I have been listening (er - reading) the many statements and counter statements about the NSF PIN vs PASSWORD announcement. I believe Jim Brett's comment below is very 'on-target' and I apreciate it. When I first read the NSF message from Carolyn I ws a bit taken aback. Then, after some thought, and before I read all the comments, I came to the conclusion that this decision by NSF FASTLANE stemmed from a simple desire to do what is probably not very doable, at least not as yet, secure signatures electronically and make FASTLANE more compatable with the Federal Commons. I am concerned only because I want to be sure that my office still has some semblance of control over the submission of proposals for quality, accuracy and university appropriateness. I don't see that changing with this proposed adjustment but I can see that we may have to once again adjust how we do things to be sure we can do our task effectively. But, as Jim says, human nature being what it is - we may have opened a very large can of worms! Mary At 02:28 PM 2/9/00 -0800, James R. Brett sent a message saying: *Carolyn Miller seems to have understood the essential problem. Many of us have *written to her privately about it. In the response to Diane, below, Carolyn *acknowledges that there is nothing that can be done to change human nature and *to keep faculty from sharing their [PINs or] passwords. Given that, one wonders *why NSF lawyers think NSF can change human nature to achieve the goal of an *authentic PI electronic signature? Clearly, as other attempts to change human *nature in Washington have failed miserably, this one starts out hobbled and *lame, as well. * *Many, if not most, sponsored programs offices have had and will continue to find *it necessary to know the faculty PINs and passwords. The situation goes well *beyond "human nature" to organizational culture and necessities of dealing with *NSF's imperfect Fastlane system, often in the context of heated last moments *before the 5:00 pm "submit" deadline. In other words, we are dealing with much *more than human nature. There is a real need for sponsored programs offices' *expertise. * *The problem for us is that, if the Federal Commons tries to assert the illusion *that an electronic signature is authentic despite the continuing truth of human *nature and organizational imperative, the relationship between PI and sponsored *program office must change. We are not in a position to assume power of *attorney for faculty members, and we cannot leave ourselves open to the charge *of misrepresenting the faculty member either. I think NSF and Commons *understands this, but are nevertheless willing for us to "work it out" on *individual bases, preserving the fundamental fiction. * *The NSF (and Commons) goal of maintaining appropriate privacy for certain *faculty records in federal hands is a good one. However, this has nothing at *all to do with the submission of research proposals. These are not private *transactions; they are inter-institutional as every OMB and NSF regulation more *or less clearly says. The fact is that someone has thought to graft real and *forthcoming privacy concerns (perhaps solvable by electronic "signatures") onto *the grant application process. It is inappropriate and not too late to change. * *Jim Brett * * * * *Diane M Meyer wrote: *> *> I keep track of the PIN's as they are assigned. I don't know how many times *> I've needed to look them up for PI's who forgot what it was. It's really much *> quicker than having to login to FastLane and assign a new one. *> *> I am including a message I received from Carolyn Miller in response to my *> question about this subject. *> *> -----begin message----- *> Diane, *> Your second alternative is what will happen - you will assign a temporary *> password which they will have to change the next time they attempt to log on *> to FastLane. It is really critical to the electronic signature project that *> passwords be known by only the person signing the document (although human *> nature being what it is, there is nothing we can do to prevent the person *> from sharing his/her password with others). *> *> --Carolyn *> *> > -----Original Message----- *> > From: Diane M Meyer [SMTP:xxxxxx@iastate.edu] *> > Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2000 3:40 PM *> > To: Miller, Carolyn *> > Subject: Re: FastLane Conversion from use of PINs to Passwords *> > *> > Carolyn, *> > *> > Thanks for the update! I can follow and support all of your points. As a *> > FastLane administrator, I do have one question. I receive numerous calls *> > from PI's asking for their PIN because they have forgotten it. Will there *> > be a way for me to look it up for them or do I just have to assign a *> > temporary one (as mentioned below) and have them login and change it to *> > something they will, hopefully, remember next year? *> > *> > At 10:01 AM 2/8/2000 -0500, you wrote: *> > *> > 6) if a research administrator changes an individual's password, *> > the individual is required to change the password to something else as a *> > part of the next log-on sequence. *> -----end message----- *> *> Diane M. Meyer |-| Budget/COS/FastLane Specialist *> Contracts & Grants, Iowa State University *> 221 Beardshear Hall *> Ames, Iowa 50011 *> 515-294-4567 (voice) 515-294-8000 (fax) *> http://grants-svr.admin.iastate.edu/candg.html *> W-W-W < =====<< * *-- *James R. Brett, Ph.D., Director *Office of University Research *California State University, Long Beach *562-985-4833 fax 985-8665 *http://www.csulb.edu/~research * * *====================================================================== * 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") *====================================================================== * * "If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it." -- Albert Einstein Mary H. Watson, Ph.D. Director, Grants and Contracts Valdosta State University Valdosta, Georgia Phone: 912-333-7837 Fax: 912-245-3853 ====================================================================== 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") ======================================================================
