Re: HELP - Adobe submission problems Bob Beattie 12 Jun 2008 14:07 EST
I believe the Grants.gov staff (only 6 of them, by the way) under the new director are becoming more aware of our problems. They have always tried to be helpful but did not always know the full extent of the problems. Note that in the upper left corner of the home page there is now a warning "Alert: Grants.gov is currently experiencing system lag time. Applications are being accepted; however there may be a delay while the system processes the submission. We appreciate your patience while we work to resolve this issue and apologize for any inconvenience. This message will be removed once the issue is resolved." The director has written that he is aware of the delays and that agencies "are being very forgiving at the moment, know full well that problems exist. " If users have delays, send a message to help desk to document it so the sponsor knows you tried. My suggestions are be sure to check your mail to see if you get a verification message, even though you do not have a confirmation page. Do not wait more than 20-30 minutes for an application to give you a confirmation or that first email message. If it has not launched by then, I suspect it will not. Resubmit again. This is a bit of extra work, but G.g is having PureEdge to Adobe growing pains, now that more applications are coming in. 1500 last week. Bob on soapbox Sorry if I seem apologetic for G.g. I have been working on electronic submission systems since the mid-80's (1980's but it seems longer) and I want us to get one form, one system, and one portal. I will cut G.g some slack now to achieve that later. I have confidence in the new director to be more than a caretaker of the system. He does not know all that much about research administration, but he wants to learn. He spent quite some time talking to members of the FDP eRA committee at the last meeting. He tried to post some data to our group here, but did not know we are not all that system jargon literate :) He seems to be making the transition from prior career to be an advocate for research administration. He wants Grants.gov to succeed. He has to "fight" many of the granting agencies who want to keep their own system (so he reminds us that G.g is the premier system) and who would not want give full support to Grants.gov, he has to "fight" to get funding as Grants.gov is not a line item in anyone's budget, he has to "fight" higher ups who want to add more requirements to the system, FFATA for example. Those G.g guys are almost prone to siege mentality. I hope he can count on us to be allies in the process. Nevertheless, we need to continue to register complaints and offer suggestions. But try to be hopeful that "things will get better." Michael and Vince have been doing a great job for a couple of years, and the new staff have excellent promise. I am confident. Let's keep sharing ideas here, helping each other, offering suggestions. Can you imagine dealing with the e-submission business without this listserv?!! Bob steps down Thanks Bob ------------------------------ Robert Beattie Editor, eRA Corner, NCURA Magazine UMich e-Business Point of Contact UMich Grants.gov Liaison Managing Senior Project Representative for Electronic Research Administration Division of Research Development and Administration University of Michigan xxxxxx@umich.edu (734) 936-1283 Learn more about Grants.gov @ UMICH http://www.research.umich.edu/era/grants_gov/ On Jun 12, 2008, at 1:55 PM, Kellie Dyslin wrote: Thanks so much to everyone who replied. I would have sworn I posted an update to this situation yesterday; however, I don't see it ... After receiving Bob's reply, I checked the account we use for submission confirmation e-mails, and sure enough, there was confirmation of both submission and validation of the ap, despite my never having gotten a confirmation page. When I read Sharon's note about the icon on the bottom/side of the page, I vaguely remembered that post. Anyway, sounds like we were more fortunate than some others whose submissions did not get in. Yikes. More ammunition to get PIs to submit early! >>> Dianne Sheridan <xxxxxx@SUU.EDU> 6/12/2008 9:25 AM >>> Definitely a server issue, at least yesterday. I spent 7 hours trying to submit, 50 minutes on hold for g.g to be told there is a server issue and to call my agency. The BJA is aware there was a problem and has not indicated how they will handle it, only that they will contact me regarding their decision. I just hope it doesn't go something like: you know that we are not responsible for technical difficulties and you could have submitted earlier. Dianne Dianne Sheridan Interim Coordinator Sponsored Research & Grants Southern Utah University 351 W. University Blvd AD 304C Cedar City, UT 84720 Ph 435 865 8175 Fax 435 586 5475 xxxxxx@suu.edu >>> Jennifer Donais <xxxxxx@RESEARCH.UMASS.EDU> 6/12/2008 6:33 AM >>> We had this problem yesterday! Must be a server issue. Sharon Smith wrote: > We had the same problem on Monday. We tried repeatedly and finally we > received a email confirmation with tracking # that the application was > received successfully. However, the window continued to say > “process..”. The next day we received a message that the application > was received 3 times. Someone on the listserv said that at the bottom > or side of the page that says “processing..” there is a small icon > that you can click that will display the confirmation page. > > GOOD LUCK! > > > > > > Sharon D. Smith, M.S. > > Research Development Specialist > > MTSU Office of Research and Sponsored Programs > > P.O. Box 124 > > Murfressboro, TN 37132 > > Phone: (615) 898-5894 > > Fax: (615) 494-7846 > > Email: xxxxxx@mtsu.edu <mailto:xxxxxx@mtsu.edu> > > > > From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@hrinet.org] On > Behalf Of Kellie Dyslin > Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 3:41 PM > To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org > Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] HELP - Adobe submission problems > > > > All, > > We're submitting our first Adobe package here at NIU, for the HUD > Early Doctoral Research Grant Program. I upgraded to Adobe Pro 8, made > sure only Reader 8.1.2 was installed, and only opened the package in > Reader 8.1.2. I've tried submitting 3 times now (maybe four, I'm > losing count along with my mind), and am having the same problem > Beverly had below. I called G.G. support, and after waiting 10+ > minutes, the rep told me to "keep trying, they are very busy today." I > tried Beverly's method, and got an error message that I tried opening > the package with a non-supported version of Adobe. > > > > This grant must be submitted and validated by tomorrow by midnight, so > I am VERY nervous on behalf of the PI. Any suggestions? > > > > >>> "Robertson, Beverly" <xxxxxx@KENT.EDU> 3/12/2008 3:08 PM >>> > > All – > > Being an ‘ask forgiveness, not permission’ kinda gal, I went ahead and > submitted my application after posting my questions. I had a few days’ > grace period anyway before the deadline, and I wanted to see what > would happen. > > Here’s what happened: > > Upon signing and submitting the application a message appeared at the > top of the package to the effect that it was processing, and to wait > for a confirmation. Nothing else happened after that. No confirmation, > no errors, nothing. I closed the package after about 40 minutes and > tried again with the same result. I called grants.gov and after some > basic checking of software, settings, etc., was advised to move the > application package to the desktop, open Internet Explorer in > ‘reduced’ mode (not minimized, but a smaller window so the desktop was > visible), then ‘drag & drop’ the application package into IE. The g.g > support person indicated this can speed up the submission if the > system is slow (who knew?). The first attempt with this strategy > resulted in a ‘failed submission –try again later’ response. Upon my > g.g tech person’s advice I rebooted, did the drag & drop procedure > again, and voila – successful submission followed by a successful > validation. > > The morals to this story are: > > * Apparently it makes no difference what version of Adobe it says > the application package is when you download it, as long as you > consistently open and work in it with the correct version of > Reader. > * Be careful even when opening Reader – it may open Professional > as a default if you’ve had Professional open prior. I’ve learned > to open, verify it’s the correct version and if not, close and > try again. That usually works. I’ve also learned to ask our IT > staff to upgrade our Professional to 8. > * When in doubt, drag and drop (which I’ll probably remember as > ‘drop and roll’ the next time I submit an Adobe package). > > > > Thanks again! > > > > Beverly Robertson > > Sponsored Programs Administrator > > Research & Graduate Studies > > 330-672-0711 / 330-672-7991 fax > > 134 Cartwright Hall (Auditorium) > > Kent State University > > Kent, OH 44242-0001 > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > From: Robertson, Beverly > Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 11:29 AM > To: 'xxxxxx@hrinet.org' > Subject: Two Adobe g.g questions > > > > Folks – > > I’m sure these have both been addressed on the listserv but I just > can’t ferret them out in the archives. > > My first question is: > > * when I download an Adobe application from grants.gov and save it > to my PC, then right-click on it, it says it’s a 7.0 version > document. Is there something I need to do in IE to have it > download as an 8.1.2 version? We do have 7.0.9 Professional and > 8.1.2 Reader, and I’ve followed the previously-posted advice to > make 8.1.2 my default. I don’t see where I can change the > version default in Internet Explorer though. Please advise. > > My second question is: > > * Also, I thought I read something on the listserv recently about > printing all attachments to a Reader file as a group(?). > > > > Thanks a million! > > Bev R. > > > > Beverly Robertson > > Sponsored Programs Administrator > > Research & Graduate Studies > > 330-672-0711 / 330-672-7991 fax > > 134 Cartwright Hall (Auditorium) > > Kent State University > > Kent, OH 44242-0001 > > > > ====================================================================== > 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") > ====================================================================== > -- Jennifer Donais, CRA Associate Director Office of Grant & Contract Administration Research Administration Building 70 Butterfield Terrace University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003 (413) 545-5888FAX (413) 577-1595 http:://www.umass.edu/research/ogca Notice: This email (including attachments)is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521, is confidential and may be legally privileged. 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