University launches new campus-wide electronic system for research administration

On Friday, June 24, the University of Chicago launched the electronic system AURA (Automated University Research Administration) [1], which will be used to develop, prepare, route, approve and track all external funding. The system will be available across campus for all divisions and departments.

“So much thought and effort has gone into this from hundreds of people at the University that it should be smooth sailing right from the start,” said Carol Zuiches, Associate Vice President for Research Administration, who pushed the idea of electronic research administration when she arrived at UChicago three and a half years ago.

“We were ready for this because people here had been discussing it for years and monitoring other similar systems,” she adds. “Now the time is right.”

In 2007, the federal government introduced Grants.gov [2] as a portal that allowed federal agencies to receive proposals electronically, with the National Institutes of Health leading the adoption of the system. In response to Grants.gov, several vendors began to offer products to assist with workflow and submission of proposals, system-to-system. The University of Chicago did a search, assisted by Huron Consulting Group, and selected Click Commerce’s web-based software. 

Electronic research administration offers numerous advantages. The reduction in paperwork, both for the University and the agencies, is a prime driver. A web-based system allows users to follow the status of a proposal from start to finish, making the process of proposal development, review and submission very transparent. The reporting capability is greatly enhanced, allowing various parties at the University to take advantage of many standardized reports, and also to look at data from their own particular perspective and to prepare special reports to meet their specific needs. This will alleviate the need of departments and other units to manage “shadow systems.”

Under AURA, everything will go through one portal. “It was a major challenge to come up with a system that’s open and flexible enough to handle any kind of funding without being overly generic. We did this by branching within the portal to different forms and steps. That way we can handle the entire life cycle of all sponsored activities, whether it’s a research grant, fellowship, career development award, clinical trial or material transfer agreement,” said Aaron House, AURA’s training manager for University Research Administration [3].

The departments are ready to make the switch, said Lauren Zajac, Director of Sponsored Programs for the Department of Medicine. “We’re excited to have AURA and to see the full potential it will bring to the grant preparation, routing and submission system. This will be an incredible asset to all of us as it streamlines our workflow and makes a very complicated job a little less complicated.”

The rollout has been gradual, with GrantsXpress for NIH submissions going live in January 2010 and Institutional Review Board submissions scheduled to go live in 2012. Training will continue after the June 24 launch.

“In short order, AURA will help to reduce the administrative burden on faculty and staff as well as the regulatory compliance risk for the University,” Zuiches said.