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PennERA-Web Site
Launch and Project Update
A dedicated web
site (https://www.pennera.upenn.edu)
was launched over the summer to help inform the University community
about the PennERA project. PennERA is the University's Electronic
Research Administration project, a multiyear initiative to develop
streamlined processes and more efficient tools for handling pre-
and post-award administrative tasks related to the sponsored projects
of Penn‰s academic research community. Ultimately, the project will
implement a ‹cradle-to-graveŠ web-based system for research project
development, support, and management.
The new PennERA
web site provides up-to-date information about current project
planning and development activities, news, and events, as well as
background information such as project rationale, key milestones and
deliverables, and completed activities. We invite you to visit the
web site regularly to keep abreast of progress and to send feedback
to the project team.
In recent months,
progress on the PennERA project has been made on several other
fronts:
Phase I of
Core PennERA System. PennERA was conceived and organized as a
multistage project with new and improved systems and processes being
implemented at phased intervals. The initial development phase of
the core PennERA system began in June of this year, following the
signing of the contract with InfoEd, Penn‰s primary vendor-partner
for research administration software. In Phase I the cornerstones of
the new research administration system will be built: a new
application to track proposals and awards, and a new application to
track human subject and lab animal protocols. These base
applications will provide a solid foundation for the more extensive
protocol and proposal development modules to come in later phases.
To guide
development, the project team will call upon three standing faculty
advisory groups. A fourth group comprising School and Center
administrators will be convened in the fall. We expect that this
group of ‹Research RepsŠ will function in a similar manner to
the BEN Reps group.
In the near
future, the project team will be asking both faculty and
administrators to serve on working groups to provide additional
information regarding requirements and to address specific issues
related to business processes during the development and
implementation phases of the project.
Other
Initiatives. The PennERA project is the umbrella for numerous
other development initiatives related to research administration.
These initiatives are being undertaken in parallel, either to
provide short-term solutions to pressing administrative needs or to
build functionality required for the core PennERA system. Among
these are:
-
Human
Subjects Adverse Events Reporting System (PennAEs)--this
web-based system will give principal investigators (PIs),
clinical coordinators, and staff in the Office of Regulatory
Affairs a means of tracking, collecting, and reporting serious
adverse events involving human subjects. PennAEs will be
released to a pilot group this month and to the University
at-large in phases later in the fall. Adverse event reporting
functionality will later be integrated into the core PennERA
system. For more information on PennAEs, please see the sidebar (at
right).
-
Next-Generation
Effort Reporting System-- this system will give the
University community an online tool for reporting in compliance
with the requirements of OMB-A21. System needs and requirements
are currently being identified and a proposal is expected to be
ready this month.
-
BRIM
System--this billing and receivables system was completed
last year and is used by the Office of Research Services to
issue invoices and track receivables for sponsored projects.
Beginning this fall, data from BRIM will be fed into the
University‰s central data repository, the Data Warehouse, and
will eventually be made available to Data Warehouse users who
wish to run their own reports or import data to their desktop
systems for analysis.
Future updates
about PennERA will be provided throughout the project.
For the most current
information, please visit the PennERA project web site at https://www.pennera.upenn.edu/.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please send
an e-mail to pennera@pobox.upenn.edu.
--Robin
H. Beck, Vice President of Information Systems and Computing
--Andrew
B. Rudczynski, Executive Director of Research Services and Associate
Vice President of Finance
--Joseph
R. Sherwin, Director of the Office of Regulatory Affairs
Click
Here for Penn's Adverse Events Reporting System (PennAEs)
Almanac, Vol. 49, No. 3, September 10, 2002
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ISSUE
HIGHLIGHTS:
Tuesday,
September 10, 2002
Volume 49 Number 3
www.upenn.edu/almanac/
A
Major General in the U.S. Marines has been named as Penn's
EVP. |
Civic
House--the community service hub--has a new
Faculty Advisor. |
9/11
Remembrance |
Senate
Agenda |
At
the Convocation last Wednesday, the President
and Provost
welcomed the new students to campus with words of wisdom. |
PennERA--Electronic
Research Administration--is intended to streamline processes
related to sponsored research.
|
PennKey,
a new authentication system is coming to campus to improve
network security and protect privacy online. |
Remember
last academic year? The Models
of Excellence program seeks nominees whose notable
achievements went above and beyond the job expectations. |
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