The VPUA hasn't approved a proposal before SPO was notified of it. What's up?

[Jennifer Bliss]

To ensure Barbara approves a proposal (PD) before the first SPO stop, when Clarisa/UA creates a new proposal she has to add Barbara as an ad-hoc approver BEFORE she sends the proposal into routing. If she forgets to add Barbara before she sends the proposal into routing, but adds Barbara after sending it into routing, the approval requirement (Action List Reminder) will sit in BOTH Barbara's list and SPO's list until BOTH have signed off but neither takes priority. In other words, if SPO doesn't notice that Barbara hasn't signed off yet and we approve it, it won't route to the Provost until Barbara has approved it too. But if Clarisa completely forgets to add Barbara, and SPO doesn't notice that Barbara isn't in the routing chain, the proposal continues to the Provost as usual routing does. Matters are further complicated if Clarisa forgets to add Barbara initially, then adds her but forgets to click the [Send Ad Hoc] button. You MUST add the ad hoc person AND click the  [Send Ad Hoc] button for the person to be added to the routing log of an en-route proposal.

SO, for many reasons (not just this one) it's best practice to check the route log before SPO approves it. If Barbara is NOT listed as an ad hoc approver before SPO Group, then SPO needs to return the proposal and/or notify Clarisa (or add Barbara) and wait for Barbara to approve before passing the proposal to Cindy for approval. If Barbara IS in the route log with a status of "IN ACTION LIST - APPROVE" that means Clarisa added her after submitting the proposal into routing. SPO must wait for Barbara to approve (or accept the irregular approval chain of Cindy approving and then it sitting in Barbara's Action List until she approves it). 

Visual Aids: The left image is what the route log looks like if Clarisa completely forgets to add Barbara OR she's added Barbara but forgot to click the [Send Ad Hoc] button after submitting the proposal into routing. The right image is what it looks like if she adds Barbara AFTER submitting the proposal into routing (and clicked the [Send Ad Hoc] button). Notice how the status is "IN ACTION LIST - APPROVE" for BOTH Barbara and Cindy.

     

In the future: When we roll out PD to PIs, SPO will follow similar steps when the proposal is both private+grant to make sure Clarisa is on the proposal and if not to add her as an ad hoc FYI so she can take over proposal development (and add Barbara, etc.).