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FAQ Administration (RSP only)

RAMP - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Page Updated: October 3, 2023

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Go-Live

Who can we contact if we have questions?

The RSP eRA teams, along with the RAMP project team, are available to all users to provide support.

  • For assistance you can email RAMP@rsp.wisc.edu. The email box is monitored but response times may vary.
  • Zoom "office hours” are provided as well. Office Hour details can be found on the RAMP Resources Webpage.
  •  RAMP Coaching Requests - Would you like a subject matter expert to answer your questions or demonstrate a function in RAMP? Please use this form on the RAMP resources web-page to submit your request for a RAMP coaching session. The RSP Education Coordinator will pair you with someone to assist you. *Requests are typically filled within 48-hours, but times may vary. RAMP Resources Page
What is happening with Cayuse 424?

Cayuse 424 will be operational until September 2024.

RAMP supports the vast majority of Grant.gov funding opportunities. However, there have been a few instances where opportunities were not available in RAMP and were available in Cayuse. The main reason for extending the Cayuse liscense is to keep the Cayuse "safety net" in place for a bit longer.

RSP still strongly encourages submitting Grants.gov proposals in RAMP whenever possible. Any proposal submitted via Cayuse requires a RAMP record for routing and approval.

Training

Is there a test/train environment I can log into to experience RAMP?
RAMP test/train environment is available for your own personal use using your NetID. Please feel free to continue within the test/train environment here.
Where can I, or will I, be able to access training materials for RAMP?
Please visit the RAMP training webpage here. As materials are developed, they will be added to this page. There is much to come, so please bookmark this page as the central landing point for all things related to RAMP training.
When will the instructor-led training classes be available?
Training classes were in heavy rotation leading up to go-live (May-July). Recordings of the Instructor Led Courses are available on the RAMP Resources Webpage. RAMP training page You can also find a variety of user-guides, job-aids, micro-learning videos and more on the webpage.
Are PIs and researchers involved?

Yes. We have held 2 specific PI focus groups in April 2023. We gathered feedback from PIs on system functionality and the training plan, specific for researchers. There is also a specific PI dedicated RAMP page here.

Are there resources for PIs to know how to certify a RAMP record?
Yes. Please direct PIs here: RAMP PI Certification Page

Roles & Access

If there are multiple departments involved on a proposal/award/agreement, will all departments have edit rights to the RAMP record?
Users with the Division Role Member role will have edit rights to all draft records in RAMP. Collaborating departmental research administrators must be added as either a reader or editor to the record to have access to the record.
How was security/access provisioned for all users?
To assign the Grants and Agreements Administrative Editors for initial go live, we've taken the active owning departments assigned to UWMSN WISPER records updated since 01/01/2021 and then associated those dept IDs with corresponding active Project Setup approval list - OR - WISPER Pre-Award department contacts. Effectively, we have taken the WISPER contact lists and used those to populate the RAMP access.
Who should I contact with RAMP role/access questions?
Please contact your dean's office--they can either grant you access to specific records or request that your RAMP security be updated by the ERA team.
Can individuals sent ancillary reviews download files from the record?
Yes, they will have read only access while the ancillary review is underway including the ability to view/download attachments.
What are the different roles in RAMP?

If you work in a department at the UW, you’ll have the “Study Staff” role which is automatically assigned to every active UW employee. There is no need to request it, it’s automatically provisioned.

If you work in a Dean’s Office at one of the colleges/schools, you’ll have the Division roles assigned automatically if you had the “divisional role member” in WISPER. After initial go-live, when there is staff turn over in the dean’s office, the appropriate employee supervisor will need to contact RSP to make the appropriate updates (remove roles and/or add roles for new employees)

If you work in RSP, you will be given the roles specific to your job/team. More Details Here: RAMP User Roles

General Questions

As part of the certification process, is the PI forced to answer the compliance questions?
No. The PI can certify a RAMP record without having answered the compliance questions. However, the record can’t move forward until question have been answered, so it will force some conversation to get them answered. That being said, we will be working post go-live to add a validation to RAMP that requires a PI to answer the questions before certification can take place.
Is there a SmartForm for the compliance questions that I can send my PIs? Can I download them from RAMP?
On the “Compliance Review” page of RAMP, there is a “print” icon near the upper right hand corner. If you select that, it will allow you to print the page to a PDF that can be used to send to a PI, if that would help.
Does RAMP AutoSave when I complete questions? For instance if I get pulled away.
RAMP does not have an AustoSave feature. Select Save to save the answers on a SmartForm page. Selecting Continue to move to the next page in a set of SmartForm pages will also save a page (in other words, it is not necessary to select Save and then select Continue).
Can I use the back button (arrow) to navigate backwards through smarform pages?
RAMP is a web-based software solution and the back button will work in RAMP; however, it may not have the desired effect depending on the order in which SmartForm pages are accessed. The preferred navigation method is to use the left navigator and Continue buttons to work through a SmartForm.
Is there a section in RAMP where a user can add notes like the comments tab in WISPER?
Yes, there is an “Add Comment” activity on the RAMP Workspaces. Comments will display on the Workspace History tab.
Does RAMP allow users to have multiple tabs open with multiple records (Agreements, Grants, etc.)?
Yes, RAMP allows you to have multiple records open in multiple tabs (as long as you have access to all of the records you want to open).
Will Funding Proposal Numbers replace MSN#s in ARROW?
Records originally created in WISPER will retain their MSN ID for easy reference. New records created in RAMP will adopt the FPxxxxxxxx and AWDxxxxxxxx ID convention.
Will department administrators be able to generate their own custom reports (not created by someone else as a custom report) by selecting the fields we want in RAMP?
No. the capability to write reports will be with RSP. A report created in RAMP is not just for the individual user, but for all of campus. All the data will be in the UW’s Datawarehouse. SFMRT. Departments/Colleges/Schools are encouraged to work with any local IT staff they may have to generate reports. Users are encouraged to reach out to RSP if they have data requests. Once requirements are known, support staff can generate data sets that can be useful. Some limited information is available in WISER as well.
How should Divisions best use Tags in RAMP? Are they customizable?
Divisions can use tags in RAMP to manage special reporting or other special requirements managed by the Division. Tags are customizable (i.e., specific to UW-Madison) but must be added to RAMP by the RSP ERA team.
How do I delete a record that I no longer need?
You cannot delete a RAMP record, however you can withdraw one. Use the "Withdraw" activity on the RAMP record. How to Withdraw a Proposal or Mark as Not Funded RAMP Job Aid. How to Withdraw or Discard an Agreement RAMP Job Aid. More information can be found in the RAMP User Guides linked on the Resources Page RAMP training page.
What exactly ends up in my inbox?
  • For all users: Mod Request you create, Agreements you create, everything you create in Draft state.
  • Deans/Division users: All of the above and funding proposals that have been sent to you for Division Review (called Department Review in RAMP).
  • RSP users: Please see the RSP user guides.
What ends up in my reviews?
Department Review Requests (division staff) and ancillary review requests.
Will our existing Award Numbers match what we see in RAMP come June 26th?
Converted awards from SFS will keep the MSN ## they have today. New awards created in RAMP will begin to use the AWDxxxxxxxx convention.
What if I can't find my PI in the RAMP person list?
Please contact the RSP eRA team. The RAMP system gets nightly updates of personnel information from HRS.
Is RAMP also replacing the Subaward Portal?
Not at this time. It's possible it could in the future, but not anytime soon.
How are RAMP Records tied to each other? Manage relationships? Related Items?
Please see the "How to Manage Relationships" section (section 7-2) of the Funding Proposal User Guide on the RAMP training page.
Will we be using RAMP to track the WARF funding opportunities?
No...not yet anyway. This is being considered, but not included in the initial RAMP roll-out.
Will clicking "Continue" in a SmartForm save the data or do i have to click "Save"?
Selecting "Continue" will save the data and move you onto the new view. "Save" will save the data but leave you on the same view.
What goes into RAMP Agreements Module vs. RAMP Grants Module?
All funding proposals and awards goes in Grants. Funded agreements and non-funded agreements which require RSP negotiation, review, or signature go in Agreements.There is overlap between the two. For example: a federal contract will have a proposal in Grants, once awarded will have an Agreement Module record to negotiate terms, and then an Award record in Grants. A federal grant that is issued unilaterally (no signature, standard terms) will have a Funding proposal and Award in Grants but no record in Agreements since there is no signature or negotiation required. Non-funded agreements, like material transfer agreements and confidentiality/non-disclosure agreements might exist as standalone records in Agreements only.
Is there a difference betweewn “Printer Version” & “Generate PDF Version?
Yes. Printer version is a print version of the SmartForm. The generate PDF version generates a PDF that will look like the application in the sponsor system (for example, one might look like the assembled application in the eRA commons).
What converted from WISPER to RAMP?
WISPER and RAMP are two very different systems. As such, conversion from WISPER to RAMP will not provide a one-to-one match. Data will be imported from WISPER the best that is can, but it will not result in fully filled out RAMP records. More Details Here: WISPER to RAMP Conversion
How do I know what is needed of me when I receive an automated RAMP email?
If you receive an automated email message from RAMP and are not sure what is needed of you, open the RAMP record by following the link within the email and check the History Tab for details.
How do I get a withdrawn record off my dashboard?
Withdrawn records should not be on your dashboard. It will remain in the general grants area, but it won’t be in your inbox, unless they have an incomplete ancillary review. Check to see if you have an outstanding ancillary review (AR) on the record. If so, completing the AR will make the record drop off your dashboard. Note: on the AR, you must enter YES to completed.
TIP OF THE WEEK
What are the appropriate naming conventions for attachments and RAMP records?

General Tips: 

Attachments:

  • Currently, the Attachments tab does not show author or timestamp when uploaded, it is recommended that users add an upload date to the file name when adding attachments to indicate the most recent documents (example, “budget_20230816”).
  • RAMP does not limit long file names or large files, however on the SF424 (Grants.Gov System to System), users will need to follow sponsor limitations as we validate against those sponsor requirements.
  • It would be most helpful to adapt a standard date naming convention for attachments and records: YYYYMMDD = 20230816.  This will allow for sorting numerically. 

 

Funding Proposals (FP) Tips: 

RAMP Record Titles: 

  • RAMP Continuations are used for NIH RPPRS and other federal and non-federal sponsor progress reports needing authorized official signoff.  Putting the deadline in the title of the RAMP record itself will help expedite processing.

Agreements (AGR) Tips:  

RAMP Record Titles:

  • If submitting an Agreement record with a short sponsor deadline (anything less than 2 weeks), including the deadline on the title of the Agreement record itself will help expedite processing. Example: Non-Disclosure Agreement deadline 20230706.

*It is good practice generally to include the deadline on the title of the RAMP Agreement record.

What's best practice for uploading attachments in RAMP? There are so many on my record, it's hard to tell which one is most current.
Currently, the Attachments tab does not show author or timestamp when uploaded, we recommend putting the date in the file name when adding attachments so that users know which file is the most current. Additionally, to help speed up processing, you could also add necessary documents when performing a RAMP activity ("Submit for Specialist Review", etc) so they show up in the history tab for easy access and retrieval.

Ancillary Reviews & Communicating Via RAMP

Will RAMP be used to request limited PI status?
Yes. There is an ancillary review type for this. See the Assign and Complete an Ancillary Review guide.
How will campus request items of RSP such as F&A waivers be using RAMP?
Use the specific ancillary review type. For example, there is a specific F&A waiver type to be used. See the Assign and Complete an Ancillary Review guide.
When an Ancillary Review is approved/denied, does the sender/requestor get an email notification?
Yes, the requestor/sender of the ancillary review receives an email notification once the ancillary review is approved/completed.
Must all Ancillary Reviews be completed prior to routing agreements/records to RSP?
No. Some are required, and some may not be. Please see the specific user guide (Proposal, Award, Agreement, etc.) for specific guidance.
Where do the RAMP send email requests end up?
Emails can be sent directly in RAMP via the Send Email activity. This activity will both send an email to the recipient and record the transmission in the record history.
Will RAMP completely replace Subaward Portal?
No, the Subaward Portal will still be used to request and manage outgoing subawards. RAMP does not replace this portal.
Are we able to reassign an ancillary review to another person once one was set-up? Or do we delete it and set up a new one?
It’s recommended to delete and add a new one.
If someone goes on vacation and this was assigned to that person, how could the approval process move forward? Can you delegate all your approvals to another person if you are out of office?
Best practice is to use unit ancillary review approvals instead of individual ancillary review approvals. This would send the ancillary review to a group of people, rather than the specific individual. Individuals can also set-up email rules on their outlook to auto forward messages when out of the office.
Does the requester receive an e-mail notification when an ancillary review is completed?
Yes.
TIP OF THE WEEK
How do I check if a notifications went out from RAMP and to whom?
  1. Locate the RAMP Record and open the History tab on the Workspace.
  2. Click and open the Activity you are interested in.
  3. On the opened Activity, click View More Details on the top right.
  4. Click the Notifications tab to see notification details and who received it.

 

 

TIP OF THE WEEK
What's the best way to contact RSP on a RAMP Record?

How to best contact the Proposal Team in RAMP: The RSP Proposal Team best practice is to use RAMP “Send Email” as opposed to Ancillary Reviews. Use the “Send Email” activity on the appropriate RAMP record and choose the “Specialist” checkbox. If sending an Ancillary Review, please search for the specialist by name. If a specific Specialist is not indicated on the RAMP record, then search for “ Proposal Team” under “Person”.

How to best contact the Award Setup Team in RAMP: The RSP Award Setup Team best practice is to use RAMP “Send Email” as opposed to Ancillary Reviews. Use the “Send Email” activity on the RAMP record and choose the “Specialist” checkbox. When using “Send Email”, make sure you are on the appropriate record (funding proposal vs. award) so the email gets to the correct recipient.

How to best contact the Contracts Team in RAMP: If you need to send an Ancillary Review for the RSP Contracts Team to review a draft agreement in a Funding Proposal record, please send the Ancillary Review to “Organization”- “RSP Contracts Team”. Please do not send the Ancillary Review to an individual.

Divisions & Dean's Offices Specific

Will the Division Dashboard show only records for your division or all records across campus?
As a division user, your “inbox” will show all records needing divisional action. To view records across campus, you can search for them in the grants module (grants tab).

WISPER and WISER Access

Will WISPER still be accessible after June 26th?
Yes. WISPER will be “view only” and attachments will be accessible to be downloaded.
How long will WISPER be accessible?
At least through 2024. More will be known as the Workday implementation progresses.
Will WISER be updated with RAMP data and searching abilities?
Yes.
How long will WISER be available after June 26th?
The replacement of WISER is related to the Workday implementation. As of now, WISER will be available through 2024.

Award Set-up

Will effort information entered in RAMP pull into ECC? Will it be used in other UW systems?
RAMP effort data does not get transferred to ECC. Please remember that ECC does not contain any effort commitment data. ECC is all based on payroll. The data in RAMP will be used in the RSP commitment tool that is being developed.
Can a user request an advance account on a funding proposal while an agreement is being negotiated on a related agreement record?
Yes.
Are protocol numbers and dates still needed for award setup?
Yes, they are still required. RAMP records are linked to the protocol in ARROW and then display that protocol information in RAMP.
A lot of divisions are requiring sub-project accounts for each faculty member. Is there a way to do this in RAMP?
Yes, multiple financial accounts (or Projects in SFS) can be created for an award. RSP will setup the minimum number of projects to meet sponsor requirements, but the unit can create additional projects during the award setup process.
Does Arrow talk to RAMP? If I don’t have access to Arrow will this be a problem?
RAMP does pull in Compliance (IRB, IACUC, IBC, Stem Cell) information from Arrow. Arrow is where you will relate your Arrow record to a RAMP record.
TIP OF THE WEEK
What does RSP need during Award Setup when I have cost share on my award?

When an award has cost-share – regardless of mandatory/voluntary: Campus should attach a cost share budget.

  • Please indicate “cost-share budget” in the filename and include the most recent version/date following the standard date naming convention YYYYMMDD – 20230829.
  • The cost-share budget should mimic the award budget categories.

If salary will be cost shared:

  • The cost share budget should include each person being cost shared and how much they are being cost shared, % of time and total dollars.
    • This will help with the transition to WorkDay.
  • The RAMP Effort page should correctly indicate the total effort and required effort (i.e. sponsor paid), so cost share months are calculated.
    • The award set up team will review the cost share budget vs. what is entered in RAMP to be sure it matches.
  • When available, users should attach the RAMP Cost Share Form (webform on RSP webpage)
    • Filename: “Cost Share Update Form YYYYMMDD”
    • Award set up team will use this information to enter the data into the cost share bolt-on. If there are non-payroll items being cost shared (supplies, travel, third party, approved unfunded F&A):
  • The cost share budget should include these items by budget categories, same as the award budget. For mandatory cost share, the award set up team will add cost share terms which will then appear in WISER on the Requirements tab. For all cost share, the cost share documents will be uploaded and available in WISER.
TIP OF THE WEEK
How do I initiate the award setup process when I receive the notice of award (NOA) in my department/division?

For New Awards

• If department/division receives a notice of award (NOA) for a new award, please send it to awardacceptance@rsp.wisc.edu. Funding awards for new awards will be initiated in RAMP by RSP.

For Existing Awards 

• If department/division receives a notice of award (NOA) for an existing/active award, please locate the award record in RAMP and submit a modification request using “NOA has been received by department/division” as the Request Type. Attach the NOA document for RSP within the Mod Request.

• Alternatively, if RSP receives a notice of award (NOA) for an existing/active award, RSP will initiate the Modification in RAMP.

Resources: How to search and sort RAMP records Job Aid How to Request an Award Modification in RAMP Job Aid RAMP Time and Money Award Modification Requests Video

TIP OF THE WEEK
What is the best way to communicate with the RSP Award Setup Team in RAMP?

How to best contact the Award Setup Team in RAMP: The RSP Award Setup Team best practice is to use RAMP “Send Email” as opposed to Ancillary Reviews. Use the “Send Email” activity on the RAMP record and choose the “Specialist” checkbox. When using “Send Email”, make sure you are on the appropriate record (funding proposal vs. award) so the email gets to the correct recipient.    

 

 

How do I create separate projects for outgoing subawards at Award Setup? Will we be able to import the detailed subaward budgets at time of award set up?
  1. If your award has an outgoing subaward you will need to create a separate financial account for that outgoing subaward. Only one financial account will be needed regardless of any restrictions on the award. For example, you may have an award without automatic carryover that would require separate financial accounts for the UW projects each year, but you would only need one financial account for each outgoing subaward. Use the naming convention “SUB” at the beginning of the financial account. Example: "SUB Michigan State Uni Project Short Name"
  2. After you create the financial account, then you need to allocate the funds per budget period. You will be allocating the subawardee’s total costs as direct costs and then UW’s portion of the indirect costs up to $25K per subaward. Mark each allocation either Authorized by Sponsor, Advance Account or Not Authorized, depending on the situation.
  3. For each Authorized by Sponsor or Advance Account allocation, the categorical budget will be reconciled. For an outgoing subaward the cost categories “SUB <25K” and “SUB >25K” should be used so that the UW’s portion of indirect costs will automatically calculate on the outgoing sub financial account. Yes, detailed budgets entered on the proposal can be imported on the award reconciliation page to save time during award budgeting.

For more details, view How to Complete Subaward Setup-Separate Project IDs Job Aid and How to Setup a New Award

Effort and Cost-Share

How does the effort data in RAMP get used in other tools like the RSP Commitment Tool and ECC?
RAMP effort data does not get transferred to ECC. Please remember that ECC does not contain any effort commitment data. ECC is all based on payroll. The data in RAMP will be used in the RSP commitment tool that is being developed.
How should departments/divisions be maintaining the Effort page in RAMP?

All effort for all personnel should be entered (not only key), and at a minimum key personnel should be entered into RAMP before routing to RSP.

This will allow us to have the proper information to more accurately pre-populate other support types of documentation. Departments/divisions will enter this information as normal via the award set-up process.

Any changes needed after the set-up can be requested by the departments/divisions by using the award mod request or send email function to ask RSP to make an update. The data is intended to be used with the RSP commitment tool that is currently being developed to help with commitment management.

How will award cost share be entered into SFS since RAMP cost share functionality is not being utilized at this time?

1. Upload a cost share budget as an Excel spreadsheet or PDF to the RAMP record via the “Upload Award Documents”. The budget should mimic the award budget, i.e., budget categories, and include third party and approved unfunded F&A, if applicable. If payroll is to be cost shared, individuals being cost shared should be listed along with the % of time being cost shared and dollar amount of cost share being provided.

2. The RAMP Payroll Cost Share Details Form should be completed and attached as a PDF to the RAMP record via “Upload Award Documents”. Filename should be Cost Share Budget and the current date. Example: Cost Share Budget 20230921. "

Will we need separate projects for cost share?
UW-Madison will not use RAMP to establish PeopleSoft projects to track cost share expenditures at this time.
How is payroll cost share captured?

Payroll cost share (entered in RAMP as person months) is captured in the effort section of the smart form.

For awards/projects with payroll cost share, please complete the RAMP Payroll Cost Share Detail Form and attach the PDF to the RAMP record via “Upload Award Documents”.

Filename should be Project, Cost Share Details Form, current date. 

Example: AAA1234 Cost Share Details Form 20230921.

If multiple projects, please use one form per project. The award set up team will use the details from the form to enter the payroll cost share into the SFS Cost Share Bolt-On.

Award Mods & Management

If there are deadlines to submit these Mods by RSP request/requirement (e.g.: NCE due on 5/31/23), does RSP want us to use the date to start short title? How will RSP know deadlines for mods that have deadlines for submission?
The recommendation is to put the due date in the short title, so it is prominently displayed.
How does the RAMP system determine who in RSP to route Mod Requests to?
It is based on type. It gets assigned to an RSP team (post-award, setup, etc.) and then further assigned out to a particular team member.
Will RSP/Specialist/Submitter be able to see that date/comments in their work queue? Or will they have to open the Award Mod Requests to see the deadline?
RSP will open the request to see the deadline.
Can I see a pending or approved award modification on the RAMP dashboard?
Records that require your attention/action will appear on the RAMP Dashboard My Inbox tab. However, if you have access to an Award record, you will be able to view all related award records in RAMP (award modification requests, award modifications) but you may have to navigate to the record directly if it does not require your action and is not in the My Inbox tab of the Dashboard.
If a modification is in "review" status, can you confirm that departmental administrators can no longer edit the modification at that point? If updates have to be made, would a department have to ask RSP to send it back for edits?.
You cannot change a modification once it has been submitted to RSP. RSP would need to send back to make the record editable again
How do I request an advance account or send a modification request to RSP on Continuation/Resubmission/Revision/Renewal records?
If you need to request an advance account or send a modification request to the Awards team on RAMP Continuation/Resubmission/Revision/Renewal records, use the Request Award Modification button on the Funding Award record. The Continuation/Resubmission/Revision/Renewal records do not allow for set-up processing.
Why doesn't my PI have the option to certify their award or award modification?
The Certify activity only exists on draft and in-review Funding Proposals. The Certify activity does not exist on awarded Funding Proposals, active Awards or Award Modifications. If your Division requires that the PI review & approve an award modification request (AMR) – use the Ancillary Review functionality. Job Aid: How to Initiate an Ancillary Review
How do I process new USDA Research Service Agreements (RSA and aka Task Orders) and Non-assistance Cooperative Agreements (NACA) in RAMP?
RAMP agreements should NOT be created from the funding proposal for NEW RSAs and NACAs. RSAs and NACAs are not contracts and thus do not need to route to the RSP agreements team. NEW awards will be processed like a grant in RAMP. When choosing the instrument type (#6) in RAMP’s General Proposal Information section, select Grant for the RSAs and Cooperative Agreement for NACAs. Currently, mid-year modifications (awarding funding only) and closeouts (obligations) will be processed as a modification request in RAMP using the NOA received by department/division type. Note: these types of funding mechanisms are CALS specific.

Proposals

Does RAMP have any file upload limitations here? file size, character limit, etc.?
RAMP will accept any reasonable size limit. Larger documents may take longer for the upload process to complete. For uploads that will be submitted to the sponsor, please follow sponsor instructions as it relates to limits, extension types etc.
If I entered a subrecipient in another funding proposal record, do I need to enter them again in my new record?
For each proposal where you want to add a subrecipient, you will need to select the subrecipient from the list. For grants.gov submissions going through RAMP, It may be necessary to enter address information for the subrecipient within the SF424 record as part of the Performance Locations section.
What do I do if I cannot find a sponsor or a subrecipient institution in RAMP?
Complete the Add Sponsor Information form on the RSP website to initiate the new sponsor addition process.
Where do I attach the budget justification in RAMP?
Budget justifications are attached on the funding proposal budget record and separately on the SF424 record for Grants.Gov system-to-system submissions.
Does RAMP accept long file names or large files? or is there a limit?
Not for RAMP itself. When you're in the SF424, you will need to follow sponsor limitations as we validate against those sponsor requirements.
When RSP submits the proposal to the sponsor and it goes to sponsor review status, do administrative contacts receive a notification?
Yes. Both the PI and the administrative contact are notified.
Is the URL for a record page in RAMP a direct link to that record?
If you are on the Workspace for the proposal then yes the URL in your browser will serve as a direct link to that record.
Can we as research admins create most of the SmartForm and leave the compliance questions for the PI?
Yes.
Do grants admin editors all have automatic edit access to the RAMP FP record so they don't need to be added to the field of people who need edit access?
Yes, they will automatically have access to the proposal record. The only exception is if this is a S2S grants.gov proposal then you may need to still add them in the SmartForm in order for them to have access to the SF424 record.
Do we need to create continuations in RAMP for all RPPRs? We currently only use WISPER records for T32 or large program/center grant RPPRs.
Continuations should be used for progress reports requiring authorized official or RSP involvement and are not for new time periods or funds outside of the original proposal. Examples:
  • Use continuation for NIH RPPRs and other federal or non-federal sponsor progress reports needing authorized official signoff.
  • Do not use for non-institutionally endorsed technical reporting (this can be submitted directly by the PI).
  • Do not use for competing continuations or requests for new project periods (use renewal instead).
How are the PIs notified that they need to certify a Funding Proposal record? Does that happen automatically?
If the PI hasn’t already certified their Funding Proposal, then they will receive an automated email message from RAMP when the funding proposal moves to the Department Review (Division/School/College) state reminding them of the certification requirement. If you would like to ask the PI to certify prior to this step in the work-flow, you can contact them outside of RAMP or send an "other" ancillary review with the request.
When does the funding proposal lock to department/PI edits in RAMP?
The funding proposal record is locked to edits during the Department Review and Specialist Review states. However, the Department Reviewer (Division/College/School) and the RSP Specialist (RSP Proposal Team) can send the Funding Proposal back to a Dept/Unit/PI and it becomes editable again when sent back.
What does selecting "“yes"” on the this person is subject to FCOI actually like do? Does it trigger someone to review or something?
Only individuals who have been identified as “Yes” to the FCOI question will appear on the COI tab of the proposal and award workspaces. Selecting “Yes” does not trigger a review in the system.
How will we know when a funding proposal passed Dean's office review and is now awaiting RSP review? Will there be a way to know this in the "internal review" tab e.g. separated out somehow?
The funding proposal will be in a ‘Specialist Review’ state. You may filter for this state in the “internal review” tab.
How do I obtain PI certification on a Funding Proposal that is already in Sponsor Review status?
To obtain certification post-submission, send an Ancillary Review to the PI with the UW Certification Language in the comments. How to Initiate an Ancillary Review
What if a Sponsor isn't listed in RAMP when I create my Funding Proposal?
If the sponsor's name is not listed, Select “Sponsor not yet in system” and enter the sponsor's name in Question 5a. After you save your work on the page, complete the Add Sponsor Information form on the RSP website to initiate the new sponsor addition process. If UW-Madison is a subrecipient on a funding proposal for the organization listed in Question 5, enter the prime sponsor in Question 5b. Example: Department of Energy (Q5b), when the direct sponsor is Northwestern University (Q5). If both are not listed in RAMP when searching, select "Sponsor Not In System for 5b too and notate that both orgs aren't searchable.
How do I obtain multiple PI certifications for a Multi-PI funding proposal?
RAMP funding proposals only allow for one PI certification. The Certify activity/link is only available to the Contact PI listed on a Funding Proposal. Additional Principal Investigators on multiple PI applications will certify via Ancillary Review. For Multi-PI or Co-PI proposals, the contact PI will certify the RAMP funding proposal and other PIs will need to certify via ancillary review. Initiate an Ancillary Review from the Funding Proposal Workspace, Select the intended PI, Select the Multi-PI Certification ancillary review Type and copy the UW's certification language into the comments field. For more details see the Multi-PI Certification Job Aid
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What is the best way to communicate with the RSP Proposal Team in RAMP?

How to best contact the Proposal Team in RAMP:  

The RSP Proposal Team best practice is to use RAMP “Send Email” as opposed to Ancillary Reviews. Use the “Send Email” activity on the appropriate RAMP record and choose the “Specialist” checkbox. If sending an Ancillary Review,  please search for the specialist by name.  If a specific Specialist is not indicated on the RAMP record, then search for “ Proposal Team” under “Person”.

Important: When completing something in a RAMP pop-up window (such as Ancillary Review), users must click the “OK” button at the bottom of the pop-up window or the request will not save.  Just clicking OK on the Ancillary Review will not save the request.  This also applies to things such as adding attachments.  Anytime you have a pop-up window always make sure to click the OK button. You may have to scroll down to find it.

How do I handle adding personnel in RAMP who have dual appointments? The wrong appointment is showing up when I go to select my PI.
UW is only able to load one appointment via the person feed to RAMP. The built-in logic tries to pick the "best" position but it won't always be 100% correct given certain circumstances, such as dual appointments. You can select the PI as they appear in RAMP and then change the Department in the RAMP SmartForm – personnel page.
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What is a RAMP continuation record used for?

RAMP Continuation Records are used for progress reports requiring RSP submission and continuation proposals (or progress reports) that require authorized official or RSP involvement/signatures. For example, NIH RPPRs and other federal or non-federal sponsor progress reports that require authorized official signatures. Continuation Funding Proposal records are created from the record of an active award. Continuation Funding Proposals have unique IDs starting with the Funding Proposal ID and amended with a “Con” suffix (FP00000099-Con1).

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What are RAMP Resubmission Records used for?

RAMP resubmission records are used for a proposal resubmission. A resubmission is unfunded application that has been modified following initial review and resubmitted for consideration. The RAMP resubmission record is created from a non-funded funding proposal. The RAMP ID number includes a “RES” suffix.

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What is a RAMP Renewal Record used for?

A renewal is a request for additional funding for a period subsequent to that provided by a current award. RAMP Renewal Records are created from an awarded funding proposal. Renewals receive a new FP number.

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What is a Revision RAMP record used for?

A Revision is a request for additional funds during a current project period to support new or additional activities that are not identified in the current award. The RAMP Revision Record is created from an awarded funding proposal. The RAMP ID number includes a “REV” suffix.

SF424

If I make a change in the SF424 budget will the change be reflected in the FP budget?
No. If there are changes to budget totals then those should be made in the FP budget and then you can rebuild the SF424 budget using the “Create-Update SF424” activity.
Does the name of the file show on the final Grant PDF or do we need to be sure to remove version control suffixes/initials?
You should upload the PDF with the exact file name that you desire to the sponsor. File names should not be duplicated within the SF424.
Is Subaward entity information saved in a directory for use in future submissions?
It is not saved as an organization. If you filled out the information in the SmartForm, it will pull across to the Project/Performance Site Location(s), but it does not save for future use
Is there a way to see the versions when attaching documents?
Yes. After the document is attached, the number in parentheses is an indication of what version is being displayed.
Where does it show the FOA number we're applying to-other than entering it up front if we want to confirm it?
On the main workspace of the SF424 record, it will also display the FOA number there.
How smart is the SF424 form, will it advise if any required documents relating to the funding announcement have not been uploaded? For example, if biosketches for senior/key personnel are not included, will the system advise there is an error?
RAMP validates against a lengthy list of validations provided by grants.gov. For certain opportunities, there may be additional NIH specific validations that occur. Yes, RAMP will catch as part of the ‘Validate’ process if you do not upload a biosketch for a Senior/Key Person.
If the Create-Update is done to update forms, what gets overwritten? If we forget to uncheck a box, will it overwrite what we’ve done in the SF424?
When executing the “Create-Update SF424” activity, you can choose which form(s) you want to rebuild. You don’t necessarily need to rebuild all the forms. It will vary from form to form on what data may get overwritten. It is recommended you review all forms each time you execute the “Create-Update SF424” activity.
If RAMP will replace Cayuse, how do we request new profiles to add academic staff PIs to the system?
Please contact the RSP eRA team. The RAMP system gets nightly updates of personnel information.
Where do I find the SF424 PDF that I just "printed" from RAMP?

Upon creating the SF424 PDF, go to the SF424 Workspace and click the small blue "View" hyperlink next to "PDF Version" at the center of the screen. 

Ensure that you are on the SF424 Workspace as opposed to the FP Workspace.  On the right hand side of the workspace it will say SF-4240000xxxx and SF424 in a blue box. 

 

 

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How do I get the RAMP Budget to load to the SF424?

If you experience an issue with the RAMP budget not loading to the SF424, it’s likely due to one of the following:

  • The budget wasn’t completed before the SF424 was created.  The RAMP budget must be complete before the SF424 is created for it to be pulled over successfully. 

OR

  • The budget choice wasn’t selected when the SF424 was created.  To get the budget to load, select the appropriate budget choice when creating the SF424. If users need to later revise the optional forms that were selected when the SF424 was created, they can do so by opening the SF424 and clicking on the Optional Forms Page to make updates.
How do I get a fellow to be listed as PI on the RAMP’s SF424 application instead of the faculty sponsor?
The faculty sponsor’s name will flow to the SF424 application automatically from the funding proposal in RAMP. Users will need to manually enter the fellow’s profile information to “override” the faculty mentor as the PI in the SF424. For all budget periods in R&R Budget V3.0, under Senior/Key Person, make sure the Project Role column value for line 1 is 'PD/PI" with the fellow's name. The Project Role in the R&R Budget V3.0 must match the role in the PROFILE PD/PI section of the R&R Senior/Key Person Profile. Note: Once this is done, be careful if re-executing the "Create-Update SF424" activity as it may overwrite the manual changes you made in the SF424 record.

Budgeting

If we use Cayuse for the initial go-live, do we need to enter the budget information into RAMP?
You will need to fill out the basic RAMP info. You can (and will need to) upload the Cayuse PDF to the RAMP record.
How do you request your division provide a budget review/approval in RAMP?
Ancillary Review – Type: Division Budget Review.
How do I budget for cloud computing expenses?
When creating the budgets, create a separate budget for the cloud computing expenses with the 26% indirect cost rate. All other expenses would be in the primary budget with the primary indirect cost rate.
Does RAMP support modular budgeting?
Yes. See Section 3.2.11 of the Funding Proposals User Guide.
How do I budget for Participant Support Costs on my NSF proposal in RAMP?
See Section 10.2.2 “Detailed Participant Support Costs Budget” In the Funding Proposals User Guide.
How do I budget for a U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) submission in RAMP?
The NIFA base is a non-standard F&A base, type TDC and rate 42.85% (or whatever your college allows). The recommended tool for budget creation is the USDA budget spreadsheet on the RSP home page. When inputting your budget into RAMP in TDC, each line item asks if it should be included in the F&A calculation; the answer is “Yes”. If there are subawards, each will ask you what the IDC threshold is; the answer is $0. When setting up detailed General/Travel/Participant Support Costs, “include inflation” should be “No”. With all these items in place, you should be able to enter budget numbers as intended and the indirects should calculate correctly.
If we know about upcoming salary increases, where would we update this on the RAMP budget?
The base salary in RAMP is pulled directly from HRS. However, when building the budget in RAMP you have the ability to update the salary.
How do we increase fringe rates on a RAMP budget?
When entering the personnel costs in RAMP, enter the applicable Effort and Salary Requested (Sal Req) months and modify the Fringe Benefits Rate if necessary.
Does the recent move to biweekly pay impact how we budget in RAMP?
No.
The RAMP funding proposal and subaward budget forms as if someone is an FCOI investigator, what does this mean?
It's showing if the person meets the definition of an “investigator” as outlined in the PHS FCOI regulations. UW-Madison interprets the regulations that only key personnel are subject to NIH FCOI regulations.
We have part-time employees on our proposal budget – are the salaries loaded in RAMP the parttime salaries or does RAMP use an annualized salary?
Annualized.
How does RAMP account for salary caps on the RAMP budget?
See section 3.2.3 “Personnel Costs Page” of the Funding Proposal User Guide. Also, section 10.2.3.2 Over-the-Cap and Additional Cost Share, provides additional information.
We submit to sponsors that use FTE for personnel costs and do not use person months. How would I complete the RAMP budget for these sponsors?
You will need to convert the percentage to a person month. However, in RAMP Select the Show Effort button on the personal cost page that will show the percentage of effort everyone will contribute to the project and the percentage of the base salary required.
Do I need to use the RAMP budget?
No. You can develop a budget outside of RAMP and attach it to the RAMP record. However, for SF424 (submission to Grants.gov) those require budgets to be built in RAMP – it’s part of the application package. *If a RAMP budget is not developed during the proposal stage and the proposal is funded, the RAMP award record will need to have a category budget setup.
Does the Cloud Computing question drive anything in the budget?
No.
How do you add Patience Care Costs (outpatient) to a budget?
On the General Cost Definition page of the budget, there is an option for “Patient Care”.
Will the previously marked inflation section apply to an increase in fringes each year?
The fringe rate will not increase. The salary only will increase. So the current FB rate will be applied to the inflated salary unless you manually adjust the fringe rate.
UW switched to bi-weekly rates. Should we still go with person months for budgeting purposes by converting the bi-weekly into monthly?
If it's bi-weekly pay, you would use an annualized salary and budget person month effort against that rate as you do today. Bi-weekly pay comes in on the post-award side since we'll have 2 months with 3 pay periods (26 bi-weekly pays/year).
Is there an easy way to see the FP budget at the same time as the SF424 budget? Two windows best option?
Two windows may be the best option to see both.
If you make edits to the FP budget does it automatically update, or do we have to “reload” that budget part of the package?
It does not automatically update. You can click the “Create-Update SF 424” activity to re-sync changes from the FP budget to the 424 forms. It is always recommended that you complete the budget first, prior to creating the 424, to take advantage of this one-way data pre-population.
Will F&A be auto populated?
If you are using the "standard" rate (on campus research rate), the current rates that are loaded in RAMP will appear. For all other F&A types, you will manually enter those along with the appropriate base.
Do we need to do cost share budgets for the cap gap?
No.
Are cost share detailed budgets required at proposal stage in RAMP, or only become required at setup?
Cost share budgets are required at the proposal stage for both mandatory and voluntary cost share. The budget should mimic the award budget, i.e., budget categories, and include third party and approved unfunded F&A, if applicable. If payroll will be cost shared, individuals being cost shared should be listed along with % of time being cost shared and the dollar amount of cost share being provided. The budget document can be either an Excel spreadsheet or PDF and uploaded to the RAMP record via “Upload Award Documents”. Filename should be Cost Share Budget and the current date. Example: Cost Share Budget 20230921
If we have all of this already set up in a spreadsheet, this is an additional step to key this info into RAMP correct? Is there a way to import a sheet?
Yes, if you continue to use a spreadsheet, entering in RAMP will be additional data entry. There is not a way to import a spreadsheet. There is a way to export the RAMP budget into a spreadsheet.
What would we use for participant support budgets?
See Section 10.2.2 “Detailed Participant Support Costs Budget” In the Funding Proposals User Guide.
What if the fringe benefits change several months into the grant year? Our grants run from June through May.
There are 2 ways to do this. (1) use blended fringe rate. (2) A more exact way would be to define intra-year periods on the funding proposal SmartForm in order to apply specific rate values for specific periods of time.
How do I budget student hourlies?
Add "Staff Member to Be Determined" in the Personnel section of Budget SmartForm and select undergraduate student. Then annualize the salary (hourly x 2080) and calculate the monthly effort based on expected hours per week.
How do I enter a budget in RAMP for NIH Fellowships?
The suggested way is to Use the “Trainee Other”, “Trainee: Stipend”, “Trainee: Travel”, etc. options in the “General cost type” menu. These costs will not populate over into the 424 so you must manually enter in only tuition there. In SMPH, you do still need to create the internal excel budget and attach to RAMP for all to reference and send the division budget review.
How do I submit a revised budget to RSP when the Funding Proposal is in the RAMP Pending Sponsor Review state?
Periodically a revised budget needs to be sent to a sponsor when the RAMP Funding Proposal is already in the Pending Sponsor Review state. Prior to sending the revised budget to RSP, utilize either the Manage Ancillary Reviews activity or the Send Email activity on the RAMP Funding Proposal Workspace to obtain Dean’s Office/Divisional approval. Upon receipt of that approval, notify the RSP Specialist of a requested budget revision by utilizing either the Manage Ancillary Reviews activity or Send Email activity. Attach the budget revision in Excel format to the Ancillary Review Request or Email. Upon receipt, RSP will review and submit to sponsor.

Agreements

How will we connect/affiliate agreements initiated in RAMP to projects not carried over from WISPER to RAMP? It is my understanding only recent WISPER records will be pushed over to RAMP, but an outgoing MTA’s materials may have been derived from a project that was active 10 years ago.
There will not be a way to make the linkage. A note in the MTA RAMP record will be needed to document the affiliation.
Depending on the agreement type, it looks like there are quite a few questions contained in the smart forms. Is there a way to send a PI a direct link to these (so they don't have a hard time navigating to the correct place) so that we don't have to separately relay all the questions to them?
PIs can open the smart forms and follow the questions in order to answer them. RAMP resources for PIs, such as basic navigation, are located on the RAMP training page.
Currently, some units prepare an initial draft agreement using RSP’s templates. It sounds like this RAMP information will be used to “craft” an agreement. Does this mean that the units will no longer need to draft an agreement and upload it to RAMP, and instead RSP will start the agreement using the SmartForm information we provide?
Yes.
Will RSP be checking for ancillary reviews on agreements & amendments initiated under a FP based on specific Division preferred processes? Without this stop, some agreements may inadvertently slip through without Division review.
RSP may look if an ancillary review is sent for a specific reason. However, the agreement record cannot make it to RSP for full review until a deans/division office has signed off.
Do clinical trials agreements need a RAMP funding proposal?
All funded agreements will need a corresponding funding proposal record. Awards in RAMP are created from funding proposal records and cannot be created directly from an agreement record.
For Addgene MTA processing, now in WISPER I enter the direct link for “signing” without much other information entered. Is that feasible with this SmartForm structure?
For Addgene MTA records, create the MTA in RAMP and complete the mandatory fields with these additional instructions for the Agreement Upload Page: Question 3: Check “First draft to be generated internally” - an agreement upload is not required for an Addgene MTA. Question 4: Include the Addgene order number in the Project Title. Question 7: Attach the Addgene order confirmation to the Supporting Documents question.
If a start date for an agreement is “Date of signature” and the end date is e.g. “Three years from date of signature” - should we try filling in term dates, or just leave that blank?
You may leave the end date blank and instead note any date details in Question 11 - “Are there any other comments that would be helpful for the RSP staff to process?”
How do I upload DocuSign Documents in the RAMP Agreements Module?

To upload a copy of the email: Drag the email from your Outlook app to the desktop. From RAMP, upload a new agreement and select the email that was downloaded to the desktop.

To upload a copy of the agreement in the DocuSign e-mail: Open the DocuSign link. Click the download button on the DocuSign page. Go to RAMP and upload the PDF that you downloaded from the DocuSign page. In RAMP, select where to upload: 1. PDF of Agreement to Agreements. 2. Email to other Supporting Documents in the SmartForm.

Important Note:

Do not just upload the email (email = DocuSign envelope). This can cause a problem because, while RSP can open the email, DocuSign links expire after a set period and, when they do, DocuSign sends a new email to the original email address. If only an email/envelope is uploaded and the link expires, RSP can’t see the agreement unless they were the original recipient of the DocuSign. This will result in additional correspondence with requests for the documents.

How do I notify a PI that they need to certify an Agreement Record?
Notifying the PI that certification is required on an agreement can be done in two ways. 1. Outside of RAMP (email/conversation/chat) – sending the PI the RAMP link and # to locate the record. 2. Using an Ancillary Review to the PI, asking the PI to go into the RAMP record to certify/sign. Approval of the Ancillary Review doesn’t automatically certify the record, so the PI would need to locate the record, click the Certify activity, and then respond to the Ancillary Review letting the unit know it’s completed.
Do PIs have to certify all Agreement Module records?
No. PIs do not certify Agreement Module Records for Standard Research Agreements or Clinical Trail Agreements because those agreement types have an associated RAMP Funding Proposal Record. PI certification is obtained at the funding proposal stage instead.
What if I have an agreement with a short deadline?
If you are submitting an Agreement record with a short deadline (anything less than 2 weeks), please include the deadline on the title of the Agreement itself. For Example, you might title the agreement: Non-Disclosure Agreement deadline 07/26/2023.
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What is the best way to communicate with the RSP Contracts Team in RAMP?

How to best contact the Contracts Team in RAMP:   If you need to send an Ancillary Review for the RSP Contracts Team to review a draft agreement in a Funding Proposal record, please send the Ancillary Review to “Organization”- “RSP Contracts Team”.  Please do not send the Ancillary Review to an individual.

Important: When completing something in a RAMP pop-up window (such as Ancillary Review), users must click the “OK” button at the bottom of the pop-up window or the request will not save.  Just clicking OK on the Ancillary Review will not save the request.  This also applies to things such as adding attachments.  Anytime you have a pop-up window always make sure to click the OK button. You may have to scroll down to find it.

 

 

How do I let RSP know there is a true sponsor deadline on an Agreement Module record?
Include the deadline in the title of the Agreement Record.
How do I process new USDA Research Service Agreements (RSA and aka Task Orders) and Non-assistance Cooperative Agreements (NACA) in RAMP?
RAMP agreements should NOT be created from the funding proposal for NEW RSAs and NACAs. RSAs and NACAs are not contracts and thus do not need to route to the RSP agreements team. NEW awards will be processed like a grant in RAMP. When choosing the instrument type (#6) in RAMP’s General Proposal Information section, select Grant for the RSAs and Cooperative Agreement for NACAs. Currently, mid-year modifications (awarding funding only) and closeouts (obligations) will be processed as a modification request in RAMP using the NOA received by department/division type. Note: these types of funding mechanisms are CALS specific.
Questions or concerns? Contact the RAMP team at ramp@rsp.wisc.edu