Inside eRA, December 26, 2001

IMPAC II 2002 Deployment Schedule Announced

IMPAC II will move to a bi-monthly release schedule beginning in January, as listed below. Releases will be mandatory for most business areas in each release cycle.

The new schedule reduces the burden on ICs by eliminating monthly updates of IMPAC II applications and provides additional testing time for eRA and IC technical staff. The Division of Extramural Information Systems (DEIS) User Support Branch (USB) has authority to hold compiled releases for any reason that benefits the user community, such as providing additional time for training or IC testing. For example, although the September 20, 2002 release will be ready for deployment on schedule, its release will be deferred until early October to allow for end-of-fiscal year processing.

In response to a request by the IMPAC II Technical User Group, a pre-release testing week will be added to each deployment cycle beginning in March. During this week, IC technical staff will be provided early access to the release for internal deployment testing. For example, the March 15 release will be available to IC technical staff on March 11. The pre-release software also will be available in a "staging" database to which any schema changes have been applied, enabling ICs to test extension systems that may be affected by such changes. Additional information on accessing the pre-release software and the "staging" database will be forthcoming on the IMPAC II Technical News listserv.

New Production Environment Enhances System Performance

eRA is rolling out a more robust production and development environment in January that will increase system speed, enable faster backups and recovery, and support additional database instances. The new configuration includes a release-training instance that enables IC technical staff to test new releases in a production environment before deployment to the entire user community [see IMPAC II 2002 Deployment Schedule Announced in this issue].

Migration to an enhanced storage area network (SAN) is scheduled for the weekend of December 28. All IMPAC II production instances will be unavailable from 5:00 p.m. on Friday, December 28, until approximately 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 31. The new SAN will provide the additional density and complexity required to support full application scanning [see Full Application Scanning Starts in January in this issue] and J2EE development.

The current production hardware will be dedicated to training and testing, providing additional space in an environment that more closely mimics the "live" system.

Summary Statement Phase III Slated for January

eRA anticipates moving to Phase III of the IMPAC II Summary Statement process in late January. As detailed in the October 16 issue, IMPAC II, not IMPAC I, will be the only comprehensive source of summary statements when Phase III begins. Changes in Phase III will affect how the Electronic Council Book (ECB) and IC extension systems access summary statements. eRA is working with ECB and Center for Information Technology (CIT) staff to address technical issues related to server connectivity to the new summary statements. We anticipate resolving these issues in time for the January deployment.

For assistance in creating summary statements in IMPAC II, refer to the Summary Statement Preparation User's Guide.

Full Application Scanning Starts in January

eRA will scan all NIH grant applications received by the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) beginning in January 2002. Over the next few months, authorized NIH users will be able to view competitive applications in the IMPAC II Grant Folder (accessed through Grants Management, QuickView, Review, Receipt and Referral, or ICO) approximately 72 hours after receipt and processing by CSR and to order CD-ROMs through IMPAC II. This conversion of paper documents to electronic images is an interim step in eRA's federally mandated goal of accepting electronic grant applications by FY2003.

Dr. Steven J. Hausman, Scanning Advocate, estimates that in FY2003, NIH can expect to scan 75 percent of all applications, with the remaining 25 percent received electronically via the NIH Commons. As demonstrated by the pilot projects conducted during the past two years, scanning dramatically reduces the costs of reproduction, labor, mailing, and storage space.

IMPAC II Supports Revised Grant Application

The January deployment of the IMPAC II Receipt and Referral (R&R) module will support the revised (05/01) Standard NIH Grant Application Package (PHS 398). Beginning January 10, applicants must use the modified form, which incorporates new race/ethnicity coding and the small business form for Phase 1, Phase 2, and Fast Track applications. The following 398 fields have been added to the R&H module: NIH-defined Phase III Clinical Trial indicator, Type of Organization, and DUNS Number.

For additional information, consult the R&R release notes available after January 18 or contact the Helpdesk at 301-402-7469 or by email at helpdesk@od.nih.gov.

Commons Working Group to Hold January Meeting in Austin, Texas

The next meeting of the NIH Commons Working Group (CWG) will be held in advance of the January 7-8, 2002 meeting of the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) in Austin, Texas.

The CWG will meet from 1:00-5:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 6, at the Omni Downtown Austin Hotel (the FDP meeting site). The major focus of the CWG meeting will be the continuing discussion and reengineering of the competitive grant application process. Several representatives of the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) will help lead a discussion of the history and evolution of the competitive grant application process. Depending on the participants' level of energy and the progress made, the meeting may extend past 5:00 p.m.

All CWG meetings are open to any interested party. The scope of the discussion lends itself ideally to institutional grants administrators, faculty, or faculty serving as NIH consultants or reviewers, as well as NIH staff who support the grants administration life cycle. The meeting format will allow for a free exchange of views from all in attendance.

For additional information about the meeting site, refer to the Meetings section on the FDP website at http://fdp3.org. For questions about the scope of the meeting, contact George Stone, NIH Commons Advocate, at (301) 435-0679 or by email at george.stone@nih.gov.

CUPID Retires December 31

The eRA Project Team has endorsed the December 31 retirement of the Computer Utility for Preparing IMPAC data for Downloading (CUPID). This WYLBUR utility enables users to retrieve mainframe data and save it in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Over the last year, CUPID usage has steadily declined; it recorded only two users in the past several months. The NIH Query/View/Reporting System (QVR) and the Electronic Council Book (ECB) provide all functionality offered by CUPID, as well as additional options. QuickView (QV), CRISP Plus, and the IMPAC II IC Operations (ICO) module also replace CUPID functionality.

For details of all functions slated for retirement, see Major IMPAC I Sunset Dates and Recommended IC Action.

System Architect Joins eRA Team

eRA has awarded AC Technologies a contract to provide system architect services. The on-board contractors are Kalpesh Patel and Chanath Ratnanather of Ekagra Software Technologies.

From 1995-1998, Kalpesh led multiple efforts in the IMPAC II project and served as architect, team lead, and software engineer. As the eRA architect, he will work with a new project-wide architecture panel to develop a vision statement and define the system architecture supporting the end-to-end extramural grants business process. Panel members include: Al D'Amico, Jim Cain, Ali Ghassemzadeh, Andy Greenleaf, Kalpesh Patel, Brad Sachar, Jay Silverman, Jerry Stuck, and Sherry Zucker.

Security Working Group Established

A working group chaired by Bobbi Spitzberg (OD) has been formed to address eRA's security needs. As the number of users and hardware components has increased, eRA must develop a security plan and implement procedures that safeguard our resources. In the next month, eRA will select a contractor who will perform a risk assessment for the project during the first quarter of 2002. 

New eRA Analyst Focuses on Helpdesk Support System

Amir Venegas joined the eRA Project Team in November. His initial assignment is to serve as the Lead Analyst and Database Administrator for HEAT®, a Web-based call tracking and problem management system that soon will be deployed by the Helpdesk. A graduate of the University of Maryland, Amir spent three years on the IMPAC II project with responsibilities ranging from Helpdesk Manager to Lead Database Administrator before moving to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA).

Extramural Focus Group Facilitates NIH Portal Enhancement

eRA team members have joined a focus group tasked with assisting NIH Enterprise Information Portal development. As representatives of the extramural community, the focus group is identifying essential data, documents, and tools for inclusion in the NIH Portal and developing taxonomy for organizing documents in Portal directories. Focus group members include Peter Alterman (OD), Carlos Caban (OD), Anthony Coelho (OD), William Darby (NEI), Burdette Erickson (NCI), Chip Groh (OD), Lawrence Morton (OD), Johnnie Pearson (Z-Tech), Brent Stanfield (CSR), Carol Wigglesworth (OD), and Marie Willett (OD).

IMPAC II Software Release Schedule as of December 26, 2001

The January 18 deployment [see IMPAC II 2002 Deployment Schedule Announced in this issue] will include the following: ICSTORe Phase II, Commons Status 1.94, and Subproject screen. All business areas will have a direct link to release notes from the application.

Module	Version	Highlights
Committee Management	3.9.10.0	Chairgrant enhancements: addition of meeting setup and vouchers and ability to validate chairgrant meetings.
CRISP Plus	3.4.7.0	Capability for trainees to search on their own indexed grants.
Grants Management	1.9.6.0	Access to ICSTORe.
Institute and Center Operations	2.7.7.0	New legal requirements for stem cell research. Updated checklist. ICSTORe enhancements.
Peer Review	3.0.0.0	Summary Statements Phase III [see Summary Statement Phase III Slated for January in this issue]. New legal requirements for stem cell research. ICSTORe enhancements.
QuickView	1.8.4.0	Ability to view the Snapshot report from the Grant Folder. ICSTORe enhancements.
Receipt and Referral	1.2.9.0	Support for revised PHS 398 [see IMPAC II Supports Revised Grant Application in this issue]. New legal requirements for stem cell research.
Training Activities	2.7.5.0	Email notification of rejected electronic appointments (from X-Train) will automatically be sent to PIs. More prominent display of Payback Status, eliminating the need for users to drill deeper into data screens. Termination Notices Due report more accurately shows terminations due.

Check the IMPAC II website for release notes after the deployment date. For information about upcoming releases, contact the Helpdesk at 301-402-7469 or by email at helpdesk@od.nih.gov.

IMPAC II Training Opportunities as of December 26, 2001

The Human Resource Development Division (HRDD) has scheduled the following IMPAC II courses.

Course Title	Number	Date	Time	Location	Tuition
Committee Management for CMOs and CMAs	5834	01/29/02	9 am - 4 pm	Executive Plaza South	$221
Committee Management for SREA Staff	5835	03/13/02	9 am - 12 pm	Executive Plaza South	$184
CRISP Plus	5829	03/12/02	9 am - 4 pm	Executive Plaza South	$141
Grants Management (GM)	5827	03/07/02	9 am - 4 pm	Executive Plaza South	$221
Peer Review	5825	03/27/02	9 am - 4 pm	Executive Plaza South	$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 or contact Mr. Ajoy Gadhok at 301-402-3384 or gadhoka@od.nih.gov.

Course Title	Number	Duration	Tuition
Committee Management for GTAs and Review Staff	5833	1 day	$221
Institute Center Operations (ICO)	5828	½ day	$184
QuickView	5830	½ day	$141