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December 14, 2001 Beginning next week, you will no longer be able to submit a CSREES-662 form even though it was initiated prior to Oct. 1 when the new 2008 was implemented. Because you will no longer be able to submit an AD-416/417 packet with a 662 Assurance form, the Administrative functions AD-416 work table will have a new button for printing the 662 or the 2008, but you will only be able to edit a 2008.

November 27, 2001

NOTICE from CRIS: First class mail, packages, and large envelopes addressed to USDA offices in Washington, DC have been held for decontamination since October 12, 2001. Please be patient if your correspondence has not yet been acknowleged by CRIS staff or loaded into the CRIS database. Electronic submission has not been affected and is the preferred method for transmitting data to CRIS.

November 20, 2001

A new feature has been added to allow sites to submit electronically the Project Outlines required for Hatch, Evans-Allen, McIntire-Stennis, and Animal Health projects. Currently the only file type accepted is .PDF (Adobe Portable Document Format). This is the only reliable way for all types of Documents to be printed in the CRIS office and have them look exactly as the author intended, as well as to protect the CRIS computers from potential virus problems.

You will now see an informational link at the time an AD-416 fill-in-form is checked for errors, and a button to upload a Project Outline PDF file now appears on the AD-416 Confirmation Screen for all projects identified as Hatch, Evans-Allen, McIntire-Stennis, or Animal Health. Simply click the Outline button. The next screen allows you to enter or select the file from a folder on your own computer, then click the Upload Outline File button.

Administrative users now have a new column on the AD-416 work table for the Project Outline. All applicable projects have an Upload button and if an outline has been uploaded, a link to view the document or delete it.

The Project Outline file will be submitted to CRIS along with the AD-416/417/Assurance form packet when the Administrative site contact submits the AD-416 to CRIS.

November 6, 2001

The web servers are being moved to a new location on Wednesday, November 7. All web forms processes including this home page will be unavailable beginning Tuesday evening at 6:00 pm until the move is completed on Wednesday.

October 12, 2001

On Wednesday, October 17, CRIS will be generating the 2001 checklists. To prevent any lost changes or submittals, we will not allow access to Manage Project Info beginning Wednesday morning until the checklists are in place on Thursday mid-morning, October 18. In addition, all web forms processes will be disabled at 6:00 pm EDT on Wednesday until processing is complete mid-morning on Thursday.

If you have any unsubmitted changes or AD-421s entered in the web forms, the program will not create your checklist because you would lose anything that had not been submitted to CRIS. So please make sure everything in progress is submitted by the end of the day Monday so CRIS has time to process it before creating your checklist.

September 26, 2001

Assurance Form
On Monday, October 1, 2001 a new Assurance form, CSREES-2008 will replace the current CSREES-662. This new form is somewhat simpler but similar to the CSREES-662 and comes with detailed instructions from CSREES.

Here is how we will implement it in the Web forms. Any CSREES-662 forms initiated prior to October 1, can be completed and submitted to CRIS, even if that happens after October 1. Starting on October 1, though, only the 2008 will be available to any new forms being initiated. So even if the AD-416 was completed prior to October 1 but the 662 was not initiated, you will only be able to access the CSREES-2008 Assurance form.

You can see the new CSREES-2008 form on the web by selecting "CRIS forms" on the home page, or "Print blank forms" from Administrative functions.

2001 Checklists
CRIS will be generating the 2001 AD-419/421 Checklists mid-October. When your new checklist is posted to the CRIS Web forms this will create a new project list (displayed using "Manage Project Information") in addition to the 2001 AD-421/419 Checklist ("Display Checklist").

You may request your checklist sooner by sending email to Pat Downer (pdowner @zoo.uvm.edu), otherwise all site checklists will be available by mid-October.

To prepare for the 2001 checklist, make sure you have taken the last step to submit any changes you may have made to project information using "Manage Project info" and that you have checked to be sure you don't have any AD-421 reports entered but not yet submitted to CRIS (sometimes the PIs go in there and enter them without you knowing about it). To see if there are any, go into "Display / Edit AD-421" and select the option to view All reports, include only those not yet submitted to CRIS, and select all reports that contain text whether marked complete or not.

If you still have delinquent reports from 2000, don't worry about those, you can still submit late 2000 progress reports even when your 2001 checklist is there. You DO have to submit the 2000 report before you submit a 2001 report, however.

To submit a 2000 progress report after you have received your 2001 checklist, you need to edit the reporting period on the AD-421 form input page to show the correct year for the 2000 report. Then after you have submitted the 2000 report, go into "Display / Edit AD-421" and select only the project you are working on, choose the option to include reports whether submitted to CRIS or not. The resulting table will include a "Clear" button which will clear out the 2000 report and put the project back onto the visible 2001 checklist.

August 30, 2001
The projlist list shown in Manage Project info now displays the reporting period dates for the last progress report submitted to CRIS for each project.

August 21, 2001
A new feature was added today to allow you to edit the CSREES-662 even if the project has been submitted to CRIS. This is done using a new button on the AD-416 work table when you select projects that have been submitted to CRIS. Previously you could only print the submitted 662; now you can edit it as well.

However, please note: the edited 662 for an already submitted project will NOT be submitted to CRIS electronically, you will have to print, sign and mail or fax it to CRIS or the grant office directly. The same is true for ANY 662 entered in the Web forms for grants... they are not submitted to CRIS electronically because the grant office requires a signature! You must print, sign and mail or fax to CRIS or the grant office directly.

August 16, 2001
On Monday, August 20, several new features were implemented:

In Display AD-421 Reports in Progress

• you can view AD-421 reports from last year or the current year
• a new impact output report is available
• output reports can be viewed by GPRA goal
• selection options having to do with submitted vs unsubmitted reports have been reorganized
• the default is now to include all AD-421 reports, whether submitted to CRIS or not (previously the default was only those that had not yet been submitted to CRIS)
• reports that have been submitted to CRIS are more clearly indentified in tables and reports

On the AD-421 fill-in form process

• "yellow stickys" provide enhanced help notes for users
• you can view last year's report using a new button on the form
• the impact field will be pre-populated with last year's impact statment if one was submitted
• the non-technical summary of project purpose from the AD-416 is diplayed next to the Impact field
• character counts are now displayed on the checking screen
• checking includes a search for a publication submitted last year with the same title as one being submitted this year

for site password users

• a new button allows you to print a final copy after marking the report complete

for admin users

• mark/unmark AD-421s has been moved off the admin functions bar and onto the AD-421 display table with Edit options and the statistics table; you can now mark or unmark whatever projects you select and display on the table or all projects (or unmark individual projects using the same buttons as before)

Other misc changes

• Manage Project info has a new option to list projects by GPRA goal
• Manage Project info highlights in yellow, projects that are not yet approved by CSREES

August 10, 2001
An email message is being sent to all CRIS site contacts about the availability of preliminary checklists which can help you verify the content of your project information in CRIS prior to the Program of Research request (will arrive at your site via mail about August 15 if it is required for your site) and before the 2001 Checklists are created in October. Please read the email carefully to help you decide whether or not the preliminary checklist will benefit you.

June 28, 2001
The CRIS Web Forms system was upgraded on Thursday, June 28, 2001. The only difference you should notice is faster response time. You will not need to change any bookmarks. If you do run into any problems, as usual, please notify one of us immediately.

Pat Downer (pdowner@zoo.uvm.edu)
Sue Lang (slang@zoo.uvm.edu)

June 22, 2001
Please note the following enhancements implemented on June 22, most of them following suggestions made at the CSREES Administrative Officer's meeting in Norfolk in April.

• A new optional field to identify CSREES Integrated Activity has been added to the Web forms. There are different definitions for formula-funded projects and grants, so be sure to read the text to determine if the project complies.

• The Integrated Activity identifier can be changed using Manage Project Info.

• You can now enter up to 12 investigators.

• The list of projects available for revision now highlights those that are due to terminate in the current year to help identify projects that may need to be revised or extended. For example, to see a list of all the formula-funded projects in a department, use Display / Edit AD-416, select the department, then click the "Initiate Revision" button at the top of the table.

• A new impact report is available on the AD-421 Review Reports in Progress function (accessed by PIs on the same screen as they would enter their name, accessed by Admin users through Display/Edit AD-421s Admin function). To see this report, select the option to "Include all reports whether submitted to CRIS or not" and select the new Impact Report format. This displays the non-technical summary entered on the AD-416 and the impact narrative entered on the AD-421.

• The "Other Grant" project type is now worded "Other CSREES Grant" to help prevent confusion with non-CSREES grants not normally documented in CRIS.

• The Multistate Research project information has been updated and can be used to automatically fill in the title, objectives, and start/term dates if you specify the correct Multistate project number. A button for initiating a Multistate cooperating project is now available on the Administrative user AD-416/417 work table.

• The CSREES-662 form for grants is not handled the same way as for formula funded projects. For Hatch, Evans-Allen, McIntire-Stennis, and Animal Health projects, the CSREES-662 must be completed and submitted along with the AD-416/417; CRIS then prints all 3 forms and submits them to the CSREES reviewer along with the required project outline. Grant offices may or may not require the CSREES-662, and those that do require it, usually request it prior to the AD-416/417. If the grant office does request a CSREES-662, it can be completed and printed via the Web forms, but you must send it (fax or mail) it to the specific grant office -- CRIS cannot do that for you because the form requires a signature. However CRIS will print and send the AD-416/417 to the specific grant office for you when submitted using the Web.

• The CSREES-662 web form now displays only the PI's name, not the full list of investigators as formerly displayed.