eRA to ERA

Contributed by: Matt Simpson

New Name

If you haven’t already noticed, we’ve made a subtle — but meaningful — change in our communication about this project.

From this point forward, the “e” in “eRA” will be capitalized and, moreover, will take on a new meaning.

Specifically, the new system — provided by InfoEd Global and set to begin implementation in a matter of months — will no longer be referred to as an electronic Research Administration (eRA) system, but rather as an Enterprise Research Administration (ERA) system.

With contracts now officially in place with the vendor and implementation preparations ramping up, we decided that now is the best time to announce this important communication change.

What’s the big deal?

The reasoning behind this change initiated with the realization that the word “electronic” is a bit redundant, given the highly digitalized environment in which we currently live and work.

Shortly after, a more important distinction between the ERA project’s philosophy and our current approach to managing research administration was made.

The new approach “focuses on the entire NC State enterprise; not on SPARCS, not on C&G, not on colleges, not on departments, but on the total of the collection of all these parts,” said Executive Sponsor Marc Hoit, Vice Chancellor for Information Technology.

Hoit said NC State has made great efforts over the last 15 years to find enterprise solutions for most of its core business processes.

And, being that research and sponsored programs are such a large part of what distinguishes our university, “we are dedicated to moving to an enterprise-based business approach” for the management of research administration, which “deserves to be called out in the brand we attach to this large project.”

So, while this subtle, yet significant, communication change may seem trivial to an outside observer, we hope we’ve made clear that the reasoning and meaning behind it are both concrete and cogent.

Stay tuned to this blog for more important ERA system updates.