Re: Trouble with Grants.gov Whitlock, Pam 03 Mar 2009 20:11 EST

AMEN!
Pamela B. Whitlock, Director
Office of Sponsored Programs
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
601 S. College Road
Wilmington, NC  28403-5973
V 910 962 3167
F 10 962 4011
________________________________
From: Research Administration List [xxxxxx@hrinet.org] On Behalf Of Wilma Ennenga [xxxxxx@NAU.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 7:05 PM
To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org
Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] Trouble with Grants.gov

I’ve followed the traffic over the past days and weeks (years!) as the capacity issues a Grants.Gov have caused more and more of us to fail to submit on the first, second, third, fourth, ad infinitum  attempts until finally the proverbial waters part and we’re able to slip through. Out here in the west, Grants.Gov has advised us to try to submit after 7:00 p.m. and I suppose the west coast universities try after 8:00 p.m. I’ve gotten the same error messages as listed by other people, and found the same error messages disappear when the grants.gov system clears out. Last night (yippee) I submitted two proposals between 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. with the second one going through finally about two hours after the first, and the proposal numbering indicating that some 60 to 70 other proposals had been submitted in the interim. Since the proposals were due at 4:30 Wasington time today, there was no way we would have been successful this morning.

Because of the capacity issues at Grants.Gov, even if we (try to) submit our proposal days prior to the deadline we are likely to be cross deadlines with some other program and be unable to submit. THIS IS INSANE AND WE CAN’T KEEP DOING THIS!!! The collective cost to our universities is horrendous both in wasted time and in time not available for other projects.

So, it seems to me we need to develop new rules institutionally and within the community:

(1)    We will try no more than X (3?) number of times to submit one proposal

(2)    Upon failure, if due to capacity issues at Grants.Gov, we will write via e-mail to the Grants.Gov help desk and the Agency program officer, explaining the problem and requesting an extension to submit the proposal.

(3)    There will be a consensus among sponsors that exceptions will be provided in all these cases so that our proposals may be submitted.

(4)    If granted, we will try again to submit within regular business hours.  If we fail, fall back to (2) above.

Comments welcomed.

Winnie

P.S., I particularly appreciate that certain message from grants.gov that I’ve exceeded the cap of three times that I can try to enter my user name and password! Oh the irony!

Wilma G. (Winnie) Ennenga
Director, Office of Grant and Contract Services
Northern Arizona University
Applied Research and Development Bldg. #56, Suite 240
1298 South Knoles Drive
Flagstaff, AZ 86011-4130

Telephone: 928/523-8319
Fax: 928/523-1075

P Please consider the environment before printing this email

From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@hrinet.org] On Behalf Of Lisa Williams
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 9:18 AM
To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org
Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] Trouble with Grants.gov

Hi -

I was having the same problem last night between 8:30 p.m.  and 10 p.m. Mountain - G.gov wasn't recognizing user credentials.  I reset passwords a couple of times, to no avail.  Finally, for no apparent reason, the system accepted my user credentials and allowed to me log in.  Submission took less than a minute, and validation came within 5 minutes.  I did ask a colleague I called in a frustrated panic to breakdance to generate some good luck and I managed to log in moments afterward - though I'd like to believe that it was that simple to fix, I think there was something else going on - either some nightly job or update or whatever.  It would be nice to know, if that were the case, the schedule of such things.  You can't submit anything during working hours, and apparently if you hit the wrong window after hours you can't submit then either.

Anyone know what the G.gov maintenance schedule is?

Lisa Williams, CRA
ph 208-426-1425
cell 530-867-6727

>>> Balvinder Kumar <xxxxxx@CSUEASTBAY.EDU> 3/2/2009 9:21 PM >>>
I’ve been trying to submit an application to the NEH since this AM and the latest is that grants.gov does not recognize us as a user in the system.  Is anyone else experiencing this?  I was able to submit one of our NEH applications last night.
Thanks for any help!
Balvinder Kumar
ORSP-California State University, East Bay

From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@hrinet.org] On Behalf Of schauerap
Sent: Monday, March 02, 2009 8:09 PM
To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org
Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] Trouble with Grants.gov

I too am able to submit almost immediately in the mornings before 11am and then again, from home in the evenings after 7pm...but during the day after 11am, nothing goes at all.  This has been the pattern for at least the past month.  I am in Cincinnati, OH, eastern time zone.

I have also noticed that the few PureEdge packages I have had to submit go through immediately, regardless of what time I submit.  It only seems to be the Adobe packages that will not go.

On Mar 2, 2009, at 7:02 PM, Robert R Beattie 1 wrote:

We submitted 14 applications on Monday between 7am and 11am.  Then nothing.
We are in the eastern time zone, far western side.   I note that those who
are not having success are central zone or further west.

Have people in the eastern zone been able to submit in the morning?

If so there seems to be enough capacity to deal with just a partial group
of submitters, but as new zones come to work, there is sluggishness.  We
are not getting those pesky false errors now.  We are just not getting
connected.  Maybe people can report their inability to connect on the
Grants.gov blog.  There needs to be a systematic accounting of the problem.

Regarding the JavaScript warning.  This is an Adobe generated message
telling users that they are using Javascript to make the submission.
Everyone one gets this message, it does not indicate a problem.  Don't turn
Javascript off.

I will get to work early to get all of ours submitted early so there will
be some band width for our western colleagues  :)

Bob

On Mon, 2 Mar 2009 15:23:58 -0800, Deborah Hofer <xxxxxx@SOU.EDU<mailto:xxxxxx@SOU.EDU>> wrote:
Yes!! I press save and submit, enter id and p/w. The box thinks a minute
and closes.

Question, at the bottom of the box it says Warning: JavaScript Window. Do
you know what that means?

Deborah d'Este Hofer MM
Grants & Sponsored Programs
Institutional Review Board Administrator
Southern Oregon University
1250 Siskiyou Blvd
Ashland, OR 97520
Churchill #205
541.552.8662
xxxxxx@sou.edu<mailto:xxxxxx@sou.edu>

"Sandra D. Garcia" <xxxxxx@TAMUK.EDU<mailto:xxxxxx@TAMUK.EDU>> 3/1/2009 2:48 PM >>>
Is anyone having trouble with G.g right now we cannot get it to submit
our
proposals? And we are trying to get out three.

Thanks,
Sandra

======================================================================
Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
======================================================================

======================================================================
Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
======================================================================

======================================================================
Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
======================================================================

_____________________________________________
Anne P. Schauer, M.A., CRA
Assistant Director for Research
Miami University
Office for the Advancement of Research and Scholarship
Roudebush Hall, Room 102
Oxford, OH 45056-4125
Phone:  (513) 529-3735
FAX:  (513) 529-3762
email:  xxxxxx@muohio.edu

The mission of the Office for the Advancement of Research & Scholarship (OARS) is to encourage, facilitate, and support the Miami University community in its effort to obtain external funding for all forms of research, education, scholarly, creative, service, and outreach activities.

====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ======================================================================

====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ======================================================================

======================================================================
 Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
 subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
 via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
======================================================================