Electronic research administration system onboarding process begins

On June 5, the electronic research administration (ERA) system implementation team began the process of onboarding the Conflict of Interest and Commitment module of the Huron Research Suite. This is the first step into implementation of six modules to improve processes, increase transparency and reduce administrative stressors in the areas of research administration and compliance at Auburn University.

The system will allow faculty and relevant staff to see their disclosed interests, consulting preapprovals, grant proposals, awards, IRB protocols and animal census records through single sign on to an online dashboard with tabs to connect all activities pending, active or under development in one place.

For Conflict of Interest (COI) and Commitment, we will implement a new form with similar questions to our current COI disclosure process. The disclosures are entity based and will include financial interests, board positions, outside employment, consulting, foreign interests and other relevant interests. It will also include disclosures pertaining to current family members working at Auburn like the existing COI questionnaire.

We also anticipate replacing the current faculty consulting approval process in Sharepoint with the Huron module. In addition to ease of use and efficiency by having external activities in one system, this provides additional security access for disclosed information and consulting approvals. The system will assist faculty members in tracking their annual activities and completing the required biosketch of current and pending support information when submitting proposals.

We anticipate that upon GO-LIVE in early 2024, full-time employees will input all their relevant information into the new system. To facilitate this initial data entry, employees can download their current disclosure in the COI-Smart system for reference.

While many final decisions about configurations are still being considered, we anticipate using a rolling deadline so that everyone updates their disclosure information (disclosure profile) at least once per year based on when the employee last updated their profile. Using a rolling deadline allows a person to update and engage proactively with their disclosure as need arises throughout the year, and the annual deadline will adjust accordingly. This will avoid employees being required to update their information multiple times in a year even though they have no changes, and it also distributes the administrative review process throughout the year.

We will continue to require disclosure for all full-time faculty and staff positions on campus. we may expand the population to include emeritus faculty working as investigators on sponsored awards, graduate student employees, part-time employees, and others whose potential conflicts may require management under federal regulation or state law, as needed. We are making good progress with the COI/COC implementation and aim to start testing the new system with a small group of faculty and staff this fall. The overall goal is to improve processes and enable all faculty and staff to conduct their tasks more efficiently and effectively.

For any questions regarding the ERA implementation, please contact Martha Taylor at taylomm@auburn.edu.