Revving Up The Requirements Team

The Requirements Team is comprised of representatives from each corner of campus. Over 40 members have been recruited and currently contribute to the team. This functional implementation team is tasked with providing NC State requirements for the eRA system. This includes things we hope the system will do as well as things we NEED the system to do, but not necessarily how the system will do those things quite yet.

While the Requirements Team has been tasked with providing requirements for the system, they will not be doing so in a bubble. Another expectation of this team is to reach out to you, our SMEs, and gather feedback about your requirements. This image outlines the campus groups the Requirements team will be targeting. Watch for more information about how you’ll be involved.

The team has met a few times since its launch at the beginning of September. They have determined that; in order to understand our requirements, we must first map our current Research Administration processes. To do this, the team was split into smaller groups, each focusing on a specific part of the research process (e.g. Proposal Routing/Approval/Submission, Proposal Development, etc.).  These “process maps” are going to help us all think about our processes and what our eRA system needs to do at each step. The result will be a comprehensive list of requirements for the system.

At the end of October and into November, the Requirements Team plans to meet with groups of Subject Matter Experts all over campus to collect input on the eRA system requirements. The hope: by the end of November the requirements inventory will be finalized and we will release a Request for Proposal (RFP).

The members of the Requirements Team represent you, BUT… your input is valued and needed. If we come to a point where you don’t see something in the requirements for the system that should be there, let the requirements team know by emailing era-oried@ncsu.edu, leaving us a comment, or reaching out to a team representative from your group.

Speak up! There are ample opportunities for you to share your thoughts and concerns.