ERA unit administrator user guide

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Introduction

A unit administrator role has been created in ERA to allow each department/college to update their unit’s information in the ERA Master Store. This guide is intended to help those with the unit administrator role to navigate the ERA Master Store and make any necessary updates.

A list of current unit administrators can be viewed by ASU personnel.

Role overview

The Unit Administrator Role allows users to Edit Department and College unit information in the ERA Master Store. The Unit Administrator Role allows updates to the following fields:

Field categoryEditable fields
ERA hierarchyFP approver
Cost-share approvers
Workday informationWorkday cost center
Unit contactsPublic inbox
Pre-award research administrators
Post-award research administrators
After-the-fact reporting

Each department/college will be allowed to designate up to two ERA unit sdministrators. The unit administrator role should be requested for high level managers (Assistant Director or RAM). The high-level manager should then designate/identify a secondary unit sdministrator to be granted the role in ERA.

Removing access

As the unit It is the responsibility of each unit to notify ERA of any changes to unit sdministrators that would require a person’s role to be removed. If a unit administrator role needs to be revoked, units need to send an email notification to RAHelp@asu.edu as soon as possible.

The ERA Master Store is the internal database ERA uses to store unit information that is used to:

  • Determine approval workflows for funding proposals.
  • Determine how to set up and activate sponsored awards and accounts.
  • Determine how post-award email notifications will be disseminated.
  • Drives institutional reporting.

Unit administrators will need to access the ERA Master Store to make changes to their unit information.

Accessing the ERA master store

  1. Log in to ERA with ASURITE and password.
  2. Under My ERA, click on the Maintenance tab.

Editing unit information in the master store

  1. Unit searches in the Master Store are done using a search box and applying different filters:
    Unit search help image
     
  2. From the drop-down menu, select the filter you want to use to search for the unit you need to edit:
    Unit filter help image
     
  3. Enter the unit name/code in the search box and hit enter.
  4. From the search results, click on the “Edit” link located on the left side of the screen.
  5. Navigate to the field you want to edit
  6. Click on the browse button (the button with three dots) to search for the value you want to select for that field.
  7. Click OK to add the value to that field.
  8. Click OK to save the change for your unit.

As a unit administrator you will be able to make changes to the ERA approval hierarchy for your assigned unit. As such, it is important to understand the ERA Hierarchy.

Within the department/college hierarchy, there are three fields: Unit Heads, FP Approvers and Cost Share Approvers. Based on how these are filled out, ERA will determine who receives a request to approve a FP (see “How the Hierarchy Works” section below).

When a proposal is going to be routed, ERA will look at the units/centers that have been listed on FP 1.2.1 Lead Unit, Investigators and Allocations. Based on the units/centers entered on FP 1.2.1, ERA will determine the other units/colleges that will need to approve if those units are considered children of other units/colleges.

As an example, if a PI has B1343007 (Center for Renewable Energy Electrochemistry) as their center, the parent department B1343003 (SEMTE – Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) and its parent B1343 (School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy) and its parent B13 (Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering) would all need to approve.

B1343007 -> B1343003 -> B1343 -> B13

The unit head

This should be the individual who oversees that center, department or college. This individual is typically the dean, chair or center director. In addition to being responsible for approving FPs and Cost Sharing (unless a proxy is listed) this individual is also responsible for reviewing Conflicts of Interest if they exist for staff/faculty within their center, department or college.

The ERA unit administrator does not have access to update the Unit Head field. Any changes to the Unit Head need to be requested by emailing RAhelp@asu.edu.

The FP approver

This is an individual who has been designated to approve proposals on behalf of a center, department or college. This person is responsible for approving FPs and cost sharing (unless another individual is listed).

ERA unit administrators should know that adding multiple FP approvers for a specific unit will require all listed FP approvers to approve all FP.

Cost share approvers

This is an individual who has been designated to approve cost sharing on behalf of a center, department or college. This person is only responsible for approving cost sharing.

ERA unit administrators should know that adding multiple cost share approvers for a specific unit will require all listed cost share approvers to approve all FP.

How the hierarchy works

 Unit HeadFP ApproverCost Share ApproverCOI ApprovalFunding Proposal ApprovalCost Sharing Approval
Individual PresentYesNoNoUnit HeadUnit HeadUnit Head
Individual PresentYesYesNoUnit HeadFP ApproverFP Approver
Individual PresentYesYesYesUnit HeadFP ApproverCost Share Approver
Individual PresentNoYesNoRoll up to Unit Head of parent unitFP ApproverFP Approver
Individual PresentNoNoYesRoll up to Unit Head of parent unitRoll up to Unit Head/FP Approver of parent unitCost Share Approver
Individual PresentNoNoNoRoll up to Unit Head of parent unitRoll up to Unit Head/FP Approver of parent unitRoll up to Unit Head/FP Approver/Cost Share of parent unit

Unit administrators can edit the “Workday Cost Center” field for their unit. The “Workday Cost Center Field” in the Master Store serves as the default cost center for any grant accounts associated with this unit. It is important to note that the Master Store can only hold one cost center value at a time.

Changes to the “Workday Cost Center” field are not retroactive. The new cost center will only begin to populate for new grant accounts created after the change to the Master Store has been saved.

Public inbox

The “Public Inbox” field is used to send ERA email notifications regarding activations of new awards and award modifications. If a unit has a listed public email listed in this field, all award activation notifications will be routed to that address only. For units that do not list a public inbox in this field, all award activation notifications will be sent to all the post-award research administrators listed for that unit.

Pre-award research administrators

Contacts in this group will be listed on the Award and Proposal Contacts by Department report on the Knowledge Enterprise Analytics website. ERA email notifications regarding specific funding proposals will continue to be sent to the listed RA owner. The Proposals and Negotiation Team may also use this information for follow-ups and request additional information regarding proposals and agreements.

Post-award research administrators

Contacts in this group will be listed on the Who Can Help Me page and will receive ERA email notifications regarding award activations and modifications (unless a public inbox is listed for that unit). The Award Management Team will also use this information for follow-ups and requests for additional information regarding award activations, modifications and post-period expense verification.

After-the-fact reporting

Contacts in this group will be listed on Who Can Help Me, will receive email notifications regarding ATF Review Reports and will gain access to ATF Review reports for their assigned unit.

  • Changes made to the Master Store will be reflected immediately in ERA and will be visible on Who Can Help Me the following day.
  • The text box to enter a new value for hierarchy and unit contact fields is located above the line that says, “First Name, Last Name, Employer and Title.”
    Header help image

ERA (requires ASURITE login)

ERA Help

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ERA Proposals information and resources

Current & Pending Tool information and resources

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ERA Agreements information and resources