Version 6.9

The eResearch Proposal Management system (eRPM) was updated with several enhancements to version 6.9 on February 27, 2023.

• Changes related to NSF Policy for off-campus research
• PI Job Code table updates
• Mod/ACR tab improvements
• Compliance enhancements
• Grants.gov
• UFA and SUBK
• Conflict of Interest office
• Office of Research and Sponsored Projects
• Sponsored Programs and Shared Services Center

Changes related to National Science Foundation (NSF) Policy for Safe and Inclusive Working Environment Plans

• When “Off-Campus Research” is used for PAF question 1.8 Proposal Type/Class Code, new system validation requires that PAF question 4.4 Will U-M employees be working off U-M property? must be answered “Yes.”

  • If 4.4 is answered “Yes”, then additional instructional text will appear below question 4.4.1 Identify location(s), reminding project teams to have a documented Safe and Inclusive Working Environment plan for each identified location.

• New attestation text for Unit Approvers (Administrative Home Department Approvers) to sign off that a plan has been prepared and will be disseminated if awarded.

  • See NSF Proposals Must Certify Safe Inclusive Working Environments for Off-Campus and Off-Site Research for more information.

Proposal Approval Forms (PAF), Awards (AWD), Award Modifications (MOD) and Award Change Requests (ACR) Enhancements

• Updated list of Job Codes for Principal Investigators (PIs)

  • All Librarian, Archivists, and Curators (LEO-GLAM LAC) job codes will not require unit approval; Emeritus/a job codes will require justification and unit approval. 

• Provided the ability for reviewers and approvers to Manage Administrative Personnel. Previously, the activity was only available to the project team (Administrative Home Department Approvers and members).

• Updated the "Mod/ACR" tab on Awards and Award Change Requests to assist with locating associated documents and PAFs.
  

• Provided the ability to display Help text on read-only versions of project forms, e.g., View PAF Worksheet. Previously, the new style of Help text could not be seen on read-only projects. 
  Note: We recommend using Safari, Chrome, and Edge web browsers to view worksheet Help, as there is a known issue with Firefox only displaying the first question’s blue box instructions.

• Replaced FastLane references with Research.gov (as found on PAF submission instructions, for example).

Compliance Enhancements

• Automated the compliance status check for M-Inform Disclosures on Awards and Modifications.
  

• Improved email notifications sent when an Award or Mod enters the Compliance Hold state to include more detailed information about the hold. A reference web page on ORSP's website provides even greater detail about holds.
  

• Created a "Compliance" tab for Modifications. Compliance Hold email notifications for Awards and Mods direct you to the Compliance tab to view applicable disclosure and international engagement information.
  

Grant.gov Forms (SF424)

• Updated the copy-map functionality to change the Congressional Districts for U-M Ann Arbor and U-M Flint.

• Corrected the Cognizant Official’s name and phone number on Budget forms. See Frequently Required Proposal Data & Documents.

Unfunded Agreements (UFA) and Subcontracts (SUBK) 

• Redesigned the pages to more current technology; visible changes include spacing and consistency of question text and response options. Additional slide-in screens may open to add/update data.

• Removed additional “OTT” references from UFA email subject lines. 

Hardships

• Redesigned help text and questions within Hardship Requests to improve accessibility and match that of the new help style on PAF.

For Central Offices

Conflict of Interest Office (COI)

• PAF: An email is now sent to the COI office once a PAF is submitted to sponsor and at least one of the following is true:  One of the sponsors is a U-M Startup or and the PAF is flagged as SBIR/STTR.

• See additional updates described in the Compliance Enhancements section above.

International Engagement (IE)

• International Engagement dashboard: Updated the New PAFs for Review and All PAF Reviews Pending listers to exclude PAFs with NIH sponsor and all PAFs, regardless of sponsor, in states of Cancelled, Turned Down, Withdrawn.

• PAF: Added new Other Support Review Outcomes for IE to use when running the Record Other Support Review activity:

  • Preliminary IE OS PAF Review - OS Updated

  • Preliminary IE OS PAF Review - No OS Updates Required

  • Preliminary IE OS PAF Review - OS Docs Not Required by Sponsor

  • Preliminary IE OS PAF Review - See Notes

  • No IE OS Review Until JIT or Award

• PAF: Updated Request JIT and Initiate Award Processing activities to trigger an Other Support Review when any of the project’s Key Personnel answers “Yes” to “Active foreign outside interest” in their M-Inform Disclosure(s).

• PAF: Updated View Disclosure Information to display a column on Investigator's Responses to having an “Active foreign outside interest”: Active IE-OI M-Inform (yes/no).
  

Office of Research and Sponsored Projects

• Enhanced ORSP coverage functionality to assist with work allocation when staff members are out of the office.

  • Coverage work appears in the existing project listers on the ORSP - PR workspace (inbox tabs).

  • All project lists include the PR last name to assist with sorting and filtering.

  • An Add or Remove Coverage activity is available to assign coverage.
    

Sponsored Programs and Shared Services Center (SSC)

• Updated the Project Grant Number (PGN) lookup on Awards and Modifications on the Manage Project Grants Manage Data view and in the Complete Account Assignment activity. The PGN “Status” and “Title” fields now appear before saving the page.