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Case Research Weekly  
October 19, 2007  
Sponsored Projects News and Updates
OSPA Reorganizes Its Staff to Support Specific Departments and Schools
Effective November 1, 2007, OSPA will reorganize its staff to better support specific schools and in some cases departments within a school.

With respect to pre-award services, Carol Schwendeman (carol.schwendeman@case.edu or 368-4514) is the point of contact for the School of Engineering and Derek Humphrey (derek.humphrey@case.edu or 268-2009) is the point of contact for all schools other than engineering and medicine. Their contact information can be found at the following link: http://ora.ra.cwru.edu/ospa/staff/

Please note that the School of Medicine's Office of Grants and Contracts (OGC) has organized pre-award points of contact for departments in the School of Medicine and they can be found at the following link: http://casemed.case.edu/ora/ogc/about.cfm.

The Sponsored Projects Accounting unit within OSPA has organized its staff to support the post-award needs of schools and departments as indicated at the following link: http://ora.ra.cwru.edu/ospa/Spa_Department_Assignments_10-16-07.pdf.

To contact the Sponsored Projects Accounting staff member who is responsible for your school and/or department, please refer to the link below for phone number and e-mail address: http://ora.ra.cwru.edu/ospa/staff/index_SPA.cfm.

 
Compliance News
CARMA Webcast: Relative Importance of Predictors with Regression Models

Friday, October 26, 2007
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Nord Hall, Room 410

Dr. James LeBreton of Purdue University will present this seminar.

The Center for the Advancement of Research Methods and Analysis (CARMA) Consortium Webcast Program was established by Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Business to provide university faculty and graduate students with advanced training in research methods and data analysis. Case Western Reserve University has subscribed to the CARMA service and will be facilitating the live webcasts.

Register to attend the webcast at: http://ora.ra.cwru.edu/research/orc/education/onlinecalendar.cfm.

CARMA also offers a video library of past webcasts that are available for viewing. Follow the link to their website to subscribe to CARMA using your Case email address to access more information and a list of past and future webcasts.

Link: http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/carma/default.asp.

 
Building on the Basics: Equipping Research Professionals for Success

Friday, November 9, 2007
Doubletree Hotel Cleveland South
Independence, OH

TARGET AUDIENCE
Principal Investigators, Research Administrators, Research Coordinators, Monitors, IRB Members, Ethicists, Data Management, and other members of the Pharmaceutical and Bioscience Industries

CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES
To equip research professionals with the knowledge and tools to conduct research at the highest level of integrity

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
"Clinical Research Ethics and Real-World Challenges" Eric Kodish, MD, F. J. O'Neill Professor and Chairman of the Department of Bioethics at the Cleveland Clinic, Executive Director of the Cleveland Fellowship in Advanced Bioethics, and Professor of Pediatrics at the Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

To register, please go to: http://www.m3clinical.com/article/article.aspx.

 
Sponsored Projects News and Updates
Revised OSPA Website
The Office of Sponsored Projects Administration (OSPA) has recently revised its website to include links to staff, policies, procedures, forms and other items of interest related to both pre- and post-award sponsored projects administration.

The website can be viewed at: http://ora.ra.cwru.edu/ospa/.

 
eRA Commons Status Changes Coming Soon
NIH will be updating the eRA Commons Status software on October 26, 2007 with a new look and functionality. This new version of Status incorporates user-requested features that will provide additional tracking capabilities and better application organization for improved system performance:
  • New search feature: Ability to search for and track electronically submitted applications from the Status screen using the Grants.gov tracking number. The Grants.gov tracking number will continue to be searchable throughout the lifecycle of the application/grant - even after the NIH assigns its own application ID (i.e., accession number or grant number).
  • Reorganization of the application/grant data into two separate sections:
    1. Recent and pending electronic application submissions that require action to complete the submission process (e.g., checking errors/warnings, viewing assembled application), have been refused by a Signing Official or are within the two day assembled application viewing window
    2. List of applications/grants (both paper and electronic) that have been submitted successfully and are available for post-submission status (e.g., review assignments, review results, summary statements, Notice of Award). Also includes list of awarded grants for accessing other Commons features (e.g., Just in Time, eSNAP, Financial Status Report, Closeout)
  • Grouping of multiple submission attempts for a single application. Provides a cleaner screen view and consolidated submission history.
This new strategy will change the look and feel of the Status screens; however, the underlying process remains the same. The eRA Commons Help Desk is available to assist with any questions.

Additional Detail for Principal Investigators
  • A new screen will appear when selecting the Status tab, rather than listing all applications/grants associated with your account. Use the options provided to select the specific application/grant or appropriate list based on your task.
  • If multiple attempts are needed to complete the electronic submission process without errors, only the most recently processed submission will be listed. A new hyperlink, “Show All Prior Errors”, will be added to the application status line that will provide a listing of the current and all previous submission attempts and the associated Grants.gov tracking number, date of submission and errors/warnings.
  • The Grants.gov tracking number for an application is provided in the emails sent by eRA Commons during the electronic submission process.

 
OSPA electronic communications update
Effective November 1, 2007, you will begin to see more frequent e-mail reminders from OSPA concerning sponsor and university requirements for timely project continuation and project close-out. In addition, many of the supporting documents that you currently send to Sponsored Projects Accounting (SPA) for cost transfers or financial reports by campus mail can be sent electronically to SPA. These improved communication efforts are summarized below:
  • Project Continuation reminders will be sent to principal investigators, department administrators and school/college administrators 90 days before the end of the budget period
  • Project Close-out reminders will be sent to principal investigators, department administrators, and school/college administrators 30 days before the project end date
  • For proposals that were submitted more than a year ago and that are still listed as pending in OSPA's database system, the principal investigator and department administrator will receive an e-mail asking for an update on the status of the proposal (i.e., still pending or not funded) with a link to automatically update OSPA's records
  • Supporting documentation for cost transfers should be sent electronically to your SPA Grants and Contracts Accountant
  • Central correspondence can be sent electronically to Sponsored Projects Accounting via e-mail with attachments, as necessary, to SPAdocs@case.edu.

 
Subcontract Reminder
Please remember that when you create a purchase requisition for a subcontract, you need to use the correct PeopleSoft account codes. They are as follows:

     Account 533800 Subcontracts
     Account 533850 Cleveland Clinic Subcontracts

Please rember to double check that these account codes appear on the PeopleSoft purchase requisition before submitting it. Otherwise, it will create indirect cost recovery problems as subcontract expenses are incurred.

Also, please remember that the PI is responsible for monitoring financial and programmatic performance of the subcontractor and must approve subcontractor invoices prior to submitting for payment.

For more information on establishing a subcontract, please go to the following websites:
     http://casemed.case.edu/ora/ogc/subawards.cfm
     http://ora.ra.cwru.edu/ospa/forms/SubKBlanketPO.cfm

 

Please note: At the time of this transmission, all links functioned. However, Case Research Weekly cannot guarantee that the information will not be moved or deleted.