Hello All, PL 106-107 sunsets in November of 2007. At NCURA, I asked OMB if there are plans to extend this legislation and the indication was that there are no plans that they are aware of. This same question was asked by others in subsequent meetings. Without a PL 106-107, I am concerned that the improvements gained thus far will be diluted with "exceptions", etc over time. I would suggest that PL 106-107 be extended with an additional requirement that agencies provide OMB with information on their legislative requirements for administering grants so that further standardizations might be achieved over the next 5 years or so. The momentum we have is recognized across all agencies, FDP, NCURA, etc. This is a real opportunity to strategize and coordinate efforts. As part of this effort, I would suggest that serious consideration be given to a review of the NIH timeline. Everyone understands the goal and we need a firm deadline, but the deadlines were set before the detailed plans (agencies, vendors, service providers, grantee institutions, etc) were in place to insure an achievable timeline. Even under the best of circumstances, this is going to be very difficult. We need a Grants.gov test system for training purposes. This need is known to Grants.gov and I think they have plans to address this. I would suggest that a full R01 stress test be designed and executed to verify that Grants.gov will have adequate bandwidth when they have their eight servers in place next year. We need to know what the contingency plans are at Grants.gov, at the agencies and at the intersection points (if our server fails, can we still get our proposals in, etc). Also, how will the return loop be implemented? I suspect that for the foreseeable future that communications after the proposal arrives at the agency will be direct from agency to grantee institution. Thank you for the comment opportunity! Graydon Kirk xxxxxx@emory.edu ========================================================================= -----Original Message----- From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG] On Behalf Of Robert Beattie Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2005 10:03 AM To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] Grants.gov issues and problems Note that the Grants.gov Director said at the September FDP meeting that they would be offering a temporary Citrix solution by December 1, 2005. This is being done with help from NIH eRA staff. Moreover, she said that PureEdge would have a native Mac (and other non- windows) solution by November of 2006. Too bad that is a month after the Big R01 deadline. Also, are you really planning to have PI "submit applications from their own computers?" Perhaps you might want to have the grants office staff submit the applications. Nevertheless, the PI's and their support staff will need to be able to download the application files with PureEdge in order to complete them. Bob xxxxxx@umich.edu On Nov 8, 2005, at 9:32 AM, Jon Hart wrote: Our biggest problem is that 50% of our investigators use the MAC platform, and grants.gov (specifically the PureEdge software) is designed to be used with a Windows PC. The MAC "fix" doesn't really work, and we are looking into buying a Citrix server (approx. $40K), buying everyone a PC, and other ways to allow MAC users to submit applications from their own computers. Major, major problem for us. Joni. Jon Hart, M.P.A., C.I.P. Senior Director Office of Sponsored Programs Administration Human Subjects Protections Program The Rockefeller University email: xxxxxx@mail.rockefeller.edu Tel: (212) 327-8054; fax: (212) 327-8400 -----Original Message----- From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG] On Behalf Of Rochelle R Athey Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 6:04 PM To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG Subject: [RESADM-L] Grants.gov issues and problems Dear all: The State of Texas has been offered the opportunity to meet with GAO to discuss implementation issues related to PL106-107 and the Governor's Office graciously invited UT Austin to participate in the opportunity to share information with GAO. This is a great opportunity to be heard by an organization that might be able to help us with Grants.gov implementation. I have collected information about Grants.gov issues from the FDP website and NCURA (and I have scoured resadm-l archives). Nevertheless, I would like to obtain more data from you, the people who most often work with Grants.gov and ponder its usefulness or lack thereof. Do any of you have a summary list of Grants.gov problems available? I have already noted in my written materials for GAO that there are issues with bandwidth, difficulties with the SF424 R&R, CCR registration problems, and communication problems between federal agencies and Grants.gov on what is needed to move forward on the project. What else should I communicate? GAO seems particularly interested in the following problems (not exclusively focused on Grants.gov): the proliferation of agency electronic systems, system-to-system interfaces with Grants.gov, and lack of coordination among federal agencies re information to be submitted. Please forward comments and concerns to me prior to November 11th so I can include them in the discussion with GAO. Thanks in advance for your help! Rochelle R. Athey The University of Texas at Austin Associate Director, Sponsored Projects PO Box 7726 Austin, TX 78713-7726 512-471-6448 512-471-6564 fax ====================================================================== 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") ====================================================================== ====================================================================== 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") ======================================================================
