Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Do I still need to use the Application for Proposal Routing and Approvals (APRA)?

No. APRA was decommissioned as of Jan. 29, 2024 in tandem with the launch of RES. All information previously provided as part of the Proposal Routing Form in APRA will now be entered in a RES Proposal Development Record.

Will the implementation of RES affect who I work with in ORA and/or the level of review provided for proposal submissions?

The implementation of RES does not change your ORA points of contact. All departments have been assigned a Grants and Contracts Administrator and Financial Research Administrators to support faculty and staff. For a listing of ORA contacts, including the portfolio assignments please, visit the ORA Contact page.

Additionally, the level of review provided for proposal submissions will also remain the same. ORA will continue to review matters of institutional compliance at a central research administration office level. For details on what ORA is responsible for reviewing, please visit the Proposal Review Guidance webpage. 

Where can I see my proposal and award status in RES?

Users can see the status of their proposals and awards through the RES Dashboard. This is the first page after logging in to the system. As a reminder, RES utilizes single sign on which allows you access through your general UMass Lowell credentials.

I selected the wrong Lead Unit when initiating my proposal development record. What should I do?

Unfortunately, the Lead Unit is the only field that cannot be changed after generating a proposal number. The Lead Unit should be reflective of the department in which the PI is listed in HR. If you select the wrong unit, a new proposal development record will need to be created.

What is wildcard searching?

Wildcard searching in Kuali is using the * symbol before and after your search criteria to find sponsors, people, subrecipients, etc. It allows you to search under certain parameters, so if you don't type something exactly right, it will still show suggestions. Otherwise, if you type something incorrect, it will show No Value.

My sponsor is not in RES. What do I do?

If your sponsor is not listed in RES, within your Proposal Development Shell, please search for and select “New Sponsor Setup” as your sponsor. Then, you must submit a New Sponsor Request Form. The Form can be found on the RES Build Forms page and the relevant job aid can be found here. Once the sponsor is created, you will receive an email and then you can update your sponsor within your proposal development shell in RES. Please note a proposal cannot be routed for approvals without the sponsor being added so please complete the request form early.

My subcontract organization is not in RES. What do I do?

If your subcontract organization is not listed in RES you must submit a New Sponsor Request Form. The Form can be found on the RES Build Forms page and the relevant job aid can be found on the Job Aids page.

Why am I being asked to provide a Research Science Code?

This Research Science Code is a newly required field in all proposal development records, regardless of the sponsor. These codes are used by NSF to collect data used for the Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey that provides important information on the national level of R&D activity. UMass Lowell relies on the HERD Survey to obtain metrics on our expenditure activities compared to other institutions.

Why am I being asked to include effort on the Personnel section of my proposal?

Effort is listed in the Organization tab of the Key Personnel section. Collecting effort data at proposal stage will allow Faculty and Staff to run reports of all pending proposal efforts. This is incredible valuable for tracking proposed projects that must be listed as part of required Current & Pending documents. Current & Pendings are used by sponsors to ensure PI availability and identify technical overlap which is a critical component for institutional compliance. Effort should be listed for Year 1 only. For faculty with 9-month Academic Year appointments, use the Academic Year Effort and/or Summer Effort field. For all other key persons with calendar year appointments, use the Calendar Year Effort field. Information regarding calculating effort can be found on the ORA Budget website.

What are proposal data validations and when do I use them?

Data validations are used to ensure faculty and staff have entered all the required information in a proposal record. When a Proposal is submitted for approval, these validations will automatically run to identify errors requiring attention prior to submitting for approval.

What are the benefits of RES?

  • Simplifies administration for PIs, staff and IT by eliminating duplicate data entry 
  • Acts as a single repository for all proposal, award and compliance information with a modern, user-friendly interface that includes a PI dashboard 
  • Offers productivity and reporting tools to streamline and better manage the full lifecycle of sponsored projects. With all information in one system, RES’ powerful repository of data allows ORA and PIs to gain important insights to make more informed decisions. 
  • Increases compliance 
  • Assists with annual audit reporting 
  • Allows PIs to search for funding opportunities within the system 
  • Integrates user experience and feedback because the system was developed specifically for universities by universities