From what I can tell, you may have a serious flaw in your system. The NSF FastLane system requires submission of paper signature pages after submission of a grant electronically, as you do, which means you do receive proof of institutional approvals. However, FastLane requires proposals be submitted through the Sponsored Research Office rather than letting individual submit proposals directly on their own. That doesn't appear to be the case in you system. That means you may receive applications that are ill-conceived, inappropriate and may have to be withdrawn. Sponsored Research Office's work diligently with their faculty to assure projects are not in conflict with the institution's mission, are of high-quality, and meet the legal and financial requirments of the institution and the state. We must constantly remind our faculty that they are not independent contractors, and that as long as they are using university resources, grants are received by the institution, not the individual faculty member. The FastLane system which limits electronic submission to a single office has been accepted by our faculty. Such a process assures the institution has some control over proposals submitted in its name. It also assures that proposals received are and will be (legally) supported by the institution. This would seem to be a more efficient system for all parties involved. ************************************************************************** Nancy Kay Peterson Director of Grants & Sponsored Projects Somsen Hall Room 202-C Winona State University Winona, MN 55987 Phone: 507.457.5519 Fax: 507.457.2415 xxxxxx@winona.msus.edu http://www.winona.msus.edu/grants/ Marilyn Keyes <xxxxxx@RAMS. To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org COM> cc: Sent by: Subject: American Cancer Society practice site Research Administratio n List <xxxxxx@hri net.org> 11/29/99 12:03 PM Please respond to Research Administratio n Discussion List The American Cancer Society (ACS) has made its electronic grant application process available for practice at www.foundationcommons.org between now and January 7, 2000. After that date, the true application process begins for the March 2000 American Cancer Society submission deadline. American Cancer Society, the nation's largest private, not-for-profit source of funds for scientists studying cancer, awarded more than $84 million in 1997-98. T. J. Koerner, Ph.D., Director of Research Information Management at the American Cancer Society, especially invites research administrators to test and practice ACS' electronic grant application process and provide feedback. Your input will help ACS as it moves toward a complete electronic submission, review, and notification program. The practice period will allow Sponsored Programs personnel to familiarize themselves with the procedures of Foundation Commons and American Cancer Society as well as to train researchers as deadlines approach. Participants can register, download an application, work on the application offline, and then submit the "test" application to the American Cancer Society. Research administrators may register as themselves or as a researcher in their organization. When the application is submitted, the American Cancer Society will send an email confirmation and ask for feedback. Practice submissions can be repeated as often as necessary. Administrators may test the system itself or enlist researchers to give their feedback. Sample application material can be cut-and-pasted or converted to PDF to get a real sense of the process. All applications received through this test period will be purged from the database after January 7. As always, standard procedure requires signed approval from the institution before Foundation Commons sponsors can consider any grant application. To participate in the practice period, go to www.foundationcommons.org, click on the American Cancer Society logo, click on the "Begin" button and follow the instructions given. Technical assistance is available through the web site. American Cancer Society was the founding member of the Consortium developing Foundation Commons, designed as a common site for foundation grant applications. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation joined soon thereafter and recently was joined by Alzheimer's Association and Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. The site is administered by Research and Management Systems, Inc. (RAMS). For more information, contact Paul Rodman at Research and Management Systems, Inc. (RAMS), 404-350-3234 or xxxxxx@foundationcommons.org. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Submitted on behalf of American Cancer Society and Foundation Commons by: Marilyn T. Keyes Research and Management Systems, Inc. (RAMS) ====================================================================== 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") ======================================================================
