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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>I agree that this is an issue, but I think don’t
necessarily agree with Bruce’s interpretation of UCR’s policy with
respect to the solution.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>It has always been understood that the three-day and seven-day
lead times refer to the time that OR needs to perform its administrative review
– not to the time that OR needs to submit the proposal after having
completed its review. I am skeptical that we can have every proposal ready to
submit three days ahead of the deadline, and I am skeptical that OR is equipped
to submit all proposals three days ahead of the deadline even if they are ready
to go.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>A more realistic approach might be to have everything ready for
submission at least 24 hours before the deadline. This should give OR time to
submit proposals before traffic jams hit, and to get case numbers well before
the deadline if there are problems. It should be reasonably easy to enforce
with the PIs, too, since this was the norm when we had to allow time to print
and ship proposals on paper.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>We also need to ask OR to re-evaluate how it schedules staff on
big deadline days. For example, if there is a Grants.gov deadline of noon California
time on a Monday, it might be necessary to have someone available over the
weekend to submit proposals when traffic will be low. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>* * * * * </span><span style='color:#1F497D'><br>
</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Mitch Boretz</span><span style='color:#1F497D'> <br>
</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Bourns College of Engineering, UC Riverside</span><span
style='color:#1F497D'> <br>
</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>951-827-7069</span><span style='color:#1F497D'> <br>
</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>mitch@engr.ucr.edu</span><span style='color:#1F497D'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div>
<div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>
office-of-research-bounces@lists.ucr.edu
[mailto:office-of-research-bounces@lists.ucr.edu] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Bruce
Morgan<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, March 06, 2009 8:15 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> office-of-research@lists.ucr.edu<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Office-of-research] Continuing Problems with Grants.gov
Jeopardize UCR's Proposals<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>From: Bruce Morgan<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>To:
Principal Investigators and Unit Contract and Grant Analysts<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Research administration
colleagues from across the country are continuing to report significant
problems with the submission of proposals through Grants.gov. Most
recently, it was reported that Grants.gov user IDs were “disabled”
and the institution reporting this problem was not able to get the IDs
reactivated. Likewise, when they tried to establish new IDs, those could
not be activate as well.<span style='color:black'> </span><span
style='color:red'> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>UCR is not immune from these
types of problems. Earlier this year, a proposal arrived in the Office of
Research one hour before the sponsor’s submission deadline. Shortly
after submitting the proposal, just one minute before the deadline expired, the
Office of Research received a notice stating that the Contract and Grant
Officer who submitted the proposal was not an Authorized Organizational
Representative (AOR). We immediately contacted the Grants.gov help desk
and they confirmed that the submitter was an AOR and directed us to resubmit
the proposal. After doing so, we were contacted by the sponsor and told
that they would not accept the proposal because it was late (i.e., the sponsor
received the second submission two hours after the deadline expired).
Currently, we continue our efforts to convince the sponsor to accept our
proposal and have received additional information from the Grants.gov help desk
to support our request.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>It is important to note that
this situation could have been avoided if the proposal had been submitted to
the Office of Research in accordance with UCR’s long-established lead
times. The lead times are intended to allow sufficient time to conduct an
institutional review of the proposal, approve it and ensure that it is
submitted and accepted in advance of the sponsor’s deadline. The
UCR campus policy regarding the review, approval and submission of proposals,
which is available on the OR website at <a
href="http://or.ucr.edu/policies/policies.aspx?k=8"
title="http://or.ucr.edu/policies/policies.aspx?k=8">http://or.ucr.edu/policies/policies.aspx?k=8</a>.
The policy contains information on the three business-day lead time for
standard proposals, the seven business-day lead time for non-standard
proposals, and lists the criteria for determining whether a proposal is
standard or non-standard. Additional information regarding proposal
preparation and submission can also be found on the OR website at <a
href="http://or.ucr.edu/SP/Lifecycle/Prepare/index.aspx"
title="http://or.ucr.edu/SP/Lifecycle/Prepare/index.aspx">http://or.ucr.edu/SP/Lifecycle/Prepare/index.aspx</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Please note that the <a
href="http://or.ucr.edu/home/Staff.aspx?t=3"
title="http://or.ucr.edu/home/Staff.aspx?t=3">Contract and Grant Officer
assigned to your unit</a> is available to answer your questions regarding
sponsor electronic proposal submission systems, technical problems and
administrative challenges associated with such systems, and campus proposal
submission policy and procedure. In addition, your Contract and Grant
Officer is also available to meet individually or with groups of researchers
and/or administrators within a unit to address their proposal-related
questions, as well as provide guidance and advice regarding strategies and good
practices for planning proposal submissions and avoiding known technical
challenges with sponsor electronic proposal submission systems.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The problems that we and our
colleagues at other institutions are experiencing are real, but their effect on
UCR’s proposals can be minimized through careful planning. It
is clear that Grants.gov is failing the research community but until it is
replaced we will have to continue using this system which means that if
proposals are left to the deadline day for submission there is no assurance
they will be accepted by the sponsoring agencies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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