STScI ELECTRONIC GRANTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (STGMS)
SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES OF
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS
The Administrative PI (PI) for a Program must approve the requested funding (budget level) for each Co-investigator. PIs should discuss with each Co-I, in advance of the budget submission, the amount of funding that each Co-I will be requesting for the Program. If the PI needs to see the detailed budget forms, please ask each Co-I to e-mail a PDF copy of the forms to you, or mail or fax a paper copy.
Each investigator on a GO or AR Program electronically submits their budget directly into the STGMS. In order for the budgets to be formally received by ST ScI, the Administrative PI must approve the level of funding requested for each Co-I. The PI receives an e-mail notification when each Co-I budget is submitted. The PI approves the total budgeted amount in the "PI Program Management Function" screen under the Main Menu - Program/Grant functions area. If a budget level is not approved by the PI, the PI will "reject" the budget and request the Co-I to submit a revised budget. The PI can then approve the revised budget using the same process. The PI is only able to see the total funding requested by a Co-I. If detailed information is required, the PI will need to contact the Co-I directly to request that information.
GRANTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Detailed Instructions for Principal Investigators
Accessing the Grants Management System
The web address for the STGMS is: http://gms.stsci.edu/
Recommended Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer
Unix users who must use Netscape, the full STGMS application should be downloaded in accordance with the instructions at our web site.
Minimum Computer Requirements: See Information on the above web site
Type or copy the address into your browser and press the "Enter" key.
Choose "Download Application" from the applicable platform.
(Unix users simply click on the icon on the desktop)
The login box will appear once the application has been started.
Type in your *username, select your institution, and type in your password.
Add a User Account (AO Function)
This function is restricted to your institutional Authorizing Official.
Setting/Modifying a Password
Prior to a user being able to access the STGMS, each account must be enabled by the AO and a password established. Contact your AO or AO Designee to enabled your account and setup your password. You are strongly encouraged to change the password as soon as you log on. Passwords are changed in this screen as follows:
Select the "Account" menu.
Select "Set/Modify Password."
Insert the "New Password."
Repeat the password in the "Verify Password" block.
If you decide not to change the password, select "Cancel" to return to the Welcome screen
*Please note that if there is more than one person in our system with the same username, the list of Institutions with that username will appear. Please select the correct institution.
Setting User Privileges (AO Function)
This function allows the AO or AO Designee to define specific privileges for users based on their user type and the institutional rules and needs. Each PI account will already have a set of privileges assigned when the PI logs into the system. If you have any questions about your privileges, please contact your AO or AO Designee.
Please note that ONLY Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) can enter the user type "Investigator.” This occurs when the investigator is on a successful proposal at STScI. An "Investigator" who is also Program Principal Investigator or Program Administrative PI is allowed to utilize the PI Program Management function, even if the institution does not allow him or her to utilize any of the other functions of the Grants Management System. If you have an investigator at your institution without an account in the STGMS, please contact the Grants Administration Office at gms_mail@stsci.edu or call 410-338-4200.
Assigning Staff (AO Function)
This function allows the AO or AO Designee to assign staff (Administrator user types) to specific investigators. If you want a specific sponsored programs administrator to work on your grants, ask your AO or AO Designee to assign that person to you in the STGMS. Post Docs can also be provided Administrator accounts and assigned to you. However, the Administrators assigned to you can see “all” grant information for the specific PI, not just specific grants.
Proposal/Grant Functions
The Proposal/Grant functions are those that can be performed by all users with the appropriate privilege. The AO or AO Designee can reserve the privilege for submitting any of the documents so that they are checked for institutional compliance prior to submission to STScI.
Step-by-step instructions are provided for approving and/or submitting the documents that traditionally are sent under the AO’s signature. Please note that functions offering the "View/Print PDF" button must be "Saved" or "Submitted" prior to being able to view/print. The following is a brief description of each function. Please see the "HELP" section on-line for additional information.
a. Proposal/Grant Information Screen
This screen is provided for the convenience of the grantee. It contains information specific to the Program/Grant, including the start and end dates for awarded grants, funds awarded, funds available, performance and financial report due dates, and payment information. This screen requires no interaction from the grantee since it is provided for information purposes only.
Select this screen from the "Proposal/Grant" menu and then select "Proposal/Grant Information."
Select the proposal or grant by the Grant/Proposal Number, Investigator name, Program Title, or Institutional ID number, from the dropdown lists provided. Please note only one of these selections needs to be made to select the appropriate grant.
b. Budget
The Budget function is provided for the electronic submission of original and revised budgets for proposals and supplemental budgets for awarded grants. The budget is completed by adding specific estimated costs for each of the tabbed items in the budget editor screen (i.e. salaries, travel, equipment, etc.). A previously saved budget may be retrieved and used like a template to prepare a new budget for a program. Within each tabbed item, a new line can be added to the budget by clicking on one of the buttons at the bottom of the screen. However, if you add a line and leave it blank, the budget will not save or submit. Therefore, please delete any unused line.
A dynamically updated summary budget is available by clicking on the appropriate button on the screen. The budget narrative can be completed within the budget form using ascii text or you may cut and paste text into the document if you have downloaded the application.
Specific AO and AO Designee responsibility may include the verification of budget data, acceptance of the certifications, and submission of the budget. The AO or AO Designee will be sent an email that a budget was submitted within the institution. The AO or AO Designee will then submit the budget to STScI.
c. PI Program Management Function
The PI Program Management function allows the Program PI or Program Administrative PI to approve/reject co-investigator budgets, accept/appeal program funding, and submit program instrument information. Only the Program Administrative PI can submit program instrument information and accept/appeal the funds approved for the program. While it is recommended that the PI approve of the requested Co-I funds, if the PI agrees, the AO or AO Designee may approve the co-investigator budgets. The following are the instructions for approving/rejecting co-investigator budgets:
Select the "Proposal/Grant" Menu.
Select the "PI Program Management" function.
Select the dropdown "Program" button.
Programs that require approval of co-investigator budgets will be indicated with a ":" and the number of budgets waiting approval. Additionally, the PI should notify the AO or AO Designee that he/she is expecting co-investigator budgets for approval and provide the program number.
Select the appropriate program.
Review the budgeted amounts listed.
For each co-investigator, select the cell entitled "Approve," and select "approve" or "reject" from the dropdown menu.
When completed, select "Submit." If the budgets were approved this action releases all of the co-investigator budgets into the STScI system for further processing. If the Co-I’s budget was rejected, this action send an email to the Co-I that the budget was rejected.
If a co-investigator budget is rejected, the PI should contact the Co-I to explain the reason for the rejection and recommend the funding level for the revised budget.
d. Interim Performance Report Function
The PI is required to prepare the Interim Performance Report and the PI may submit it if given that authority (“privilege”). The AO receives an email notifying them that there is a report to be submitted. The AO or AO Designee can go into the STGMS and submit the report. The report also can be saved and printed for their records. Please see the Retrieve Document function below for specific instructions on how to retrieve any document submitted in the STGMS System.
e. Equipment Request Function
From time to time, it may be necessary to request the purchase of equipment that was not included in the original budget. Please note that anyone with the appropriate “privilege” can prepare and submit the equipment request.
To submit the Equipment Request to the STScI:
Select the "Proposal/Grant" Menu.
Select the "Equipment Request" function.
Select the grant by choosing either the Grant/Proposal Number, Investigator, Program Title, or Institution ID number, from the dropdown lists provided. Please note only one of these selections needs to be made to select the appropriate grant.
Review the Equipment Request form and type in the information requested.
Select the "Submit" button to submit the request to STScI.
To Print a copy of the request, select the "View/Print Preview" button.
f. No Cost Extension Request Function
It may be necessary to request a no-cost extension of the grant period. Please note that anyone with the appropriate “privilege” can prepare and submit the extension request. An automatic one-year extension may be requested with no justification. If an additional extension is needed, justification of the request will be necessary.
To submit the No-Cost Extension Request to the STScI:
Select the "Proposal/Grant" Menu.
Select the "No-Cost Extension" function.
Select the grant by choosing either the Grant/Proposal Number, Investigator, Program Title, or Institution ID number, from the dropdown lists provided. Please note only one of these selections needs to be made to select the appropriate grant.
Review the No-Cost Extension Request form and type in the information requested. If the request is for the automatic one-year extension, type those words in the form.
Select the "Submit" button to submit the request to STScI.
To print a copy of the request, select the "View/Print Preview" button.
g. Grant Transfer Request Function
It may become necessary to request the transfer of a grant or a specific amount of grant funds from one institution to another, based on the investigator leaving the current institution, or the deobligation of funds from the current grant for award to another institution. Please note that anyone with the appropriate privilege can prepare and submit the Grant Transfer Request.
To submit the Grant Transfer Request to the STScI:
Select the "Proposal/Grant" Menu.
Select the "Grant Transfer Request" function.
Select the Grant/Proposal Number, Investigator, Program Title, or Institution ID number, from the dropdown lists provided. Please note only one of these selections needs to be made to select the appropriate grant.
Review and complete the Grant Transfer Request form.
Select the "Submit" button to submit the request to STScI.
To print a copy of the request, select the "View/Print Preview" button.
h. Interim Financial Report Function
Interim Financial Reports must be submitted periodically on every STScI grant. The Office that has the primary financial reporting responsibility for the institution, i.e. Research Accounting or Grants Accounting Office, should complete this report. However, any user with the appropriate privilege can perform this function. The AO or AO Designee may decide reserve the authority for submitting the financial report to STScI to specific individuals within the institution.
If you have the authority (“privilege”) to submit the Interim Financial Report to the STScI:
Select the "Proposal/Grant" Menu.
Select the "Interim Financial Report" function.
Select the type of report being filed and enter the period of that the report is covering.
The institution may also enter an invoice number in the box provided.
Review the grants and amounts listed. Row(s) for grants that do not require submission on this report can be excluded. All basic grant information is provided by the STGMS System including the PI name, HST grant number, Institutional ID number,( if it has been provided by the grantee on either the budget form or entered in the grants screen), grant end date, total grant amount, total amount available, cumulative payments to date. Only the Total Expenditures to Date and Advance Payments Requested need to be provided by the grantee institution. Please note that grants that have end dates less then the day you prepare the report will not display on the interim report. Only a final report can be prepared for those grants. A no-cost extension will be necessary to reinstate them on the interim report. In addition, please note that the report will not submit unless all expenditures are filled in either with the total expenditures to date or zero.
The STGMS System automatically calculates the amount of the payment requested. Please note that negative payment requested amounts will be "$0". No credits can be submitted on the Interim Financial Reports.
If you are returning Interest earned, select the "Interest" tab to review the interest reported for this financial report. Any and all rows listing grants that do not have interest to report must be excluded from the interest section of the report.
Select the "Internal Review Comments" tab to review any comments or instructions of the person preparing the report.
Select the "Summary/Submit" tab to review the Financial Report Summary. Please note that the Certifying Official for all grant documentation will be the Authorizing Official for the Institution. (Watch for future updates to this feature.)
Select the "Save" button to save the Financial Report.
Select the "Submit" button to submit the Financial Report to STScI.
To Print a copy of the Financial Report, select the "View/Print Preview" button.
i. Closeout Requirements Function
The Final Reports menu item includes the Final Financial Report, Final Performance Report, New Technology Report, and Final Equipment Report. All final documents must be received prior to the STGMS initiating the closeout function.
Only one individual grant can be listed on each Final Report. In addition, a Final Financial Report that requires the grantee to return funds to STScI can be submitted, but it will not be processed in the STGMS until a check has been received for the amount of funds to be credited to the grant.
Please note that anyone with the appropriate privilege can prepare and submit the Final Reports. In all cases, the PI is responsible for the preparation of the Final Performance Report. Users with the appropriate privileges can prepare other final reports, however the AO or AO Designee can reserve the privilege to SUBMIT any and all final reports.
The steps to submit the final reports are the same as for submitting other similar documents in the system.
j. Special Request Function
From time to time, it may be necessary to submit a request that is not covered by the list of requests provided. Please note that anyone with the appropriate privilege can prepare and submit the Special Request.
To submit the Special Request to the STScI:
Select the "Proposal/Grant" Menu.
Select the "Special Request" function.
Select the Grant/Proposal Number, Investigator, Program Title, or Institution ID number, from the dropdown lists provided. Please note only one of these selections needs to be made to select the appropriate grant.
Review the Special Request form and enter the requested information. (The scroll bar will appear when you begin typing.)
Select the "Submit" button to submit the request to STScI.
To Print a copy of the request, select the "View/Print Preview" button.
k. Retrieve Document Function
The STGMS System includes a function to retrieve all documents prepared and submitted by the Grantee to STScI and STScI to the Grantee, for review and printing. Any user with the appropriate privilege can retrieve documents. The documents that are retrieved with this function cannot be changed. Please note that saved (and not submitted) documents will not appear in this area. Only submitted documents will be available.
To retrieve a document:
Select the "Proposal/Grant" Menu.
Select the "Retrieve Document" function.
Select the Grant/Proposal Number, Investigator, Program Title, or Institution ID number, from the dropdown lists provided. Please note only one of these selections needs to be made to select the appropriate grant.
Select the document you wish to look at and double click on it.
The document will be shown on the screen and can be printed from the browser.
Institution Level Functions
Institutions have information that applies to all proposals, grants, budgets, and the institution as a whole. Including base salary and fringe rates scales for their various employee types, load rates (indirect costs, overhead, G&A), disclaimer, contact list and *institution and payee information. To make it easier and more effective for the institution to use the STGMS, we have set up an area for the AO or AO Designee to enter institutional data into the system. Salary, Fringe, and Load Rates may then be accessed by those with that privilege and included in the budgets being prepared for submission to the Space Telescope Science Institute. The AO or AO Designee may decide not to enter these rates into the system. The appropriate rates would then be entered individually in the budget. Please note that this function is for the convenience and use of the Institution ONLY. The Space Telescope Science Institute will not access or alter this information in any way. *Only the AO can change Institutional and Payee Information.
The following functions are available to the AO or AO designee:
Setting Salary and Fringe Rates (AO or AO designee function)
Setting Load Rates (AO or AO designee function)
Creating a Contact List (AO or AO designee function)
Modify Institute Address/Payee Address (AO function only)
Report Processing Functions
The purpose of the report screens is to allow the PI to review specific information pertaining to their STScI approved proposals and awarded grants.
All Reports can be retrieved in the following manner:
Select the "Reports" menu.
Select the Report Type you need (See below).
Select from the drop down menu the order in which you would like to retrieve the report data.
Select Print Preview to view the report in a separate browser window and follow the directions given to print the report.
Select Reset to change the Report Screen to the system default for the chosen report type.
Selecting "Cancel" at any time during the process described above will return you to the Welcome Screen.
REPORT SPECIFICS
The following is a list of the report types with the order in which that information can be retrieved. Please note, all of the following information can be found in the "Help" function of the STGMS System.
1. Proposal Report – Reports can be retrieved by
a. Proposal Number
b. Last Name, Institutional ID
c. Institutional ID
The following information will be displayed in columnar format:
HST Proposal Number
Institutional Identifying Number
PI Last Name
Date of First Observation
Title of Project
2. Grant Report – Reports can be retrieved by
a. Grant Number
b. Institutional ID
c. Last Name, Institutional ID
d. Last Name, Grant Number
e. Stop Date, Last Name
The following information will be displayed in columnar format:
HST Grant Number
Institutional Identifying Number
PI Last Name
Date of First Observation
Obligated Amount
Funds Immediately Available
Funds Contingently Available (Increment Amount)
Balance to Award
Start Date
Stop Date
Date Issued
Date of Last Amendment
Date Grant Closed
Title of Project
2. Grant Overdue Report – Reports can be retrieved by
a. Grant Number
b. Institutional ID
c. Last Name, Institutional ID
d. Last Name, Grant Number
The following information will be displayed in columnar format:
HST Proposal/Grant Number
Institution Identifying Number
PI Last Name
Title of Project
Stop Date
Payments to Date
Overdue Performance Reports (Interim or Final)
Date Due
Overdue Financial Reports (Interim or Final)
Date Due
2. Grant Interim/Final Performance Report – Reports can be retrieved by
a. Grant Number
b. Institutional ID
c. Last Name, Institutional ID
d. Last Name, Grant Number
The following information will be displayed in columnar format:
HST Proposal/Grant Number
Institutional Identifying Number
PI Last Name
Title of Project
Stop Date
Next Interim/Final Performance Report
Next Report Due Date
Next Interim/Final Financial Report
Next Report Due Date
2. Payment Report – Reports can be retrieved by
a. Grant Number, Check Date
b. Institutional ID, Check Date
c. Grant Number, Check Number
d. Institutional ID, Check Number
The following information will be displayed in columnar format:
HST Proposal/Grant Number
Institutional Identifying Number
PI Last Name
Awarded Funds
Funds Immediately Available
Grant Payment Amount
STScI Check Number
Check Date
Title of Project
2. Grant Ending Within Three Months Report – Reports can be retrieved by
a. Stop Date, Grant Number
b. Last Name
c. Stop Date, Institutional ID
The following information will be displayed in columnar format:
HST Proposal/Grant Number
Institutional Identifying Number
PI Last Name
Title of Project
Start Date
Stop Date
Awarded Funds
Payments to Date
Columns will appear in the same order on all reports; however, the data will be retrieved according to the criteria requested.
Manipulating Report Data for Institutional Purposes
If the user would like to use the data in the report for a separate spreadsheet, the user can copy and paste the report into an Excel spreadsheet. This consists of selecting the data (point, click, hold), copy, and paste into the spreadsheet.
Please note that title information for the spreadsheet is returned in merged cells (for centering purposes). The merge command for these cells MUST be removed prior to any column manipulation in the spreadsheet. To remove the merge command, select the line to remove the cell merge command, select Format – Cells, select the Alignment tab, click to make sure there is no check mark in the Merge Cells check box.
You may then proceed to edit the spreadsheet to your specifications.
Please note that information pasted into an Excel spreadsheet cannot be manipulated and re-pasted into the STScI Grants Management System.