[Flex] [Fwd: NSF FastLane News]
Claire Reid
creid@whoi.edu
Mon, 19 Mar 2001 16:55:13 -0500
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From: "Sherman, Beverly" <bsherman@nsf.gov>
Subject: NSF FastLane News
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 16:04:54 -0500
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Dear FastLane Contact,
This is the last message that will be sent to our FastLane Contacts mailing
list (derived primarily from FastLane contacts listed on organizational
registrations). Instead, FastLane will communicate updates and changes to
its user community through the NSF Custom News Service (see note) through
FastLane Announcements. The following message is expected to be released
through the Custom News Service very soon.
--The FastLane Team (fastlane@nsf.gov)
FastLane Announcement #01-01
Note: The NSF Custom News Service, see http://www.nsf.gov/home/cns/start.htm
, has added a subtype labeled "FastLane Announcements" under the document
type "Proposal Announcements & Information." All current Custom News
Service subscribers who signed up for documents under Program Announcements
will automatically receive FastLane Announcements. Those not wishing to
receive FastLane Announcements should edit their profiles and uncheck the
FastLane Announcements box under the "Proposal Announcements & Information"
subtypes list.
This announcement discusses several recent and upcoming changes to the
FastLane system including user documentation, support for various file
upload formats, solutions for MSIE 5.5, easy ways to get your password
reset, revised proposal budget information, reviewer system changes,
enhancements to the interactive panel system, how to update your
organization's information online and an upcoming common PI/co-PI login.
User Documentation
User documentation on proposal preparation and basic organizational
management functions has been greatly expanded. The new documentation,
available presently in PDF format, may be viewed or downloaded under
FastLane Advisories on the FastLane Homepage ( www.fastlane.nsf.gov ).
File Uploads in Various Formats
FastLane now supports file uploads in a variety of formats including Word,
WordPerfect, PostScript and TeX (MiKTeX1.20e). You should continue to use
standard fonts to avoid font substitutions and you will need to proofread
and accept the uploaded files. PDF files will continue to be accepted if
properly created for merging into a single proposal (e.g. ensuring that all
fonts are embedded, the files is saved in Acrobat 3 format and that
PDFWriter was not used to create the file). For more information on
supported document types, see
https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a1/A1AcceptableFileExtensions.html
Note that one of the advantages of PDF files is that the resulting document
is supposed to look the same to everyone viewing it. Adobe Acrobat Reader
allows users to choose a "fit-to-page" option when printing a file. As
this distorts the output depending (e.g. margins and fonts sizes) depending
upon the printer chosen, users should not choose this option when printing
out their PDF files. Otherwise, a PDF file that may appear compliant with
NSF font size and margin requirements on your printer may appear
non-compliant to everyone else. The "fit-to-page" option is not used by
NSF's Proposal Processing Unit when printing proposals at NSF. Therefore,
the resulting printed copy at NSF appears at the same scale as the original.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 (MSIE 5.5)
FastLane is one of the few web sites serving PDF files using a secure server
and using secure means of posting the files to browsers. Past users of MSIE
5.5 would see a blank screen when trying to view PDF files in FastLane.
Microsoft's Critical Problem Resolution unit has been working on a
correction for the MSIE 5.5 Service Pack #1 and for future versions of MSIE.
It is still being tested by Microsoft. In the interim, FastLane has
programmed a workaround for proposal preparation and will be implementing
that in other areas (e.g. proposal review) shortly.
Password Reset
An automated password reset function is now available in FastLane for users
who forget their passwords (see "Password Reset" on login pages). Once the
user is authenticated through information presently in our database, a
one-time password is generated, stored in one-way encrypted format in
FastLane, and sent by e-mail to the address on record. As with virtually all
FastLane functions, the password reset function is available all the time.
Therefore, users no longer need to wait to contact the FastLane Help Desk or
their
Sponsored Research Office.
Organization Basic Information Changes
Organizational Management now has an additional permission (Review/Revise
Organizational Information) that allows authorized users to update in NSF's
records for an organization's address, phone
number, FAX number, e-mail address, EIN/TIN and DUNS number. The change is
immediate. Name changes cannot be performed online. Instead, organizational
management
users will need to e-mail dgafast@nsf.gov to inform NSF of
these changes.
Revised Proposal Budgets
PIs can now assign their Revised Proposal Budgets a PIN which can be used by
other FastLane users to prepare and forward the revised proposal budget to
the PI's Sponsored Research Office. Users can now add senior personnel to
their revised proposal budgets. Please note that Revised Proposal Budgets
submitted via FastLane do NOT require a paper copy to be signed and mailed
to NSF.
Review System Changes and Print-on-Demand Pilot
FastLane is making a number of enhancements to the Proposal and Panel Review
systems. Based upon input from program offices, the user screens will now
have a different look and feel. The new screens in panel review include
tabs which allow the selection of action type and a sort feature that will
allow the user to sort proposals via a variety of column headers. Reviewer
type has been added as a column header. Both systems now let reviewers
download and save a proposal as a PDF file to their computer without first
needing to view the proposal with Adobe Acrobat. The capability for
panelists to be able to bundle together multiple proposals for download,
with options for file compression, will be added later this year.
A new pilot consisting of ten volunteer programs will not automatically send
reviewers paper copies of proposals. Rather, for reviewers in these
programs, an option will appear in FastLane to have paper copies of the
proposals sent through the mail.
These changes are scheduled for production on March 20th and the
print-on-demand function is expected to be available for other programs
later this year.
Interactive Panel System (Panel Meeting System)
Based upon a design team from NSF users in program offices and input from
panelists, a new look and some additional features are planned for the
second week in April. A version will be available for users to try on our
demonstration site by March 26.
Common PI/co-PI Login
FastLane has developed a common login for Principal Investigators (PIs),
co-Principal Investigators and other authorized users. Implementation is
planned on or about March 20. At the present time, there are ten separate
logins available to PIs and many of these require PIs to remember their
proposal or award ID numbers. The new login, available for review at our
demonstration site ( www.fldemo.nsf.gov ), will allow PIs to log into one
application instead. PIs then choose a function (e.g. preparing a proposal
or a project report).
If the function is associated with an award, they are given a list of
existing awards, by number and title, to select. A similar login is
available for "other authorized users" who will be able to access, through a
PIN provided by the PI or co-PI, proposal preparation, project reporting,
revised proposal budgets (new!) and other functions. While this new common
login will allow access to all PI functions, the existing separate login
links will remain for several weeks while users become familiar with the new
entry into the system. A common login for panelists is also planned.
Award Supplement Changes
Last October, FastLane added a new module for award supplements. No longer
does a PI enter a request for a supplement through Notifications and
Requests. To request a supplement, the PI will select the existing award at
the beginning of the process. A temporary proposal is created. The PI
must provide, at a minimum, a summary of the work to be accomplished, a
justification, and a budget. When the SRO submits the supplement, a new
proposal is created.
Within five working days, for organization's not participating in the
electronic signature pilot, the signed budget must be mailed to NSF program
staff. Although a cover sheet is generated by FastLane, the institution and
PI cannot, and need not modify it. Participants in the electronic signature
pilot do not send the budget to NSF.
Here is a list of enhancements made to award supplement recently:
1. The top of the cover sheet is stamped "Supplement" so it can be
readily identified.
2. Page 2 is stamped "No Signature Required" in the signature block, as
a reminder that the cover sheet does not need to be mailed to NSF.
3. Two buttons were added to the Form Preparation screen, "Supplemental
Docs" and "Add/Delete Non Co-PI Senior Personnel." This will assist PIs
preparing supplements for various research opportunities.
4. At the bottom of the SRO submission screen, a reminder was added
that they must send a signed budget, but not the cover sheet (except for
those participating in the electronic signature pilot).
5. On April 1st, the "Other" button in Notifications and Requests will
be disabled. Until then, if a PI or SRO chooses that option, a warning
message states that this option will be disabled on April 1st. They are
directed to the new module. At the bottom of this screen, we added a button
saying "Continue" so processing can continue until then.
6. In several places, text was changed from Supplemental "Proposal" to
Supplemental "Request."
7. The word "Funding" was deleted from the Justification label on the
forms preparation screen. It was being confused with a budget requirement.
8. The text in the e-mail message to PIs was revised slightly,
reminding them to send the budget (except for those participating in the
electronic signature pilot), but not the cover sheet.
About Future Announcements
Questions, comments, or suggestions about FastLane or this announcement may
be addressed to fastlane@nsf.gov . FastLane will no longer use this list
of original FastLane institutional contacts for e-mail announcements.
Instead, this mailing list is being replaced by the NSF Custom News Service,
see http://www.nsf.gov/home/cns/start.htm. The Custom News Service has
added a subtype labeled "FastLane Announcements" under the document type
"Proposal Announcements & Information." All current Custom News Service
subscribers who signed up for documents under Program Announcements will
automatically receive FastLane Announcements. Those recipients who use the
Custom News Service but do not want to receive FastLane Announcements should
edit their profiles and uncheck the FastLane Announcements box under the
"Proposal Announcements & Information" subtypes list.
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