Tips: September 21, 2018

SPARCS Tips

The following are this week's tips on using SPARCS - 

Sponsor Not in SPARCS? There are times you are trying to find a sponsor (Direct/Prime/Subaward) but they do not appear in the selection list. Please try the wildcard search character - % to catch any sponsor names where the legal name differs from the commonly used names. Examples: The Ohio State University (vs. Ohio State), The Regents of the University of Michigan (vs. University of Michigan). If the wildcard search does not result in a positive match, you certainly can email/call the SPARCS Help Desk. However, another option is to use the SPARCS proposal module to request that the sponsor be added. By doing this an email is automatically sent to the SPARCS Help Desk and you can continue working on the funding proposal.

Direct or Prime Sponsors (first SmartForm): Select TBA [sponsor type] and then select the "ADD" button to enter the details for the new sponsor. You will not be able to submit for department review right away, but it will allow you to move on to the other sections of the funding proposal while the SPARCS Help Desk gets to work on adding the sponsor. If the submission is due the same day and it is URGENT, do not hesitate to call the Help Desk to let us know the situation!

Subawards (Subaward-Subcontractor Sites Smartform within the budget): Skip to question 2.0 and select the "ADD" button to enter the details for the new Subaward Site. You will be able to enter all of the budget details for the added site right away as though it were already in the system.

Recent improvements to SPARCS:

• • General Cost Grid/Expenditure Type
    Lecture Fees and Honorarium have been added to the list of expenditure types that are available to select in the SPARCS General Cost Grid.
  • Ancillary Review
    The functionality has been updated so that the impacted department approvers can access the funding proposal as soon as it moves on to Department Review, without the activity needing to be executed.