineSpring

‘06Summer

‘06Fall ’06 Winter ‘06-

07Spring

‘07

Task 1

Scope

Task 2

Process

Task 3

Objective

Task 4

Demo

Task 5

Pilot

Task 6

Design

Task 7

Roll-Out



Project Planning and Approach Task 1 – Confirm scope and identify team

structure Involved highest levels of the university Representation from all sponsored research

areas Key Players

Executive Steering Committee Project Advisory Group Huron Consulting Group Project Team



Project Planning and Approach Task 2 – Review current proposal

submission processes Gained understanding of current use of legacy

systems, PeopleSoft, and reporting Identified areas needing attention during the

planning project Interview potential end-users of the new system

Assess current processes at department level Profile potential users Determine their wish list for a new system



Project Planning and Approach Task 3 – Identify project objectives

Implement an online application to collect key information about a proposal

Provide an application interface to PeopleSoft Grants for establishing a proposal and populating the key data elements of the proposal

Provide a printed report form with project information to be used for the approval process

Simplify the Document Summary Sheet (DSS) submission and proposal tracking process for campus and OSP



Project Planning and Approach Task 4 – Prepare and conduct a structured

demonstration Semi-functional mock-up in Dreamweaver Demonstrated for Project Advisory Group Identified key functional features for application Discussed integration, reporting, terminology Handouts of screenshots Identified issues and areas of interest, answered questions



Project Planning and Approach

First Mock-Up Actual Product



Project Planning and Approach Task 5 – Identify Pilot Groups

Review number and timing of proposals One college from each end of campus

Health Sciences Physical Sciences

Assess user infrastructure Variety of computers, connections, etc.



Project Planning and Approach Task 6 – Provide design detail to technical

team Mock-up in Dreamweaver Functionality requirements and design

documents Security model Map integration with PeopleSoft Determine phases of development



Project Planning and Approach Task 7 – Begin roll-out and training

Pilot groups beta-test model Feedback and compatibility issues Schedule computer labs accessible to pilot

groups Provide registration site for training classes



Business Process Improvements Input from several groups

Campus interviews with faculty and staff Interviews with Sponsored Projects staff Biweekly meetings with Project Advisory Group

Deans Faculty Staff



Business Process Improvements Review step by step proposal submission

process Determine where simplification and streamlining

can happen

Determine access to application Who can access it How will access be gained



System Design Web-based system Access through our Campus Information

System (portal) Piggyback off existing security

Various security roles for different users Employee only access Ability to delegate security



System Design

Access to eProposal through our Campus Information System (employee/student

portal)



System Design

Selecting “eProposal” launches the application



System Design Phased approach to enhancements

Phase I – Beta application to pilot groups Phase II – Incorporate suggestions from pilot

groups, attachment functionality, reports Phase III – Integration with PeopleSoft



System Design Do not need to complete all information in one

sitting Information to be completed is located on four

pages Grouped together by subject matter Avoids having to scroll down too far Provides convenient stopping points

Information auto defaults based on employee ID numbers and department ID numbers



System DesignAccess to each page and function buttons from top or bottom of

screen

Enter Employee ID and balance of

information auto completes



System Design Attachment functionality

Proposal and/or approval documents can be “attached” within the system

Allows for easy retrieval by Sponsored Projects Provides for variety of documents to be attached

.doc, .xls, .xfd, .pdf



System Design

Upload your proposal and any approval

documents into the application



System Design Validation process

Verifies that required information is provided Prevents user from printing complete document

until process has run with no errors Locks the document against changes by user

OSP still has access to review and update

Status changes after validation complete Includes date of change



System Design

Validation button located on last page



System Design

System returns missed fields OR…



System Design

Allows you to “submit” your

proposal to OSP



System Design Printing

Blank documents and partially complete documents

Draft appears on these documents No signature lines appear

Complete document with signature lines



System Design

Draft version Complete version



System Design Reports

Can be run by anyone with application access High level information – not much detail Various Status Levels

Principal Investigator Department Sponsor Sponsored Projects Officer



System Design



System Design Integration

Sponsored Projects Officers reviews and makes corrections

Runs validation Rechecks eProposal information Runs PeopleSoft validation

Creates proposal in PeopleSoft



Training Hands on in computer labs Two to three classes per week Registration due to limited seating

Also allows tech team to give registrants access to training site

Practice inputting a document Help document within application



Training On-line training demonstration

eLearning Built with Adobe Captivate Can be viewed at any time Are broken into small modules for ease of

viewing

Page on OSP website Instruction documents



Lessons Learned Gaining strong sponsor support is critical Communication with project partners and

university community is key to successful project

Gaining a better understanding of business needs and requirements reduces project risk and unexpected surprises Identified areas to prioritize – business

processes, conversion, testing, and change management



Lessons Learned We were all learning at the same time

Provided the technical team with new challenges Learning curve of new technology impacted

schedule and scope Phased approach to enhancements allowed

project to progress close to schedule Pilot phase allowed for confirmation of approach



Lessons Learned Use of consultants

Brought extensive higher education and research knowledge

Provided experience implementing similar functionality at other Universities

Familiar with Utah organization and processes Provided direction to project Facilitated relationships with other institutions



Where Are We Now? Successful roll-out of eProposal across

campus using phased approach Established good rapport with university

community regarding project implementations Will need to carry this forward for future planned

projects



Where Are We Now? Planning for electronic workflow

Will allow for electronic approval of submissions by chairs and deans

Will generate e-mails for status updates Integration with other research administration

systems on campus CoI, IRB, etc.

Moving toward a PI Portal One place for research community to access systems and information



Thank you! Questions?

“towards an electronic office of sponsored projects”

Documents

sponsored research

electronic conflict

shelf system

research labs

irbpeoplesoft grants

utah organization

reportingbest practices

irb applicationdesire