URA Training Seminar: eRA Commons xTrain

1. URA Training Seminar: eRA Commons xTrain Vanessa Rook December 9 & 10, 2010 University Research Administration

2. What is xTrain? xTrain provides program directors, administrators, and trainees the ability to electronically process and submit appointment forms and termination notices. As of January 1, 2011, xTrain is required for all appointments and terminations!

3. Handouts • Quick Reference for Trainees • Quick Reference for PD/PI’s • Appointments – Step by Step • Terminations – Step by Step • Common Errors in the System • NIH xTrain Frequently Asked Questions

4. Grants Supported in xTrain • Kirschstein-NRSA undergraduate institutional training grants (T34 – appointment forms only) • Kirschstein-NRSA predoctoral and postdoctoral institutional training grants (T32, T35, T90, TL1, and TU2) • Kirschstein-NRSA fellowships (F30, F31, F32, and F33 – termination notices only) • National Library of Medicine institutional training grants (T15) • Research education awards (R25, R90) • Institutional career development awards (K12, KL2, KM1)

5. xTrain Roles Principal Investigator (PI) – • The role of the PI within the eRA Commons portal is to complete the grant administration process or to delegate this responsibility to another individual. • A PI may only access information pertaining to the grant(s) on which he/she is the designated PI.

6. xTrain Roles Trainee (Trainee) – Pre/Postdoc or Graduate Student • Uses the Commons xTrain Trainee role to electronically manage appointments for awarded Training Grants. • View his/her own PDF-formatted Appointments/ Amendments/Terminations and their routing history • Update and route his/her own Appointments/ Amendments/Terminations

7. xTrain Roles Business Official (BO) – URA Manager • The Business Official submits the Termination Forms to the Agency. • The BO can view Training-Grant-related items such as the Trainee Roster, list of grants, grant summary, routing history and PDF-formatted appointments/amendments/terminations

8. xTrain Roles Assistant (ASST) – Department Administrator • The Assistant (ASST) is delegated access by a PI to his/her account to assist with data entry and completion of xTrainfunctions – similar to ESNAP delegation • (except submitting to agency – this must be done by the PI)

9. Delegation of xTrain Authority 1. PD/PI selects the Admin tab - > Accounts - > Delegate xTrainAuthority 2. PD/PI selects the user from the list of Current Institution Users - click the Assign button 3. PD/PI clicks the Save button on the Delegate xTrain Authority Confirmation screen to complete the action 5. The Delegate xTrain Authority Confirmation screen appears - click on the Save button to complete Note: If your name is not in the list, it is because you do not have the ASST role.

10. Setting Up Accounts Requesting a Commons Account If a Commons account needs to be created or edited, please email the URA listserv that handles Commons accounts: ERA-HELP@LISTS.UCHICAGO.EDU In order to receive a Commons account, provide URA with the following information: • Full name with correct spelling • @uchicago.edu email address • Role in Commons After the account has been created, a confirmation email from Commons will be sent, prompting log-in. The administrator who requested the account will get an email confirmation from URA with the Commons ID as well.

11. Adding Trainees to a Roster Some Administrators have taken an extra step – reminding their students before the Commons account has been created with a personal email: Sometime in the very near future you will receive an email from commons@od.nih.gov with the subject line:  eRA Commons: A new Account has been Requested for __________ (your name will be  inserted here). The NIH has gone paperless and is now processing all appointment and termination forms electronically.   Please following the instructions to get your era Commons account set up.  Remember to make note of the username that you are assigned.  Once you get the email that once you get this email you take care of setting up your account as soon as possible and  to please notify me once you receive the confirmation that your account has been set up.  As always feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

12. Adding Trainee to a Roster When a new Commons account is created, the Trainee will receive an email from NIH asking them to confirm their account. Have your Trainees follow the instructions in the email as soon as possible to avoid processing delays.

13. Adding Trainees to a Roster Make sure that the Trainee completely fills out their profile in Commons. This can cause errors later in the appointment/termination process. It can be a good practice to sit down with your Trainees one by one to go through each tab in their profile, and to do appointments and terminations together to make sure key information is not missing.

14. Adding Trainees to a Roster

15. Appointments Adding Trainees to the Roster is the beginning of the Appointments process

16. Appointments If you do not have the Trainee’s Commons ID, search for them by NAME

17. Appointments The 2271 Form is opened and pre-populated with information pulled from the Trainee’s profile.

18. Appointments • Check over pre-populated information • Fill in each red star (*)section • Enter in Period of Appointment dates • Select Stipend Level and enter in Stipend/Salary/Other - > SAVE • If the stipend is showing up incorrectly, just save the appointment and then go back. It should automatically fix it. • 5. Add Tuition and Travel.

19. Appointments Action buttons appear at the bottom of the form after the initial Save Once the form is ready, click Save & Route to Trainee. The system will check the form for errors prior to routing. Any identified errors must be corrected prior to routing. Warnings are addressed at your discretion. NOTE: If you need to amend the 2271, do not start a new one. Click on the Amend 2271 on the Trainee Roster Screen.

20. Appointments Trainees must then review the Appointment, and Save & Route to PI

21. Appointments PI will review and Route to the Agency

22. Payback Waivers • If you are appointing a Postdoc, Payback Waivers still need to be done in paper version and mailed hard copy to the agency. • These forms are available for download in the Trainee Roster screen view after the Trainee’s profile has been filled out and the Appointment has been saved. • Mail confirmation of permanent residency (if needed) must also be sent in after the Appointment is submitted electronically.

23. Trainee Roster Screen

24. Terminations In the Trainee Roster Screen, click on the “Initiate TN” next to the appropriate Trainee. Trainee information is pre-populated. Review for errors Select BO Modify Termination Date (if needed) for an Early Termination Post Award information - Additional Information can be filled in by the Trainee

25. Terminations 1. ASST Saves and Routes form to the Trainee 2. Trainee fills out rest of information and Saves and Routes to PI 3. The PD/PI cannot submit the Termination Notice. It must be routed to the BO for Processing. BO Reviews and then Submits the Termination to the Agency. Note: If the Trainee does not route the Termination Notice to the PD/PI within 14 days, the system will automatically route the Termination Notice to the PD/PI.

26. Hints and Tips • Logging in/Affiliations • PI Affiliations • Paper Appointments • Roles • Data and Data Style • Comment Boxes • Commons Accounts

27. Discussion Pros and Cons of System What do you like? Frequent issues

28. Resources URA Website http://researchadmin.uchicago.edu/submitting/era_commons/xtrain.shtml BSD Training Grant Chalk Site Contact Dawn David for access (ddavid@bsd.uchicago.edu) Training Grants Listserv traininggrantadmins@lists.uchicago.edu eRA Commons – xTrain http://era.nih.gov/services_for_applicants/other/xTrain.cfm eRA Commons xTrain External / Institutional User Guide (PDF): http://era.nih.gov/files/xTrain_External_UG_2.22.0.0_07-02-09.pdf xTrain for Institution Users NIH Regional Workshop – 2008 (PowerPoint): http://era.nih.gov/virtualschool/external/xTrain_for_Institution_Users_sm.pdf eRA Commons Virtual School: http://era.nih.gov/virtualschool/external/xTrain_Main.htm This is a list of links and resources that can help you while you work in xTrain, and served as references for this presentation. As always, email the era-help@lists.uchicago.edu listserv with any questions, or call Vanessa Rook (2-2925) before contacting the Commons Help Desk. For mistakes involving information/data on the forms that cannot be corrected by the Admin, contact your GMS/Program Manager at NIH and make the URA Manager aware of any issues.