Cayuse News

 Grants.gov Proposal Submission using Cayuse424

1.         In order to submit a Grants.gov proposal to NIH via Cayuse424 each user must download Cayuse PDF software and the word templates used to create the proposal.  If users do not have administrative rights to their computer it will be necessary to have the assistance of their IT administrator, usually a college/department staff person.  Users may directly access the Cayuse production web site at https://uhouston.cayuse424.com:8450/V8.  A test server is available at https://uhouston-t.cayuse424.com:8444/V8.  The Cayuse PDF software and word templates used in preparing a proposal may be accessed at http://www.cayuse.com/424/resources.htm.

2.         Each user has been assigned an initial user name and password that consists of the first part of the user’s e-mail ID (for example, nward@uh.edu; password=nward).  This password should be changed after the initial log in.

The username and password for the test server will be prefaced with “TST_”—i.e., tst_nward.

3.         Browser Selection and Setup

a.     Firefox—recommended browser with any operating system.  Cayuse currently supports 1.5.0x.

b.     Internet Explorer—slower than Firefox but an effective browser for the application.  Cayuse supports version 6.  IE7 is not supported at this time.

c.     Safari—not supported at this time due to significant browser bugs.

4.              Browser Configuration

1. Allow cookies for Cayuse 424
2. Allow pop-ups for Cayuse 424
3. Enable javascript

5.         Navigating in Cayuse

1. Tabs enable you to visit other tabs without losing your place in the proposal.
2. “Breadcrumb trail” is a series of links underneath the tabs that you can click on.
3. The following are default settings for saving work:  check for unsaved changes when switching form pages; check for changes when switching tabs; save changes without prompting.  Occasionally there will be the need to click the blue disk to save your work.
4. Use the menu buttons on the templates to navigate.  Do not delete headings on the templates.  Type in “NA” for those sections that do not apply.

6.         Upon the initial log in, each faculty member may add as a user an administrative support person who can help with the update of their profile information.  A professional profile must be completed for each user.

7.         Either the faculty member or the assigned administrative support person should check to see if his or her profile needs updating.  If so, the profile may be edited by filling in missing information.  The following information may be added:

a.     Name

b.     Degrees

c.     Biosketches

1)  Store PDFs and source documents on the server for use in

proposals and later edits

2)  Multiple BioSketches allowed

3)  Easily attaches to Senior/Key Persons page

            If a new user needs to be added, contact Nancy Ward at 3-9225 for assistance.

8.         To start a new proposal, go to the proposal tab and click on new proposal

a.   Select budget type—project or subaward.

b.   Select opportunity number.

c.   Enter title

d.     Select PI

e.     Select budget periods.  This can be changed later.

f.      Click “create.”

9.      Navigating in your proposal

a.     The page numbers are links to form pages

b.     The checkboxes control which forms are submitted.  Mandatory forms cannot be unchecked.  Optional forms can be un/checked.

10                          The autofill feature

a.               When a pencil appears, clicking on it will activate the autofill feature.

b.   You can re-autofill if the profile information changes or you change your mind.

c.     Autofill of certain sections fills other logically-connected fields.

11.               Senior/Key Persons

a.     Add as many as you need.  If there is an overflow, auto generate overflow PDF and attach it.

b.     Note the sort button to get the final list in correct order.

c.     Most key persons require a budget entry.  Autofill will add in both places.

12.               Budget Calculations

a.     Budget categories have default IDC types set in the Institutional Profile.  This can be overridden, however.

b.     Budget calculations require budget period dates.

c.     The appointment type and salary should be set in the Professional Profiles.

d.     The months of effort must be entered in order to perform the calculations.

e.     There must be a PI on each budget period.

f.      Automatic calculations only work with complete appointment type information from the professional profile.

g.     IDC rates have been set as defaults. These will appear in your proposals, but they can be overridden.

h.     A three percent escalation rate has been set as a default.  However, rates can be overridden at the proposal level.

i.      Cayuse 424 allows an arbitrary number of people to be added to a proposal budget.  When the number of budget personnel exceeds 8, additional personnel are grouped together in the Overflow Budget category.  It is possible to go over the threshold by adding people, and then drop below the threshold by deleting people, any number of times.  However, there is a flaw in this system which will be fixed after the 2/5/07 NIH due date.  Please see the attached technical product notice from Cayuse.

13.               The transmittal form and any other required internal documents may be attached to the proposal.  Go to Proposal/Documents/PDF attachments and click on “add.” The documents attached in this section will not be submitted to NIH.  Since no automatic notice is sent to OCG when a proposal is ready for review, please be sure to keep your Research Administrator up-to-date on your progress.

14.       Hints for using Cayuse

a.     Don’t use the “back” button in the browser

b.     Be careful with copy/paste to the application.  Special characters can wreak havoc (example:  umlaut).

c.     Don’t leave Cayuse running overnight.  The browser times out after 4 hours of inactivity.  You can lose the last page of work.

d.     Don’t cut and past into fields in the proposal workspace.

15.    For assistance, please call your research administrator.   A complete reference manual may be found at http://www.cayuse.com/424/424_v3.pdf /