New Electronic Signature Process: Effective June 1, 2001

For the past several months, NSF has been assessing various solutions for use in implementing electronic signatures for proposals submitted to the Foundation. Upon consideration of the results of pilots conducted on electronic signatures, as well as re-reviewing the existing legal and regulatory requirements relative to government-wide certification requirements, the Foundation has concluded that the most appropriate method for obtaining electronic signatures is to require only Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) signatures in proposals submitted to NSF.

The result of this new approach is that NSF will now receive an electronic password-based signature from the AOR, but will no longer require the signature (paper or electronic) of any identified PI or co-PI. With implementation of this electronic signature strategy, NSF will be able to eliminate the requirement for organizations to submit a paper signed Proposal Cover Sheet within 5 days following the electronic submission of the proposal

In order to implement NSF's electronic signature process, effective immediately, all organizations are required to designate the individual(s) authorized to sign on behalf of their organizations. This can be done by accessing the "Change User Permissions" function available via the Research Administration section of FastLane and then assigning your organization's AOR(s) the "Authorized Organizational Representative Functions" permission.

Effective June 1, 2001, all proposals to NSF are required to be electronically signed by the AOR. This process can concurrently occur with submissions of the proposal for those organizations where the individual authorized to submit proposals to NSF also is a designated AOR, or as a separate function for those organizations that choose to keep the certification process separate from the submission function. For those using the separate function, AORs with Authorized Organizational Representative Functions permission will use the "Authorized Organizational Representative Functions" application within Research Administration to electronically sign proposals.

Before assigning the permission to an AOR, the AOR needs to be a FastLane user. If the AOR is not a FastLane user, he/she can be added by using the Add, Modify, and Delete FastLane Users module within Research Administration. At that point, click on "Change User Permissions", pull up the name of the AOR, and then click on the small box next to the Authorized Organizational Representative Functions permission and then click on the 'OK' button. This assigns the AOR the permission required to electronically sign proposals.

An addendum to the Grant Proposal Guide will be issued in the near future that implements this new electronic signature process for use in submission of proposals to NSF.

We believe that the electronic signature strategy developed is the least burdensome and most prudent approach to resolution of the electronic signature issue. We look forward to working with the NSF proposer community in implementing this important change.

Any questions regarding the new signature policy should be addressed to the Policy Office, Divisions of Contracts, Policy & Oversight by email to policy@nsf.gov or by phone to: (703) 292 - 8243. For FastLane user support, phone 1-800-673-6188 or email fastlane@nsf.gov.

( Item 13 of 28 - June 2001 )

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