AGrants (also called RAMSeS, the name under which it was developed at UNC Chapel Hill) is the electronic system by which all proposals on campus will be routed for required internal approvals. AGrants is also the official campus repository for all documents related to sponsored activities at Appalachian, both those that are submitted and those that are awarded.
Because there are a number of sponsors and programs that require different documents, the list of documents of a complete application will vary from one proposal to another. Documents that must be included, however, are a proposal narrative or scope of work, budget, and budget justification. It is also helpful to include the program guidelines. If there is a subcontractor on the project, also include subcontractor documentation (letter of commitment, budget, budget justification, scope of work).
Proposals should be routed prior to being submitted to the sponsor. If a proposal is routed on campus after being submitted to the sponsor, there may be irreversible consequences. If there is any issue that cannot be remedied, the proposal will have to be withdrawn from the sponsor.
Research Contacts is a web-based utility that provides an infrastructure whereby departmental personnel are identified within AGrants (and other ACORE applications) by virtue of roles which have been assigned to them within Research Contacts by their department. For more information about Research Contacts, please contact Yingqi Wang at wangy5@appstate.edu or 828-262-2165.
Each page has a "help" button. This link will take you to the IPF Help webpage designed to correspond to the various sections of the eIPF. You can also visit our website for additional instructional materials.
Assumption of Risk (AOR) is the form departments utilize to request fund numbers for proposals that they are certain will be funded. The steps to submit an Assumption of Risk are:
- Log on to AGrants.
- Under Proposal dashboard select either:
- My Proposals, if you personally created and submitted the proposal; or
- Dept Approval Inbox, if you are an IPF Approver and wish to submit an AOR for a proposal that your department previously approved.
- Depending on your option selection in Step 2, you will either select the tab labeled "Submitted Proposals" (for PIs) or "Previously Reviewed Proposals" (for Deans and Chairs).
- Find and click on the proposal number of interest. (Shortcut - if you have a long list of proposals, you may hold down the "Ctrl" and "F" keys at the same time and type the proposal number in the Find window.)
- Select the tab named Assumption of Risk, and click the appropriate links. (Note: AORs may only be submitted on proposals with the status of "Proposal Approved.")
First, try typing part of the Sponsor's name to see if this yields different results. If you are typing an acronym, try writing out the sponsor name. If the Sponsor is still not listed, select "Organization Not Listed" at the bottom of the page. A new pop-up window will appear allowing you to type in the name of the Sponsor. If you manually add a sponsor, the UNC General Administration will check on the legal name of that Sponsor.
SNAP is a National Institutes of Health acronym that stands for Streamlined Noncompeting Awards Process. For more information on SNAP, please visit https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/index.jsp.
The search for personnel does not need to be filled out entirely. It is best to try and search by last name only. If someone has a unique first name, searching by first name may also help. The PID is the banner ID. You do not need this to find people using the search.
Clicking "Submit Proposal" will start the following process:
- The eIPF will be "locked" and can no longer be edited (except by the Admin Award Dept).
- The eIPF will be routed to all affiliated departments for review and approval; should any of these departments reject the eIPF you will be notified by e-mail of the rejection and the reason(s) for rejection.
- The PI and Co-PI(s) will be notified by email that they must certify the eIPF in AGrants.
- Ultimately, the eIPF will arrive in Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP)/Office of Research Protections (ORP)/Special Funds Accounting (SFA) for final review and approval.
Throughout these steps, you, your PI, and any other contributing members listed on the eIPF will be able to track its review and approval status in AGrants.
Once all affiliated departments have approved the eIPF, you will receive an email indicating that it was successfully routed and received in OSP. If the proposal can be electronically submitted, no further action is required on your part. However, if the Sponsor requires any part of the proposal be submitted in hard copy form, then any such copies, with original signatures as required, must be forwarded to OSP for a complete submission to be accomplished.
Several emails are used to notify individuals of the status of a proposal and also what action is needed on their part. These emails are sent to people based on their role in the project (e.g. Lead Principal Investigator) as well as their role within a department (e.g. IPF approver).
Call or email the Office of Sponsored Programs (Yingqi Wang) at wangy5@appstate.edu or 828-262-2165 for help.
Select "New" for Proposal type, then click "Save" at the bottom of the page. Now go back to the proposal type and select the correct proposal type. You should see a field named "Parent proposal" appear if you chose anything other than "New."
If you are a new faculty or are changing departments, the updated information will be loaded into AGrants at the beginning of each semester. If you need this information to be added immediately, contact Yingqi Wang in the Office of Sponsored Programs at 828-262-2165 or wangy5@appstate.edu.
- If you are using a browser other than Internet Explorer or Firefox, you may not be able to load attachments.
- If you want to load documents after you have submitted or approved a proposal, locate the proposal in either "My Proposals" or "Proposals in My Department," click on the file number, and click on the paperclip icon in the tabs. You will not be able to upload documents in the "Attachments" tab within the IPF once it has been submitted or approved.
Only Internet Explorer 10, Firefox, and Chrome are tested and supported. If you are using other browsers, some functions may work whereas others (such as loading attachments) may not.
There are a few ways to enter cost share in the budget tab in AGrants. The three pieces of information that are required for cost share are: department, amount, and account. The account field will allow you to type anything into it up to a maximum of about 50 characters. If you type more than that, the system will not add the cost share. If you are requesting that a department or college provide cash match, enter TBD (To Be Determined) in the account field. If you have third-party cost share, put in your home department (this will allow the proposal to be moved as quickly as possible in routing) and enter "Third-Party" and the name of the third-party sponsor in the account field. If the cost share will be in the form of salary, put in your home department (this will allow the proposal to be moved as quickly as possible in routing) and your name with either summer or academic year salary. If the cost share is unrecovered F&A, enter the Graduate School and Research and Sponsored Programs as the department and "Unrecovered F&A" in the account field.
The Sponsor/Funding Agency is the organization providing funds to Appalachian State University. The Prime Funding Agency is the original source of money when ASU is the recipient of a sub-award. For example, if the National Science Foundation (NSF) awards a grant to UNC Wilmington, and UNC Wilmington awards a sub-agreement or subcontract from the NSF grant to ASU, then the Sponsor/Funding Agency is UNC Wilmington, and the Prime Funding Agency is NSF. The Prime Funding Agency and the Sponsor/Funding Agency will never be the same. You only need to fill in the Prime Funding Agency if ASU is receiving a sub-award; otherwise this field is left blank.