WHAT’S NEW?
The Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development (OVPRED) is excited to announce that the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) will be upgrading its in-house electronic research administration (eRa) system to the Kuali Research system beginning October 2019. This change in operations is one that UAH hopes will decrease the administrative burden on faculty and staff.
WHAT’S KUALI?
Electronic Research Administration (eRa) is a comprehensive software system for research administration, beginning with budget and proposal preparation and continuing to account close-out. Kuali Research provides a set of tools and modules that make research administration easier, more efficient and reduces the need for shadow systems or spreadsheets to build budgets. It is a cloud-based solution that addresses the full sponsored projects lifecycle so that it streamlines processes with online workflow, and creates a single repository for all proposal, award, and compliance information. It also allows for system-to-system (S2S) proposal submissions to portals such as Grants.gov and other electronic systems.
WHY KUALI?
The Office of Sponsored Programs looked at several eRA systems and spoke with other institutions on the pros and cons of these systems. Kuali Research was able to provide us with many of the features of our current in-house eRA system. It is the best fit for UAH because of its comprehensive functionality, its relative ease of use and its low cost. Kuali Research was developed by MIT. In addition to MIT, other universities utilizing Kuali Research are Boston University, Utah State, University of Arizona, and Colorado State to name a few.
WHAT NOW?
UAH is known for inspiring and instilling the spirit of discovery, the ability to solve complex problems, and a passion for improving the human condition – a university of choice where technology and human understanding converge. We are committed to investing in our mission:
TO LEAD: The OVPRED must utilize modern technological tools to create the most effective learning environments. We want to ensure that the campus is using the most efficient systems and processes available; and if not, then we work together to make those needed improvements.
TO SUPPORT: The OVPRED is committed to the campus to ensure its readiness in the utilization of electronic systems – by way of formal hands-on training and training guides; maintenance of current systems that are already efficiently running; and ensuring data integrity.
TO GROW: The OVPRED’s efforts have one cumulative goal in mind – to expand UAH’s research enterprise.
The implementation will help to provide necessary administrative and compliance support to conduct high impact research comparable with other leading research universities.
WHAT NEXT?
The Office of Sponsored Programs has scheduled several training sessions for the entire campus to learn how to operate the new eRa system. Please visit uah.edu/osp for registration. We appreciate your patience and time during this transition.
