Electronic   Research   Administration   Program
Reporting   Project   Charter
1/23/2015
Purpose
The   purpose   of   this   project   is   to   improve   the   availability   of   valid   and   stable   sponsored   research   proposal   and   award   administration   reports   and   the   flexibility   to   produce   ad   hoc   reports.
This   will   be   accomplished   by   modernizing   UCSD’s   research   administration   reporting   capabilities   and   building   a   reporting   infrastructure   that   facilitates   easy   interpretation   and   analysis   of   large   volumes   of   data   (e.g.
Business   Intelligence   (BI) ).
Benefits   of   this   project   include   (a)   increased   revenue   and   strategic   opportunities   derived   from   fact   based   analysis   of   UCSD’s   $1B/year+   sponsored   research   portfolio   (e.g.
key   sponsors,   key   award   types,   key   PI’s,   etc.);   (b)   decreased   costs   associated   with   better   utilization   of   staff   time   involved   in   reporting   (c)   retirement   of   less   efficient   legacy   systems   and   associated   costs;   and   (d)   decreased   institutional   risk   through   quicker   identification   and   resolution   of   problems.
Objectives

Provide   access   to   research   administration   data   to   approved   application   developers,   business   analysts,   report   developers,   and   end   users   at   UCSD,   while   ensuring   appropriate   limitations   to   sensitive   data

Provide   transformed   research   data   that   is   well   documented

Provide   meaningful   data   that   allows   end   users   to   more   quickly   and   accurately   answer   business   questions.
This   includes   identifying   business   process   gaps   that   are   a   cause   for   data   inconsistencies   and   establishing   and   communicating   data   integrity   standards   across   the   campus.
(e.g.
eRAP   Operations)

Provide   a   single   authoritative   source   of   information   which   will   reduce   conflicting   interpretation   of   research   data   and   ensure   consistent   results   are   obtained   across   the   enterprise

Build   an   extensible   and   sustainable   BI   solution   for   research   administration   data   that   will   serve   as   the   foundation   for   meeting   current   and   future   reporting   needs

Identify   the   most   critical   intersections   of   proposal   and   award   data   with   other   data   systems   (e.g.
financial   data,   payroll,   etc.).
Seek   collaborations   and/or   additional   resources   to   facilitate   the   development   of   high   priority   reports   that   require   data   from   non ‐ Research   Administration   systems.
Justification
The   university   has   invested   resources   into   this   Electronic   Research   Administration   Program   (eRAP)   project   (Reporting)   for   the   following   reasons:

UCSD’s   current   reporting   environment   and   tools   (e.g.
Data   Warehouse   and   QueryLink)   are   not   meeting   our   needs:   the   data   and   user   interfaces   are   inconsistent,   lack   data   validation,   do   not   include   data   transformations   that   meet   standard   reporting   needs   and   are   poorly   documented
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
Decision   makers   and   research   stakeholders   at   UCSD   need   easy   access   to   research   data   to   make   informed   decisions,   plan/balance   workload,   spot   past   and   future   trends,   ensure   data   accuracy/integrity,   identify   training   opportunities   and   improve   processes

The   current   reporting   environment   provides   consumers   raw   data   that   have   not   been   uniformly   defined

The   current   reporting   environment   forces   data   consumers   to   develop   substantial   expertise   with   the   underlying   data   structure   and   business   process   to   answer   their   business   questions.
Data   consumers   who   have   not   accurately   validated   and   transformed   their   data   have   created   bad   reports,   drawn   erroneous   conclusions   from   the   data   and   express   frustration   at   the   poor   quality   of   research   data

Make   research   proposal   and   award   data   available   to   approved   users   and   make   it   easier   for   users   to   understand   and   comply   with   appropriate   use   policies   governing   data   access
Deliverables   /   Scope

Establish   a   single,   campus ‐ wide,   reporting   environment   that   supports   self ‐ service   BI   and   ad ‐ hoc   reporting

Establish   a   portfolio   of   key/standardized   sponsored   research   administration   reports.

Implement,   deliver,   and   publish   vetted   standard   reports   sourced   from   research   administration   systems

Provide   a   channel   for   sharing   and   vetting   ad ‐ hoc   reports   for   possible   broader   use

Access   controls   that   are   appropriate   to   ensure   sensitive   data   are   only   exposed   to   authorized   users

Develop   a   data   dictionary   for   research   administration   data   that   includes   easy   to   understand   descriptions   about   the   business   meanings   of   individual   data   fields.

Where   relevant,   include   descriptive   information   about   sensitive   data   that   explains   why   it   is   sensitive,   provides   relevant   policies   that   govern   the   data   and   whom   to   contact   for   additional   information   about   the   data

Optimized   data   source   to   support   data   consumption   and   reporting

High   level   user   needs   and   requirements   documentation   for   research   reporting   following   best   practices

Scripts   for   automatically   extracting,   transforming   and   loading   data   from   research   administration   systems   (e.g.
Coeus,   AccessLink,   etc.)   to   the   target   BI   environment

Training   and   support   of   end   users   through   the   eRAP   Help   Desk   and   Training   program   and   ACT’s
Data   Warehouse   (Cognos   BI)   team

Learn   about   and   plan   for   future   integration   of   research   data   with   other   data   systems,   such   as   financial   data.
Where   possible,   have   research   data   reporting   align   with   possible   connection   points   for   financial   reporting.
Potentially   identify   the   scope   of   what   would   be   needed   for   reporting   to   merge   or   intersect   and   propose   to   leadership   accordingly.
Out   of   Scope
The   following   items   are   out   of   scope   for   this   project:

Allowing   users   to   update   data   through   a   report   &   write   that   back   to   the   source   system

Integration   of   systems   not   part   of   the   eRAP   portfolio   of   information   services.

Technical   training   for   non ‐ eRAP   resources
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Project   Risks

Resources    o Insufficient   resources   available   to   meet   reporting   needs   outside   of   research   administration   data   systems   o Limited   ACT   technical   resources   o Effort   required   to   maintain   standard   reports   will   grow   in   proportion   to   the   number   of   reports   developed   through   this   initiative

Dependencies   o Meeting   some   business   reporting   needs   that   involve   eRAP   and   non ‐ eRAP   data   will   require   the   non ‐ eRAP   data   to   be   made   available   via   Cognos   or   other   business   software.
If/when   these   reporting   needs   are   identified,   the   eRAP   Reporting   Team   will   attempt   to   identify   the   appropriate   system/data   owners   and   pass   the   request   to   them

Time   to   deliver     o Because   current   reporting   infrastructure/foundations   cannot   meet   eRAP’s   BI   reporting   needs,   it   will   take   more   time   and   effort   to   build   new   infrastructure/foundations   to   support   the   type   of   BI   implementation   described   in   this   document

Scope   o We   have   dependencies   on   data   systems   outside   the   direct   control   of   eRAP
Resources
Project   resources   include   the   people   and   systems   that   will   allow   us   to   provide   project   deliverables.
Staff
Name   Role
Marisol   Christinson    eRAP   Lead   Business   Analyst
Jason   DeFay
Beatrice   Dormoy   eRAP eRAP
Business
Project
Analyst   /   Subject
Management   &
Matter
Business
Expert
Analyst
Department eRAP eRAP eRAP
Roque   Obusan
Debbie   Rhine
TBD
TBD   eRAP
ACT
ACT
eRAP
Cognos
Business
Data   Warehouse
Cognos
Report
Developer
Intelligence
Report
Engineer
Architect
Developer
ACT
ACT
ACT
TBD
Systems   and   Tools
Business   intelligence   and   reporting   systems/tools   to   be   used   in   this   project   include:

IBM   Cognos   reporting   environment

DB2   Data   Warehouse   environment

Informatica   (ETL   tool)

Zena   (Enterprise   job   scheduler)

Business   Intelligence   Competency   Center   (BICC)   –   UCSD’s   SharePoint   intranet   site   for   self ‐ service   business   intelligence
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Sponsors   &   Leadership
The   eRAP   Steering   Team   has   formed   a   Reporting   Project   Subcommittee   that   is   responsible   for   overseeing   the   implementation   of   the   eRAP   Reporting   Project,   prioritizing   eRAP   reports,   championing   campus ‐ wide   research   proposal   and   award   reporting   needs,   removing   impediments   to   achieving   reporting   objectives   and   resolving   governance   issues   as   they   arise.
Current   members   include:
Name
Karen   Andrews
Linda   Collins
Jason   DeFay
Patty   Camacho
Steve   Carter
Mark   Cooper
Anne   Footer
Jennifer   Ford
Maureen   O’Connor ‐ Kodis
Jerry   Singer
Role
Chair eRAP eRAP
Steering
Steering
Subcommittee
Subcommittee
Subcommittee
Subcommittee
Subcommittee
Subcommittee
Subcommittee
Team
Team
Co
Co
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
‐
‐
Chair
Chair
Department
Physics
OCGA eRAP
SIO
SIO
ACT
‐
OPAFS
‐
OCTA
HSSPPO
OCGA
MPL
Neurosciences
The   Electronic   Research   Administration   Program   (eRAP)   is   sponsored   by   Sandra   Brown,   Vice   Chancellor   for   Research.
It   has   an   Executive   Committee   that   provides   leadership   and   support   for   eRAP   projects   and   it   has   a   Steering   Team   that   is   responsible   for   providing   high ‐ level   guidance,   support   and   strategic   direction   to   eRAP   staff.
Approval
By   signing   this   document,   the   following   individuals   agree   that   they   have   reviewed   the   information   contained   in   this   project   charter   and   give   their   approval   to   formally   begin   the   project.
Name
Karen   Andrews
Title   Signature   eRAP   Reporting   Subcommittee   Chair   Approved   Verbally
Linda   Collins   eRAP   Steering   Team   Co ‐ Chair
Jason   DeFay   eRAP   Steering   Team   Co ‐ Chair
Marianne   Generales   eRAP   Executive   Committee   Chair
Approved   Verbally
Approved   Verbally
Approved   via   email
Date
1/8/15
1/8/15
1/8/15
1/16/15
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