The Committee Management (CM) development team, in collaboration with the eRA Communications and Outreach Branch (COB) and the User Services Branch (USB), has scheduled CM Web training during June and July. These classes will prepare CM staff to use the new Web interface, which will become available to the entire community this summer.

The CM Web pilot now is in full swing, as participants from nine ICs use the new software to perform meeting and roster transactions. For more than a year, CM representatives have been working closely with eRA technical staff to redesign the CM client-server application from the ground up in a Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) Web environment.

According to Anna Snouffer, eRA advocate for CM, the pilot is going very well. “CM Web has incorporated a number of new features that CM users really needed and wanted… Every day, more CM users request to be a part of the pilot.” Developers have met with the pilot group on a monthly basis to receive constructive feedback and suggestions for enhancement. As a result of user input, the new application has improved screen layout and usability, robust querying capabilities, logical grouping of functions, and accessibility from home or wherever the user can connect to the Internet.

The first production release of CM Web will support meeting and roster functionality, including meeting and roster maintenance and five reports: Committee Roster, Meeting Roster, NIH-1715, Mailing Labels and Invitation to Travel Reports. All other CM transactions (i.e., Committee Administration, Federal Register Notices, Nomination Slates, Vouchers, OFM Uploads and Check Register) need to be performed using the client-server version. The CM Web module will run in parallel with the CM client-server application until all functionality is supported by the new Web version.

The CM technical team, COB and USB have been working together to provide a comprehensive training program for the community. In addition to the classroom instruction posted below, an online class will be available in eRA’s Virtual School. There also will be user manuals and quick-reference guides. Patty Austin, eRA training program administrator, expressed her gratitude to Krishna Collie, eRA analyst, for his assistance with preparing the CM training materials.

To register for one of the classes below, email the eRA HelpDesk or call 301-402-7469 or toll-free 1-866-504-9552. For more information or reasonable accommodation, contact Patty Austin at patty.austin@nih.gov or 301-435-0690, x617.