UW unveils comprehensive grants, contracts site

The University today unveiled a new Web site that combines all the currently available information related to UW grants and contracts - from proposal development to awards administration. Known as the Grant and Contract Guide, the Web site is located at http://www.washington.edu/research/guide/. You can also reach it directly from the University Homepage by selecting "Researchers/staff."

"What we've done is organized all the available information on grants and contracts - from the very early development stages of preparing and submitting a grant application through the receipt and administration of the grant - in one user-friendly place," said Michael Vitiello, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and special assistant to the Vice Provost for Research. "Previously, that information was scattered over a large number of different Web sites. Now you can go to one place and get access to pretty much everything the University currently has to offer on this subject."

New content is being developed on an ongoing basis and will be added to the guide as it becomes available.

The major categories on the Grant and Contract Guide homepage include funding opportunities, proposal development, award notification, budget setup, award management and award close out. Under each category the user can select such items as "create the proposal package" or "communicate with the sponsor and the UW" to get information on these topics. The page also contains a fast track to forms, fact sheets and training; a reference guide including rules and regulations and a glossary of terms; and information about UW resources such as clinical trials and intellectual property.

The guide, Vitiello says, is only the first step in what is envisioned as a "cradle to grave" system to streamline the grant and contract process. He directs a project called the Grant and Contract Initiative (GCI), the goal of which is to do just that. The GCI, a component of the University Services Renewal (USER) Project, grew out of an earlier Office of Research based effort, called the Grant and Contract Process Enhancement Team, that began working on improving the process more than two years ago. Last year, the GCI was funded under the University Initiatives Fund (UIF).

The GCI's long-term goal is an ambitious one. It seeks to make everything one needs to prepare, apply for and manage a grant available on the Web - including routing the application and getting required signatures. Vitiello gives a simplistic example of a researcher going online and clicking on an icon labeled "writing a grant." Then the question, "What kind?" would be asked. If the researcher said NIH, for example, the appropriate documents would come up and he or she would be guided through the process with a series of prompts. If the researcher typed in the name of a University employee working on the grant, that person's information - including a biographical sketch and salary - would be entered automatically. Costs would be automatically calculated at appropriate rates and so forth.

"Once the information was entered and the form submitted, the researcher would be able to track its progress through the University system electronically," Vitiello said. "We hope in the long run to eliminate the current GC1 form that has to be sent around from office to office."

The GCI is the result of the combined efforts of three units: The Office of Research, the Office of the Executive Vice President and Computing and Communications. From the get-go, however, there has been a consistent and successful effort to involve faculty and staff who use the grant and contract process. Vitiello came on board after serving as chair of the Faculty Council on Research. He said that literally hundreds of faculty, staff and administrators are contributing to the GCI effort - some serving on task or resource groups and others giving feedback by way of open meetings, focus groups and a Web-based, University-wide survey.

The complete system is several years away. However, the GCI team thinks having needed information consolidated and readily available is a good first step. Prerelease testing demonstrated that the guide will be a useful tool to those involved in the University's research enterprise.

"The Grant and Contract Guide is a work in progress, but we think it has reached sufficient maturity to share with the campus," Vitiello said. "We have provided a space on the page for feedback, which we welcome."

Comments on the guide can be sent via e-mail to guide@u.washington.edu. �

Nancy Wick