What's New - 01/07/2013 (Version 2.4)

See the following to learn about eRPM enhancements to the Subcontract process, as well as PAF and PAC changes.

Subcontract (SUBK) enhancements:

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

1. SUBK Management - Assigning & Accepting

New process! The PAF Administrative Home can now assign another U-M department to manage a SUBK associated with the PAF. "Management" indicates responsibility for entering and submitting SUBK details, receiving system notifications, approving the agreement, receiving concurrence receipts, etc.

Two activities are required to complete the process:

  • Assign SUBK Management - used by the PAF Administrative Home Department to:
    • Select the SUBK Managing Department
    • Identify if an Investigator listed on the PAF (other than the PAF Contact PI) will be the SUBK Managing Investigator.
    • Identify if an administrator listed on the PAF (other than the primary pre- and post-award administrator) will be the SUBK Managing Administrator.

  • Accept SUBK Management - used by the unit reviewer for the managing department to review assignments and confirm that the department will work with OCA to establish and approve the subcontract in eRPM.

Administrators - see the Assign SUBK Management procedure for instructions.

Unit Reviewers - see the Reviewer Quick Reference Card for instructions to accept SUBK Management.

2. Subcontract Draft Agreement - Approvals

New process! The PI and the unit now review and approve draft subcontract agreements in eRPM. This process replaces the paper approvals previously conducted with OCA. PI and unit approval is required before OCA sends the agreement to the subcontracting organization for their signature.

The general process in eRPM is:

See the PI Sign SUBK procedure for complete instructions, business process information, and tips.

Note: New SUBK email notifications are sent for the "manage" and "approve" processes. See the SUBK Notification matrix to learn which activities trigger an email, who receives it, etc.

3. SUBKs Tab (New)

PIs, Project Teams and Reviewers - check your home workspace for a new SUBKs tab. This tab displays at-a-glance status information of your SUBKs and provides quick access to locate and open SUBKs in any state (except Active).

PI & Project Team SUBK Tab Listers Unit Reviewer SUBK Tab Listers
SUBKs with Required Action SUBKs Ready for Unit Approval
SUBKs Not Yet Signed by PI (for approval) SUBKs with Required Action
SUBKs Ready for Completion (pre-submission) SUBKs Not Yet Signed by PI
SUBKs in Progress (post-submission) SUBKs Pending Acceptance from Managing Department

4. SUBK Worksheet Enhancements

  • If the SUBK budget dates aren't within the award's budget period date range, you receive a new warning message reminding you that they should be.
    You still can save and submit the SUBK if they're not.
  • Use the new Notes For the Office of Contract Administration field on the Subcontract Additional Details page to provide additional information (e.g., handling instructions for the draft agreement) to OCA, if applicable.

For updated instructions, see the Enter a Subcontract in eRPM procedure.

5. Other SUBK Changes

  • New SUBK states help you track progress of a submitted SUBK request towards activation:
State Description
SUBK PI Review Draft subcontract agreement has been created by OCA, uploaded into SUBK, and sent for review to the Contact PI or, if assigned, the Managing PI.
SUBK Unit Review PI has approved the draft subcontract agreement. The draft agreement is undergoing review by the Unit Reviewer.
OCA Processing - Unit Review PI & Unit have approved the draft subcontract agreement. OCA is completing any processing needed prior to sending the agreement to the subcontracting organization.
Subcontractor Processing OCA has sent the approved draft subcontract agreement to the subcontracting organization for their review and approval.
OCA Finalizing Draft subcontract agreement approved by the subcontracting organization. OCA preparing to activate the SUBK.

These states are visible on the SUBK Workspace, SUBKs tab in your home workspace, All SUBKs view, and the Subcontracts tab within PAF Workspace.

  • Updated:

    • The SUBK Summary to display the recently added SUBK Details fields (e.g., SUBK Managing Investigator, Notes for the Office of Contract Administration, Clinical Research Details).

      • The SUBK Post a Comment activity to include the option of emailing select Department SUBK Notifiers.

    • The Submit Subcontract Request activity to prevent SUBK submission to OCA prior to the acceptance of a management assignment by the Managing Department (as applicable).

    • The Attachments view in the SUBK workspace to include a Subcontracts Agreements section, from which you can access both the draft and final subcontract agreements posted by OCA.

    • The ORSP activity, PR Send to Project Team for Changes, to include a document uploader. Access posted documents (e.g., FCOI form) in the SUBK workspace from the Recent Activity list (Main tab), from Posted Documents (Attachments view), and from the Activity History tab.

    • The All SUBKs view now displays the Parent PAF for the SUBK.

    • The SUBK Email Notifications matrix to include the new activities for SUBK management and approval. Use this matrix to determine who receives the email, who runs the activity that triggers the email, etc.

  • Fixed: The document uploaders on the SUBK Introduction and Additional Details pages to display only the applicable Document Types for that page.

PAF changes:

  • Manage Administrative Personnel: A new system validation prevents deletion of an Administrator on the parent PAF when they are assigned as the SUBK Managing Administrator on a SUBK associated with that PAF. This ensures the Administrator retains access to the assigned SUBK. You will see an error message informing you why the deletion cannot be done.

    Note: ORSP will not be able to inactivate a UM PI who is assigned as the SUBK Managing Investigator for the same reason.

  • Updated: The PAF Summary (view and PDF) now lists the Primary Post-Award Administrator.

  • Updated: System notifications for PAFs, Hardships, UFAs, and SUBKs to remove DRDA references or to replace references with "ORSP", as applicable. Examples of updates include:
    • PAF ID replaces DRDA Number
    • PR replaces DRDA PR

    warning icon These changes will be applied to eRPM workspaces & worksheets at a later date.

  • Fixed: PAFs with a state of "Post Award PR Signoff" now appear in the Active lister on the Active tab on the Reviewer workspace.

Other Changes:

The Modification field on the PAC (Project Award Change) notice has been moved below the Prime Sponsor Award Reference Number field. This change also applied to the Project Award, Edit Project Award, and PR Signoff Project Award views.

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