When the Primate Center is involved due to an Animal Use protocol, a Primate Center compliance reviewer node is added to the approval flow. The reason is “Approver: Animal Use – Primate Center Involved.”
If the Washington National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC) needs to approve for personnel or as the Cost Center receiving funding, then approvals may be combined into a single node.
Cost Center Receiving Funding
WaNPRC / Primate Center Personnel
Primate Center Involved
Approval Nodes and Reasons
WaNPRC
Yes
Yes
Primate Center, Reviewer
Approver: Animal Use – Primate Center Involved
Vice Provost-Research, Dean Reviewer
Approver: Personnel Selected Unit, Personnel Name, WANPRC
WaNPRC
Yes
No
WaNPRC, Dept Reviewer
Approver: Cost Center Receiving Funding
Approver: Personnel Selected Unit, Personnel Name, WANPRC
Vice Provost-Research, Dean Reviewer
Approver: Cost Center Receiving Funding
Approver: Personnel Selected Unit, Personnel Name, WANPRC
WaNPRC
No
Yes
Primate Center, Reviewer
Approver: Animal Use – Primate Center Involved
WaNPRC
No
No
WaNPRC, Dept Reviewer
Approver: Cost Center Receiving Funding
Vice Provost-Research, Dean Reviewer
Approver: Cost Center Receiving Funding
Not WaNPRC
Yes
Yes
Primate Center, Reviewer
Approver: Animal Use – Primate Center Involved
Vice Provost-Research, Dean Reviewer
Approver: Personnel Selected Unit, Personnel Name, WANPRC
Not WaNPRC
Yes
No
WaNPRC, Dept Reviewer
Approver: Personnel Selected Unit, Personnel Name, WANPRC
Vice Provost-Research, Dean Reviewer
Approver: Personnel Selected Unit, Personnel Name, WANPRC
This component of SAGE (System to Administer Grants Electronically) is an electronic workflow to route eGC1s, Awards, and Advance Budget Requests for approval by associated departments, colleges, compliance offices, and the Office of Sponsored Programs.
The Principal Investigator is the first approver on the Approval Flow. There are four ways that PI approval and certification can occur:
The Principal Investigator opens the eGC1 in Composing status, navigates to the Certify & Route page, agrees to the PI Assurance Statement and completes the eGC1.
The PI receives an email notification request to approve, clicks the link which goes directly to the Approval Graph (after logging in), and clicks the Approve button, agreeing to the PI Assurance Statement as part of the approval process.
The PI logs into SAGE, goes to the Approvals tab, accesses the eGC1 and clicks the Approve button, agreeing to the PI Assurance Statement as part of the approval process.
A non-PI person checks the PI Escalation box on the Certify & Route page to request that the next reviewer for the Cost Center Receiving Funding approve on behalf of the PI who is absent, and unable to approve via the internet. This is generally the Department Reviewer.
For the fourth case where the is PI absent, checking the box will escalate the approval for the PI to the next reviewer for the Cost Center Receiving Funding. The system will send the PI and those next node reviewers their email notifications at the same time.
When the reviewer for the Cost Center Receiving Fundingapproves the Application online, their approval will also mark the PI node as approved. Therefore, when “Approver A” approves for “Dept X”, the PI node on the approval chart will show that “Approver A” also approved for the PI. The Approver must check the PI Assurance Statement on behalf of the PI. This approval by the department constitutes an endorsement of all aspects of the application. You should not use PI escalation as a routine convenience.
An Application PI or any Multiple PI cannot approve for the eGC1 PI when escalation is in effect.
Note: This functionality is not available for NIH applications or when NIH is the originating sponsor.
SAGE creates an approval flow based on a combination of the data in the eGC1 and the routing rules for each school/college. Factors include:
The Cost Center Receiving Funding
The principal investigator’s primary position unit or possibly the selected unit when the PI has a joint academic appointment
The primary position unit or possibly the selected unit of any additional research personnel
Any UW unit with a cost sharing commitment
The academic units or central offices connected to certain compliance question explanations (See Compliance Reviewers for more details.)
The additional organizational unit reviewers added on the PI, Personnel & Organizations page
Each unit at the UW determines its own routing rules for each of the factors. For example, one organizational unit may require approval from the division, department, and Dean while another unit may require approval only from the Dean.
The local ASTRA administrator for a business unit assigns specific reviewer roles to individuals in ASTRA. The current academic unit roles are:
Division Reviewer (limited by cost center)
Department or Center Reviewer (limited by cost center)
To have a backup, most units designate more than one reviewer. Only one reviewer for each unit needs to approve the eGC1.
Note: Any eGC1 owner (Principal Investigator, eGC1 Preparer, Administrative Contact, Pre-Award Budget Contact, Budget Preparer) or any reviewer can add an additional reviewer (called an ad hoc reviewer) for an individual or a role (for example, Dean’s Reviewer) to the approval flow once the eGC1 is routing.
To access SAGE, you need an ASTRA role. Someone who creates items in SAGE (eGC1s, Budgets, Advance Budget Requests) usually has a Proposal Preparer or Principal Investigator role. Campus approvers will typically have one of the reviewer roles: Division Reviewer, Department or Center Reviewer, Dean Reviewer, or Advance Reviewer. Compliance reviewers have distinct ASTRA roles.
Campus approvers access items based on a combination of their role and the associated Cost Center. So a Dean Reviewer for the School of Medicine would be able to access only those eGC1s that include that unit and role combination on the approval flow. An Advance Reviewer would have access to Advance Budget Requests for their unit and role.
The item status indicates where an eGC1 or Advance Budget Request is in the overall creation and routing process. Use the check boxes to filter your approvals list. Some check boxes only apply to one item type which is included in the label. For example, In GCA (Adv) indicates that the In GCA status only applies to Advances.
The following image shows the My Approvals page with the My Item status choices displayed.
The item statuses are:
Status
Description
Routing
Items which have been completed and are currently routing to campus approvers.
In OSP (eGC1)
eGC1s which the PI and all required campus units have approved, and OSP has received for review.
Approved (eGC1)
eGC1s which OSP has approved.
In GCA (Adv)
Advances which the PI and all required campus units have approved, and GCA has received for review.
Withdrawn
Items which someone with owner or edit access has withdrawn from routing to edit.
Returned
Items which a reviewer has returned for modifications.
Processed (Adv)
Advances which GCA has reviewed and completed.
Awarded (eGC1)
eGC1s which the sponsor has awarded.
Denied by Sponsor (eGC1)
Applications which the sponsor has denied. SAGE users can change an application to Denied by Sponsor status if the sponsor is not the UW Royalty Research Fund (RRF), or if there is no child FA. OSP can also change an application to this status.
Permanently Withdrawn (eGC1)
Applications which will not be submitted to the sponsor. SAGE users can change an application to Permanently Withdrawn if there is no child FA. OSP can also change an application to this status.
Grant Runner validation and usability improvements
Award Signature update for RRF
Addition of optional WIAP column in SPAERC tasklist
SAGE Approval Graph
Export Control added as “Watcher” on Applications with Foreign Entity Involvement
An Export Control “Watcher” node will automatically be added to the eGC1 approval graph when one or both of the following data-related Non-Fiscal Compliance questions are marked “Yes”:
D-2. Is the project intended to assist a foreign country’s military or space activities?
D-4. Will the project involve travel to or collaboration with a person or entity in a sanctioned country (e.g., Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria)?
Once the application reaches “In OSP” status, an automatic Export Control hold is applied to the application. OSP can manually remove the hold.
Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) Select Agents Reviewer Update
Previously, EH&S Select Agents were listed as approvers when “Select Agents and Toxins” were chosen on the Non-Fiscal Compliance section (EHS-1) of an application. Now, EH&S Select Agents are listed as “Watchers” who will receive notice of the application, but are not required to take action. The select agents and toxins description has also been updated to remove the text “EH&S approval of this eGC-1 is required due to federal regulations.”
The following image shows an approval graph with the both the Export Control watcher and the EH&S Select Agents watcher.
SAGE Grant Runner
Validation Update
An ORIS implemented validation on the Grant Runner Research Plan form has been removed to align with the NIH validation. The Progress Report Publication List or Progress Report will no longer have an ORIS validation on Renewal and Resubmission applications. If the attachment is required by the NIH, users will still see an NIH validation when they run a “Check for Errors” on their application.
Help Links and Guidance Updates
A help link has been added to the RR Subaward Budget and the PHS Human Subjects & Clinical Trials Study forms. Detailed instructions will guide Chrome users through the steps of downloading and opening the editable forms. The following image shows part of the form and the help instructions.
SPAERC
RRF Funding Actions No Longer Require an Award Signature
When RRF is listed as the sponsor, the Award Signature field now defaults to “Not Required.” The field will still be editable when the FA is “In OSP” status.
Washington Innovation Advantage Program (WIAP) Column Available on Task List
A new column can be optionally displayed on the SPAERC task lists for Funding Actions and Admin Actions The column will display the value selected in the WIAP field (Yes, No, blank). Users can sort the task list by that column. The following image shows the Funding Actions task list with the WIAP column highlighted.
New School of Medicine watcher on the eGC1 Approval graph
The School of Medicine will now be included as a Watcher on the eGC1 approval graph when any of the following Interdisciplinary Organization Units reviewers have been selected on the PI, Personnel, & Organizations page of the eGC1:
Radiology Services
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute (ADAI)
Center on Human Development and Disability (CHDD)
The following image shows an approval graph with CHDD added and the School of Medicine watcher node.
SAGE Budget
Accessibility improvements and bug fixes
Accessibility improvements were made to all type-ahead search features in SAGE Budget. Now users who solely use a keyboard can fully navigate those features.
In addition some minor bugs were identified and fixed:
Special characters no longer cause errors in the type-ahead searches
The F&A base type for subawards has been removed from the Budget Summary totals table
Currency fields now display the zeros to the right of the decimal point
Budget titles that exceed the maximum length no longer cause errors
SAGE Grant Runner
Sponsor Budget Map issue with custom roles resolved
An error that occurred on the Sponsor Budget Map when a user entered a custom role in the Other Personnel section that exactly matched a Key Personnel role has been resolved. Users can now enter any custom role for Other Personnel.
SPAERC
Award Signed Date
A new Award Signed Date field has been added to FAs, NAAs, and PACs. This field is intended to capture the date when the last signature needed for the agreement was obtained. The field will require the user to either enter a date or select “Not Required” prior to approval for all new agreements. This adds a valuable data point for award reporting, and will be used by the School of Medicine and Clinical Trials Office to verify that agreements have been signed prior to enlisting participants in clinical trials studies.
The following image shows the new fields on a Funding Action.
When you are logged in to SAGE, but have not been actively using the system for 40 minutes, a dialog message displays indicating that your session will expire in 5:00 minutes. The dialog will continue to count down the time. You have the option to click “Keep Working” to re-activate your session.
If you do not click “Keep Working”, then when the time count reaches zero (0) minutes, your session will expire. Your browser will be redirected to a “session expired” page from which you can log back in to the system you were using. Any unsaved data at the time your session expires will be cleared.
The SAGE system has always timed out after 45 minutes of inactivity. We have now made the timeout more visible so you know that your session has expired, instead of sending you to the tasklist with no explanation.
The following image shows the session timeout dialog, with the time remaining until expiration and the instruction to click “Keep Working” if you want to continue to stay logged in.
In order to give reviewers/approvers better visibility to the application’s sponsor deadline, the deadline now appears on the Approval Graph in the Application Details section.
PI Assurance Statement Updated with Multiple PI Guidance
The Assurance Statement for Principal Investigators on eGC1s has been updated to include a statement guiding them on their responsibilities for ensuring Multiple PIs from external organizations provide proper assurance, in compliance with federal regulations. The newly included verbiage reads as follows, and is visible on the Certify and Route page when the PI is logged in, and on their approval page when they have not yet noted their assurance:
If this is a multiple PI application, I understand that if I am the eGC1 PI, my approval of the eGC1 indicates I have obtained written assurances from external PIs named in this application that include this Non-UW Multiple PI Assurance Statement.
Application PI Added to Priority Email Notifications
When an eGC1 contains personnel with the Application PI role, the Application PI will now receive the following email notifications to ensure they are alerted to important changes:
Final Sponsor Documents Required for eGC1 – reminder email for deadlines sent if eGC1 has not been marked “Ready to Submit”
eGC1 Returned by Reviewer (campus reviewer) – to inform owners their submitted eGC1 has been returned by a campus reviewer
eGC1 Returned by Reviewer (OSP) – to inform owners their submitted eGC1 has been returned by OSP
eGC1 Received at OSP – eGC1 has reached OSP and will begin the central review process; includes OSP assignment
Application Review Notice (auto generated by OSP) – generated after central review and includes OSP review comments
Requested Documents Ready for Pickup – signed and scanned documents are uploadable to an application and are ready for pickup
FCOI Just-In-Time notification – to indicate eGC1 has reached JIT
Funding Action email w/Funding Action pdf attached
Post Award Change email w/PAC pdf attached
FIX: Non-UW authorized SAGE users cannot create new eGC1
Non-UW SAGE users, such as partners as SCCA or Fred Hutch, were receiving errors when attempting to initiate new eGC1s. The system restriction has been updated, so that all persons with a valid UW NetID and an appropriate SAGE Astra Role can perform their SAGE duties as expected.
FIX: Common Interdisciplinary Org Unit Reviewer checkboxes can’t be unchecked
An issue was resolved where eGC1 preparers who had previously checked one of the Interdisciplinary Organizational Unit Reviewers to add to the approval graph, and then later wanted to uncheck the unit, were unable to do so. Users can now check and uncheck as necessary before completing the eGC1.
FIX: Activity Locations without an address display blank in summary table
In the case where a location sourced from the GeoSims database does not have an address, the summary table on the Activity Locations page will now show the test “Not Provided” for consistency and clarity.
FIX: Editing Activity Locations or International Involvement sections in Firefox causes page to freeze
An issue with Firefox and locking/freezing of the Activity Locations page on edit has been resolved.
SAGE Budget
SAGE Budget Updates to Workday Salary Data Displayed for Personnel
In order to clean up and clarify the salary distribution data presented to SAGE Budget users, the following updates were made:
Make Institutional Base Salary more easily configurable in SAGE and update existing rules
SAGE Budget can now be more easily updated when new Compensation Plans are added to Workday. This will ensure salaries in SAGE Budget reflect each person’s Institutional Base Salary. This release also brings SAGE Budget up to date with the Compensation Plans currently in Workday.
Distribution % for Administrative and Endowed Supplements no longer factor in FTE
Administrative and Endowed Supplements will now show the Distribution % direct from Workday. Previously, these Compensation Plans used the same Distribution % calculation as General Salary, which incorrectly reduced the total pay for people with supplements tied to part-time positions.
Administrative and Endowed Supplements now included for Non-Faculty Personnel
SAGE Budget will now include Administrative and Endowed Supplements in Institutional Base Salary for any UW personnel who have them. Previously, these Compensation Plans were only included for faculty.
Other Minor SAGE Budget Fixes
The following SAGE Budget issues are now resolved:
FIX: 07 Retirement Benefit percent does not update when changing personnel from APL to non-APL
FIX: The Update (Benefit) Rate button in personnel salary and benefits by period does not work
FIX: 01-70 Changing between exemption rate settings for 01-70 staff does not result in refreshed benefits rates for individual personnel entries
SAGE Grant Runner
Populate SF424 Federal Agency from the Opportunity Data
The SF424 Grant Runner sponsor form will now default in the Federal Agency from the opportunity information retrieved from Grants.Gov, instead of the sponsor listed on the eGC1. This will improve accuracy on the Grant Runner form and reduce the risk of issues at the time of submission.
FIX: Error on History & Comments page for Grant Runner eGC1s (Released via patch on 6/19/19)
An issue has been resolved that was causing an error for users when they would navigate to the History and Comments section of the Approvals tab for an eGC1.
