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November 2006

GMLoB Pilot Experience and Lessons Learned

Grants Applications Status Pilot

National Science Foundation (NSF)

USDA/Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (USDA/CSREES)

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About CSREESCSREES is one of four USDA agencies that make up the Research,

Education, and Economics (REE) mission area with USDA.

CSREES' unique mission is to advance knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities by supporting research, education, and extension programs in the Land-Grant University System and other partner organizations.

CSREES is a small agency of 370 employees with a $1.25 Billion annual budget

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2006 CSREES Budget - millions $$

672451

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Research and Education Extension Integrated Other

Formula Competitive

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Information Systems & Technology ManagementMission - To provide information management services that are:

– high quality

– business, mission and customer-focused

– and, cost effective.

Vision – To provide:– reliable, responsive, and accurate information systems support

– that satisfies business requirements through an integrated approach.

The customer is King.

Customer value is gauged by how well we can share information to transform traditional relationships with customers (grantees), partners, and employees.

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Why work with NSF?NSF’s goal as a Consortium Lead is to offer common solutions to meet the

needs of the consortium partner agencies involved in Federal Research grants.

CSREES is a small agency with limited resources

NSF and CSREES are research focused agencies

“The Federal Government is the enterprise.”

NSF and CSREES committed to working with partnerships

The consortia approach aligns agency work teams (consortia) around shared business interests. - In my opinion you also need to have shared values

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NSF’s (CSREES) ApproachMenu of services

Start small

Focus on research agencies

Deliberate, modular, conservative, user-focused approach

Flexible solutions

High-value offerings meet needs of grantee and agency – Remember the customer is King.

Make the process better

Long-term, last functionalities for agencies and institutions

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What is the Grant Applications Status Pilot? The GMLoB is a e-government initiative that seeks to develop a government-wide

solution to support end-to-end grants management activities promoting citizen access, customer service, and agency financial and technical stewardship. In February 2006, the National Science Foundation (NSF) was selected as one of the three GMLoB consortium leads.

CRITERIA for pilot:– Large customer-facing

– Low to medium complexity

– High volume of transactions

Proposal status pilot. Via this pilot initiative, the “Grant Applications Status” tool was introduced to allow selected applicants to:– Check on the status of their proposals as they are received and reviewed

– Allow participants to login using their own agency e-Authentication credentials

– View panel reviews (if applicable)

– View Letters of Authorization (for CSREES awardees)

– Maintain a single identity that can be used to view proposals at both agencies

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Grant application status pilot continued

Other than the accessing the production FastLane database, the Pilot is completely separate from FastLane

The Pilot uses E-Authentication and an account registration feature to associate an applicant’s E-Authentication account with their respective agency account

The Pilot uses standardized terminology where NSF and CSREES used different terms (e.g., “Grant Application” instead of “Proposal”)

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TimelineNSF and CSREES had been discussing collaboration for the better part of

2005

In January 2006 work formally started, proposal status accepted as pilot

Requirements analysis January – April 2006

Design May – June 2006

CSREES/NSF Testing July – August 2006

Pilot testing – August 2006

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RolesNSF and CSREES both actively contributed resources

NSF designed, developed, tested and implemented application

CSREES assisted in design, developed internal interfaces, review of documentation and participated in internal and external system testing

No money changed hands

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No single reason

Short development times

Clear requirements

Proper testing

Commitment

Dedicated and skilled staff

Why the pilot succeed

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1. Login to the USDA E-Authentication Site

Enter User Id and Password created in the Getting Started Step.

Read and Accept the Rules of Behavior.

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2. Activate Agency Account

After logging in, first-time users must “activate” or associate their E-Authentication account with their NSF or CSREES account before continuing.

Grant Applications Status

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3. Select Agency

• Select an agency to see a list of applications submitted to that agency.

OR

• Activate the E-Authentication account with accounts at other agencies.

Applicants who do business with both NSF and CSREES can choose to view a consolidated list of their applications submitted to both Agencies.

Grant Applications Status

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4. View List of Applications and Their Status

Screenshot on the right is an example of consolidated agency view

Click on an Agency Tracking Number to see detail information

Grant Applications Status

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Next stepsGrant Application Status to version 2. 

Research.gov portal – planned for an October launch

CSREES wants to expand the pilot to all grantees.

Funding model

Governance structure

Dedicated resources

Future work.– Develop project / solicitation / announcement– Pre-award forms/document creation and clearance– Approval / review automated workflow management

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GMLOB Participants Andrea Norris, Deputy CIO NSF

Kim Deutsch, NSF Project Lead

Dan Hofherr, Branch Chief NSF

David Saunders, Project Leader NSF

Michel Desbois, CIO/Deputy Administrator, CSREES

Tony Pandolfino, CSREES Project Lead

Rick Howington, CSREES Co-Project Lead

Gail McLean, Pilot National Program Leader for participating programs, CSREES

NSF Application Development Staff