Georgia Tech Research Administration Eco-System...

1

Georgia Tech Research Administration Eco-System Report

Presented to the Information Technology for Research Support (ITRS) Council for Ratification on 5/28/2015

Prepared in Committee by

(Members listed alphabetically)

Don Cochran Office of Grants & Contracts Alan Cofer Georgia Tech Research Institute Emily Howell College of Engineering David Moore College of Sciences Michelle Powell Office of Sponsored Programs Lauren Robb College of Architecture Raj Vuchatu Georgia Tech Research Institute

2

Category FY16 FY17 FY18-20

Automate Manual

Processes

Electronic time documents

Proposal routing system

Fully automate PSF submissions

680 Letter automation

Cylinder tracking system

Automate SPD Sign-off

Resource mgmt and auto-billing

Electronic check requests & non-employee travel

Inter-departmental sales & services

Extension Memo automation

Automate the Non-financial processes

Automation of NDAs, MTAs, and related documents

Develop Enterprise Operational Systems

Graduate student management

Modern contract admin system

Enhanced grants management system

Consolidated budgeting & planning tool

Central E-document depository — paperless office

Organizational COI system

Define policies and procedures governing CRM use

Empower Users with Access to Data

Enhance portal with portlets and new functions

Integrate data models across multiple domain areas

Self-serve reporting & analytical tools

Centralize compliance & training reports

Consolidation of compliance reports

Provide Improved Collaboration Tools

Communication of seminars, events, and opportunities

Join the “eduroam” network

Provide multimedia conferencing software

Social media for faculty & students to connect & collaborate

Collaborative workspaces for research projects

Improve Technology Infrastructure

Provide storage/transfer of large research datasets

Improve facilities for workstation backups

Centrally managed organization hierarchy

Standard Web services platform for system integration

Workflow platform to build business solutions

Unify the GTRI/campus calendar systems

Purchase site-license for IRB-survey use

3

Introduction Problem Definition

The Research Administration environment is a complex and challenging one. As the pursuit of

research funding continues to become more competitive, it is critical that an institute’s research administration provide the most effective, efficient set of electronic tools for researchers to be successful. Today, new research areas like nanotechnology and bioinformatics are driving the creation of new business models like interdisciplinary research and private-public partnerships, which invariably leads to other complex relationships, policies, processes, and requirements to conduct research. The electronic tools that we have provided researchers in the past are no longer able to meet the needs of researchers today. Researchers are in need of electronic tools that help improve their productivity as well as their ability to collaborate, forecast, plan, execute, and be cost-effective at the same time. Their administrative and support teams are also in need of enhanced systems to meet the ever-increasing compliance needs and to keep up with the demands of a dynamic research environment.

Over the years Enterprise-wide Research Administrative tools for R1 universities have lagged in the marketplace, and Georgia Tech has relied on locally developed solutions. Many business processes are still on paper-based systems, spreadsheets, and decades-old legacy systems with little or no functionality to address new needs. Many of these legacy systems are now aging and need replacement. Some departments have added standalone “gap” systems that offer some help but, in turn, generate a laundry list of operational inefficiencies, duplicated resources, communication problems, and compliance risks owing to lack of integration with other enterprise systems.

In this Discovery phase, a team commissioned by ITRS has taken a comprehensive look at all Research Administrative needs and now proposes a future state of Electronic Research Administration at Georgia Tech — dubbed “Eco-System” — that will be needed to conduct effective research in the 21st century. Implementing the future state of research administration described here will not only give our administrators and faculty a competitive edge, but also contribute towards the achievement of the Institute’s Strategic Goals — #2: Sustain and Enhance Excellence in Scholarship & Research by supporting transformative and interdisciplinary research and investing in infrastructure and #5: Relentlessly pursue institutional effectiveness.

4

Uniform Requirements

The Uniform Requirements were developed in response to a directive from President Obama to streamline guidance and increase accountability for federal grants. Some of the new requirements became effective for new awards beginning December 26, 2014, and others will phase in over the next 18 months. While there are a number of changes, the core principles of accountability for research funds remain the same. There is a greater reliance in the documents on internal controls, but key concepts such as allowability, allocability, and reasonableness of cost remain the same. Some of the greatest changes will be found in subcontracting, purchasing, asset tracking, and closeout of awards. Work on the changes that will be required in these areas is ongoing, and many require some type of system change. As the impact of the Uniform Requirements (2CFR200) is realized, additional priorities will be identified.

Solution Identification

This report represents the summary knowledge produced from hundreds of person-hours in collecting feedback both from groups and individuals across campus via focus groups, brainstorming sessions, and town halls. GT faculty and support staff involved directly in research and its administration were consulted to discuss their current difficulties and future wishes to compile the proposed items and prioritization, which are intended for GT to use as a roadmap to invest into Research Administrative tools over the coming years.

The Eco-System will allow researchers/faculty and administrators to electronically manage research administrative business processes like: finding research opportunities, collaborating with peers, writing and submitting proposals, conducting research, and closeing-out awards.

As part of this collection effort, more than 200 people attended meetings/town halls or

submitted an electronic survey. Input has been provided by research faculty members, support staff, and leadership representing more than 30 distinct units from across campus. Many items were contributed by individuals from ChBE, CoA, CoB, CoE, CoS, Grants & Contracts Accounting, GTRI, and OSP — just to name the top contributors. Three hundred distinct suggestions were captured as a result of this process. A listing of consulted individuals is available in full as an Appendix to this report; full feedback in its raw form may be downloaded separately from the ITRS website at itrs.gatech.edu.

5

Solution Classification

For easier assimilation, the feedback collected has been aggregated into one of five inter-related themes based on the needs as described. Those high-level themes (not necessarily in order of importance) are as follows:

Automate Manual Processes o These items deal with reducing the amount of time faculty and staff spend on routine

inter-departmental research support activities that are not currently integrated with automated systems, or are poorly supported due to systems that do not meet the needs of most end-users.

Develop Enterprise Operational Systems o These items focus on providing solid, centralized operating platforms for critical campus

interactions between research personnel and central administration.

Empower Users with Access to Data o These items detail the needed types of reports and information that researchers

frequently require in the performance of their duties.

Provide Improved Collaboration Tools o In an increasingly online world, these items deal with making sure that individual

employees have easy access to tools that will allow them to communicate with their peers and their students remotely.

Improve Technology Infrastructure o These items deal with general improvements to backbone operations or business

processes that will help streamline operation.

6

Analysis of Needs by Categorization

Automation of Manual Processes

The group of needs expressed in this category center around the performance of time-consuming manual activity. Frequently, these are inter-departmental exchanges of information or assent that currently require undue personal attention by faculty and staff due to either the complexity of aggregating the necessary data or difficulty in coordinating the exchange of paper medium across multiple levels of the organization. Common examples of processes in this category are the Principal Investigator certification of financials, non-employee travel authorization, and both GTRC and GTF check requests. By far the most common feedback heard during the Discovery phase was a repeated request to develop a system that allows for automation of the Routing Sheet process, which consists primarily of keeping track of paper forms that are mailed or faxed from person to person in order to gain sign-off. (NOTE: A full collection of all the feedback discussed in aggregate herein may be found on the ITRS website.)

Such tedious, time-consuming processes could easily be improved with the implementation of a campuswide workflow management solution. In brief, any process as simple as passing an informational piece of paper around campus can be converted into a straightforward business process. When the current owner has added their approval and any relevant information, the workflow engine notifies the next designated owner that their approval is needed. Current owner and basic status information can be constantly available to all involved.

Quick View of Consolidated Needs

Issue Title Solution Benefitted Group(s)

Priority FY Project Ownership


Automate the process of aggregating/approving and entering into PeopleSoft the work hours of bi-weekly employees

Direct: Supervisors, Bi-weekly employees Indirect: OHR

FY16

OHR

Proposal routing system

Develop an automated workflow process associated with completion of Proposal Routing sheets

Direct: Central/Dept. Admin Indirect: Researchers

FY16

ITRS


Automate the submission of PSF data to eliminate the 30-day window and reduce errors due to re-keying of data

Direct: Supervisors, Employees, Dept. Admin, Project Invoice Indirect: OHR

FY16

OHR

7


Electronic collection of 680 Letters for justification of Sponsored/Undesignated workers


FY16

ITRS/ EVPR

Cylinder tracking system

Inventory system for tracking and maintenance of cylinders

Direct: Dept. Admin, Researchers

FY16

ITRS

Automate SPD Sign-off

Automate the process of SPD Sign-offs & Cost Transfers


FY16

ITRS

Develop systems for resource management & automated billing

Service/System to support facilities/equipment management and billing


FY16

ITRS

Electronic check requests & non-employee travel

Requests for these financial actions will be streamlined via automated data transfer


FY17

ITRS/

various

Inter-departmental sales & services

Automate the processing of sales and services across departments and provide current status on outstanding charges by account


FY17

ITRS

Extension Memo automation

Electronic system for delivering Extension Memos to financial managers

Direct: Dept. Admin Indirect: Researchers

FY17

ITRS

Automate the Non-financial processes

Develop an electronic system for SSAs, MOUs, and EUAs


FY17

ITRS

Automation of NDAs, MTAs, and related documents

Develop a system for capture and tracking of Non-Disclosure and Material Transfer Agreements against associated Contracts


Undecided

ITRS

8

Detail of High-priority Needs

Electronic time documents Currently, time documents for approximately 2,000 classified staff and students are produced

every two weeks via a series of manual steps, beginning with the printing of a paper form from the current PeopleSoft system. Bi-weekly employees then manually enter the hours worked. Supervisors review the work hours reported by their bi-weekly employees, which are collected within each individual working group. These reported hours are manually summed into weekly totals by project and written on the form along with appropriate approval signatures. Each department is responsible for manual entry into PeopleSoft of the data on these forms.

This process is problematic for several reasons: supervisors spend a significant amount of time preparing the information that is collected by this manual process, and bi-weekly employees not physically located in their home units must travel to complete and sign paperwork. Additionally, having the forms pass through several sets of hands before their entry into PeopleSoft results in frequent typographical errors as reflected in the final data collection. As a result of the potential reduction in direct work hours for supervisors, time spent on data entry by each department, and the improved accuracy of project-based personnel expenditures for all, this process has been selected for priority addressing during FY16.

There are several systems in use currently by other campus units that may be suitably adapted for use in bi-weekly employment. GTRI uses eTime for data collection, Facilities uses Kronos, and PeopleSoft has an upgrade module that may be adequate. OIT and OHR should be allotted sufficient resources to identify and subsequently implement the best available solution to address this major issue.

Proposal routing system Before final approval of any proposal to conduct research, the routing sheet must be printed

from the OSP Contract system and passed from department to department for appropriate signatures. This is a time-consuming process that frequently leads to delays and miscommunications as there is no way to be positive where the routing sheet is at any given moment during its journey across campus. Upon completion, the completed routing sheet is scanned and stored in the system as an attachment, as well as kept physically on file.

Automation of proposal routing has been selected as a high priority item for resolution in FY16 because it is an extremely high-profile need that touches literally every research project and every Principal Investigator at Georgia Tech. Automation will reduce time spent by RAB staff in completing the approval process, reduce wait times, and keep all involved individuals up-to-date on current progress of the status of their proposals.

A workflow system will need to be either purchased or created by ITRS in order to address this need, and personnel will need to be requisitioned to implement and support the business process within the workflow software.


As of now, all PSF actions are processed manually by OHR. As with other paper processes that are submitted to the process owner to be keyed-in, this results in several notable limitations including additional points of failure that can result in inaccurate data being entered. Additionally, in order to manage the flow of incoming forms, OHR does not allow submission of forms greater than 30 days in advance.

Automation of this process would solve both of its major shortcomings, notably in that as data entry becomes the responsibility of the submitting department, this will reduce touch-points and

9

thereby improve accuracy and timeliness. A computerized form could also be made to accommodate actions submitted far in advance by waiting to process any given request until an identified actionable date. OIT and OHR should be allotted sufficient resources in FY16 to identify and subsequently implement the best available solution to address this need.

Electronic check requests & non-employee travel Check requests and non-employee travel are actually separate processes managed by several

different units. As with the other high-priority items identified, these are just a few of the business interactions that take place across campus on an entirely paper basis. Out of the many paper processes on campus, these have been selected as priority concerns due to the volume produced and their widespread use across campus. Conversion to an electronic basis for conducting these numerous transactions will reduce the workload on central and departmental administrators and result in quicker distribution of reimbursements.

In tandem with any workflow system implemented to accommodate the proposal routing process (see above), ITRS will work with the business owners of check requests & non-employee travel requests to implement automated solutions during FY16.

Inter-departmental sales & services Charges that occur between Georgia Tech departments are being handled by yet another paper

process. Natural delays in transmission and in processing can result in an unknown amount of outstanding charges when reports are requested. Financial accuracy is of critical importance, and so in tandem with any workflow system implemented to accommodate the Proposal routing process (see above), ITRS will work to implement automated solutions during FY16.

Develop Enterprise Operational Systems

The group of needs expressed in this category deal with issues faced by research faculty/staff as

they attempt to independently coordinate activities with central-administration staff that would be better served with strong, full-featured tools supported at the campus level. A concern shared by all groups is the need for integrated budgeting and personnel planning. While some budget and personnel data is collected by central authority for review, the practical needs of researchers stretch well beyond the currently provided functions into areas of advanced budget preparation and the need to create alternate scenarios for expenditures of multiple fiscal years and budget sources. This work is currently undertaken in Excel on an ad hoc basis by most researchers. Additionally, a campus wide system for the management of facilities and equipment access/billing is needed, as is a tool for the management of Graduate Assistants that integrates their academic profiles with their work as employees.

Each of the issues identified in this area will require individual system-analysis and implementation efforts. For some of these needs, there are existing tools at other universities or offered by vendors that may meet a majority of Georgia Tech’s needs; others will require localized development efforts using campus support-staff. There will be no “one-size-fits-all” approach for these systems as they are implemented, but support by Central Administration must exist and the goal of shared resources and utility for all users must be a driving factor, both during implementation and in planning for long-term support. While “paperless” is often accepted as a given when working with electronic systems, there remains the need to maintain a library of records when transacting business. Currently, many

10

documents are still kept in physical file folders, and oftentimes these must be printed and scanned separately for email and for upload to other systems. The needs expressed in this category deal with the reality that a centralized document repository is becoming increasingly necessary to create efficiencies in workflows. Such a system would allow documents to be scanned upon receipt, and then retrieved and modified as necessary via integration points with other key systems. Indexing by keywords, if utilized properly, could also serve as a source of reporting information for various contracting documents and possible conflicts of interests.

Several document repositories already are being managed independently on campus. An analysis effort would need to be undertaken to determine whether one of them is appropriate for campus wide use or whether another solution will need to be procured.




Graduate student management

Develop or purchase a system for central management of Graduate Students with additional academic components

Direct: Central/ Dept. Admin Indirect: Researchers

FY16

ITRS

Modern contract admin system

Develop or purchase a replacement for the aging database used by OSP for 20+ years


FY16

ITRS


Develop or purchase upgrades to the grants management system to enable seamless pre- and post-award data transitions


FY17

BPSS

Consolidated budgeting & planning tool

Develop or purchase a system for central management of project budgets to produce burn-rates & what-if scenarios

Direct: Central/ Dept. Admin & Researchers

FY17

ITRS

Central E-document depository – paperless office

Develop or purchase a system for central storage, sharing, and distribution of scanned documents


FY17

ITRS

Organizational COI system

Replace or improve the current eCOI system with something more intuitive and integrated with other systems to identify conflicts automatically


FY18 ITRS


Need exists to have Customer Relationship Management utilities made available, but past efforts have failed due to lack of guidance

Direct: Central/ Dept. Admin, Researchers

Un-

decided

EVPR

11


Graduate student management Currently, dealing with the specific tasks associated with both employing a graduate student and

managing their academic profiles are left to individual departments to resolve. Departments are performing these tasks independently and via differing methods despite the fact that each department must perform them.

A central system for administration of these tasks will save time and free up duplicative resources currently being expended at the departmental level. Numerous systems already exist across campus in varying states of automation. While suitability for expansion to campus may not be feasible, the School of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) operates a system that will serve as a model for best practices in the development of a custom application to meet this need. ITRS should be allocated resources to accomplish this endeavor during the FY16 time period.

Modern contract admin system OSP’s existing Contract Administration system is over two decades old. As such, it has many of

the problems associated with maintaining legacy architecture in the capacity of a primary system. The user interface is dated, difficult to use, based on end-of-life technology platforms, and open for use only internally among OSP employees — restricting data access from researchers and administrators. Owing to its age, the system has no automated interfaces for retrieving or sharing with other systems on campus. This perpetuates the existence of data silos in which identical data is re-keyed and housed, not only in this system, but in any system needing similar information. Data silos make it very difficult to report on data across systems and make it impossible to accurately update data in all locations as it changes.

As the central and authoritative source of data for contract administration on campus, the OSP system must be re-developed for ease of use and to facilitate electronic dissemination of data to related campus systems. It has been prioritized for work in FY16. If allocated resources, ITRS will work with OSP and related departments to begin the groundwork for seamless award management throughout the project life-cycle.

Enhanced grants management system Like the OSP Contract Administration system, the current Grants Management system suffers

from issues relating to its age and its isolation. As part of creating a seamless management platform for awards, ITRS proposes to incorporate grants management functions into the new platform during FY17 with Grants & Contracts beginning to compile a list of proposed features during the preceding fiscal year.

Consolidated budgeting & planning tool Project budgeting represents a wide array of needs, and at least some budget data is needed in

virtually every system that touches on research administration. Currently, isolated portions of total budget information are entered into many independent systems depending on the purpose of each. Typically, Principal Investigators also attempt to keep track of an ongoing budget picture for the duration of the project using desktop tools such as Microsoft Excel. As a result, for any given project it can be considered virtually impossible at any given moment to pull together a complete picture of the current state and projected future expenses.

As part of creating a seamless management platform for awards, ITRS proposes to incorporate advanced budgeting and planning functions into the new centralized platform during FY17, beginning with those functions most closely tied to the enhanced grants management system and

12

contract administraion system, but also extending into future projections and meeting the needs of individual researchers.

Central E-document depository – paperless office Paper documents remain an integral part of most inter-party legal transactions. While many of

the projects outlined in this report deal with minimizing the appearance of paper, many Georgia Tech units will continue to struggle with maintaining physical archives for paperwork. A central repository for long-term retention of scanned documentation will alleviate space issues, and will allow different units and systems to interface with each other by referring to one identifiable copy of shared paperwork. Several document systems are currently in use on campus; in FY17, ITRS will investigate the suitableness of expanding any of these systems and investigate the purchase of an appropriate document system.

Empower Users with Access to Data

The group of needs expressed in this category all address the fact that currently most employees do not have access to the data that they need in order to make fully informed decisions. The number of reports requested exceeds the number of individuals requesting them. Taken in conjunction with the previous category, “Develop Enterprise Operational Systems,” as larger amounts of more granular data are stored in central databases then Georgia Tech will have the opportunity to provide employees with an increasing number of increasingly detailed reports.

With data available from central storage locations, Business Intelligence (BI) systems can be used to generate new reports consistently and quickly. An appropriate BI system for campus use will need to be identified, either from among those currently in use within the college and institutes or from additional products offered by vendors. Of importance to note is the fact that with the current distributed model of report generation, employees from one division are frequently unaware that BI tools in another are already capable of generating information that would be useful to them. This will make the central support of such systems absolutely critical to keeping the community informed about the capabilities being provided. Ongoing support will also need to be considered as requests for additional reports and subsequent modifications will likely be a near-constant need for researchers.



Priority FY

Project Ownership

Enhance portal with portlets and new functions

Develop or purchase additional functionality within the My Research Portal system


FY16

ITRS


Develop a data warehouse that is fed with critical data from disparate systems across campus


FY17

ITRS/EDM

13


Develop or purchase business intelligence tools to facilitate extraction of complex information from the central data warehouse


FY17

ITRS/EDM

Centralize compliance & training reports

Develop or purchase a system for central storage and reporting of individual compliance and training


FY17

ITRS

Consolidation of compliance reports

Develop reports to satisfy regulatory reporting requirements at institutional and project levels


FY17

ITRS


Enhancements to My Research Portal Design and develop new portlets as systems are launched on campus, adding new functionality

within the portlets and pulling in new data elements into existing portlets. Where the initial release focused on faculty requests, future releases will provide functionality for research support staff and executive leadership. Continuous maintenance is necessary to respond to the report and enhancement requests via the My Research Portal.

Integrate data models across multiple domain areas Current systems are not designed to perform automated data extractions. As a result, needed

data points are dispersed across multiple access points with no way to pull them into business intelligence tools. As new applications are developed on campus, sharp attention should be paid to ensuring that data structures are sufficiently integrated with systems that are based on an interconnected data model. Additionally, a study should be commissioned to identify data from any and all relevant systems that will be pulled into the proposed Electronic DataMart. Data housed in a central database for reporting purposes will provide maximum usefulness to business intelligence tools that sit on top of it.

Self-serve reporting and analytical tools Current business intelligence tools available to the wider campus community are lacking

primarily because the underlying data to power such tools is not available (see above). Once those structures are in place, it will be necessary to provide users with a suite of tools that can transform raw data into usable reports and graphical representations. There are several business intelligence tools in use by units on campus now — such as GTRI’s IBM-Cognos software — that may be appropriate for expanded use, but it will also be necessary to explore purchase of additional tools like Juice Analytics and others that may be more highly scalable.

Centralize compliance and training tools Compliance and training tools are being managed on an ad hoc basis by the individual units

tasked with a given area of responsibility. In most cases, this is occurring — at least in part — utilizing Excel and other manual methods of tracking. This makes assuring 100% compliance difficult for both the administrators tasked with monitoring and the researchers who need to know whether they are compliant. Development of a central system in support of a majority of compliance needs will streamline the processing of this critical information for all involved.

14

Consolidation of compliance reports In conjunction with plans to implement self-serve reporting and analytical tools and to centralize

compliance and training tools, this effort would allow researchers and administrators access to information to satisfy regulatory compliance requests from one location.

Provide Improved Collaboration Tools The group of needs expressed in this category are concerned with the ability of campus personnel to effectively communicate with their peers and with their students remotely through the use of campus-provided utilities. These range from requests for Georgia Tech to become a part of the eduroam initiative (which would improve the ability of visiting scholars between Georgia Tech and trusted universities to work remotely) to requests for central support of remote meeting software and social media interactivity.

Similar to the “Develop Enterprise Operation Systems” category, solutions for these needs will have to be addressed individually owing to the dissimilar and varied nature of electronic communication methods available. Unlike other categories of needs, there is already a wide array of free and low-cost systems available publicly. If Georgia Tech does not act to cohesively provide collaboration tools, then we will not only be doing a disservice to our research teams, but we will further lose the ability to effectively control the flow of information to and from our electronic systems.



Priority FY

Project Ownership

Improved communication of seminars, events, and opportunities

Produce policies regarding centralized announcement of events held on/for campus

Direct: Central/Dept. Admin, Researchers, & Students

FY16

EVPR/

Communications


Become a member of the “eduroam” network to facilitate access for/as Visiting Scholars

Direct: Researchers

FY16

OIT

Provide multimedia conferencing software

Purchase a site-license for easy to use conferencing software that may be installed by individuals on their workstations

Direct: Central/Dept. Admin & Researchers

FY16

OIT

Social media tools for faculty & students to connect & collaborate

Develop or purchase systems to facilitate social media interactions among the wider campus community

Direct: Researchers & Students

FY17

Communications

15

Collaborative workspaces for research projects

Develop or purchase a system to allow research teams to effectively collaborate in an online environment

Direct: Researchers

FY17

Library/OIT


Improved communication of seminars, events, and opportunities There are currently multiple disparate avenues for announcing and for discovering events that

occur on campus. Two primary examples are the main campus Calendar website and the Seminars website (calendar.gatech.edu and seminars.gatech.edu, respectively). These are maintained separately and contain differing, and sometimes conflicting, entries. Unification of event announcements into a single location will be more efficient and effective for the community.

Join the “eduroam” network To increase the ability of Georgia Tech faculty and students to perform collaborative research

internationally, Georgia Tech needs to join an international Wi-Fi system called eduroam. Most non-U.S. universities are already part of this network, and more than 50 U.S. universities like Princeton, UC Berkeley, and Yale are already members. Georgia Tech faculty members travelling abroad increasingly report that European universities will not grant individual access to their networks because eduroam is now so widely adopted. Membership would allow Georgia Tech faculty to travel internationally and access networking at member institutions, and to have collaborators and students who visit Georgia Tech use eduroam while they are visiting.

Provide multimedia conferencing software Professional Education has been kind enough to purchase a site-license to utilize WebEx for all

of campus; however, building community awareness has lagged, and many employees still struggle to communicate with colleagues remotely utilizing free tools such as Skype. A suitable distribution and notification model for broadly useful site-licensed software must be developed.

Social media tools for faculty and students to connect and collaborate A simple, integrated solution is needed for faculty to collaborate/connect with students. Piatza

and Facebook are currently used.

Collaborative workspaces for research projects Research teams at Georgia Tech frequently have collaborations with people at outside

organizations who need to exchange large files to conduct work. It is currently difficult to share data with collaborators at other institutions due to limited file storage and transfer speeds offered by currently provided facilities. As a result, Dropbox and other unsecured services are being used to transfer critical information outside of Georgia Tech’s control.

There are existing facilities such as Office 365 that combine collaborative workspaces with file transfer functionality, but these do not accommodate interactions with those outside Georgia Tech when there is a need to collaborate securely. It is possible that the combination of “eduroam” affiliation plus existing Georgia Tech tools will resolve this issue, but a feasibility study will need to be undertaken to determine whether or not purchase of additional tools is necessary.

16

Improve Technology Infrastructure The items collected in this theme typically have to do with a need for change in some underlying system architecture or in the business policies that govern them. There is typically little that might otherwise connect these items aside from the need to develop collection mechanisms that can analyze these requests and then supply them to the appropriate channels for consideration and response. Each of the issues identified in this area will require individual system-analysis and implementation efforts. If appropriate, the ITRS can work with the departments currently responsible to move forward in analysis and make recommendations about implementing any changes.

When speaking with researchers, universally they expressed concern over storing and transferring the immense amount of data now being produced. As datasets are growing, they are outstripping the current limitations of file technology being commonly used on campus. Researchers are already seeking outside products to be used as cost-effective storage solutions, and as with Collaboration Tools, Georgia Tech is slowly losing control of the distribution of sensitive information by degrees.

Another primary concern involving data archival is the storage of system backups. More computers are being brought online on campus networks, and as with research datasets, the storage space necessary for maximum effectiveness is increasing. As these are problems facing all of campus, it makes sense to pool resources and produce a campus solution.





Purchase mass-storage hardware for the purpose of storing and transferring research data generated by Georgia Tech faculty

Direct: Researchers Indirect: Central/Dept. Admin

FY16

Library


Purchase mass-storage hardware and user software for the purpose of storing and transferring workstation backups


FY16

OIT


Develop or purchase a system to allow central distribution of reporting hierarchy across campus units


FY16

EVPR

Standard Web services platform for better system integration

Produce policies that will govern distribution of data to and from critical systems across campus


FY17

ITRS

17

Workflow platform to build business solutions

Develop or purchase a workflow system to facilitate automation of business processes


FY17

ITRS

Unify the GTRI/campus calendar systems

Enable synchronization between independently operated Outlook Servers on campus


Undecided

OIT/GTRI

Purchase site-license for IRB-survey use

Provide a survey utility that can be utilized in the collection of survey data required by IRB


Undecided

OIT


Provide storage/transfer of large research datasets Accepting research reports into Library facilities from WebWise is cumbersome. Report

submission processing to clients is often separate from submission to the library and can hold up funding unnecessarily. Storage and retention of Research Data for required lengths of time is requiring more and more disk space. Georgia Tech must act to address growing storage needs. Researchers are generating as much as 50GB a day at times and need to store and have immediate, easy access to the raw data generated over a period of several years.

Improve facilities for workstation backups There is no general system for backing up computers in case of crash or other unexpected

incident. Researchers and their Computer Support Representatives are left on their own to figure out which system to use and how to maintain it. Georgia Tech must provide recommended or central systems for computer backups in order to secure researchers daily operations and prevent downtime.

Centrally managed organization hierarchy In order for both central and distributed campus systems to operate effectively, it will be

necessary that a consistent set of data defining the organizational hierarchy be available to all. In order for approvals to be routed through the proper chain of supervision, a core component of any workflow system will be an understanding of who reports to whom and which individuals have key responsibilities in a given unit. Since many other processes will depend on having this in place, it is recommended that EVPR begin creation of a centrally managed, electronically available organization hierarchy during the FY16 campaign.

Standard Web services platform for better system integration Even the effective individual systems that Georgia Tech currently has are made less effective by

a general lack of communicability between them. Communications standards based on industry best practices should be developed and distributed to IT-development groups on campus so that new systems can be created (and legacy systems updated) with communicability in mind. This will

18

facilitate creation of the Electronic DataMart (see above) as well as reduce overall needs concerning data re-entry.

Workflow platform to build business solutions A centrally supported workflow platform will be foundational to automating the business

processes identified within the scope of work for ITRS. This platform will not only serve as a hub for business operations and the data that will be generated, but will also ease the creation of additional business processes into the electronic format from their current paper-based state. This solution is a High-Priority for FY16 because it will need to be in place before the efforts identified in the “Automate Manual Processes” section of this report can commence.

19

Appendix of Primary Contributors Collection Venue Department Participant

2013 Email Questionnaire CoC Alan Katz

9-5-14 CoC Meeting CoC Ben Powell

7-23-14 CoA Meeting CoA Brandon Tavenner

8-4-14 CoB Meeting CoB Carla Zachery

8-4-14 CoB Meeting CoB Cassandra Franklin

6-11-14 CoS/CoE Meeting CoS David Moore

Online Survey ChBE David Sholl

9-5-14 CoC Meeting CoC David Stone

Online Survey GTRI David Zurn

8-11-14 GTRI-SSD Meeting GTRI Dell Arrington

7-29-14 G&C Meeting G&C Don Cochran

2013 Email Questionnaire CEE Donald R. Webster

7-23-14 CoA Meeting CoA Eric Trevena

8-11-14 GTRI-SSD Meeting GTRI Gary Larue

2013 Email Questionnaire AE James D. Woodruff

2013 Email Questionnaire IAC Janet Murray

7-29-14 G&C Meeting G&C Jennifer Camp

8-11-14 GTRI-SSD Meeting GTRI Jerry Lett

2013 Email Questionnaire Fin. Services Jim Fortner

6-11-14 CoS/CoE Meeting AE Jim Woodruff

Online Survey GTRI Jud Ready

9-15-14 ITRS Meeting CoS Julia Kubanek

7-23-14 CoA Meeting CoA Kerry-Gaye Rainford-Creary

9-19-14 Faculty Session CBE Kevin Guger

6-18-14 RAB Sessions Ind. Eng. Kevin Wozniak

6-18-14 RAB Sessions Ind. Eng. Kiki Reames

Online Survey OSP Laura Letbetter

7-23-14 CoA Meeting CoA Lauren Robb

6-11-14 CoS/CoE Meeting CoS Lew Lefton

2013 Email Questionnaire CoS Lew Lefton

9-19-14 Faculty Session Library Lizzy Rolando

Online Survey ChBE Martha Grover

2013 Email Questionnaire IBB Megan McDevitt

Eco-System Brainstorming OSP Michelle Powell

6-11-14 CoS/CoE Meeting ME Millie Wan

2013 Email Questionnaire Int. Affairs Peter Brecke

Online Survey ECE Raheem Beyah

6-18-14 RAB Sessions G&C Rhonda Miller

10-20-2014 Meeting ECE Rob Butera

Online Survey GTRI Ron Bohlander

20

8-4-14 CoB Meeting CoB Ronald Stutts

7-29-14 G&C Meeting G&C Ruby Hollender

2013 Email Questionnaire G&C Sandy Mason

10-3-14 Faculty Session CoA Sarah Smith

2013 Email Questionnaire IAC Sharon Crouch

Online Survey ECE Sudhakar Yalamanchili

Online Survey Chemistry Sue Winters

2013 Email Questionnaire EVPR Susan Roche

2013 Email Questionnaire CoC Uwanna Smith

6-11-14 CoS/CoE Meeting CoS Velera Pate

2013 Email Questionnaire CoS Young-Hui Chong

10-2-2014 Direct Email EAS Yuhong Wang

Each of the meetings listed above had numerous attendees who participated in capturing the

material contained in this report. Additional individuals responded via the survey or in group settings, but wished to remain anonymous.

21

Appendix of Non-ITRS Organizations’ Responsibility

Office of Information Technology


Priority FY

Project Ownership


Automate the process of aggregating/approving and entering into PeopleSoft the work hours of bi-weekly employees

Direct: Supervisors, Bi-weekly employees Indirect: OHR

FY16

OHR


Automate the submission of PSF data to eliminate the 30-day window and reduce errors due to re-keying of data

Direct: Supervisors, Employees, Dept. Admin, Project Invoice Indirect: OHR

FY16

OHR


Become a member of the “eduroam” network to facilitate access for/as Visiting Scholars

Direct: Researchers

FY16

OIT


Purchase mass-storage hardware and user software for the purpose of storing and transferring workstation backups


FY16

OIT

BPSS


Priority FY

Project Ownership


Develop or purchase upgrades to the grants management system to enable seamless pre- and post-award data transitions


FY17

BPSS

Library


Priority FY

Project Ownership


Purchase mass-storage hardware for the purpose of storing and transferring research data generated by Georgia Tech faculty

Direct: Researchers Indirect: Central/Dept. Admin

FY16

Library

22

Electronic DataMart


Priority FY

Project Ownership


Develop a data warehouse that is fed with critical data from disparate systems across campus


FY17

ITRS/EDM


Develop or purchase business intelligence tools to facilitate extraction of complex information from the central data warehouse


FY17

ITRS/EDM

EVPR and Communications




Electronic collection of 680 Letters for justification of Sponsored/Undesignated workers


FY16

ITRS/ EVPR

Improved communication of seminars, events, and opportunities

Produce policies regarding centralized announcement of events held on/for campus

Direct: Central/Dept. Admin, Researchers, & Students

FY16

EVPR/

Communic-ations


Develop or purchase a system to allow central distribution of reporting hierarchy across campus units


FY16

EVPR

Social media tools for faculty & students to connect & collaborate

Develop or purchase systems to facilitate social media interactions among the wider campus community

Direct: Researchers & Students

FY17

Communica-

tions


Need exists to have CRM utilities made available, but past efforts have failed due to lack of guidance

Direct: Central/ Dept. Admin, Researchers

Undecided

EVPR

23

Addendum: Established Systems in Need of Additional Support Resources

While collecting data from Faculty and Staff with regards to determining the future-state of

research administration a significant amount of data was received regarding improvements which can be made to established systems in the interim. Such changes can serve to alleviate pressure currently facing research faculty and support staff while long-term planning is underway. Systems in need of additional resources to meet current support requests being made by users include:

OSP Contract Information System (CIS)

OSP Contract Administration System (CA)

GTRI Proposal Routing System (PRSYS)

Grants Ledger System(GL)

Project Expenses and Budge System (PEB)

Salary Planning and Distribution System (SPD)

Shared Resource Application System (ShaRA)

Cognos (GTRI’s Reporting datamart), and

PeopleSoft Requests related to these systems and others are available in the full feedback document available at http://itrs.gatech.edu.

Georgia Tech Research Administration Eco-System...

Documents

Transcript of Georgia Tech Research Administration Eco-System...