Carnegie Mellon
Sponsored Programs and Research Compliance System (SPARCS)
Kick-Off Meeting
March 6, 2013
Presenters: Ann Mathias, Office of Research Integrity and Compliance
Jeff Abels, Office of Sponsored Programs
Krishna Meringenti, Computing Services
SPARCS
Sponsored
Programs
And
Research
Compliance
System
Carnegie Mellon
Agenda
-Background
-SPEX
Limitations
-Opportunities
-Scope &
Objectives
-Survey Results
-Governance
Model
-Project Timeline
-System
Requirements
-Vendor Shortlist
-Stakeholder
Participation
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Background
 Sponsored programs activities account for approximately 37
percent of CMU’s fiscal year 2013 revenue.
 Sponsored Projects Exchange (SPEX) currently supports
Carnegie Mellon University’s sponsored programs activities
including: proposal development and submission, award
management, and some research compliance activities.
 The technology utilized by the federal government for
grant/contract proposal, award, compliance and reporting is
considerably more sophisticated than the current SPEX
system.
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SPEX Limitations
Functional
• Lacks S2S
Submissions
• Electronic
Routing
• Module Cross
Validation
•
•
•
•
•
Compliance
Efficiency
Limited IRB
Limited IACUC
No FCOI
No Export
No Tracking of
Training
• Access &
Reporting
• Communications
• CMU System
Integration
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Opportunities
 A new system will afford CMU many
opportunities:
°Re-engineer current business processes
°Improve process efficiencies
°Meet and keep pace with regulatory requirements
°Improve communication with the research
community.
°Incorporate new technologies
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Project Phases
 Discovery Phase: January 2013 – June 2013
 Implementation Phase: July 2013 – June 2015
 Today’s focus on Discovery Phase
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Discovery Phase Scope & Objectives
 This project is intended to develop an integrated system
that supports CMU’s sponsored program functions.
°Establish a project governance structure
°Solicit input from business and technical stakeholders
°Develop a requirements document based on input from
stakeholders
°Draft a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) document.
°Identify, evaluate and select a solution that fits CMU’s
unique requirements.
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Discovery Phase Scope & Objectives, continued
°Identify the necessary resources.
°Outline a secure and trusted IT environment that fosters
collaboration.
°Address integrations with the Oracle Financial system,
HRIS Workday system, and other CMU systems.
°Complete Discovery Phase by June 30, 2013
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Survey
 Purpose
°Solicit input from users
°Solicit volunteers
 Early February 2013 survey sent to multiple
distribution lists
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Survey Respondents
OSP/ORIC
Staff Member
17%
SPA Staff
Member
3%
Central Admin
Manager/Staff
3%
Survey Participants
(96)
Dept/School
Business
Manager
31%
Faculty Member
27%
Dept/School
Research
Administration
Manager/Staff
19%
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I think the following research administration functions are
important and should be included in a new system:
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Some systems are difficult and/or costly to modify to match
current university practices and processes. In choosing a new
system we should:
Only consider
systems that can
be modified to
match how we do
things today, 17%
Consider systems
that work well
but require
changes to our
process, 83%
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Discovery Phase Committee Structure
Executive Steering Committee (ESC)
Dave Dzombak
Steve Huth
Jeff Abels
Lynn Young
Ann Mathias
Krishna Meringenti
Project Steering Committee (PSC)
Ann Mathias– ORIC
Research
Compliance (RC)
Leadership
Committee
PSC, OSP, ORIC, and
Campus Stakeholders
Jeff Abels – OSP
Pre-Award (PA)
Leadership
Committee
PSC , OSP, ORIC, and
Campus Stakeholders
Krishna Meringenti - CS
System and
Reporting (SR)
Leadership
Committee
Infrastructure (I)
Leadership
Committee
PSC, OSP, ORIC, Computing
Services, Financial Systems,
and Campus Stakeholders
PSC, Computing
Services(ISO,SAIS,AC,
Architecture, Contract)
Campus Stakeholders
RC Project Team
Committee
PA Project Team
Committee
SR Project Team
Committee
PSC, ORIC, OSP,
Business Managers,
Researchers
PSC, ORIC, OSP,
Business Managers,
Researchers
I Project Team
Committee
PSC, ORIC, OSP, FS, SPA,
Business Managers,
Researchers
PSC, Computing
Services(ISO,SAIS,AC,
Architecture, Contract,
PPMO) Campus Stakeholders
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Project Time Line
Governance
Model
High Level
Requirements
RFPs & Demos
Select Solution
Pass Two
Test &
Validate
Analysis
Design
Pass Three
Development
Go Live
Training, Deploy
& Go-Live
Go-Live
Go-Live
Feb 2013
June 2013
Validation
June 2015
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Project Assumptions
Functional
Requirements
Infrastructure
Requirements
• Proposal & Budget
Development
• S2S submission
• Electronic Routing
• Award
Management
• Negotiations &
Reporting
• Research
Compliance
• End User Security
and Data Entry
Audit
• Integrate with other
CMU enterprise
systems
• Access to CMU’s
USA and Global
Campuses
• Secure Document
Mgmt
Vendors
•
•
•
•
•
Click Commerce
Evisions (Cayeuse)
Kuali Coeus
InfoEd
IMedRIS
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Stakeholder Participation
 System stakeholder participation is vital to successful select and
deploy SPARCS.
 Stakeholders will be solicited to participate in:
°Discovery Phase
• Requirements Gathering Committee Meetings
• Vendor Demo and Analysis
°Implementation Phase
• Project Committee Meetings
• Testing
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Reminders
 Functional Requirement Gathering Meetings will be held:
°Tuesday March 12th, UC Rangos 1 & 2, 1:00-2:30pm
°Thursday March 14th, UC Rangos 1 & 2, 1:00-2:30pm
°Topics covered will be proposal development, budget
development, award, negotiations, research compliance,
reporting, and system integration.
 Technical Requirement Gathering Meeting
°Wednesday March 13th, 4pm
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Reminders, (continued)
 Vendor Demos are planned for April 2013
 Please make sure to put your name on the sign-in
sheet
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Comments & Questions
?
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Contact Us
 The SPARCS Project Team:
Ann Mathias, Office of Regulatory Integrity and Compliance
Jeff Abels, Office of Sponsored Programs
Krishna Meringenti, Computing Services
 The SPARCS Project Team e-mail:
sparcs@andrew.cmu.edu
 SPARCS website coming soon
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Modules
 Proposal and Budgeting
 Award & Subaward
 Negotiations & Tracking
 IRB
 IACUC
 COI
 Reporting & Communication
 rDNA (outside original scope)
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Vendors Selected
 Selected based on modules available
 Experience within the market segment
 Top solutions utilized by peer institutions
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