The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) along with ITS is in the midst of constructing an online portal for actions related to external grants and contracts called "ResearchUVA" that will include a dashboard for faculty and administrators so they can view important information about their proposals and awards quickly and easily. An important part of this effort is a collaboration with the Office of Organizational Excellence (OE) to map out the many research administration processes that occur in OSP and throughout the schools from proposal preparation to closeout to determine if there are ways to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
For example, a working group is currently looking at the process of setting up a “preliminary/at-risk” account; that is, an account that is setup after a faculty member learns an award will be issued, but prior to the official award being received. “Preliminary/at-risk” accounts are extremely useful because they allow for charges to be placed against accounts from the beginning rather than having to perform time-consuming cost transfers. OSP needs to create these accounts extremely quickly so faculty can start work immediately and charge accounts, so mapping the process and removing any inefficiencies can help ensure these accounts will be available as soon as possible when requested.
Ideally, OE and OSP will simplify research administration processes and incorporate them into ResearchUVA to make life easier for faculty and administration alike.
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