Inside eRA, June 5, 2002 (Volume 3, Issue 7)

NCI Reaches Six-Digit Grant Serial Numbers

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) reached a milestone when grant serial number CA-99999 was assigned. The next application to be referred to NCI by the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) received a six-digit serial number. IMPAC II assigns numbers sequentially within NIH Institute or Center (IC).

There are several interim changes to IMPAC II processing to accommodate longer NCI grant numbers. Since IMPAC I does not support six-digit serials, the reverse bridge from IMPAC II to IMPAC I has been modified to suppress the transfer of these numbers. It is expected that the new NCI applications will not be considered for funding until FY03. Systems will be upgraded so that the Office of Financial Management (OFM) will be able to process these awards.

In addition, CSR will adopt special procedures for handling 901 transfers from any IC to NCI for FY02 awards. The Division of Receipt and Referral (DRR) will manually enter a five-digit number from an unused NCI range so that the record can be reverse-bridged and receive funding through OFM.

Transfers from NCI grants with six-digit numbers to another IC and NCI grants with six-digit numbers that need to be paid in FY02 will require special processing by the System Quality Assurance and Interfaces Branch (SQAIB).

New Peer Review Screens Automate Ordering CDs for Reviewers

The May 17 release of the Peer Review module includes support for the online ordering of compact disks (CDs) for reviewers. These CDs will replace the conventional books of grant applications currently distributed to members of a study section. The assigned reviewers, however, will continue to receive paper copies.

Several groups currently are piloting the CD ordering system. All Institutes and Centers (ICs) have the flexibility to phase in this functionality as they reengineer their business practices. The Center for Scientific Review (CSR), for example, will begin with five participating IRGs (AIDS, BCS, CDF, IFCN and SRB) and will add four IRGs for the October meetings. CSR plans to open online ordering to all study sections for the February 2003 meetings.

With the approval of their IRG chief, Scientific Review Administrators (SRAs) and Grants Technical Assistants (GTAs) can order CDs using new screens, accessible from the Review module banner. Each night, the day’s orders are batched and sent to a vendor for processing. The completed CDs are delivered directly to the requestor’s office. For proper delivery, it is essential that the user’s IMPAC II work (WRK) information (address, telephone and email) be correct and complete. This information will display on the CD ordering screen. Corrections, however, need to be made through the Committee Management module.

The CDs contain images of grant applications assigned to the study section, related prior summary statements, relevant Program Announcements (PAs) and Requests for Applications (RFAs), a template for R01 reviews (if the meeting contains R01s), and a CD user guide. Also included are a self-starting version of Adobe Acrobat and an Adobe user’s guide. IC-specific review guidelines can be added by providing the vendor with a Web link to this information.

If particular reviewers must NOT see given applications, these reviewers should be designated as having a “CD Conflict” (a new type of conflict). When ordering CDs, users specify the number of masters (with all applications) and verify the list of custom CDs. These custom CDs exclude applications in conflict. Note that simple institutional conflicts do NOT require a custom CD.

CDs are compatible with both PCs and Macs. Indexing enables users to search across all applications (alphabetically or by number) or within a single application. It is possible to highlight text on the CD and copy it to a word processor file.

During fiscal year 2002, all costs associated with CD production will be assumed by the eRA Project. By October 1, 2002, however, Institute and Center (IC) Executive Officers must provide Dr. John McGowan, the eRA Project Manager, with a Common Account Number (CAN) to charge the IC for all costs associated with CD orders placed in fiscal year 2003. ICs are encouraged to establish accounts as soon as possible to relieve the eRA project of this financial burden. Alternatively, ICs can choose to download grant application images directly from IMPAC II and produce their own CDs.

CD production is a by-product of eRA’s scanning initiative. Since January 2002, the Office of Research Services (ORS) has been scanning all applications received by CSR. The creation of CDs for reviewers represents a step toward achieving eRA’s federally mandated goal of processing electronic grant applications by FY2003.

For more information, contact eRA analyst Michael Cox at coxm@od.nih.gov or 301-435-0924.

NIH to Implement Electronic T-5 Notification for Grantees

Starting in August 2002, NIH will transition the notification of due date information for Non-Competing Grant Progress Reports from hard copy mailing of preprinted PHS 2590 and PHS 416 face pages to electronic notification (e-notification). The new notification system was announced in the NIH Guide on May 2, 2002 (see Notice NOT-OD-02-047). The last pre-printed Type 5 face pages to be mailed will be for awards with start dates in November 2002.

For December 2002 starts and beyond, NIH will provide due date information for Non-Competing Grant Progress Reports in two ways:

• The NIH Office of Extramural Research will post due date information on a public website that will have limited search and sort capabilities. Grantees may choose to use this website until they register for the NIH Commons. Institutions that have not registered will not receive e-mail reminders or have access to pre-populated face pages.  
• Upon registering for the NIH Commons, the institutional official will provide a central e-mail address for notification of NIH pending actions. By this means, the institution will receive a list of pending progress reports. These grantees also will have access to a PDF version of the pre-populated face page through the Commons Status module.

The accuracy of the new T-5 notification system will depend on Institute and Center (IC) staff using the T-5 Receipt screen in IMPAC II. Entering the Receipt Date becomes mandatory in August 2002. T-5s will not drop off the list of pending progress reports until their receipt is recorded in the database. 

Since Commons status reports will include contact information for the assigned Program Officer (PO) and Grants Management Specialist (GMS), data also must be entered in these IMPAC II fields. Assigned PO is already mandatory; Assigned GMS will become mandatory in July.

In her presentation on e-SNAP and e-Notification at the May 10 eRA Symposium, Marcia Hahn, Advocate for Grants Management, called on NIH staff to help educate the grantee community about the new website for T-5 information. Details will be provided to both NIH staff and the grantee community as the launch date of the website draws near. She also asked colleagues to encourage grantees to register in the Commons to benefit from e-notification. It is expected that Commons registration will open up to all grantees sometime in August 2002.

eRA: What’s in it for me? Sheds Light on Vision and Capabilities

On May 10, 450 NIH employees attended eRA: What’s in it for me? at the Natcher Conference Center. The symposium, viewed on videocast by an additional 300 staff, provided both the broad vision of the eRA project as well as detailed descriptions of specific capabilities.

Dr. Steven J. Hausman, deputy director of NIAMS, eRA advocate for Paperless Business Practices and chair of the symposium, explained eRA’s objectives and benefits in his plenary address. The primary goal of eRA is to implement user-driven, user-friendly, highly reliable and secure systems that provide a complete set of tools for access to grant information. At the same time, eRA aims to convert NIH’s grant administration processes from paper-based to electronic.

In her opening greeting, Dr. Wendy Baldwin, NIH deputy director for extramural research, remarked that now that the community has had the opportunity to use some of the tools, “you can really feel the excitement.” She encouraged users to learn about new eRA capabilities and to participate fully. “This system is only as good as the feedback we get from the people who are at the ground level using [it].”

Setting the stage for the breakout sessions, Dr. Hausman provided an overview of the grant lifecycle showing how eRA’s IMPAC II modules support the grant processing workflow from application receipt to grant closeout. For a description of the breakout sessions, see the April 9 issue.

Commons Working Group Prepares for Commons Version 2

The Commons Working Group (CWG) met in Washington, D.C., on May 19. One of the major items on the agenda was to prepare for the first release of Commons Version 2, which is scheduled to be deployed in August to grantee institutions currently registered on the Commons. Representatives from 16 grantee institutions that comprise the CWG collaborated with NIH staff on pilot testing procedures and outreach activities. According to current plans, Commons Version 2 will be opened to all grantee organizations by the end of August. Once broadly available, all grantee institutions will be expected to register.

As part of the brief pilot deployment prior to open registration, CWG institutions will confirm the functionality of the first three Commons components to be developed using J2EE technology: Accounts Administration; Profile Administration; and Status. A five-step deployment/test procedure will allow logon by the grantee institution’s Signing Official/Accounts Administrator to validate institutional profile (IPF) data, add information about organizational hierarchy, verify existing accounts, create additional accounts, and check the status of pending applications, including the generation of pre-populated forms for renewals.

Marcia Hahn, Advocate for Grants Management, provided the CWG with an update on e-SNAP, scheduled for deployment in the fall. e-SNAP will be the new Commons interface for the electronic submission of SNAP non-competing (Type 5) progress reports. Ms. Hahn also discussed a new electronic notification process for grantees that are registered in the Commons. See the full article in this issue for details. 

Under the leadership of Advocate George Stone, the CWG has played an important role in determining requirements for Commons Version 2. The group was instrumental in the implementation of single point of ownership of institutional and professional profiles and full user-defined organizational hierarchy (see May 3 Inside eRA for Partners). The design of the new Commons Web screens strongly reflects CWG responses to a recent Graphical User Interface (GUI) survey; and the business process reengineering (BPR) for e-SNAP is based, in large part, on CWG recommendations. The CWG currently is assisting the NIH with the BPR of the competitive application.

Everett Sinnett Joins the eRA Project Team

Everett (Ev) E. Sinnett, Ph.D., has joined the eRA Project Team as an analyst working in the Software Analysis and Development branch. While continuing to manage his Respiratory Physiology Study Section, serving on the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) Information Technology Resource Allocation Committee and acting as the IMPAC II liaison to the CSR, Ev will focus most of his attention on eRA design projects.

Ev served on the Steering Committee for DART, the predecessor to the Review Module, and was a member of the Review Module Joint Application Development (JAD) team. He currently participates in the Review Users Group, the Internet-Assisted Review Focus Group and the Committee Management (CM) Users Group; he intends to take part in the upcoming CM JAD. Ev also is working on the CD ordering project and user’s guide.

ICs Designate Data Quality Control Contacts

Fifteen Institutes and Center (ICs) have designated their data quality control contacts. These individuals will have primary responsibility within their IC for modifying IMPAC II profile-level data that is associated with an NIH Commons account. In July, eRA will limit profile update access as a means of improving the quality of NIH information about its grantees.

With two exceptions, only the System Quality Assurance and Interfaces Branch (SQAIB) and the IC data quality control contacts will be authorized to modify demographic and sensitive data, degree and employment information and addresses of the type “HOM” and “RES” for profiles associated with Commons accounts. If, however, the Social Security Number (SSN) is blank or all zeroes, users will be able to update it. Also, Trainee Payback staff can change the “RES” address.

As a further restriction, SQAIB staff now must perform all profile collapse actions. Direct requests for profile collapses to the Helpdesk at 301-402-7469 or helpdesk@od.nih.gov.

eRA Sunsets IMPAC I Summary Statement Files

On June 1, 2002, the IMPAC I online summary statement files, &CBH1DRG.VSAM.PUBPNK (public) and &CBH1DRG.VSAM.DRGWKFLE (draft) were removed from the mainframe. This action followed the Extramural Program Management Committee (EPMC) decision that as of June 2002, all summary statements must be generated using IMPAC II.

Public summary statements, organized by council review cycle, will be stored on tape. A final list of summary statement history tapes will be published via IMPAC I Tech Notice at http://impacii.nih.gov/i1/technotice.htm.

IMPAC II Releases as of June 5, 2002

The following applications were deployed on May 17. Release notes are available by clicking on the module name.

Module	Version	Platform	Special Notes
Committee Management (CM)	3.9.12.0	C/S
CRISP + (CP)	3.4.9.0	C/S & Web
Grants Closeout System (GCS)	Limited Pilot	Web	Background Information
Grants Management (GM)	1.9.8.0	C/S
Inst. & Center Operations (ICO)	2.7.9.0	C/S & Web
Persons Module			See Person Administration section of CM, GM and REV release notes.
Population Tracking (POP)	1.0.0.0	C/S	Users should be granted POP_TRACKING_UPDATE_ROLE; API under development.
Query and Reporting (IQR)	1.1.4.0	Web
Quick View (QV)	1.8.6.0	C/S & Web
Review (REV)	3.0.2.0	C/S & Web	Patch to upgrade to 3.0.2.1 at ftp://impacii.nih.gov/impacii
Receipt and Referral (RR)	1.3.1.0	C/S
Training Activities (TA)	2.7.7.0	C/S
User Administration (UADM)	1.5.4.0	C/S & Web

For information about upcoming releases, contact the Helpdesk at 301-402-7469 or by email at helpdesk@od.nih.gov.

IMPAC II Training Schedule as of June 5, 2002

Population Tracking

eRA has scheduled the following demonstrations of the new Population Tracking module. To register, please contact the IMPAC II Helpdesk at helpdesk@od.nih.gov with your name, e-mail address and IC.

We are also working with the Human Resource Development Division (HRDD) to develop and schedule "hands-on" training for Population Tracking. For updated information, please visit http://learningsource.od.nih.gov/.

Other IMPAC II Courses

The Human Resource Development Division (HRDD) has scheduled the following IMPAC II courses. Unless otherwise noted, all classes are held at Executive Plaza South.

 

Course Title	Number	Date	Time	Tuition
Committee Management for CMOs and CMAs	5834	06/12/02	9 am–4 pm	$221
Committee Management for GTAs & Review Staff	5833	08/07/02	9 am–4 pm	$221
Committee Management for SREA Staff	5835	08/28/02	9 am–12 pm	$184
Grants Management	5827	06/13/02	9 am–4 pm	$221
Peer Review	5825	06/19/02	9 am–4 pm	$221

The following courses are also offered; however, there are no scheduled sessions at this time or scheduled classes are full. For more information or to request a class, visit the HRDD website at http://learningsource.od.nih.gov or call 301-496-6211.