Ruth Tallman from Lehigh University said:

<First, thank you all for your responses to my requests for help.  I
<thought that the RESADM-L could now (that the deadline is past)
<review our experiences with Fastlane for the IGERTS.  Maybe
<some of you are pros with Fastlane, but this was our first big push
<in using it.  We only had one or two other Fastlane proposal
<submissions.  It would be helpful for us to learn of
<your experiences, good and bad.

I think this is an excellent idea. By the way, I'm not sure if anyone
from the FastLane team subscribes to this listserv. Because of this,
I'll collect the comments and then send them along to Carolyn
Miller at NSF.

In the same vein, I HIGHLY recommend that each and everyone of us who
uses FastLane make good use of the "Send Comments" option at the bottom
of practically every FastLane web page. But please let them know when
they are doing something great in addition to any problems you might
come across. Remember, this is the ONLY full-functioning electronic
proposal submission system up and running out there right now. What
they have accomplished is amazing. And I'm sure that they could all
use an occasional pat on the back.

By the way, did you all know that there are only five or so programmers
working on the FastLane project? Let me make a comparison: My job at
UCLA is working on the R-NET project. Like MIT and others, we are
developing our conception-to-dust (as opposed to cradle-to-grave)
electronic research system. Trust me, our project has FAR more
programmers than the FastLane project--and we only have to satisfy one
institution! It truly amazes me what the NSF people have accomplished.

One of the most common complaints I've heard about FastLane is that
"they" keep changing the interface for proposal entry. Please know that
this is NOT a problem with FastLane, but a problem with the Programs
(e.g., IGERTS). While the FastLane programmers really want to spend
a great deal of time making FastLane a more robust system that helps
us all, they instead have to spend a lot of time programming in changes
for each individual program announcement. If a faculty member
complains to you about this "changing face," please suggest that they
contact their program director and let them know what a problem it is to
them as a researcher. The researchers really do have more clout. . .

Well, enough of that! I look forward to your comments, and I'll send
them
out next week.

Erin B. Lindsay
xxxxxx@ocga.ucla.edu
www.research.ucla.edu/era/
www.research.ucla.edu/rnet/