G&A User Roles, Goals, and Needs Statements

In this wiki section, we describe what we observed and heard in our initial discussions with primary stakeholders (cooperators, program managers, grants specialists, and budget analysts) about their roles, goals, common tasks, pain points, and needs.

Cooperator

Role

Work with USFS staff to scope and execute agreements, carry out the scope of work, in accordance with compliance and reporting requirements.

Goals

Carry out grant and agreement funded work in accordance with the Forest Service’s mission and my own agency’s goals.

Common tasks

• Proactively identify new project opportunities
• Keep running list of possible projects
• Meet with agency staff
• Scope work and submit proposals (via email) with consultation from agency staff
• Help route forms for signatures
• Set up my own system for tracking when reports and invoices are due
• Ensure that new proposals are compliant
• Email reports and invoices

Pain points

• There’s a lot of variability in how different agencies and different units and subunits within an agency do things. Different groups need different information in different ways, even when the work is very similar.
• It seems like folks on the agency side don’t know how the process works, and they aren’t always able to answer my questions about what’s needed.
• There’s not a lot of specificity in what information is needed for financial reporting and how reports are supposed to be formatted. I spend a lot of time trying to get clarity on this.
• I often don’t understand why proposals and deliverables are rejected, and there’s a lot of inconsistency. I often get a “no” with no rationale, which makes it hard for me to figure out what to fix or what I’m doing wrong. Sometimes I’ll simply give up on applying for a particular opportunity or wait until I can work with a different individual on the agency side.
• I need flexibility, particularly at the start of a project, when there are some details we’ll need to learn as we go. Some of the portals and grant submission processes I’m required to use are too rigid—they don’t allow me the flexibility I need

User needs statements

• As a cooperator, I need to submit proposals and invoices to the agency, so that I can pay for my equipment and my team.
• As a cooperator, I need to check on the status of a new agreement so that I can plan when and how my team can start work.
• As a cooperator, I need to know which of my agreements are nearing a milestone so that I can ensure reports, invoices, and closeout are handled on time.
• As a cooperator, I need to understand why a report or deliverable was rejected so that I know what to fix or change in the future and I can be successful in getting funding for my research.
• As a cooperator, I need to understand what information I need to provide in my financial and technical reports and guidance on what form and format are acceptable.
• As a cooperator, I would like there to be consistent acceptance criteria for proposals and reports so that I can submit the right info in the right format the first time, and avoid rejection that can delay or prohibit my work.
• As a cooperator, I need processes at the start of an agreement to be flexible so that I can adjust based on what my team learns as the work progresses
• As a cooperator, I need time and a forum for nuanced conversations and collaboration on project scope so that me and my agency partners can quickly align on a plan that is mutually agreeable.

Program Manager

Role

Work directly with cooperators to help them fund their activities, and identify new research and/or project opportunities, and new funding opportunities. Ensure that cooperators meet reporting requirements and ensure that proposals, reports, and invoices submitted are complete, accurate, and on time.

Goals

• (For research PMs) Do research and support my cooperators in doing their research/contributing to our shared research goals.
• Maximize the amount of value-creating research/restoration/stewardship work that gets done
• Help match cooperator needs, goals, and expertise to available funding
• Help cooperators avoid any snags that might slow down or inhibit their work

Common G&A tasks

• Reach out to current and potential cooperators to discuss opportunities
• Meet with cooperators to develop and refine proposals
• Collaborate with budget folks to develop work plan and acquisition plan
• Review and approve invoices
• Check for invoices that need approval
• Ensure cooperators are submitting reports and invoices on time
• Review cooperator reports for scientific accuracy
• Investigate budget deficits/surplus

Pain points

• The NRM G&A application is not intuitive to me, and I use it so infrequently that I feel like I have to relearn it every time.
• I have to coax faculty to go through their money.
• I don’t understand the reporting functionality, but it’s the only way to get basic information on agreements in my portfolio without asking someone else.
• I have a hard time finding out whether I can approve an invoice without overspending.
• I’m overwhelmed by notifications from NRM. They are directed to multiple people and include acronyms that I don't understand. I’m not sure what I need to act on and/or what action is needed.
• Researching and fixing errors is incredibly time and labor intensive
• There are too many tabs in NRM G&A, most of which I don’t use. It’s overwhelming and intimidating, and it’s hard for me to find needed information.
• The software doesn’t align with my workflow--it shows me everything at once, and It's hard for me to figure out what to do first (submit the project, do the proposal, commit the funds…?) without a lot of hand holding from Grants Specialists.
• The format of cooperator invoices and reports are variable. Understanding them takes time.

User needs statements

• As a program manager, I need to know what funding may be available and how it can be spent so that I can find the right cooperators and scope potential projects appropriately.
• As a program manager, I need to be able to find out whether a cooperator’s proposal will be compliant and can be funded.
• As a program manager, I need to know what invoices, across my entire portfolio, are ready for my approval, so that I can approve them quickly / my cooperators don’t have to wait to get paid.
• As a program manager, I need to know whether I can approve an invoice without going over what is left on the agreement so that I can avoid overpayments and the need for corrections.
• As a program manager, I need to know which of my agreements are nearing a milestone so that I can ensure reports, invoices, and closeout are handled on time.

Grants Specialist

Role

Create, manage, and close an entire portfolio of agreements. Officially execute agreements. Support program managers and cooperators in getting the agreements that they need. Monitor and enforce policy for grant/agreement creation, management, and close-out.

Goals

• Ensure that cooperators and program managers receive the funds they’ve been awarded on time
• Ensure that grant funded work is carried out according to policy
• Ensure consistent and accurate data for aggregate reporting and prepare reports
• Proactively identify any gaps in information that will be needed for compliance

Common G&A tasks

• Review cooperator proposals for compliance
• Set up a new agreement in software
• Execute agreement modifications
• Upload signed documents and execute the agreement
• Add and edit contacts for an agreement
• Get the status of all of the agreements I am responsible for
• Check for complete and reliable documentation at all agreement stages
• Perform audits and research budget discrepancies
• Ensure that program managers approve invoices on time
• Close out an agreement
• Prepare reports requested by USDA

Pain points

• Folks in other parts of USFS don’t always understand compliance in the same way. I have spend time teaching them to do their job so that I can do mine, which can delay cooperator work.
• There are many tabs and reports in NRM that I never use and make it hard for me to find needed information
• Close-outs can take a very, very long time if something is wrong.
• Reports don’t meet my needs. Pdf reports aren’t easy to use in the downstream workflow. I have to copy/paste data from multiple pdfs into my own sheet.
• Checks and balances in place mean that people in my office can’t take leave at the same time—someone has to be in to “push the button”
• I need to manually move files back and forth all the time.

User needs statements

• As a Grants Specialist, I need to ensure that new grants and agreements comply with policy so that grant- and agreement-funded work can begin quickly, easily, and legally.
• As a Grants Specialist, I need to ensure that new agreements are consistent with data standards (naming, authorities, and dates) so that stakeholders can get a complete, accurate picture of how and where funds are being used.
• As a Grants Specialist, I need to know which agreements are out of compliance, so that I know how to prioritize my time.

Budget approver

Role

Work with program managers to approve budget requests as part of a check and balances system to distribute financial responsibility, access USDA financial systems to provide budget and spending information to program managers and cooperators, work with other parts of the org (RACA, IPAC, FMMI) to diagnose and correct spending errors.

Goals

• Consistent, predictable funding cycles
• Ensure that what’s being billed each month matches expectations set forth in the agreement
• Make sure program managers and cooperators don’t overspend
• Ensure consistent and accurate data for aggregate reporting and prepare reports

Common G&A tasks

• look up information for program managers; check to see that there’s money available before an invoice is approved
• check on new agreements moving through the approval process so that agreements “don’t sit anywhere”
• check and certify payments on a monthly basis
• create commitments
• prepare reports for program managers
• prepare reports for USFS leadership
• Research budget discrepancies

Pain points

• Glitches and errors can take months to a year to fix and I don’t know why.
• There seems to be no reliable source of truth for financial data. I need to keep my own spreadsheet to help me understand and explain any discrepancies I might run into down the road
• There’s a lag time for required data fields to be auto populated
• There are too many people involved in closing out a grant, and it takes a really long time
• The way NRM handles reports does not make it easy for me to analyze

User needs statements

• I need to verify that an agreement or a research unit has money available to pay on an invoice so that I can prevent overspending, which would require a time and resource intensive correction process.
• I need complete accurate financial data so that I can quickly identify and correct errors.