I've received about a dozen e-mails or phone calls about the Department of Justice electronic proposal system and thought others on the list might be interested in the responses. I've attached several e-mails that summarize the most common problems mentioned. I also received a call from Barbara Gray who is on the NCURA ERA committee. She is coordinating comments for a presentation at the ERA V conference and we are sending her a list of our concerns. Thanks to all who responded. Pam McKeough Director, Sponsored Program Administration Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -----Original Message----- From: Clifford Wilbur [mailto:xxxxxx@orsp.umesp.maine.edu] Sent: Friday, May 26, 2000 3:57 PM Subject: DOJ GMS We have just submitted our first proposal via DOJ GMS. There are a couple of things that are worthy of note: 1. Submission is done by the PI and does NOT require institutional approval. When I first inquired about the system, I was told that the institutional rep would be contacted for approval. It turns out that the contact is only for notification of disposition. They assume that the PI has approval when they submit. 2. Once submitted, there is no way to view or print the proposal. If you are lucky enough to be included in the process by the PI, make sure someone prints the 424 before submission. 3. The support phone number gets you to an automated answering system. The GMS support option (#3) is only for trouble with the application interface, they do not have knowledge of program requirements or the review process. Option #1 is a little better, but not much. DOJ is apparently new to the ERA arena, and I'm not sure they are prepared for the types of questions they are going to get. 4. Once submitted, the PI has to keep checking the site to find out the status of the proposal. There is an option for DOJ to return it with changes needed - I haven't used this feature yet, although I am expecting to. I was told to expect to wait about a week for any action to occur. At that time there may be an email notice. 5. The online helps are very cryptic and not particularly helpful. I realize this is all pretty sketchy information, but it is all I have been able to find out so far. Hope it helps. Cliff Wilbur Information Systems Manager University of Maine Office of Research and Sponsored Programs -----Original Message----- From: xxxxxx@ccmail.nevada.edu [mailto:xxxxxx@ccmail.nevada.edu] Sent: Friday, May 26, 2000 6:24 PM Subject: DoJ Saw your note just after sending one in myself... One big problem was that although they wanted an abstract, there was no way to load it... Their help line guy acknowledged the problem, so we faxed it with the other stuff... was fairly easy to navigate, but the faxing & the numbering made the process a little cumbersome for us... Our PI did the proposal on line, but came over & we sent it out on my computer (I had the certification letter & form, so she more or less had to come over)... All in all it was a little better than I expected, but the process does seem to need some polishing... Bill Schulze, Director Office of Sponsored Programs University of Nevada, Las Vegas -----Original Message----- From: Matt Ronning [mailto:xxxxxx@SPA.MsState.Edu] Sent: Saturday, May 27, 2000 9:32 AM Subject: Re: US Dept of Justice Electronic Proposal System We've used it for 6 or 7 different applications over the last couple of months, the most recent on Friday. Don't know how many have gone in bypassing my office but that is a possibility. The biggest problem we've had is with certifications; have to fax those in separately because DOJ advises us to upload them into the debarment block. However, we are not debarred so the system does not let us upload anything there. -----Original Message----- From: xxxxxx@winona.msus.edu [mailto:xxxxxx@winona.msus.edu] Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2000 7:40 AM Subject: DOJ Electronic Proposals We just submitted a DOJ grant to Prevent Violence Against Women on Campuses. The Budget Detail and Budget Summary loaded fine. It took two or three tries for it to take the full narrative. We got an immediate acknowledgement of submission. As far as I know it went through. Nancy Kay Peterson Director of Grants & Sponsored Projects Winona State University -----Original Message----- From: Tammy Custer Ordway [mailto:xxxxxx@CORNELL.EDU] Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2000 7:58 AM To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG Subject: Re: US Dept of Justice Electronic Proposal System Cornell also had many concerns regarding the recent electronic submission deadline. Whatever you do, do not call their GMS Hotline. They can only help you if you are having problems with the website itself, and they didn't know who to send me to. I finally found a number to contact and after seven transfers, I got ahold of someone in the IRMD office. One of our main concerns was how where they getting the Cornell's authorization since the PI does not have signature authority to sign. I was told that when the user (PI) fills in the screen asking if they have signature authorization, they are assuming the user is filling in the correct information and then OJP is following up with phone calls. I don't think we ever did get that phone call. I would like to hear if others had any issues or concerns and how they dealt with it. -----Original Message----- From: McKeough, Pamela M Sent: Friday, May 26, 2000 2:07 PM To: 'xxxxxx@hrinet.org' Subject: US Dept of Justice Electronic Proposal System I would be interested in talking to anyone who has used the U.S. Department of Justice electronic application system. We have run into a number of problems with the system and the process and wondered how other institutions dealt with this. Use of the electronic application system is mandatory for Office of Justice programs. You may contact me directly at the e-mail or phone number below. For others who have not seen this system yet, the address is www.ojp.usdoj.gov/fundopps.htm Pamela M. McKeough Director, Sponsored Program Administration Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Phone: (317) 274-8285 E-mail: xxxxxx@iupui.edu ====================================================================== 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") ======================================================================
