eBridge General Announcements
Posted 9/26/08 (1 Item)
eBridge Grants and Contracts module offers benefits to College researchers
Training options offered in preparation for upcoming launch
After collecting feedback on the College’s eBridge Grants and Contracts module, the Office of Research will officially launch the electronic submission and review system gradually over the next several months.
Its complete implementation is expected to provide College researchers with a single access point for all components of an application, and make those components accessible at any time from any location with Internet access. It will also provide the ability to track the routing stage of any application and send reminders to those required to sign-off on grants, thus speeding up the turn-around time.
Finally, as a component of eBridge, grants and related Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocols will be linked to each other and to relevant financial and personnel data residing in Oracle.
“eBridgeMCW is a highly innovative state-of-the-art application derived from the Click Commerce programming platform that is rapidly becoming the market leader in academic center regulatory compliance and grant software solutions,” said David Gutterman, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Research and the Northwestern Mutual Professor of Cardiology. “eBridgeMCW is the first comprehensive Grants and Contracts module to be launched in the U.S. based on the Click platform. Its ability to integrate IACUC, IRB, and Grants and Contracts with our extensive Oracle financial and personnel information places MCW at the technological forefront of electronic regulatory connectivity and efficiency.”
During the module’s conceptualization stage, the College established six goals for the new system:
- Provide a user-friendly system where principal investigators may take ownership to create, route and submit grant or contract applications directly to the Grants and Contracts Office.
- Collect key grants and contracts information so informed business decisions can be made based on quantitative data.
- Maintain accurate and timely information while enforcing data integrity.
- Communicate the workflow process for approvals, application statuses and submissions in a timely manner while following a defined business process.
- Reduce risks and errors by obtaining and verifying correct and current protocol approvals.
- Reduce the cost of errors and delays through integration with MCW’s Sponsored Programs department.
Prior to the launch of the eBridge Grants and Contracts module, the Office of Research will host hands-on training sessions for all faculty and staff required to utilize the system. As part of the training, each department will have its own training week assigned; the larger departments will be given several weeks to complete the training.
Comprehensive training sessions will also be provided to those individuals from each department identified as department champions. Champions are typically department administrators, who, once trained, will act as local experts within their department. The department champions will be trained early in their departments’ scheduled training week and the remainder of the week will be spent providing interactive sessions for all principal investigators and supporting staff.
Online courses that cover basic navigation of the funding proposal-portion of the eBridge system are also being offered and everyone who needs to attend their department’s training sessions should take the online course prior to attending.
If you have any questions or concerns about the training options, please call Debra Gans, 456-4019, or Robert Mautz, 456-8139. You can also obtain additional information, including the training schedule, on the eBridge Web page.
Posted 9/8/08 (1 Item)
“The eBridge - Grants and Contracts module is almost ready. Over the past several months, we have made important and necessary changes to the system. Our delay of going live with the module is evidence of our commitment to providing nothing less than a robust and highly functioning system. In addition, we are committed to providing training that will assure you are comfortable using the system before you are required to use it.
Over the last six months, we have brought back end users and subject matter experts to provide feedback regarding the system and its functionality for completing and submitting funding submissions. We have run continuous testing on the system during the same time to assure the system works as designed.
We are now preparing for the Grand Opening of the eBridge – Grants and Contracts module as well as to begin training for all departments. The system will go-live by the end of this year, where each department will have their own start date and requirements for system optional and mandatory use. Since we are introducing a single system for all departments, we will provide the training on a department-by-department basis so we may provide specific training and address each department’s specific needs. Each department will have its own assigned training week; larger departments will be given several weeks. If your department has facilities available for us to host the training, we will bring laptops and we will come to you.
We will provide comprehensive training to “Department Champions”, department administrators who will act as local experts within their department. Department Champions will be trained early in the week of their scheduled training and the remainder of the week will be spent providing an hour and a half interactive session for all principal investigators and their supporting staff. Additional classes will also be provided on more specific points for different kinds of funding submissions. Please contact your department administrator for more specific details about when and where your training will take place.
You will also have the opportunity to take an online course that covers basic navigation of the Funding Proposal portion of the eBridge system. Because this course is an online module, you can take it whenever and wherever you like. You can start it, pause it, rewind it; so the training will fit into the time when you are available. The department training for principal investigators and the proposal teams will begin where this online training left off, so the online training will be required before you attend your department’s training.
If you have any questions about the training options, please do not hesitate to call Debbie Gans, 456-4019, or Robert Mautz, 456-8139, with any of your questions.
Posted 6/23/08 (1 Item)
eBridge Grants & Contracts
The Office of Research will launch the eBridgeMCW – Grants and Contracts electronic submission and review system this fall. The summer will be spent in refocused testing of the system and refining the system’s usability.
Training will be available after Labor Day. Submission of funding applications using the eBridge system will not be required until after training is provided.
In August, information sessions will also be held to address the functions of the system and how the system fulfills the goals of the Office of Research and the institutional initiatives of the Medical College of Wisconsin. These sessions will be open to everyone.
Posted 5/16/08 (1 Item)
eBridge - Grants & Contracts
On May 7, we invited back subject matter experts who had helped us during alpha and beta testing to evaluate and provide input on specific design features of the current eBridge – Grants module. The primary focus was on Federal SF424 grant applications. We are now assessing the feasibility of their feedback in conjunction with system functionality.
Posted 4/18/08 (1 Item)
eBridge - Grants & Contracts
The implementation date of the Grants and Contracts eBridge module has been delayed to provide more time for system development. This module will integrate with the eBridge IRB and IACUC modules and with the Oracle financial system and there is inherent complexity to the system that demands broader participation in validating system functionality. Establishing a new date for the Grants and Contracts roll out should occur in May. Updates on the progress will be provided via InfoScope and the eBridge web page at http://www.mcw.edu/ebridge.htm.
Role Specific training is also being restructured in order to accommodate the different needs of users, based on their varying experience levels with the eBridge system. For those individuals who have had their training session cancelled, you will be contacted by email to reschedule your training.
We are committed to providing a high quality product, which will provide research faculty and staff with tools to better manage the increasingly complex administrative processes required for the conduct of research in the 21st century.
Posted 1/19/08 (1 Item)
Best Practice to avoid eBridge Slowdowns and Lockups
Some users have voiced concern over the slowness and lockups while using the eBridge web application. The Office of Research, eBridge Application staff and MCW-IS are continuing efforts to improve and fine-tune the network and eBridge web application to provide a quality product for our users.
Here's are some tips for improving your access to eBridge:
1. Remote Access vs Direct Web Access – Upon investigation, some users are accessing the eBridge web application thru Citrix Remote Access. While perfectly acceptable the application can be accessed directly by going to the website located at http://ebridge.mcw.edu. This will eliminate the middle tier (Citrix Remote Access) and any network overhead.
2. Reminder: the eBridge application has a regularly scheduled maintenance downtime every Wednesday 8 p.m. until Thursday 8 a.m. Please refer to http://ebridge.mcw.edu for more information.
Posted 2/11/08 (1 Item)
Adding / Removing eBridge Department Approvers
To change your current eBridge Department Approver (by assigning a new or removing an existing Department Approver), the Department Administrator or Department Chair should sent this request to the Help Desk at help-ebridge@mcw.edu or 456-8476. A department may list more than one individual as an eBridge Department Approver.
Posted 10/22/07 (2 Items)
Logging into eBridge
Please remember to put in "mcwcorp\" before your username when logging into eBridge from outside of the MCW Collaborative Services Network (MCWCorp Domain).
eIRB (eBridgeMCW) Logins to Change on October 22
Current eIRB users will be contacted via email regarding changes to their logins. Also, note that eIRB system will now be called eBridgeMCW with the addition of the Animal Research module. For more information, click on this article: (article on InfoScope – requires MCW Network access) – link to: http://infoscope.mcw.edu/display/router.asp?docid=25923