Q. How do I gain/add/modify/cancel access to PeopleSoft (Journals and Proposal Express) and Weblinks?    Answer
Q. How do I take the PeopleSoft online training for Proposal Express and/or Journals?    Answer
Q. I am having trouble logging in to my PeopleSoft or Weblinks account.    Answer
Q. How do I gain access to RATS/Express?    Answer
Q. I have an RATS/Express account but I am not able to login.    Answer
Q. I am trying to access an account in Express but keep being
denied.    Answer
 
Pre-Award Issues

Q. What is the procedure for getting the Department Chair's signature on a research proposal? Answer
Q. What is the timeline for submitting a research proposal for review, approval and mailing to a funding agency?    Answer
Q. If a subcontract on a UCSF prime award has a CHR approval, does the PI need a UCSF CHR also?    Answer
Q. What determines whether or not the Chair's signature is needed on a proposal?    Answer
Q. Do NIH Just-In-Time requests need the Chair's signature?   Answer
Q. When are both the 700U and the PHS financial disclosures required?    Answer
Q. Can the latest NIH salary cap, $183,500, be applied to all NIH grants?    Answer
 
Post-Award Issues

Q. I have a PI who is moving to a different division/department. How do I change the depcode on the DPAs and/or funds?    Answer
Q. I am looking for an award notice for one of my PIs.    Answer
Q. When can I use 547 Source Code for online journals?    Answer
Q. How do I complete Attachment E for online journals?    Answer
Q. Whom should I contact to activate or inactivate speedcharts?    Answer
Q. Whom should I contact for questions regarding recharges on my accounts?    Answer
Q. What should I submit to the funding agency when a federal project ends?    Answer
Q. How do I review a Financial Status Report for accuracy and completeness?    Answer
Q. How do I submit a no-cost extension request?    Answer
Q. How do I submit a fund for STOP Code application?    Answer
Q. For active K awards that had excluded the rent from the IDC calculation @ proposal submission, should we be making a manual adjustment to our BSRs to include the rent as part of the IDC? This has not been changed in Weblinks thus far.   Answer
 
ANSWERS

Proposal and Manuscript Development/Editing Issues

Q. Who may use the editing service?
A. Faculty and postdoctoral fellows in the Department of Medicine.

Q. How can I send documents to be edited?
A. E-mail to Deborah Airo at dairo@medicine.ucsf.edu. Include a deadline for submission or date you need the document returned to you, the name of the target journal, the category of the article, level of editing needed, and any special instructions or concerns.

Q. What type of document may I send in?
A. Any type of manuscript, including full-length articles, brief observations, review papers, case studies, editorials, letters, revisions, and cover letters for revisions.

Q. What about grant proposals?
A. Grant proposals can be sent to Deborah Airo at dairo@medicine.ucsf.edu

Q. What documents cannot be edited? Are creative writings OK?
A. Personal materials with no relation to the University or your career cannot be edited. Please contact Deborah Airo at 502-1306 to arrange for outside assistance.

Q. Must my document be fully complete or could it be a very rough draft consisting of notes or data?
A. The document should be within a few drafts of submission. If it is a rough draft, all elements of a complete manuscript must be present. Unfortunately, we cannot assist in the writing of documents, which includes the creation of tables/figures and references lists.

Q. How do I get help with writing up my manuscript from data or help with the science and statistics?
A. Contact your mentor or Division Chief. Unfortunately, we are not equipped to help with ghost-writing or composing scientific and statistical methods for publications.

Q. How long would editing take? When is it too late for editing?
A. It depends on the current volume of manuscripts being edited; the length and complexity of your document; and the level of editing you want, from light proofreading to a complete treatment. You will be given a time estimate when you provide the document, a due date, the degree of editing and any special requests. If you send the document back for further editing, a separate estimate will be given.

The best time to send in a long document is two weeks or more before you need it back, one week or more for a short document. However, if our volume is low, it may be possible to have it completed within a few days.

Q. What is done during the editing process?
A. That is up to the author(s); however, the standard practices are:

• Conforming the manuscript to the style and requirements of the target journal, including shortening or lengthening the abstract and text and formatting references and tables; checking grammar and punctuation; and conforming general style to the AMA and Uniform Requirements guides
• Editing for clarity and flow, and assisting with expression in idiomatic American English (for authors whose primary language is not English)
• Checking that each section of the manuscript is complete and appropriate; for example, if results are cited in the Methods section.
• Cross-checking for accuracy among the different parts of the manuscript: between tables and Results, for example: formatting the manuscript for appearance; inserting queries to the author(s) to draw attention to unclear, missing, potentially problematic, or seemingly incorrect statements or elements; and proofreading for spelling and other general errors.

Q. What if I make substantial changes after editing? How many times may I return the document?
A. Send it to the Editing Office as many times as is necessary.

Q. What if my manuscript is rejected and I want to submit it elsewhere?
A. Send it back for editing and the manuscript will be redone for a new journal. Also include any comments made by the rejecting journal so that we can assist with improvements.
 
Systems Access and Passwords Issues

Q. How do I gain/add/modify/cancel access to PeopleSoft (Journals and Proposal Express) and Weblinks?
A. Ask your Division Administrator to fill out the required form(s) found at http://medicine.ucsf.edu/resources/controls/index.html and send an email request to Karen Lauritzen and Brett Friberg (bfriberg@medicine.ucsf.edu). Prior to PeopleSoft requests, the user must have completed the required online training. A userid and password will be sent to the user when a new account has been created - this normally takes one to two days.

Q. How do I take the PeopleSoft online training for Proposal Express and/or Journals?
A. Use your Galen account to login to WebCT. If you do not have a Galen account follow the instructions to create one. Once in WebCT, you may need to add the course. You can do this by clicking the 'Add Course' button and then selecting the 'Staff Training' category. You can then self-register for either the On-line Journal Processing or Proposal Express course. After taking the course you are allowed to request access to that system.

Q. I am having trouble logging in to my PeopleSoft or Weblinks account.
A. We are not able to assist with forgotten passwords or lockouts for either PeopleSoft or Weblinks. Contact the ITS Help Desk at 514-4100 for assistance.

Q. How do I gain access to RATS/Express?
A. Ask your Division Administrator to send a request to Brett Friberg. Access is normally granted the same day.

Q. I have an RATS/Express account but I am not able to login.
A. Call or email Brett Friberg or Kenton Chee.

Q. I am trying to access an account in Express but keep being denied.
A. Check to see that the depcode of the fund or DPA you are trying to access falls under your access privileges. If you require additional privileges, have the Division Administrator responsible for that depcode send a request to Brett Friberg.
 
Pre-Award Issues

Q. What is the procedure for getting the Department Chair's signature on a research proposal?    Answer

Q. What is the timeline for submitting a research proposal for review, approval and mailing to a funding agency?    Answer

Q. If a subcontract on a UCSF prime award has a CHR approval, does the PI need a UCSF CHR also?
A. Yes.

Q. What determines whether or not the Chair's signature is needed on a proposal?
A. The Chair's signature is needed on all intramural as well as extramural proposals.

Q. Do NIH Just-In-Time requests need the Chair's signature?
A. No, just the P.I.'s and a concurring Institutional Signature. JITs for proposals submitted under RAP are signed with a RAP Institutional Signature. The exception is when confirmation of a K applicant's institutional salary is requested by the NIH; then you need the Chair's signature on the letter.

Q. When are both the 700U and the PHS financial disclosures required?
A. One example is when UCSF is subcontracting through a public hospital where the prime source of funding is the NIH. Note: a 700U is signed by the Principal Investigator only.

Q. Can the latest NIH salary cap, $186,600, be applied to all NIH grants?
A. Yes. If the $186,600 cap was not budgeted and awarded on the original grant submission, it is up to the PI to decide whether or not he has the funds to rebudget and cover a higher cap.
 
Post-Award Issues

Q. I have a PI who is moving to a different division/department. How do I change the depcode on the DPAs and/or funds?
A. Before submitting a request, check to see what other accounts are linked to the DPA or fund and realize that any depcode change will affect all linked accounts. Also check to make sure that the account is in good fiscal health. The change request needs to come from the existing Division Administrator responsible for the account with email agreement from the Division Administrator who will be assuming responsibility. Send the request to Brett Friberg and copy Karen Lauritzen.

Q. I am looking for an award notice for one of my PIs.
A. All award notices are sent to the Divisions at the time of receipt in Central Administration. If you do not have a copy of the award notice, first check with your Division manager and/or the RSA previously responsible for managing the award. Otherwise, contact Brett Friberg, who maintains a database of all award notices (through 11/2002) and may be able to help. If not, you can contact Contracts& Grants to see if they have a copy.

Q. When can I use 547 Source Code for online journals?
A. Source code 547 was established to accommodate cost transfers that, for the most part, are not transaction specific. The following transactions represent permissible use of source code 547:

• Transfer of exceptional payroll cost/expense, including vacation accrual, between fund years within the same DPA and fund.
• One-time closing of a sponsored fund with a true overdraft (deficit) to a departmental unrestricted fund using a lump sum transfer (requires the use of NCA 437691 – Sponsored Deficit Transfer).
• Transfer of equipment transactions due to 'open item' implications.

Q. How do I complete Attachment E for online journals?
A. Attachment E provides the justification of why expenses are being appropriately moved to the account that is indicated. Essentially, the sponsor wants to know why they are now being charged the expenses they were not being charged before. Use detailed reasons, including how the expense benefits the expended fund and the scientific impact, if any. Ask for material from your PI, if needed. Attachment E is completed based on the type of funds impacted by the transfer:

• Federal funds – All sections must be completed and the principal investigator or a higher academic official of the department or school must sign the "Principal Investigator Certification" with some exceptions (e.g., transfer is between fund years or NCA's of a single fund resulting in a net zero assessment to the fund).
• Nonfederal government funds - Attachment E must be completed for sections 1 and 2, except the academic certification requirement.
• Non-government funds - Indicate "N/A" in the three sections of Attachment E and process the journal.

Q. Whom should I contact to activate or inactivate speedcharts?
A. Carlos Zepeda (476-5779)

Q. Whom should I contact for questions regarding recharges on my accounts?
A.

• Mail Service recharges: Harry Manuel (514-1626)
• Telecommunications recharges: Grace Wong (502-7924)
• Management recharges (demurrage, storage): John Chow (502-3079)

Q. What should I submit to the funding agency when a federal project ends?
A. Financial Status Report, a Final Invention Statement (HHS 568), and a Final Progress Report must be submitted within 90 days of the expiration of the grant. However, if a competitive renewal is funded, the Final Invention Statement and the Final Progress Report would not be required at this time.

Q. How do I review a Financial Status Report for accuracy and completeness?
A. Before Accounting submits a Financial Status Report to the funding agency, refer to the following checklist to assist you in the review of the FSR:

• Verify grant fund year end date
• Vacation liability transfer
• Payroll adjustments other than vacation liability transfer
• Outstanding invoices
• Unbilled/unpaid subcontracts
• Status of encumbrances
• Outstanding credits or refunds from vendor
• Recharges
• Review of overhead rate, calculation and rebudgeting
• Review prior year ledgers, if applicable
• Fund year transfers, if any
• Other pending adjustments/corrections
• Check for compliance with any restrictions on the Notice of Grant Award
• Identify program income
• Review for cost-sharing commitment
• Make sure that the grant is in its last year of approved project period. If continuation is expected or an extension of the current year is appropriate, please advise EMF to update the Accounts Fund Profile.

Q. How do I submit a no-cost extension request?
A. The request to C&G for a no-cost extension under an NIH FDP award must be made no more than 90 days before the end of a project, and must be received at C&G by four working days prior to the end of the project.
 
The request for no-cost extension must include the complete grant number in the subject line, a justification for the request (see 'compliance' below), the length of extension (6, 9 or 12 months), and approval of both the PI and Chair. Copies of all applicable committee approvals must be included with the request and must be current at the time of submission.
 
After receipt and review of the above information, the request will be approved by an authorized official at C&G and entered into the NIH Commons. Copies of the NIH Commons approval which is automatically generated by email within the Commons system will be distributed to the PI, Department C&G Rep, and Accounting upon receipt at C&G.

Q. How do I submit a fund for STOP Code application?
A.

• Run Weblinks Fund Summary by NCA group. Fund must be zero balance at the NCA group level.
• Review Revenue/Unexpended Balance.
• Review against the Stop Code Criteria Checklist.
• Forward DPA/Fund/Fund Year for STOP CODE application to Joseph Wilson by the 10th of any month.

Q. For active K awards that had excluded the rent from the IDC calculation @ proposal submission, should we be making a manual adjustment to our BSRs to include the rent as part of the IDC? This has not been changed in Weblinks thus far.
A. You have two options. You can either exclude it using the negotiated Instruction rate (38.0% on-campus or 26.0% off-campus) applied to the Modified Total Direct Cost Base or 8% of Total Direct Costs less tuition and related fees, health insurance, equipment and contracts in excess of $25,000 (whichever results in the lowest amount of F&A costs), which includes rent. http://www.research.ucsf.edu/cg/memo/cgIDC.asp
 
This rule also appiles to future proposals and FSRs.