REEport Implementation

UPDATE: A TARGET deployment date of April 1, 2012 for REEport has been set.

As announced previously, NIFA still plans to transition to REEport as the agency’s singular grant and formula project reporting system. This will be an important part of attaining the One Solution reporting initiative. This new target date has given NIFA the time needed to define and develop a much more robust reporting system. When deployed, REEport will have many more initial capabilities than those that would have been available in the phased implementation plan that NIFA had originally proposed. To learn more about REEport and how it will be deployed, please see the updated information and links below.

REEport will become NIFA’s singular grant and formula project reporting system, building on and replacing the existing CRIS web forms system. REEport will utilize the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR), a standard progress report format that all Federal research agencies will be required to use. 

Originally, REEport was scheduled to be deployed in multiple phases. This webpage listed the stages in which certain events would happen and when certain capabilities would be released within the REEport system. The extra time NIFA has taken to develop REEport has given us the opportunity to instead deploy REEport as a complete system with the capability to collect and report on data for ALL formula and non-formula grants. This will enable NIFA and grantees to make a clean and fast transition from using the CRIS web forms system to using REEport.

NIFA expects that REEport will require updates and modifications after initial deployment that will be based on user feedback, as well as pre-planned improvements from our REEport Implementation Team. There will be a dedicated email address set up in order to ask for and receive user comments. Also, users who attend the bi-monthly Reporting Web Conference series will have opportunities to make comments and ask questions about their experiences using REEport.

Benefits of REEport

• Will support program-specific data fields for more accurate data collection.

• Ability to upload documents, such as PDF files, into reports.

• Easy navigation for site administrators and project directors to distinguish between projects of different statuses.

• Eliminates the need to submit AD-419 data for non-formula grants (AD-419 data will still be required for formula grant projects).

• REEport will allow Hatch and Evans-Allen projects to be linked to planned programs in the AREERA Plan of Work Information System, which will simplify the preparation of State Annual Reports.

• Will enable easier data retrieval from the REEIS reporting system, including the REEIS Leadership Management Dashboard (data retrieval is currently hosted by the CRIS system).

• User-friendly terminology: will not be using form numbers such as AD-416, AD-417, AD-419, or AD-421. Instead, REEport will refer to screens or modules such as Project Initiation (which includes classification), Progress Report, Financial Report, and Final Technical Report.

Capabilities upon Deployment

• User authentication and management 
  REEport will support roles that can be associated with specific authorities for managing what users can do. Site administrators will have flexibility to define their own roles such a project Director, Investigator, or Project Administrator.

• Project initiation and classification for formula and non-formula grants (replaces the current AD-416 and AD-417)

• Progress and Termination reports for formula and non-formula grants (replaces the current AD-421)

• Email notifications from project initiation through project completion

• Automatic system organization of projects requiring action

• Import of existing non-formula grant data from CRIS to REEport

• Update/change/delete tools for users and site administrators

• Elimination of requirement for AD-419, expenditure reporting, for standard grants (makes use of SF-425 data) (AD-419, expenditure reporting, will still be required for formula grant projects)

• Assurances

• Error correction

• Electronic review of all formula grant projects within NIFA

• Data exchange with NIMSS

• Grantee services

• Program of Research

Related Information

• Modification of Terms and Conditions of Non-formula Awards Regarding Form AD-419 – June 29, 2010

• Mockup of data entry screens

• Project Initiation for Non-Formula Grants

• Project initiation data entry fields

• Decision Tree for How REEport Determines Whether a Grant is Associated with a REEport Site

Outreach

• Pre-Deployment Updates - NIFA will send out updates with further information to the new REEportDeploy Lyris email list. Interested parties may subscribe to the list by sending an e-mail message to lyris@lyris.nifa.usda.gov. Skip your subject line and type subscribe REEportDeploy in the body of your message. Be sure you receive an e-mail confirming your subscription.

• REEport Newsletters – After deployment, NIFA will send out periodic newsletters announcing upcoming deadlines, improvements to the system, policy changes, and other pertinent information. Please refer to the directions above for subscribing to our email list to receive these newsletters.

• Reporting Web Conferences – Portions of these bi-monthly conferences will cover important REEport topics. Please check the RWC Web Page for more specific agendas, dates, and times.

For further information on the REEport deployment, contact Bart Hewitt at bhewitt@nifa.usda.gov.

REEport Implementation Team
Bart Hewitt, Interim Director, Planning, Accountability & Reporting Staff
John Mingee, OIT, REEport Project Manager
Carol Sowers, OIT, CRIS Project Manager
Joe Barbano, OIT, REEIS Project Manager
Dennis Unglesbee, OIT, Applications Director
Michel Desbois, OIT, Deputy Administrator