Version 7.5 Release Notes

June 17, 2024

The eResearch Proposal Management system (eRPM) was updated with several enhancements to version 7.5 on June 17, 2024. 

Proposal Approval Form (PAF), Award (AWD), Subcontract (SUBK), and Unfunded Agreement (UFA) Enhancements

For Unit Research Administrators

  • Entering a related Award ID will be required in PAF Question 1.5 if the response to Question 1.2 (purpose of routing PAF) on submission type is "subsequent PAF on an existing AWD".

  • SF424 “Read” (view) access to Grants.gov projects was expanded. If you can view the PAF, you will see a Grants.gov link from the PAF workspace and can view the associated SF424 project. “Read” permission no longer needs to be indicated in PAF Question 2.6 Administrative Personnel. Note that “Edit” permissions will still be controlled based on selection in the PAF.

  • Certain federal projects may be routed to the Research Information Security Oversight (RISO) staff for review and approval of security risk term/conditions, thus “Risk Mitigation Approval” is a new Compliance Status item. RISO staff will reach out as needed to affected parties if and when they need additional information.

  • Changed the Project Team Request ORSP Action activity from a Comments textbox to predefined choices for selecting Pre-Award Action Request Types.

  • Any pending records in the state of “Proposal Preparation” or "Create UFA" that are older than 12 months will be cancelled by the system starting July 1, and annually thereafter. 

  • Added the U-M PI name to the subject line of email notifications sent from SUBK records, excluding the Assign and Accept SUBK Management emails.

  • Updated the Institutional Contact Person and Authorized Official with Shandra White, and replaced individual Project Representative (PR) names with [email protected] in the Copy PAF Info to Grants.gov Forms activity. Note: Any proposals that had the “Copy PAF” activity run on it before June 17, will not be updated to reflect the new information.

  • Granted Unit IT managers view and edit access to Research Security UFA worksheets.

  • Improved the email reminder messages sent to UFA Email Notifiers for units that have TCP reviews pending signature.

All Roles

  • Updated the document uploaders on UFA and ACR Worksheets to provide a consistent user experience throughout eRPM.

  • Updated the text and links to reference materials for clarity at the bottom of system-generated email notifications.

For Central Offices

Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (ORSP)

  • Updated the initiate award process to include Document Extraction and PAF to AWD mapping using U-M AI.

  • Added “Risk Mitigation (Research Security)” as a Special Term & Condition on PAFs and Awards and corresponding “Risk Mitigation Approval” Compliance Status.

    • ORSP can request a Research Security Review and will place a Compliance Hold until the review is complete.

  • Numerous Hardship changes including:

    • Separated the PR on PAF from the PR on Hardship, so it can be managed independently.

    • Updated the workflow to allow for a single PR touch and removal of ORSP Support Staff (ORSP - Staff and ORSP Coverage Roles).

    • Added Cost Share information from PAF to Hardship Form (for SSC).

    • Manage Factors view from PAF displays on Hardship workspace allowing you to view information without going back to the PAF workspace. Note that if you make changes to it from the Hardship, then you are also making the changes to the PAF.

  • Updated the PAF activity "Change Conflict of Interest" and the AWD activity "Manage Conflict of Interest" to remove the project PR as an email recipient.

  • Aligned activities displayed in the PAF and Award "Recent Activity" to match what is in the “Activity History”.

  • As of July 1, M-Inform attributes for "Has Management Plan" and " Has FCOI" will appear on the Award Compliance tab that displays the CAR information.

Research Information Security Oversight (RISO)

  • Created a new dashboard and activity for the Research Security Team to review and address PAF/AWD risk mitigation security risk terms/conditions.

  • Granted unit IT managers view and edit access to RISO Unfunded Agreement records.

  • Added a new Basic Safeguarding agreement type for system security plans.

Export Controls Office

  • Improved the email reminder messages sent to UFA Email Notifiers for units that have TCP reviews pending signature. This also enables better status tracking for the Export Controls office.

  • Updated the Project Representative (PR) drop-down list to only display Export Control staff on Export Control Agreement Details and Document Details views.

Conflict of Interest (COI)

  • Update the International Engagement Dashboard - JIT Lister to exclude PAFs in the states of “Award Processing” and “Awarded”.  Once the PAF is Awarded it becomes a historical record and work would be completed on the related Award.