Proposal Management Phases

  • Current Phase 1 – Routing, approval and submission of proposals to external sponsors including Grants.gov
  • Future Phase 2 – Internal system integration
    • Enhance eRPM functionality with existing systems (i.e., M-Pathways, eResearch Regulatory Management, PEERRS, and eSirius)

  • Future Phase 3 – Routing, approval, and submission of proposals to internal funding sources
  • Future Phase 4 – Budget development online tool

Background

The eResearch Proposal Management (eRPM) project resulted from an analysis of the existing UM proposal management process. Some of major issues identified include:

  • Manual processes
    • Manual and paper intensive nature of proposal development, review and approval.
    • Research community members often enter proposal/award date three different times (PAF, PRISM, M-Pathways).
    • Processes to track and communicate status and approval of proposals are manual.
  • Customized processes
    • Each school or college has its own customized process to manage pre-award submissions.
  • Administrative Burden
    • Faculty concerns about increasing administrative burden, which will continue to increase with the requirement to submit proposals to Grants.gov by the end of 2007.
    • Grants.gov submission and the current person-to-system submission process is increasing the administrative burden throughout the research community.
  • Data/Reporting
    • Faculty identification of financial reporting as an issue.
    • Leadership concerns (Dean level and above) about the lack of data and reporting regarding University’s total research activities.

To learn more, check out the eResearch Proposal Management Overview presentation and click the arrows below.

Expand/Collapse Project Goals

The primary goals of the eResearch Proposal Management (eRPM) System are:

  1. Reduce the administrative burden for investigators and staff.
  2. Improve the quality and amount of information available to faculty about research proposal status through electronic routing, approval, and submission of proposals.
  3. Enable the University to complete Grants.gov system to system submission.
  4. Enable investigators to collaborate electronically when developing proposals.
  5. Provide central data repository for the University’s total research enterprise, including total dollars proposed, total dollars awarded, and the sources of funding for research projects.
  6. Eliminate duplicate data entry.
  7. Provide opportunities to expedite the approval process and possibly extend the internal proposal deadline for investigators.
  8. Provide opportunities for enhancement to research compliance system, as research systems are integrated to improve data integrity and information sharing throughout the organization.
Expand/Collapse Financial Considerations
  • Sponsored Proposals Submitted by the University of Michigan in FY 2006:
    • Total 5,421 (2,589 Federal)
    • Dollar Value $3,394,036,963 ($2,751,417,706 Federal)
  • Sponsored Awards Received by the University of Michigan in FY 2006:
    • Total 2,487 (917 Federal)
    • Dollar Value $942,886,146 ($713,610,727 Federal)
Expand/Collapse Phased Implementation

eResearch Proposal Management (eRPM) system is being developed in phases over a three year period to assist the UM research community in applying for and managing research funds.

Starting in 2008, the first phase of the eRPM will be released to UM researchers and staff. It will include:

  • New interactive PAF form that accommodates the electronic routing, approval, and the submission of funding proposals to external sponsors, including a system-to-system interface for Grants.gov.
  • Data warehouse environment that contains all PRISM data and allows for predefined and customized reporting.

Anticipated benefits:

  • Enable University to meet federal government's requirement for the university to submit proposal to Grants.gov for agencies such as National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.
  • Eliminate duplicate data entry of PAF information by the research community.
  • Increase institutional consistency while maintaining unit flexibility.
  • Create a single source for proposal and award data and eliminate the need to maintain separate paper files for each unit.
  • Increase institutional data available regarding proposals.
Expand/Collapse Project Team

The eRPM project is a collaborative effort with faculty and staff from the UM Research Community to develop a research proposal management system. Listed below are the major project players.

Project Management

MAIS and OVPR/DRDA are partnering together to lead this project.

Co-Project Managers

  • Cathy Handyside
    Michigan Administrative Information Systems (MAIS)
  • Jim Randolph
    Division of Research Development and Administration (DRDA)

Design Teams

eRPM will also leverage user involvement by establishing multiple Design Teams of stakeholders to determine the system functionality. The current design teams are:

  • PAF/Proposal Tracking/Data Warehouse
  • Proposal Routing & Approval
  • Proposal Preparation

Departmental Advisory Team

The Departmental Advisory Team is made up of key unit representatives who are involved in the current proposal development and submission process to validate design team decisions. They review and provide feedback on system design to ensure system meets requirements and is easy to use.

Development Team

The MAIS Research Administration Systems Team, led by Cindy Wells, configures software from Click Commerce to meet the specifications of the University of Michigan.