When John said "the rush to electronic proposal submission" I decided it was time to ask a question:  what is driving this rush?

For years now I have heard people talking about the eRA future and the plans they are making.  I am intimidated by all the descriptions of institutional electronic infrastructure building and feel that, in comparison, my institution is doing very little.  We get a big bunch of money from NIH each year using FedEx to send applications.  We get a little bit of money from NSF using Fastlane.  Our PIs are beginning to use NIH Commons.  But we tend not to change unless agency practices change, and there is an impetus to change.  Is this a Darwinian issue?
Will we one day wake up to dark skies, the inability to submit our proposals, and the end of nutritional cash flow?  Can I convince my administration that extinction looms unless we buy a big software package and start negotiating with an eRA vendor?

Charlie

PS. Vote for Barry Commoner.

At 08:43 AM 10/26/2004, you wrote:
>I would like to add to Roberta's statement about Grants.Gov. In the rush
>to electronic research proposal submission, some basic necessities have
>been overlooked; functionality and compatibility. Trying to just get
>started on this system is absolutely crazy. There are several times you
>must go through several steps just to apply for a grant. Then, once you
>find one, you might get the error..."The application package for Funding
>Opportunity Number "$%##$%" (CFDA Number "00.000") has not been posted
>by the awarding agency for submission through Grants.gov". This happened
>with several opportunities that were posted by Grants.gov. So why are
>these opportunities even involved in this system?
>
>Just take a look at the way the steps are broken down. The first thing
>you should have to do is register with Grant's.gov and then log in,
>because why go through all the step is there is a problem logging into
>the sytem. No to mention you have to register again with your credential
>provider. Isn't the system supposed to be seemless integration. Oh, I
>forgot to mention that you have to make sure you have register, again,
>with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR). Again, why look at
>opportunities, download an application and not be able to apply because
>you have registered with the 3 other organizations.
>
>Then you are required to download a free, but meaningless viewer, that
>is needed to access, complete, and submit applications electronically
>and securely. Again, what is wrong with a .pdf file through a web page
>that is secure?
>
>These are just my personal opinions, and maybe some of you have had a
>great experience, but I firmly believe that this system needs a lot of
>improvement.
>
>John A Brown
>Training Associate
>Thomas Jefferson University
>215-503-4265
>
>Roberta Nary wrote:
>
>>Hi Diane,
>>
>>We're a Mac based shop and had the Virtual PC software installed to
>>accommodate 2 submissions through Grants.gov.  Well let me tell you it
>>doesn't work. We had to got out and purchase a Dell in order to do the
>>submissions.  Registering was another horror show. Grants.gov is not
>>user friendly at least to those of us living in a Mac world.
>>
>>Roberta
>>On Oct 26, 2004, at 7:01 AM, Marie Smith wrote:
>>
>>>Hi Diane,
>>>
>>>We have submitted through Grants.gov.  The biggest draw back is that,
>>>unlike FASTLANE, the proposal needs to reside on one machine
>>>in-house.  This makes it impossible for collaborators from outside
>>>institutions to view the proposal on-line and see the most recent
>>>uploaded version.  It also makes is difficult for in-house
>>>collaborators and members of the admin support staff to work on the
>>>proposal.
>>>
>>>Marie
>>>
>>>
>>>***************************************
>>>Marie F. Smith, CRA
>>>Manager of Grants Administration
>>>Institute of Ecosystem Studies
>>>PO Box AB, 65 Sharon Turnpike
>>>Millbrook, NY 12545
>>>Phone: 845-677-7600 x202
>>>Fax: 845-677-5976
>>> E-mail: xxxxxx@ecostudies.org
>>>Internet:  http://www.ecostudies.org
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG]On
>>>Behalf Of Diane M Meyer
>>>Sent: Monday, October 25, 2004 6:28 PM
>>>To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG
>>>Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] Grants.gov
>>>
>>>To the Group,
>>>
>>>I am also interested in hearing about your experience with Grants.gov!
>>>We haven't had the opportunity to submit a proposal with this system
>>>yet, but I have been hearing from PI's who are preparing proposals
>>>that will go through this system in the next month.
>>>
>>>I'd love to hear success/horror stories.
>>>
>>>Have you been able to use the software (PureEdge Viewer) on a Mac?
>>>Many of our Mac users haven't been able to use Windows-based software,
>>>even with Windows emulation.  I know it's supposed to work, but it
>>>just doesn't and creates a lot of resistance to trying anything new.
>>>
>>>Thanks!
>>>Diane
>>>
>>>At 10/19/2004 04:36 PM, you wrote:
>>>
>>>Has anyone submitted proposals to grants.gov?  If you are willing to
>>>talk about your experience please email Bill Wolfinbarger with your
>>>contact information, and he will get back to you offline.
>>>
>>>
>>>Thank you,
>>>
>>>Bill Wolfinbarger
>>>Office of Sponsored Programs and Research Compliance
>>>Oregon State University
>>>xxxxxx@oregonstate.edu
>>>
>>>
>>>Diane M. Meyer |-| Budget/COS/eRA Specialist
>>>Office of Sponsored Programs Administration
>>>Iowa State University
>>>2207 Pearson, Room 15
>>>Ames, Iowa  50011-2207
>>>515-294-4567 (voice)  515-294-8000 (fax)
>>>
>>>http://ospa.iastate.edu
>>>
>>>Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going
>>>to know whether you did it or not.
>>>
>>>-  Oprah Winfrey
>>>
>>>
>>>======================================================================
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>>>subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
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>>>======================================================================
>>Roberta C. Nary, CRA
>>Director
>>Office of Sponsored Programs
>>Ph (781) 736-2119
>>Fax (781) 736-2123
>>
>>
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