• Tags
• eGC1
• Grant Runner
• SAGE Budget

SAGE General

New Funding Action (FA) fields added to SAGE API for GCA Budget Setup

The following fields have been added to the SAGE API, allowing GCA significant time saving in their budget setup automation work.

• FA Number
• Prepared By
• Approved By
• F&A Explanation
• Disposition of Balance
• Intellectual Property
• Frequency of Report
• Final Report

Following this SAGE API release, MyResearch squirrel will be updated so that GCA can fully access the FA data for budget setup automation (MyResearch release timing TBD).

SAGE eGC1

Budget Connection Issues Resolved

The following issues with budgets that are connected to eGC1s have been resolved:

• Bad routing state caused by having a budget connected to a second eGC1
• Linked budgets not opening correctly on non-editable eGC1

SAGE Budget

Minor Polish Updates

• From the budget list, you can now right click on the budget title and it will open in a new tab.
• When adding personnel costs, the new row is now added to the top of the salary and benefits table for greater visibility.
• When viewing budget history snapshots, the banner text has been reworded for added clarity.

SAGE Grant Runner

Sponsor Budget Map Ordering

A minor issue with personnel ordering on the Sponsor Budget Map has been fixed.

• Tags
• eGC1
• Grant Runner
• SAGE Budget

Feature Highlights: Improving SAGE Budget Usability

The SAGE team is focusing in 2019 on expanding and improving SAGE Budget capabilities, and streamlining proposal budgeting processes. This release includes several high-value features that were identified by budget preparers across campus who responded to a budget-focused survey and subsequent focus groups.

SAGE Budget

New Salary Cap Feature

In SAGE Budget you can now indicate when the sponsor has a salary cap, allowing you to set a custom salary cap value from the newly-renamed Targets & Caps tab.

From the worksheet, you’ll be able to see what the cap is, and which personnel exceed it.

When you open the details for individual personnel, you’ll see their total uncapped salary in addition to their capped total for improved transparency.

Improved Visibility to Salary and Benefit Totals

When updating the period details for personnel, you’ll now have better visibility to Period Salary Totals, Period Benefits Totals, and for the first time, visibility to the combined Salary & Benefit Total. This will make it easier to copy this total into sponsor budget forms, while also improving the layout to reduce scrolling. (See “Total Salary + Benefits” in image above)

New Summer Tuition Amount Field

To make it easier and more transparent to budget for summer tuition (the rate which normally differs from other academic quarters), you’ll now be able to enter a discrete Summer Tuition Amount for personnel with student sub-object codes. You’ll also be able to enter a Summer Tuition Amount for stand-alone tuition lines in the 08 object code.

Copy Budget Improvements

Copying SAGE budgets and sub-budgets will now prompt you to update the Title of the new budget, and after confirmation will open the new budget in a new browser tab. This will make it more intuitive for you to identify the new budget from the original when copying.

Streamlined and More Accessible Expense Entry

Keyboard and mouse navigation in the expense entry screens has been improved to make the experience more intuitive and accessible. This will reduce the amount of time to enter expenses for users who navigate using keyboard or mouse.

General SAGE Suite Maintenance Items

SAGE

Activity Locations Entry Updated for Consistent Experience

The eGC1 Activity Locations page has been updated to make the entry of locations mirror the experience found on the Non-Fiscal Compliance page when entering Human and Animal protocols. This will make the entry experience more intuitive and the system more maintainable.

Improved eGC1 Performance

Testing of SAGE response time revealed that the Details and PI, Personnel & Organizations pages were slower than other parts of the eGC1. Those pages have been updated to drastically improve performance, allowing you to navigate with less waiting.

Compliance Question E-2 Has Been Updated

Non-Fiscal Compliance question E-2, concerning export of hardware, equipment, specimens, etc. has been updated to clarify that you do not need to report personal use laptops.

Fix: Country Field Displaying for Manually Entered Animal Use Institutions and Activity Locations

An issue causing the Country field to not display for manually entered Animal Use Institutions and Activity Locations has been resolved.

SAGE Grant Runner

New Grant Runner Warning for Expired NIH Funding Opportunities

When using Grant Runner, you’ll now see a warning at the top of the Check for Errors pop-up if you choose an NIH funding opportunity that closes prior to the Sponsor Deadline on the eGC1 Details page. This will provide you with transparency to the conflict, but will not prevent you from routing the eGC1.

Improved Usability for Country & State Entry on Grant Runner Forms

The Key Persons Expanded and Performance Sites forms on Grant Runner eGC1s have been updated to provide a more intuitive experience when entering Country and State. This also resolves an issue that could result in the State not saving.

• Tags
• eGC1
• Grant Runner
• SAGE Budget

General SAGE Suite Maintenance Items

SAGE

Submission deadline warning notification no longer sent for RRF eGC1s

Principal Investigators and Preparers of eGC1s to the Royalty Research Fund (RRF) will no longer receive the automated email sent from SAGE 3-6 days prior to the Sponsor Deadline when the proposal is marked as not ready for submission. This notification was not applicable to RRF proposals and caused confusion.

SAGE Budget

Add links to connected eGC1s and Budgets on SAGE task lists

When an eGC1 is connected to a SAGE Budget, links between the two will now display on the My eGC1s and My Budgets task lists, making it quicker and easier to navigate between the two.

Prefix and/or Suffix fields added for personnel in SAGE Budget

Users can now enter a Prefix and/or Suffix for personnel in SAGE Budget. These will display on the Budget worksheet, and when using the Grant Runner Budget Sync feature will flow directly to the NIH RR Detailed Budget form on the connected eGC1. This ensures personnel will display on the sponsor form with their preferred titles/credentials.

Budget Sync performance improvements

The new Grant Runner Budget Sync feature has been optimized to now perform faster, allowing users to complete their proposals more quickly.

SAGE Grant Runner

Allow Grant Runner eGC1s to route with Grants.gov and NIH errors

The Certify & Route page of the eGC1 has been updated to make routing choices more clear and intuitive.

Additionally, when using a Grant Runner eGC1, as long as the eGC1 is marked “Ready to Submit” = No, users will now be allowed to route their eGC1s for review while there are still outstanding NIH and Grants.gov errors.

A new warning displays on Certify & Route page when there are grants.gov and/or NIH errors:

SPAERC

Add Award Modification Number to Cycle View

The Cycle view in SPAERC has been updated to include a “Mod Nbr” column to reflect Award Modification Numbers on Funding Actions and Modification Numbers on Subaward Actions.

Changes to Defaulting Behavior on Funding Actions

Defaulting logic for the Disposition and Carryover fields on Funding Actions has been revised to improve data accuracy.

• If Payment type is changed to Cost Reimbursable from another value, then the Disposition of Balance field is reset to “Not Applicable”
• If Payment type is changed to Letter of Credit from another value, then the Disposition of Balance field is reset to “Not Applicable”
• If Sponsor is changed to Royalty Research Fund (RRF) from another value, then
  • Disposition of Balance field is reset to “Return to Sponsor”
  • Carryover is reset to “Automatic Carryover”
• If SNAP is checked after a value is already set in the Carryover field, then the Carryover value is reset to “Automatic Carryover”

OSP Team C assignment updates

The rules that govern who the default OSP reviewer will be for eGC1s that have been routed for review have been updated to facilitate the appropriate eGC1s being assigned to OSP’s new Contracts Team. eGC1s will be assigned to the Team C Administrator under the following conditions:

• Application Type = Non-Award Agreement (new) or Non-Award Agreement (continuation)
• After the Fact (ATF) is marked “Yes” and the Sponsor Type is “Private Industry” or “Foreign Private Industry”

SERA

Add validation in SERA for missing short title

The Short Title on Funding Actions is now required in SERA prior to save in order to resolve an error that occurred when the Short Title was saved blank.

• Tags
• eGC1
• Grant Runner
• SAGE Budget

Feature Highlights: Improving SAGE Budget Usability

The SAGE team will be focusing the next six months on expanding and improving SAGE Budget capabilities, and streamlining proposal budgeting processes. This is the initial release in a series of SAGE Budget improvements to come in 2019.

SAGE Budget Rounding Changes

The SAGE Budget approach to rounding has been changed to better match user expectations and needs. These changes will facilitate accurate integration of budget data into sponsor budget forms when using the new Budget Sync feature.

Context:

Historically, SAGE Budget has used display-only rounding for individual expense items, and banker’s rounding for totals.

Display-only rounding is the equivalent of using the decimal display setting in Excel versus the round() formula. With display-only rounding, you may see a $5 on screen, but the stored value may really be $4.60. This can be confusing for users when viewing totals of display-rounded numbers.

For example, you might see:

$5 + $5 = $9 when the underlying values are $4.6 + $4.6 = $9.2 (rounded to $9)

The old display-only approach to rounding also resulted in an inability to fully reconcile SAGE Budget numbers to sponsor budget formats, where sponsor budgets require whole dollar entries.

Key Rounding Changes:

• Display-only rounding of expenses will no longer be used in SAGE Budget. Rounding is now applied to each expense individually, not just to budget sum totals.
• Budget sub-totals and totals now display the sum of the rounded expense totals.
• Banker’s rounding has been replaced by Rounding Up approach on tie break. (Example: When rounding to whole dollars, $2.50 will now round up to $3, instead of down to $2.)
• Users now have the choice to round to whole dollars or to cents (new!) or to not round.
• When Grant Runner Budget Sync feature is used, the rounded values will flow to the RR Detailed Budget with 100% accuracy.

These changes to rounding in SAGE Budget will result in a clearer, more intuitive approach to display of rounded values that accurately matches sponsor budgets that require whole dollars entry.

Important Note for Existing Budgets:

Existing budgets set to whole dollar rounding at time of go-live will be migrated to the following settings:

• Rounding is changed to Do Not Round
• Decimals display is changed to 0
• Banker’s rounding is used on tie

These settings will maintain the integrity of historical budgets and to allow users to make intentional decisions on whether to apply the new rounding methodology to active budgets.

When you Copy a budget with the above legacy settings, the new budget (and any child sub budgets) will automatically convert to the new rounding settings.

Converting Existing Budgets to New Round Approach:

To convert your existing budget to the new rounding approach, go to the Properties tab of your main worksheet, and select the appropriate rounding option.

When you change the rounding settings in the Properties for your parent budget, all sub-budgets will inherit that same rounding setting as well.

SAGE Budget: Period Updates Screen Improvements

Dynamic Update of Expense Totals

Users will no longer need to manually SAVE between changes to expenses to see the sub-total and totals update. Entry of personnel and other expenses will trigger a recalculation and refresh of the expense totals upon navigating away from the field where the entry occurred.

SAGE Budget: Properties and Settings Improvements

To improve the usability of the Properties and Advanced Settings pages, the following adjustments have been made:

Properties Tab Changes

• The Properties page has been streamlined to combine what was formerly the Advanced Properties onto the main Properties page, for added visibility and convenience
• New section headings add clarity to the choices available
• New help text guides users when making selections
• The same above changes have been applied to the Properties portion of the Budget Setup Wizard
• The Properties page now has improved keyboard accessibility
• As mentioned in the Rounding section above, the rounding setting now includes an additional option to round to Cents, in addition to Whole Dollar and No Rounding options.

Targets and Limits Tab Changes

• Users will now enable Targets and Limits from the Targets and Limits tab.
• The Budget Setup Wizard no longer includes the Enable Targets and Limits question, and will instead be enabled from the Targets and Limits tab upon completion of the wizard setup.

General SAGE Suite Maintenance Items

SAGE eGC1

Discontinuation of Human Subjects Just In Time Reminder Email

The email notification sent from SAGE to PIs and Administrators at Just in Time when human subjects is marked as YES on the eGC1, has been discontinued. Campus feedback indicated that this email often caused confusion, since it was not an official notice of action from the sponsor, and that the reminder was not helpful to their processes.

Fix: Display of Activity Locations and Non-Fiscal Compliance Page

The Activity Locations and Non-Fiscal Compliance pages were displaying beyond the right border for Internet Explorer users, causing read-only users in SAGE to be unable to access certain expand/collapse controls on the page. The issue has been resolved.

SAGE Budget

Update to APL Manual Entries in SAGE Budget

SAGE Budget has been updated to clarify to which APL expenses can be manually entered (sub-object codes 19-00 and 19-20) and which are based on the APL setting on the Properties tab (sub-object codes 19-10 and 19-40).

SAGE Grant Runner

Fix: Cognizant Federal Agency POC Field Display – RR Subaward Budget

An issue with display of the Cognizant Federal Agency POC field on the RR Subaward Budget form has been resolved. The saved data is now displaying as expected on the Grant Runner form.

Link to Sponsor Budget Map from RR Detailed Budget

Users will now see a convenient link to the Sponsor Budget Map page from the header of the RR Detailed Budget page, when using Budget Sync. This will serve as a helpful reminder to users that this new page exists and may need actions on their part to fully sync data from SAGE Budget to the RR Detailed Budget.

AUMS

Clearance Email and PDF Attachment Updates

The clearance email, sent from the AUMS system, has been updated to clarify contact and other helpful information for recipients.

FIDS

Fix: Update to Display of SFI Percent Ownership in Reviewer Module

The SFI Percent Ownership has been updated to address a display issue caused by a rounding setting in the FIDS reviewer module.

• Tags
• eGC1
• Grant Runner
• SAGE Budget

Sync SAGE Budget to Grant Runner RR Detailed Budget

eGC1 preparers using Grant Runner now have a new feature that allows them to sync a connected SAGE Budget to the NIH RR Detailed Budget. This capability provides a more streamlined experience for preparers by reducing redundant entry. It also eliminates the need for reviewers to cross check the various parts of the application where budget data is stored.

Highlights

• Personnel and expense data flows directly from SAGE Budget to RR Detailed Budget, when connected.
• When updates are made to a connected SAGE Budget the changes will automatically flow to the RR Detailed budget.
• On the new Sponsor Budget Map page on the left navigation, the following actions can be taken:
  • View or change the default flow of data from SAGE Budget to the RR Detailed Budget
  • Define custom personnel roles and custom categories for other direct costs
  • Customize the order of Personnel with an easy drag & drop feature
  • Identify Participant Support Costs, and associated numbers of participants
• When users disconnect a SAGE Budget they have the option to keep or clear the data in the eGC1 budget page and the RR Detailed Budget.

What to expect

Connecting your SAGE Budget to a Grant Runner eGC1 with an RR Detailed Budget form triggers the two budgets to sync. When the sync occurs a new Sponsor Budget Map page displays on the left navigation menu and the RR Detailed Budget form becomes read-only. Changes to where the data flows to on the RR Detailed Budget can be made on the Sponsor Budget Map page. Additions and deletions of expenses or changes to expense amounts will be made on the SAGE Budget. The Budget Justification attachment will still be attached on the RR Detailed Budget directly.

• Finance & Administrative (F&A) flows to section H. Indirect Costs on the RR Detailed Budget with one row per distinct F&A rate and base type combination.
• The Sponsor Budget Map displays how data flows from SAGE Budget to RR Detailed Budget. SAGE Budget expense items are grouped into sections by Object code. Within each section they are ordered by sub-object code. SAGE Budget data is displayed on the left side of the page. The RR Detailed Budget expense category to which the expense will flow is shown on the right side.
• Reorder Personnel. Use the drag and drop functionality in the Salaries and Wages section of the Sponsor Budget Map page for easy reordering of Senior/Key personnel.
• Define Custom Personnel Roles. Drop-down menus allow for remapping to several default personnel project roles or you can create a custom role.
• Change Defaulted Data Flow. Many expense categories can be changed to flow the data from SAGE Budget to an alternate category on the RR Detailed Budget. Use the drop-down menus at right to specify any changes to the flow.

SAGE Budget Changes (Enablers)

The following changes were made to SAGE Budget, in order to fully meet the data needs of the RR Detailed Budget.

• Application PI Role Added. Users will now see the Application PI role available in the personnel section of SAGE Budget. Personnel assigned to the role Application PI on the SAGE Budget will flow through to the RR Detailed Budget as the Principal Investigator (PD/PI). If the SAGE Budget had a PI listed in addition to the Application PI, the PI will flow to the RR Detailed Budget under the role of Faculty, and that role can be modified on the Sponsor Budget Map if necessary.
• Additional Role Updates. The Fellow role is no longer available in SAGE budget. , iInstead new roles have been added to match those in the RR Detailed Budget. The new roles include: Faculty, Post Doctoral Associate, Graduate Student, Undergraduate Student, Secretarial/Clerical.
• TBD & Non-UW Personnel: Monthly Salaries Now Editable. In order to identify Base Salary on the RR Detailed budget for TBD and Non-UW Personnel, the UW Monthly Salary and Clinical Monthly Salary fields are now editable in the SAGE Budget personnel entry section (for TBD and Non-UW Personnel entries only).
• Travel Destination Logic Modified. In order to improve data quality and reduce the need for adjustments to the budget, the travel destination (domestic or foreign) will now default based on the sub-object code chosen by the user. If “foreign” is explicitly referenced in the sub-object code name, then “foreign” will become the defaulted destination location. Users can adjust the destination as needed for sub-objects codes that could apply to either.
• Sub-Object Codes added. A detailed analysis comparing sub-objects codes between the Finance System and & Sage was completed, and the missing object codes were added to SAGE Budget to keep the two systems synchronized.

eGC1 Updates

• Improved Error Messages. Validation messages on the RR Detailed Budget have been improved to now include the specific period and section that requires the user’s attention.
• Validation Icons Added. The Sponsor Budget Map has the same validation icons as the rest of Grant Runner. If there are unmapped items on the Sponsor Budget Map the user will see red exclamation points on the individual sections to indicate which section needs their attention. Once in the section the field in question is highlighted red. When the mapping issue has been resolved, the validation icon will turn to a green checkmark.

Help Documentation and Resources

The SAGE User Guide has been updated with detailed instructions for the Budget Sync feature. Users can access it by clicking on the help icon (?) on the Sponsor Budget Map page and on the RR Detailed Budget form. SAGE 102 courses will also include a section on the Budget Sync feature and using the Sponsor Budget Map.