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What's New - 11/12/12 (Version 2.3.3)

See the following to learn about eRPM enhancements to the Subcontract process and Post a Comment emails, as well as other PAF and email changes.

Subcontract (SUBK) changes:

eRPM Subcontract functionality continues to evolve as eResearch, ORSP, and the Office of Contract Administration (OCA) work to automate the processes.

SUBK Worksheet changes
SUBK process variations for "PHS PAFs"
Create a SUBK for an active award - new process
SUBK access

1. SUBK Worksheet Changes

Introduction - you can now specify either a SUBK Administrative Contact or an Institutional/Sponsored Programs Office Official as the contact person for the subcontracting organization. You must identify at least one contact person when initiating a SUBK with a PAF. OCA requires both when you submit the SUBK.

Details page - has expanded into two pages (Details & Additional Details) to capture more of the data that OCA needs to create the contract. New fields include:

Subcontract Project Period Start and End Dates (validation applied)
Cost sharing
Clinical Research or Phase III Clinical Trial

OCA required documents - the list of documents to upload (as applicable) now includes:

Small Business Subcontract Plan
Certificate of Current Cost or Pricing Data
Non-Prime Award Agreement

Note: you can update documents, save a document as a different type, or upload a new version of a document, but you cannot delete documents.

2. SUBK Process for "PHS PAFs"

The SUBK process varies if the subcontract is associated with a PAF whose sponsor follows the PHS financial conflict of interest (FCOI) regulation. These variations include:

Complete the Manage SUBK Conflict of Interest Documents activity to upload required COI documents from the sub-recipient (e.g., COI Policy Form) before you submit the SUBK.

Picture of the Manage SUB K Conflict of Interest Documents activity

This activity appears only for SUBKs associated with a "PHS PAF".
Continue to upload the Letter of Commitment in the SUBK Worksheet, as this form contains information need to establish the contract.
You will receive an error message if you try to submit the SUBK prior to completing this activity.

The system first routes the SUBK to ORSP for FCOI review, then routes it to OCA to establish the contract. In this case, the SUBK state will be SUBK Project Representative Review.

3. SUBK Process for Active Awards (NEW!)

Add a new subcontract to awarded projects, including PAFs submitted to the sponsor prior to 08/13/12. The PAF isn't editable in these cases, so the process varies in the following ways:

To begin the SUBK, click the Add New Subcontract button on the Subcontract tab in the Active PAF. This button only appears once the PAF is active.

The Submit Subcontract Request activity includes a question to indicate if the new SUBK needs approval by the sponsor.

Note: this process replaces previous instructions to use the "Make Changes" or "Request DRDA Action" activities to indicate the need to associate a SUBK with a submitted or active PAF. If you have questions about what process to use, contact ORSP.

4. SUBK Access - Unit Reviewers & Approvers

Unit reviewers: Manage Departments now includes a Subcontract Email Notification section to identify who in the department (e.g., department administrator) should receive eRPM SUBK notifications. Add your department's SUBK notification recipient today!
Note: The department's Research Unit Liaison (UL) can also add email recipients.

Unit reviewers and approvers: you now have read/write access to SUBKs on which your department is the Administrative Home. You can add subcontract to a PAF or an awarded project and run SUBK activities (e.g., Submit Subcontract Request).

The Enter a Subcontract in eRPM procedure has been updated to reflect the changes.

PAF changes:

A new error message displays if you edit the PAF Worksheet to change the answer in question 2.2 (subcontracts) from "Yes" to "No". This message reminds you to remove all subcontracts entered in section 3 (Budgets).

Remember: if you need to remove a subcontract from an awarded project (i.e., Active PAF), use the Project Team Cancel Subcontract activity on the Subcontracts tab or in the SUBK Worksheet.

New! An alert now displays in the PAF Workspace (and in the associated SUBK Workspace, if applicable) if the sponsor follows the PHS Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) regulations.