The University of Minnesota Grants Management Project focuses on providing investigators and departments with the tools to make grant proposals and to manage their grants. The vision for the project is of an easy to use, decentralized system in which decision making and responsibility are maintained locally, where individuals with the best information can make decisions.

Investigators can focus on the creation and dissemination of new knowledge while easily and accurately managing their grants. Administrators will have the knowledge and resources they need to help investigators get their grants submitted and to provide assistance in administering the grant after it is awarded. The process will provide practical training for all personnel on regulatory compliance and ethical issues in research. In the system being developed, a single entry point will give a user access to all of the information and resources necessary to make the grants management process what it should be.

In order to improve the management of grant funds, four system reforms have been undertaken.

• The research roles and responsibilities have been clarified and defined. The new document is based on carefully considered, clearly articulated Roles and Responsibilities for all individuals who hold any relationship to university grants and contracts. Responsibility will be located at a local level where individuals will have the information to make sound, defensible, and explicit decisions.
  
  
• The policies, procedures and guidelines related to research are being revised to conform with the changes made to Roles and Responsibilities, the Enterprise System Project, and training programs in grants management. Policies will also be consistent with the NIH Corrective Action Plan. The revision will make university policies and procedures consistent and coherent across the board.
  
  
• The University's new electronic tools for Grants Management are operational. The Electronic Grants Management System (EGMS) is being used by more and more researchers to prepare their grant proposals. Its most prevalent use has been to prepare the Proposal Routing Form (formerly known as the BA23). It can be used also to prepare NIH, NSF, and generic proposals. Additionally, it can be used to calculate budget items. Financial FormsNirvana (FFN) is the electronic approval system used to process financial transactions. It is a web based interface that allows users to do all financial transactions from a web browser. It is helping move documents to the financial system faster thus making financial reports on grants more accurate. Financial FormsNirvana will allow departments to improve payment processing and invoice monitoring and tracking.
  
  
• The University has established education/training programs in grants and contract management and in the ethical conduct of research. Training for all individuals involved in sponsored projects is required. The responsibility for the training resides with the Vice President for Research. All research training will be coordinated and delivered by the University's Center for Human Resource Development (CHRD). A training and education program will be expanded to include all staff involved in research and training. This program is designed to provide uniform guidance on policy interpretation and skills training, assure the responsible conduct of research, and facilitate the use of sound grants and contract management practices.

The implementation of the Grants Management Project has been proceeding in Focused Grants Management Project (FGMP) departments. It consists of eight departments that are serving as pilot departments in implementing the tools and policies that have been identified in the Grants Management Project. The project was initiated in Epidemiology and Surgery and now includes, in addition, Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, Pediatrics, Biochemistry, Psychology, Chemistry, and Food Science and Nutrition. These departments have been documenting their grants related business practices. Once the processes are documented, a "best practice" process will be developed for each practice. The Focused Grants Management Project is now in progress and the pace of implementation will be accelerated in the coming year.