Securing the Pre- and Post-Award Process for Boston Children's Hospital and Collaborating Institutions
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Date
2022-05
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Abstract
In the world of research, where there are ever-changing policies and procedures, we must adapt technically as an institution by implementing well-established procedures to ensure security, version control, auditability and reduce the administrative burden for grant staff and key stakeholders. The role of research administrators is to assist in the application process and post-award management. The job relies on the effectiveness of the systems we use. It is paramount we have set procedures in place around federally accepted electronic signatures, documentation access, and a repository for collaborative review and templates. The institution will comply with federally accepted electronic signatures by implementing DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat Pro for digital sign-off. Using a centralized platform to share information by utilizing Dropbox will reduce unnecessary email communication and ensure the correct forms are used during the pre-and post-award process. Researching alternative platforms to adopt in the department will enhance the currently used methods. This project discusses the need to unify the steps to improve the overall process and reduce the administrative strain for all research administrators and key stakeholders.
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process improvement, administrative burden, eSignatures, version control