Organizational Excellence in Sponsored Programs

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.