The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the higher education world overnight. With university offices transitioning personnel to faculty and staff homes, processes relying on paper forms and in-person meetings must change quickly. For InfoReady Review™ clients, additional tools and resources for making this transition may already be in their hands.
While the majority of InfoReady Review clients purchased our platform to manage funding opportunities, the bottom line is that InfoReady Review is workflow software. InfoReady Review clients can use it for any process where applications, forms or information are to be reviewed, evaluated and then stored in a safe central location, accessible to an approved group.
As campuses prepared to close down, we observed powerful examples of Review’s flexibility:
One InfoReady Review client collected over 500 research continuation contingency plans. It was software that principal investigators already knew, so the competition was created quickly and the plans were submitted without delay. The submissions were then reviewed by multiple individuals in quick succession as part of the routing process. That gave campus leadership the ability to respond to the plans rapidly and communicate with PI’s, all in one place.
Another university used Review to process lab exemption requests. PIs who wanted to keep their labs open had to quickly submit requests presenting justification for approval.
Our 2019 InfoReady Client Survey asked clients how they used Review. While 85% used InfoReady Review for Internal Funding Opportunities, there were many varied uses:
• 37% use Review for fellowships and scholarships
• 33% use it for recognition awards and nominations
• 29% use it for approval routing
• 18% use it for conferences, workshops, and travel
• 14% use it for poster competitions
• 4% (and growing rapidly) use it for student success, engagement, and advising
• 3% use it for course release, reassigned time, and no-cost extensions
• 3% use it for tech transfer and translational research
• 9% use it for other purposes, such as campus UAT (drone) registration and tracking
The General Template of Review is inherently flexible. One of our clients uses InfoReady to manage a wide variety of opportunities for their faculty and students. In addition to managing internal grants, they've been resourceful in streamlining other processes. Some of these include: sabbatical requests, faculty outside employment forms, applications for promotions, and international travel registrations. With an increase in efficiency, they have been able to scale these competitions.
And now, with Review, all of the processes listed above can be managed remotely, in the cloud, without a single sheet of paper.
Given the current work from home situation, are there processes at your institution that need to be brought into the cloud? Want to learn more about InfoReady?
