eRA Commons: New Features and Fixes Archive
New features and fixes added to the Commons module are listed below:
Year: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007
2011
Commons Login and Welcome screens
- We have updated the appearance of the Commons login and welcome screens, though Commons users will continue to log in using their username and password as before.
- Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD/PIs) affiliated with more than one institution will be able to select which institution to work with for their current session. The name of the default institution will appear in the top right corner (Welcome section) of each Commons page; PD/PIs can click the link to access the Change Affiliation screen, where they can select the institution they wish to work under.
Admin
New Features
- A new Delegations menu item within the Admin tab will open a My Delegations screen, from which Commons users can review, assign, revoke, and edit certain capabilities to other Commons users. These actions, called ‘delegations,’ will all take place in this centralized location. The authorities that you are able to delegate to other Commons users depend on your Commons role, as well as the role(s) of the user(s) you wish to delegate to.
- Signing Officials (SOs) will be able to delegate authority to a user on behalf of another Commons user from the Delegate Progress Report and Delegate Sponsor links on their My Delegates screen.
Commons Institution Registration
New Features
- A new link for registering institutions in the Commons (Register Grantee Organization) will exist in the top right area of the Commons Login screen.
- Selecting the Register Grantee Organization link will open the new registration form, which will no longer require the inclusion of the organization’s fax number(s).
- Signing Officials and Account Administrators at newly registered organizations will each receive separate e-mails with their temporary usernames and passwords. Previously, only the Signing Official received these e-mails, which included the SO’s temporary login information, as well as the AA’s.
xTrain
New Process for Self-Registration
- xTrain users invited to use Commons by the PD/PI will receive a series of e-mails directing them through the process of creating their accounts. The first e-mail will invite the user to create an account in Commons. The e-mails to follow will walk the user through completing the process. Accounts set up by Account Administrators will function the same as before.
Personal Profile
Fix
- The continuous submission eligibility period will be extended for all eligible PD/PIs. The eligibility period will begin on August 16, 2011 and will end on September 30, 2012.
Status
Fix
- Previously, when an application was awaiting processing by NIH (Application ID= AN:0), the Status Result – Recent/Pending eSubmissions screen displayed the eSubmission Status as “eSubmission Error.” Additionally, the Show All Prior Errors link displayed even though no warnings or errors existed. Moving forward, when an application is still processing, the Application ID will show AN:0, but the eSubmission Status and Show All Prior Errors columns will remain blank until processing is complete.
eSNAP (Electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award Process)
New Features
- A new role, Biostatistician, will be added to the Project Role drop down on the Edit Business – All Personnel List screen.
- PD/PIs will be able to indicate time devoted to a project as less than one month. The Calendar, Academic, and Summer fields on the Edit Business – All Personnel List screen will accept a decimal value between 0 and 1 to indicate less than one month devoted to the project. This change applies to PD/PIs only; the Months Devoted to Project for all other personnel must still be entered as a value between 1 and 12.
xTrain
New Feature
- Users will be able to appoint trainees for RL5 (Linked Education Project) and RL9 (Linked Research Training Award) grants in xTrain.
Fix
- The Signature of Fellow or Trainee field and the Signature of Sponsor or Program Director field on the Termination Notice PDF previously displayed incorrect information. Moving forward, these fields will display correct information.
General
New Feature
- The Commons home page will include warning text indicating that the user is accessing a United States Government website.
Admin
Fix
- Signing Officials will be able to add the SPONSOR role to the account of a Principal Investigator (PI) with multiple institutional affiliations. The Role drop down on the Edit Account screen will include the SPONSOR role.
Personal Profile
New Feature
- Help files will be added to the Submit Reference Letter and List of Reference Letters screens. Users can access the help files by clicking the question mark (?) icon next to the screen name (i.e., Submit Reference Letter and List of Reference Letters).
Status
Fix
- For users with the Assistant (ASST) role: The feature that allows Assistants to sort by PD/PI Name on the Status Result – List of Applications/Grants screen will be repaired so that the results will be sorted properly. Previously, the system sorted the results list based on the first PD/PI name in the drop down list, instead of the PD/PI name that the user selected from the drop down.
eSNAP (Electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award Process)
New Features
- The Due Date listed on the Manage eSNAP and eSNAP Menu screens will be displayed as the fifteenth day of the month, in order to have the correct Due Date as is listed on the Type 5 e-mail reminder notice.
- When completing the Personnel Form portion of the Edit Business - All Personnel List screen, if the user enters a zero in the Months Devoted to Project field, or leaves the field blank, the system will stop processing and the user will receive the following error message: “One of the fields under the Month devoted should be more than 0.”
xTrain
New Features
- A new, required field, Degree(s) Sought, will be added to the electronic Statement of Appointment (Form PHS 2271). If the user chooses the “YES” checkbox for the Degree(s) Sought, he or she must indicate the type of degree (and whether a dual degree program) and complete the Expected Completion Date of Degree Requirements field.
- The PDF version of the Statement of Appointment (Form PHS 2271) will be modified so that the Education—After High School field will only display degrees received.
- Users will not be able to edit the Stipend/Salary/Other Compensation field (on the Statement of Training Appointment screen) for appointments that are 12 months in length.
- New resources: New quick reference guides, frequently asked questions, and presentations concerning the use of xTrain have been posted to the eRA xTrain page.
Fixes
- The Save & Submit to Agency button will appear on the Termination Notice screen. Previously, the button was not visible for foreign and federal fellowship grants, unless the user refreshed the web page or returned to the Trainee Roster screen prior to accessing the Termination Notice screen.
- The Source column on the Search for WIP Appointments and Terminations screen will display “Paper” for all appointments and terminations submitted via paper.
- Users with the xTrain ASST and SPONSOR delegations will be able to view the PI’s and Sponsor’s grants from the My Grants screen under the xTrain tab.
2010
Status
New Features
- Progress Report for Multi-year Funded Awards: A new “MYPR” link appears next to appropriate awards in the Action column of the List of Applications/Grants screen. The link is available two months prior to the due date of the progress report. Clicking this link brings the user to the new Upload Multi-Year Progress Report screen. From this screen, a PD/PI (Program Director/Principal Investigator) can upload or remove a PDF, as well as route the report to his or her SO (Signing Official). The SO can then view, reject, or submit the report.
- Signing Officials have the authority to delegate and revoke submit authority in relation to the Multi-Year Progress Report. This delegation is completed in the same way and at the same time as the delegation to submit eSNAP (Electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award Process) progress reports.
- For more details, see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-11-010.html.
- Multi-PD/PI Functionality in Closeout:
- On the Closeout Status screen, multiple PD/PIs are listed and the Contact PI is indicated.
- On the Submit FSR screen, multiple PD/PIs are listed and the Contact PI is indicated.
- On the Submit Final Invention Statement screen, multiple PD/PIs are listed and the Contact PI is indicated.
- PD/PIs no longer need to verify the Final Invention Statement before it can be submitted to the agency. Any PD/PI can upload a Final Invention Statement, but only an SO can submit the statement.
- For more details, see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-11-012.html.
- Note: Due to this process change, a number of SOs will have to take action to verify and submit Final Invention Statements that were uploaded, but not verified, by PD/PIs. eRA will send targeted e-mails to these SOs with instructions.
- Closeout: Only PDF files are accepted for the Final Progress Report.
- No-cost Extension:
- Grantees can request an extension of one to twelve months (in one-month increments) using a new drop down menu. The new project end date is calculated based on the selected timeframe of the extension request.
- An automated process (as a result of eRA’s new interface with the NIH financial system) checks business rules in relation to No-cost Extensions. When an extension request cannot be processed due to an internal business error, the Extension link on the Status Result – General Search screen will be changed to “Extension Error.” This link continues to be displayed until the error has been corrected. If such an error occurs, the user will receive an e-mail with follow-up instructions to resolve the issue.
- This initiative is required for NIH to comply with the Anti-Deficiency Act and recent 2010 Congressional appropriation directives.
eSNAP (Electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award Process)
New Features
- Type 4 ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) applications are eligible for eSNAP.
- All citations manually entered into Commons by PD/PIs have been removed from the eSNAP and Personal Profile Publications sections of Commons.
- For more details, see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-103.html.
xTrain
New Features
- Support for Multiple PD/PI Training Grants:
- The Program Director column on the My Grants screen, the Trainee Appointments and Terminations screen, and the Grant Summary screen displays the Contact PI.
- The PD/PI at each training institution, not just the Contact PI, has the authority to approve appointments, reappointments, amendments, and termination notices.
- All PD/PIs can initiate appointments and terminations, as well as submit them, regardless of which PD/PI initiated the action.
- A multi-PI at one institution can appoint trainees at a different institution.
- Fellowship grants:
- xTrain allows for the termination of Fellowship grants.
- A new Sponsor role is available for the termination and activation of Fellowships.
- Sponsors can delegate authority to a “Sponsor Delegate.”
- When a user with the Sponsor role clicks the xTrain tab, he or she can view the List of Grants screen and the Trainee Roster screen.
- Sponsors are not able to submit Fellowship termination notices to the agency.
- The List of Activity Codes currently supported in xTrain includes F30, F31, F32 and F33 activity codes (NRSA Fellowships).
- E-mail reminders will be sent regarding Fellowship end dates:
- To the Fellow/BO/Sponsor and Sponsor Delegate 30 days before the Fellowship end date
- To the Fellow/BO/Sponsor and Sponsor Delegate after the Fellowship end date has passed
- To the Fellow/BO/Sponsor and Sponsor Delegate 30 days after the Fellowship end date has passed
- When an Assistant (with xTrain delegation for a PI) is the current reviewer of the Form 2271, and he or she clicks the Process 2271 link, a Validate button appears.
- A new Appointment Type column is added to the Trainee Appointments and Terminations page. Appointment Types include “New,” “Reappointment,” or “Amendment.”
- A new link is added to the Grant Summary screen in xTrain. This Grant Number hyperlink takes a user to the Detailed Status of the Grant Summary screen, giving the user the ability to see the grant folder documents.
- PDFs of accepted training appointments and termination notices are added to the grant folder and displayed in the Detailed Status.
- The NIH approval is displayed on the PDF version of the termination notice form.
- E-mail reminders will be sent regarding appointment end dates:
- To the PI and ASST 30 days before the appointment end date
- To the PI and ASST when the appointment end date has passed
- To the Business Official 30 days after the appointment end date has passed
Please note this is an overview of the eRA Commons enhancements for the July release. For full details, please view the July Commons Release Notes.
eSNAP (electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award Process)
New Features
- The Publications section of the Upload Science screen now features data columns that can be sorted, including “Valid NIHMSID,” “Associate with this eSNAP,” and “Citation Source.” Users can click the arrows on the columns to sort or reverse the displayed data.
- The Upload Science and Edit Business – SNAP and Other Progress Report Questions & Checklist screens now will only accept PDF files for uploading. If a user attempts to upload file in a different format, an error message will display.
- Because the use of the eSNAP feature is now mandatory for all SNAP-eligible awards, the Institutional Profile screen now will display all institutions as eSNAP Eligible.
Fixes
- Previously, the Save & New button on the Edit Business – All Personnel screen would save the information but would not clear the data to prepare for new data entry. This issue has been resolved.
- Previously, when a user entered information into an editable field on the Inclusion Enrollment Form, the Total of All Subjects fields did not reflect the new information and automatically calculate new totals. This issue has been resolved.
xTrain
New Features
- PD/PIs now can submit more than one appointment to the Agency in a batch. If any errors or warnings occur, the PD/PI will be able to review the errors and warnings for each appointment. PD/PIs can view their pending submissions by clicking the new “View Pending Submissions” link on the My Grants screen.
- All prior Kirschstein-NRSA support (paper and electronic) that a trainee had prior to the current award, including fellowship grants F30, F31, F32, and F33, now will be displayed on the PHS 2271 form.
- xTrain now accepts appointments for the KM1 activity code (institutional career development awards funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). xTrain will treat KM1 awards the same way it treats K12 and KL2 awards.
- xTrain’s early termination process has been modified. Now, if a trainee terminates an appointment early, only that appointment, as well as all previous ones, will be terminated with the early termination date. All future appointments, including those in the same budget period, will not be terminated.
- If there is an existing work-in-progress appointment for a trainee, the “Initiate TN” link in the Action column of the Trainee Roster will not display for that trainee.
Fix
- On the Trainee Roster screen, xTrain will no longer display “Initiate TN” and “Amend 2271” links when an amendment to an original appointment is in work-in-progress status, or when the termination process has been initiated and is in work-in-progress status.
Personal Profile
New Features
- The following columns on the List of Publications screen now can be sorted by users: “Valid NIHMSID,” “Citation Source,” “Grant Number,” and “Paper-Grant Association.” Users can click the arrows on the columns to sort or reverse the displayed data.
- The ability to enter citations manually into Commons has been removed. If a PD/PI wants a new citation to appear in Commons, he must now link his Commons account to a new or existing My NCBI account. Within My NCBI, the PD/PI can add the new citation to the My Bibliography tool, and it will automatically appear in Commons. For more information, read the recently released guide notice: “My NCBI Tool to Replace eRA Commons for Bibliography Management".
FSR (Financial Status Report)
New Feature
- Users can now submit one FSR when both the parent grant and supplement(s) are funded by ARRA. Only when the parent grant is completed will the supplement and the parent grant show up in a search for FSRs that are due.
Please note this is an overview of the eRA Commons enhancements for the April release. For full details, please view the April Commons Release Notes.
PPF (Personal Profile)
New Features
Continuous Submission
- Displays three fiscal year options in the Continuous Submission (CS) Eligibility Period drop-down box (the box can be found under the Reviewer Service History & Continuous Submission Eligibility section of the Reviewer-Specific screen).
- The first fiscal year option is the current fiscal year. The remaining eligibility periods represent the next two 12-month periods of eligibility.
- Displays a user’s continuous submission eligibility status and a list of all eligible meetings for the past two- to 18-month period.
My NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) / My Bibliography
- Displays the following on the PPF List of Publications screen:
- All PI (Principal Investigator) citations residing in the My Bibliography system
- Citation ID and Citation Text columns
- Each citation’s PMCID (PubMed Central Reference Number) or PMID (PubMed reference number), if available; otherwise, the system will display the NIHMSID (NIH Manuscript ID), as well as whether that ID is valid
- A Grant-paper Association Action column
- (possible actions include Reject and Confirm)
- A Grant-paper Association Status column
- (possible statuses include Proposed, PI Confirmed, Rejected, and Official—no status information will show for PI-entered citations in Commons)
eSNAP (Electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award Process)
New Features
My NCBI / My Bibliography
- Integrates NCBI data into the Upload Science screen.
- A PI or PI Delegate can associate citations with a particular eSNAP.
- If a Grant-paper Association does not exist at the time of selection into eSNAP, a new association will be created.
- Each citation’s PMCID or PMID, if available; otherwise, the system will display the NIHMSID.
- Includes Citation ID hyperlinks that allow a user to view a citation at its source.
- Introduces “Added to eSNAP” status.
xTrain
New Features
- Allows users to update or amend any existing early termination records.
- Renders as “Read Only” the Appointment Period and Amount fields for a Trainee.
- Renders as “Read Only” the following fields on the Manage Appointments screen (for Trainees):
- Appointment Start Date
- Appointment End Date
- Stipend Level or Salary
- Stipend/Salary/Other Compensation
- Tuition/Fees (estimated)
- Travel
- Shows all prior NRSA support (paper and electronic) on PHS 2271 form for a particular trainee.
- Lists all prior NRSA support (paper and electronic) on the TN (Termination Notice) form.
- Includes all NRSA support under the Other PHS Service Obligation Support section of the PHS 2271 form
Fixes
- Displays the correct and most up-to-date Appointment End Date when a PI initiates a TN for an amendment where the amendment has the Appointment End Date set earlier than the original Appointment End Date.
Public Access Screen
Fixes
- No longer allows the creation of BASIC accounts.
- The Create New Account link has been removed from the Public Access eRA Login screen. All existing, non-affiliated accounts with BASIC and PI roles were removed, if the account was not associated with any grants.
FCOI (Financial Conflict of Interest)
Fixes
- Allows edits to be made to the previously un-editable fields on the FCOI Edit screen.
Status
Fixes
- Displays records with the correct Budget End Dates when a user performs a General Search query.
eRA Commons Enhancements
Please note this is an overview of the eRA Commons enhancements for the January release. For full details, please view the January Commons Release Notes.
Personal Profile Enhancements
- Continuous Submission eligibility: The Reviewer Address screen of a PI’s Personal Profile within Commons now displays the PI’s eligibility for Continuous Submission. Individuals who have completed recent substantial peer review service may be eligible for Continuous Submission, which allows eligible applicants to submit their grant application as soon as it is complete. In addition to displaying the PI’s Continuous Submission Eligibility Status, the screen also displays eligibility start and end dates.
Admin Enhancements
- Continuous Submission eligibility: A “Continuous Submission (CS) Eligible ONLY” checkbox has been added to the Manage Accounts search screen within Commons. This checkbox allows users with a Signing Official role the option to search only for those accounts that are eligible for Continuous Submission. In addition, users with a SO role can view Continuous Submission eligibility for all accounts within their institution via a Continuous Submission column located beside each account on the Manage Accounts search result screen in the Admin section.
Institutional Profile (IPF) Enhancements
- Multiple Human Subject Assurance Numbers: In the Edit Institution Profile screen, users now can enter multiple Human Subject Assurance (HSA) numbers.
- Notice of Award (NOA) e-mail field added:
- A mandatory Notice of Award e-mail field has been added to the Grantee Organization Registration form, and an error message will be generated if the user does not complete the field or completes the field using incorrect e-mail formatting.
- For existing institutions with a missing NOA e-mail address, the system will populate the field with the institution’s Signing Official e-mail address.
eSNAP Enhancements
- Separate Cover Letter upload created: The Upload Science section now includes a separate Cover Letter upload. The upload appears at the beginning of the eSNAP image preceding the eSNAP report, which now starts at the top of a next page.
xTrain Enhancements
- xTrain now supports 2 new activity codes: R25 and R90: The document “Activity Codes Supported in xTrain” has been updated to include R25 and R90 type grants. xTrain is an eRA Commons module that provides institutional users with the ability to prepare and submit appointment forms and other related documents electronically. When a user logs into Commons, he or she can locate the list of supported activity codes by choosing the xTrain tab, proceeding to the My Grants screen and clicking on the link: List of Activity Codes currently supported in xTrain.
- xTrain will now display a warning if a trainee selected for a T34 grant (grants for pre-baccalaureates) has a degree.
- If a Termination Notice is sent back to an Institution by the agency and the TN has a status of In Progress BO (Business Official), the PI will now be able to recall the TN.
- Modifications have been made to the Termination Notice PDF form so that it matches the recently updated official Termination Notice (TN) paper form (PHS 416-7).
- The In Progress BO status has been removed from the Work in Progress (WIP) Record Status drop-down list when searching for appointments on the Search for WIP Appointments and Terminations page.
- For early terminations, the system will now create a new Statement of Appointment form, in which the appointment end date will be the early termination date.
- Amendments to the Statement of Appointment PDF form will now show the first amendment start and end dates on the main section of the form.
- The termination process was modified for institutional Ks and other non-NRSA mechanisms to collect limited information from the termination form and not involve a review by the Business Official.
Status Enhancements
- Just-in-Time (JIT): The ability for the user to select from multiple Human Subject Assurance (HSA) numbers has been added to the Just-in-Time screen in the Human Subject Assurance section. The HSA number will now display in the JIT Report.
- Priority Scores for the Director’s Pioneer Award Program (DP1) and Director’s New Innovator Award Program (DP2) will now display to Principal Investigators.
- The Commons Status screen will now point to a Special Emphasis Panel (SEP) Aggregate Roster for selected meetings, as opposed to the per-meeting roster, which appeared in the past. The SEP Aggregate Roster is an inclusive list of all reviewers on the panel.
eRA Commons Fixes
Admin Fixes
- Previously, if an admin staff (SO, AA, AO) user ran a Reassign Account query, the query would only return the first 1,000 user names. The query now returns the full record count and contains only the appropriate admin staff roles.
xTrain Fixes
- Non-resident selection not validated correctly: Prior to this release, if the Non-resident option was selected on the Personal Profile, the following error would display – “Trainee citizenship must be entered. Trainee must enter this information on Personal Profile screen in eRA Commons.” With this release, the error will only be displayed if no citizenship information is provided.
2009
eRA Commons Enhancements
Please note this is an overview of the eRA Commons enhancements for the October release. For full details, please view the October Commons Release Notes, which will be posted after Thursday, October 8, 2009.
Institutional Profile (IPF) Enhancements
- A Content Managed link was added to the Assurances and Certifications screen that leads to a document that would explain all assurances and certifications - http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.doc#_Toc238447714
- Assurances and Certifications - Two new Assurances & Certifications were added to the IPF:
- 1. Graduate Student Training for Doctoral Degrees. D43, TU2, T15, T32, T37, T90, U2R, U90, and U54/TL1 only. This Certification will not be mandatory for eSNAPs
- 2. Smoke-Free Workplace
eSNAP Enhancements
- Several changes and additions were made to the Edit Business and eSNAP Report screens and PDF.
- Content managed text changes were made to the eSNAP Edit Business - All Personnel List screen and the eSNAP - Help File Supplement Support - All Personnel Screen.
- 508 Compliance Changes for Commons - A number of Section 508 Compliance changes were made to Financial Status Report (FSR), the IPF, the Status screen(s) and other sections of the eRA Commons system.
Recovery Act Enhancements
- eRA Commons - Both GCM & Commons Closeouts were modified to accommodate separate closeout of ARRA T-3 records.
My Bibliography Enhancements
- PPF - MyBIB - New Process for Managing Publications - The system will now pull all bibliography records directly from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) using the web service. The system will also provide the user with the option to view any publication by selecting the Citation ID hyperlink. System will maintain capability of the user to edit and or delete PD/PI entered publications.
- eSNAP - MyBIB - Integration of the New MYBIB Process with eSNAP
- The system will now display all publications from the MyBIB system on the eSNAP My Publications screen and eSNAP Report.
ESI Enhancements
- The system will now present the user with the identifier for the Terminal Research Degree on the Person Degree page. Additionally, we have added the capability to mark one of the degrees in the PPF as the Terminal degree.
- For the initial stage of Terminal Research Degree implementation, the system will locate the latest degree in every profile and mark it as Terminal. This enhancement will set the Terminal Research Degree within the system automatically.
eRA FIXES
Commons Fixes
- Multi PI Status Information- "Application Entered into Computer" Displays Multiple Times - This duplication of displayed information has been corrected.
XTrain Fixes
- System Giving Overlapping Appointment Error and Displaying All Previous Amendments when Amending an Amendment - The issue is now resolved. When amending an amendment, the system is allowing users to create amendments without displaying the overlapping appointment error. Additionally, the system only displays the latest accepted amendment record on the Trainee Roster screen.
- xTrain Additional Scenario when Reappointment Link Should Disappear - The system code was fixed to hide the reappointment link as soon as a reappointment has been created for any future year and not just the immediate future year.
- System Looks at the Original Appointment End Date and Not at the Termination Date - The system has been modified so now when user creates a new appointment for the same trainee that was terminated it looks at the Termination Date and not at the original appointment End Date so user will no longer receive an overlapping appointment error.
eSNAP Fixes
- Edit Business - Key Personnel: User Gets a Validation Error - Before the October release, the user would get a validation error (when either clicking on the Validate button or the Submit button) indicating that the value for calendar/summer/academic months must be greater than zero. However, when the user navigated to the Key Personnel page, the data clearly showed all the values to be greater than zero. The Commons applications have been updated to make the display and validation of values for PI consistent.
- Edit Business, Project Performance Sites, Content Managed Text Entered Twice - Previously, the Content Managed text was showing up twice on the Edit Business - Project Performance Site List screen. This duplication of Content Manages text was corrected so that the message only appears once.
508 Compliance Fixes
- No Labels for the Radio Buttons in the Central Accounting System (CAS) Information or Edit Financial Status Record (FAS) Page - Explicit labels were added to the radio buttons to make them compliant with Section 508 standards. The Edit FSR page was also made 508 Compliant.
If you have any questions, please contact the eRA Helpdesk: 301-402-7469; helpdesk@od.nih.gov.
Features
Add trainee and post-doc role to the list of roles that can have multiple affiliations
- The Trainee role and a Post-Doc role have been added to the dropdown list of roles that can have affiliations with multiple institutions.
508 Compliance Changes
- Commons system enhancements and changes were made based on Section 508 Standard requirements for Web forms and images. All Web forms and images in the following modules are now 508 compliant:
- Account
- Registration
- FCOI
- xTrain
Change the label on the 'Forgot Password?' link to 'Forgot Password or Locked Account?'
- Many users were unaware that the 'Forgot Password' link that can be used to have the system generate a new password if they forget their password can also unlock their account by having the system generate another password if they are locked out because of too many consecutive login attempts. The link label has been changed for clarity.
Guidance Messages
- Instructive tips added to several Commons screens, including Just-In-Time (JIT) screens with recent changes.
Times Revised in the status search screens
- The Just-in-Time (JIT) submission date and the number of times the report was submitted or revised have now been combined into one hyperlink that displays the latest information. When the JIT form (PDF only) is opened, the form now shows the last submitted date (MM/DD/YYYY) and the number of times submitted in the upper right area of the form.
Fixes
Reviewer name is missing from a meeting list
- Correction made to ensure the Reviewer Name is always displayed in the heading of eeting lists.
Inconsistencies in display of Action Links and Scores during EDIT
Previously, there were inconsistencies in the various displays of the Action links and Scores when the Scientific Review Officer (SRO) was in the Edit phase. The following inconsistencies are no longer issues:
- When submitting only Criterion scores for an unassigned reviewer, the Delete link only became available if the preliminary scores were entered along with criterion scores, or a critique had been submitted. (Issue resolved)
- When submitting Criterion scores, preliminary scores, or both, and then going back to the List of Applications, the unassigned reviewer would have no Action links at all. (Issue resolved)
- When a Discussant would submit Criterion scores with a critique and go back to the List of Applications to delete just the critique, only the Submit link was available. (Issue resolved)
Create Affiliation link not correctly restricted to PI, Trainee, and Post-Doc roles
- This situation has been corrected so that the Create Affiliation hyperlink actively displays in the Action column for the Principal Investigator (PI), Trainee, and Post-Doc roles only.
Admin - Not finding IAR roles in Account search screen.
- Commons will now add Not Affiliated records to both the 'Active' and 'Pending' search results. Additionally, we have removed the PI role restriction from the search query when the 'Account Status' is Not Affiliated and added the IAR role to the Search screen Role selection dropdown.
Features
General Enhancements
- The Status Information screen will now display the applications' Early State Investigator (ESI) and New Investigator (NI) eligibility status on detail page.
User Account Management Module - 508 Compliance
- The User Account Management Module is now fully 508 compliant.
Content Managed Text
- Changes were made to enhance the wording on the Principle Investigator (PI) Submit Reference Letter screen to provide clearer instructions.
Account Management
We streamlined the process of managing accounts and have integrated the following new features:
- Users can now Create Account, Create Affiliation, and Maintain Account all from one Manage Accounts tab.
- Manage Account tab will display a new search screen that has been enhanced to include an Institution Search option.
- Create Affiliation function now allows the SO to affiliate a current, non-affiliated Primary Investigator to his or her Institution through the Search button.
- SO has system authority to create a new profile or update an existing profile account within Commons.
- Enhanced capability allowing SO to use Create Account screen to create a new Trainee role from the Management Account tab.
- Provide capability of search within Institution (default) or outside Institution separately for Commons Account holders.
Peer Review Re-engineering Effort
- Peer Review System enhanced to accommodate new priority scale.
- Just-in-Time link behavior has been adjusted to fit the new scale.
Career Tracking
- New POSTDOC role added to the Commons Role list. The new role will be used for tracking purposes of post-doctoral persons involved with grants.
New Investigator
- Self-reported New Investigator role will no longer be considered during review, and will not have any relevance for applications other than R01 and DP2. The new ESI functionality automatically calculates the New Investigator Value on an R01 and DP2.
Features
Early Stage Investigator (ESI) eligibility determined and flagged.
Scientists who have attained their last degree or completed their medical residency or equivalent within the last 10 years and have not received a substantial NIH research grant may be eligible to be categorized as an ‘Early Stage Investigator.’ Once PD/PIs update their Personal Profile in eRA Commons with their degree information and medical residency completion dates, the system will determine their eligibility – effective with this software release. R01 grant applications will be flagged as Early Stage Investigator applications beginning with the February 2009 R01 submissions; these applications will receive special consideration during review and award.
The features to accommodate ESI are as follows:
- Modify Commons’ Personal Profile to allow users to enter Medical Residency Information and store data:
- The Commons Add Degrees/Residency screen was modified to allow
users to enter:
- The end of their Medical Residency training date (this is a required field with month and year in the MM/YYYY format).
- The area of Medical Residency (an optional field)
- Modify Commons Personal Profile to Display Residency Info for all users and ESI Info for PI, IAR and Trainee and Delegates
- The system will now display Medical Residency information for all users and will calculate ESI Eligibility information for users with PI, IAR, and Trainee roles and their Delegates roles on the Degrees/Residency screen.
- A new Medical Residency section was added to the Degree screen.
This section contains:
- Area of Medical Residency
- End Date or Expected End Date of Medical Residency
- Early Stage Investigator Status
- End of Medical Eligibility Date
- A link to FAQ’s for ESI Eligibility
** Also note that you will have the ability to Edit and/or Delete a Medical Residency record and the ability to ‘Add’ new Medical Residency information. The Add New Residency section will not be available if degree information is not entered.
New reimbursement system introduced for reviewers
A new, simplified registration process will be in place with this software release to facilitate disbursement of honoraria and expenses to reviewers for their participation in peer review meetings. The new system will require reviewers to log in to eRA Commons and update their Personal Profile. Reviewers will then click on a link to a secure payment system, managed by the NIH Office of Financial Management (OFM), and enter their banking information. The new system replaces the U.S. Central Contractor Registration (CCR) system that NIH previously used for this purpose.
The features to accommodate the new reimbursement system are as follows:
- The location of the secure payment link — titled Secure Payee Registration System (SPRS) — was changed from the Reviewer screen to the Residential Address screen. Reviewers are now asked to enter their home or other reviewer location in the Residential Address screen in order to activate the link to SPRS.
- The new system requires reviewers to log in to eRA Commons (https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons)
with their user name and password and update their Personal Profile with
the following information:
- Residential address, phone number, and email; and link to the SPRS to enter social security number, bank routing number, and bank account number.
Note: Please follow the step-by-step instructions for registration at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/peer/peer.htm. Only users with the Internet Assisted Review (IAR) role will be able to view the link and log into the SPRS system. All required fields, including the email address, must be filled in.
Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI)
- Added a note to the Financial Conflict of Interest – Initiate screen to let users know that an attachment is optional after the initial Save.
Fixes
Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI)
- Allow the FCOI grant number field to accept the entire record, not just the required information. Users will no longer receive the following error message: Grant was not found or not awarded.
xTrain
- Resolved the issue where an account with both BO and ASST roles did not display the Process TN (termination notice) link.
- Removed the Termination email sent to the user when a BO account is deleted.
- Ensured that for both the 2271 form and the TN, the original document will no longer be altered when it is amended.
- Ensured automatic population of personal information into the 2271 form with the data used at the time of nomination.
- For early terminations, the system will automatically amend the latest appointment to include the original stipend amount and the new stipend amount in the Amendment section (Total support amount includes Tuition fees and Travel Fees in addition to stipend amount). The original appointment form information will not be altered. All TNs, Amendment records and PDFs affected by this will now show the correct stipend amount.
xTrain User Guide Coming Soon
- An xTrain User Guide will be posted soon on the xTrain Web page on the eRA Web site.
2008
Features
Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI)
NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-09-001 - NIH Announces a New Business Process for Reporting an Identified Financial Conflict of Interest for Grants and/or Cooperative Agreements beginning October 10, 2008.
- New Commons service that allows institutional users to:
- initiate and prepare FCOI reports
- electronically submit reports and supporting documents to NIH
- search and view FCOI reports previously submitted through the Commons
- edit or rescind submitted reports with NIH involvement
- access history of actions
- Pilot expanded to include all Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) members and a small sample of non-FDP members
Electronic Non-competing Award Process (eSNAP)
- Added text at the top of the eSNAP Edit Business page to clarify Human Subject codes
- Added the capabilities in Zip Code for foreign applicants to enter letters and numbers (digits and numerals)
Personal Profile
- Added text at the top of the Personal Profile Degrees screen to clarify process
xTrain
- System aligned with recent xTrain policy change regarding requirement
for signed paper copies of all post-doc trainee actions
- Appointment forms and termination notices submitted through xTrain will serve as official documentation. System will no longer prompt user to print, sign and mail signed appointment forms and termination notices for post-doc trainees.
- Signed payback forms for post-doc
trainees in their first year of NRSA support are still required
and the system will provide link to print document
- Business rule checks (i.e., validations) against ethnicity and disability information have been separated from checks against other profile information. Ethnicity and disability became required fields as of May 1, 2008 (part of most recent OMB cleared changes for the 2271 form). The change was necessary to allow proper paper processing of forms submitted prior to May 1, 2008 that did not include ethnicity and disability information.
Fixes
Electronic Non-competing Award Process (eSNAP)
- Users can now revoke 'Delegate Submit' authority without an error message being generated
- Implemented new terminology throughout the eSNAP screens:
OLD TERM NEW TERM Principal Investigator Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) Key Personnel Senior/key Personnel Performance site Project/performance site
- Made changes within eSNAP to accommodate the new NIH Public Access Policy
- Provided ability within eSNAP to designate a primary Project/Performance site, enter a DUNS number and effect other changes to accommodate the requirements of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA).
Features
- xTrain
- Number of months for Other PHS Obligation support now required
- Disability Status will be required for Trainee
- Provide link to description for Disadvantaged Background
- PI and Trainee now may modify Field Of Training before saving an Amendment
- Add Registration events to the Routing History
- Add a Recall button
- All users may now view the Application throughout full life cycle even when not the current reviewer
- Many new features for internal users to expedite processing of
Appointments and Terminations
- Status
- SO users can now see previously successful application when a subsequent application results in errors
- Search by Grants.gov tracking number for SO users now works the same way as for PI users
- Reject eApplication link may now be seen in General Status screen
Fixes
- xTrain
- Rename buttons from Route to Save & Route
- Having an Appointment period of 12 months and 1 day now triggers the error that 12-month Appointment period has been exceeded
- Middle name has been added to xTrain termination emails
- Tuition and Travel amount in 2271s may now be zero
- Current Reviewer is now displayed for Appointments when Pending Agency Review
- Fixed bug that created another re-appointment when saving the current re-appointment
- Status
- Changes to Progress Report printable face page to include latest Office of Management and Budget (OMB) revisions
- Made modifications to Race and Ethnicity screen to be consistent with OMB requirements
- On the Personal Profile page you may now enter either the last 4 digits or full Social Security Number, but only the last 4 digits will be displayed
- xTrain changes
Note: xTrain is a new Commons service for managing research training appointments/amendments/terminations through the eRA Commons. It is currently in pilot with nine institutions. xTrain is expected to be available for broader use later this year.- Adding middle name to hit list returned when using the Identify Trainee link
- Allow previous PI to perform actions for only their support years and allow current PI to perform actions for all support years
- View routing history once appointment/termination accepted
- TA screen redesign of search for appointments/terminations
- Modifications to the pre-population of the payback form to for printing and paper submission
- Remove requirement to supply Appointment Start Date (From and To fields) from the Search Appointments and Terminations screen (NIH staff users)
- Stipend greater than zero must be entered
- Performance improvement for Work In Progress (WIP) Appointment and Terminations query (NIH staff users)
- Cancel button consistently returns users to previous screen
- Trainee Roster Search options will switch to Latest Awarded Support Year, Latest & Previous Awarded Support Years and All years. Default set to Latest & Previous.
- Address 500 server error received when viewing PDFs and Routing History for actions that share start/end dates
- Address 404 system errors received when routing Termination Notices from Business Official to Trainee
- Correction to Auto-routing message that is sent to Business
Official after 14 days of no action from PI
- General changes
- Remove IPF search parameter from Employments screen of Personal Profile
- Changes to DP1 reference letter processing
- Corrected reference letter email text sent to referee
- Changed reference letter screen to provide flexibility in RFA/PA number format (frequent help desk call)
- xTrain changes
Note: xTrain is a new Commons service for managing research training appointments/amendments/terminations through the eRA Commons. It is currently in pilot with nine institutions. xTrain is expected to be available for broader use later this year.- Screen clean-up
- Workflow corrections
- Corrected pre-population of Payback form
2007
- 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:
- Recent/Pending eSubmissions - includes
electronic application submissions that require action to complete
the submission process (e.g., checking errors/warnings, viewing
assembled application). It also includes those that have been
refused by a Signing Official or are within the two day assembled
application viewing window.
- List of Applications/Grants
- includes both paper and electronic applications that have been
submitted successfully and are available for post-submission status
(e.g., review assignments, review results, summary statements,
Notice of Award). It also includes the list of awarded grants
for accessing other Commons functions.
- Recent/Pending eSubmissions - includes
electronic application submissions that require action to complete
the submission process (e.g., checking errors/warnings, viewing
assembled application). It also includes those that have been
refused by a Signing Official or are within the two day assembled
application viewing window.
- Grouping of multiple submission attempts for a single application
to provide a cleaner screen view and consolidated submission history.
- In internal eRA applications, the PI view within the grant folder now includes a link to files added to the grant folder via eAdditions.
This page last reviewed: January 24, 2013
