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Kuali Coeus at UPRM

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)


Kuali Coeus (KC) Frequently Asked Questions

1. Getting Started:

2. Using Kuali Coeus:

3. Technical Support:

4. Sub-Awards:

5. Graduate Students:

6. Sponsors

7. Permissions

 

 

 

What is Kuali Coeus?

  • Kuali Coeus was created by the Kuali Foundation:

"a growing community of universities, colleges, businesses, and other organizations partnering to

build and sustain open-source software for higher education..."

 

  • Kuali Coeus (KC) is an open-source Electronic Research Administration system which originated in MIT as “Coeus” and has been redeveloped by the Kuali Foundation.
  • KC provides a comprehensive research proposal development and management system that can be integrated into the institutional financial system to become a “cradle-to-grave” solution for research administration.
  • "Kuali" is a Malaysian word that refers to a cooking utensil -- essentially a small wok -- that is often described as a humble, but essential tool.
  • For more information, visit www.kuali.org.

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Why is the UPRM Campus using Kuali Coeus?

 

For the following reasons:

  • KC will allow the university to provide a better service to researchers and to comply with federal and state sponsoring agencies' requirements which continue to become more strict with time.
  • It provides a central repository to register and store all the information of a proposal or grant.
  • KC is web-based and is easily accessed through the web or through the campus portal.
  • KC will eventually allow the electronic submission of a proposal through Grants.gov as well as through other web-based S2S systems (System to System).
  • Resubmission of a proposal will be simplified. The original documents will be stored in KC, making it easier to modify and resubmit a new proposal.
  • Compliance in areas such as Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI), Protection of Human Subjects (IRB), Care & Use of Animals (IACUC) will be made easier.
  • It provides a negotiation module in which to register changes and final agreements in the proposal, prior to award acceptance.

 

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Who is required to use Kuali Coeus?

  • Every researcher who plans to submit proposals through the Research & Development Center, UPR Mayaguez, and eventually through the Research Center of the Agricultural Research Station, will have to do so using this electronic resource.

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How do I access the UPRM Kuali Coeus Web Page? What browsers are supported?

  • Kuali Coeus is a web-based system. We recommend using Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome as your browser.

To enter  UPRM-Kuali Coeus Live, go to the R&D Center web page.  Clicking on the Kuali Coeus at UPRM logo will take you to the KC instance.  Log in using your UPR username and password. Kuali Coeus can also be accesed directly by visiting https://kuali.uprm.edu.

A UPRM-Kuali Coeus Training instance is also available at:  https://kualitraining.uprm.edu 

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Where can I learn to use Kuali Coeus?

  • KC Training Workshops are offered for Researchers who plan to submit proposals, as well for Administration Officials who have to approve proposals.   Contact the Professional Enrichment Center (Centro de Enriquecimiento Profesional, CEP) to learn about upcoming workshops.

- To register for the workshops, visit the Activities Pre-Registry web page of the Professional Enrichment Center at http://cep.uprm.edu/registro_talleres.html.

- A guide providing an overview of the proposal creation process (and additional resources) can be found in the Tutorials for Researchers section of our web page.

 

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What information do I need to include when first creating a proposal?

  • There are 7 required fields for saving a document. These are: Proposal Type (New, continuation, renewal, resubmission, etc.) Activity Type, Project Title, Sponsor Code (You may enter this manually or use the lookup function), Project Start Date and End Date, Sponsor and Program Information (Sponsor Deadline Date and Time, and Notice of Opportunity including the funding opportunity ID), and Keywords.

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What is a wildcard, and how can using it help me find what I am looking for?

  • When using the lookup function (by clicking on the magnifying glass next to a field), you can use one or more wildcards to expand your search. Depending on its position, wildcards work as a stand-in for any text that may be entered before or after the search term.
  • When you enter a search term, adding an asterisk before, after, or on either side of the words you entered will be processed as a wildcard. For example, writing *Health* will bring up a list of all the results that contain the word “Health” and have other words preceding or following it. This can also be helpful when looking up personnel by their last name.

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Where can I find keywords to describe my proposed project?

  • A list of predetermined keywords is available in KC. Go to the “Proposal” tab, and scroll down to the “Keywords” tab. Here, you may utilize the lookup function to search for keywords relevant to your project.

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My proposal has compliance requirements that need Special Review. How are these requirements integrated into Kuali Coeus?

  • The "Special Review" tab will allow you to mark the need for these reviews (Human Subjects, Animal Usage, Biohazards, etc.) within the KC system. Select the type of special review that is required, and mark the “approval status” field as “pending”. The UPRM is not currently managing these approvals electronically, so please contact the Office of External Resources for further guidance on compliance in this area.

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My proposal will have a curricular impact. What do I have to do to signal this within Kuali Coeus?

  • In the Custom Data tab, select “Project Details” and press “show”. You may then answer whether your proposal will have a curricular impact. If you answer “yes”, KC will mark the proposal for additional routing, sending it to the Deanship of Academic Affairs for the necessary approval.

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What type of attachments can I upload into Kuali Coeus?

  • In the “Abstracts and Attachments” tab, KC allows you to upload:

Proposal Attachments – Used to upload all files required by the funding agency, such as project summary, narrative, research plan, budget justification, and facilities. Remember that agencies may have different names for the different parts of the proposal. Please follow the specific program announcement guidelines.

  • Personnel Attachments – Used to upload personnel-specific documents. These include but are not limited to bio-sketches (curriculum vitae or equivalent), current and pending support, and statements of commitment. There may be several attachments of each type, depending on the number of persons involved in the proposal.
  • Internal Attachments – Here you may include documents that shall be kept as part of the institutional proposal information. These documents will NOT be submitted to the agency/sponsor.
  • You may also upload Abstracts and Notes.
  • Remember that filenames should NOT include special characters or spaces.(e.g. NarrativeMRI,BiosketchPerez)

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Can I upload document drafts, or only the final versions?

Documents you upload can be marked as complete or incomplete, allowing you to upload drafts during proposal development. You may also add comments about the file for future reference. Remember, however, that proposals can NOT be submitted for routing unless all attachments are marked as “Complete”.

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How can Kuali Coeus help me plan the use of project resources during proposal development?

  • The Budget Document module allows you to create multiple versions of the budget for different proposal scenarios, and then select the one which bests suits the proposal to become the final budget version that will be inserted in the Proposal Document for submission.  The Budget Versions feature allows you to estimate salary costs, including fringe benefits, according to UPR regulations, and the corresponding F&A (indirect) costs allowed.

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I have completed my proposal. How do I submit it for internal routing?

  • In the "Proposal Actions" tab, select "Data Validation" and press "show". Select “turn on validation” to activate a validation check that will determine if there are any errors or incomplete information that could prevent routing, warnings that point to possible data issues, or errors that could prevent electronic submission. Validation errors identified by the system will be easily accessible for correction using the fix option next to the error notification.
  •  Select “Route Log” tab to see the order of approvals for a given proposal.  Please verify that the correct department chairs and deans are listed. If there is a discrepancy, please contact the R&D Center and the KC Help Desk to fix the problem.
  • When the proposal is complete and validates properly, you are ready to submit it for routing.  Press the “submit” button to initiate the process.  Remember: The proposal MUST BE COMPLETE prior to submitting to routing.  Remember to contact the ORE office prior to submitting a proposal for electronic routing. 

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How do I report problems or contact Technical Support for Kuali Coeus?

  • Users may request support by accessing http://kuali.uprm.edu/support and logging in with their UPR credentials. The KC Support tracker can also be accessed directly when using Kuali Coeus by clicking on the "Support Request" link at the top right corner of all Kuali Coeus pages. Your request will be promptly answered by the KC Staff.    
  • You may receive Technical Suppport during working hours Monday-Friday by calling the R&D Center Office of Information Systems. The number is 787-832-4040, Extension 5215.
  • You may also send an e-mail to: Rafael Omar Ruiz, address: rafaelo.ruiz@upr.edu.

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In my Budget Summary, the system is using periods to separate numbers every three digits (1.000.000) and commas as decimal points (100,05). How can I change this?

  • Kuali Coeus is detecting that your browser language is set to Spanish, causing it to default to french punctuation rules. To change this, set your browser's primary language to English.
  • In Google Chrome, this can be done by going to Settings, clicking on "Show advanced settings..." and scrolling down to "Languages". Click on "Language and Input Settings", add "English (United States)", and drag it to the top of the language list.

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If I have a Sub-Award, am I required to submit it using Kuali Coeus?

  • Yes. KC will be used to gather all the institutional proposal information and institutional proposal transmittal forms. The KC System will route the proposal to department heads, deans and UPRM AOR for their approval prior to sending the proposal to the "lead" institution for their official submission to the funding agency/source.

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Can graduate students use the KC system for proposal development?

  • Generally no, unless they receive an official authorization to do so.  Only UPRM personnel are authorized to access the system.

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Can graduate students use KC to submit a proposal for a fellowship application?

  • Yes.  If the fellowship application requires that it be submitted by the institution, you will be authorized to use KC for proposal preparation.  You must contact the R&D Center ORE (Office of External Resources) to request access to the KC system.

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I will be submitting a proposal for a Sponsor that does not appear in the Sponsor Look Up menu. What should I do?

  • Contact the R&D Center ORE Office to provide them the sponsor information.  ORE Staff will certify the sponsor information, and add it to the Sponsor’s Lookup list for future access.

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Can I provide access (permission) to other collaborators or clerical staff to the proposal development or budget documents?

  • Yes.  The proposal initiator, who is typically the PI, can grant permission to another user to access the proposals.  To do this, click on the "Permissions" tab, then on the "Users" tab. 
  • In the "Users" tab, you will appear with the default role of "Aggregator".  You can authorize other users to access the proposal.  In the "Users" tab, use the lookup function (the magnifying glass) to add the appropriate user name. The system will recognize the person and the unit to which they are ascribed.  Select a "Role", and click on "Add".  The most-used role options are: "Viewer" (can view document but cannot modify it), "Budget Creator" (allows access to Budget Module), and "Aggregator" (has full access/modification capacity as the PI).

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