Re: seeking feedback on InfoEd...is it good for eRA? Donna Berger 18 May 2005 11:37 EST
Terri, We have used SPIN for years and are just now starting to implement proposal tracking. We did not have funds for staff training in the beginning and this was a major setback for us. The set up of the organizational information is critical and we made several mistakes. We had difficulty getting an information manual in the beginning (a few years back) and didn't have the time to try to figure it all out. Part of the problem was ours (e.g. procedures and processes were changing so information necessary to set up the field was often not available) and we didn't have a person to dedicate to the project. While the InfoEd people were very helpful, we found that focused training was essential. We finally attended a day-long training session yesterday at InfoEd. My office (pre-award) has taken the lead in setting up SPIN and proposal tracking and arranged for the training session. Since we have separate pre- and post award offices (consisting of only three people altogether), we all went to the training. Our office arranges to have all new faculty place their profiles on the system so they can get targeted e-mail funding alerts, but to effectively use proposal tracking, both pre and post award have to be committed to using the system. In our case, this may not be possible because our post-award administrator would need to do double entry. At yesterday's training session, we also had a brief introduction to proposal development and it appears to be very user friendly. It has an electronic routing feature that will eventually be tied into grants.gov. The most work here is determining the workflow for the routing. My plan is to purchase this module and test it with faculty volunteers next year. We are also considering the effort reporting module and have requested a demo. We did look at the modules piecemeal and probably would have been better off with an introduction to all of them. The modules interrelate (or can be used this way). For example, proposal development will prepopulate many of the fields on proposal tracking. We do have a staff member who updates the system, but there isn't support from other offices, which makes it difficult, especially when there is staff turnover and the new hire is unfamiliar with InfoEd. Our faculty do not use the system except to do searches and receive e-mail alerts. I'm not sure how they will respond to it if we adopted it for electronic routing. My bet is that there will be some who just won't use it. The biggest surprise about InfoEd was the cost of training ($2000 per day plus expenses). We decided to drive to Albany and paid $1,500 for the three of us. If we decide to implement InfoEd, we'll be make that trip a couple more times. Hope this helps. I'd be interested in learning about any responses you get from others. Donna Berger, Ph.D. Coordinator, Academic Grants Marist College Phone: 845-575-3670 |---------+----------------------------> | | Terri Hall | | | <xxxxxx@| | | ND.EDU> | | | Sent by: Research| | | Administration | | | List | | | <xxxxxx@HRINET.| | | ORG> | | | | | | | | | 04/29/2005 02:32 | | | PM | | | Please respond to| | | Research | | | Administration | | | Discussion List | | | | |---------+----------------------------> >--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG | | cc: | | Subject: [RESADM-L] seeking feedback on InfoEd...is it good for eRA? | >--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Good afternoon, My apologies if you're getting this twice...I originally sent this to those in the RESADM-L archives who'd sent messages in reference to InfoEd. However, many of them bounced back as undeliverable because email was unknown. Since so many universities are struggling with the issue of electronic mgmt systems, I thought I'd send this to the whole listserv for all to share in the expertise here. We are considering InfoEd for electronic research administration and are interested in feedback from actual users. Will you please take a few minutes to answer some questions? Have you ever used InfoEd, and if so, how long have you used it? If no longer using it, why not? Which module(s) do you use? Did you debut the whole system at once, or in phases? Timeline used? Are faculty using it? Or dept administrative assistants? Both? Just your office? Maintenance: do you have a staff member dedicated to maintaining the system -- someone from campus info technology you call -- InfoEd support -- or is the system user-friendly enough that no ongoing maintenance is required? Implementation: pluses or minuses you either expected or were unexpected? Things we should be mindful of that we might not have thought of yet? Training: do you do workshops? Have online tutorial? Online documentation? Other? Finally, how would you complete the statement: The biggest surprise about InfoEd was _______ Anything else you'd like to add? Thank you for your input. It'll be very helpful as we move forward on this project. Terri Terri M. Hall Associate Director of Sponsored Programs (eRA) Office of Research * University of Notre Dame 511 Main Building * Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 Phn: (574) 631-7378 Fax: (574) 631-6630 http://www.nd.edu/~research/ Notre Dame is an FDP institution ====================================================================== 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") ======================================================================