New interactive grant budget dashboard now available

A new interactive Business Intelligence tool tailored for Marquette principal investigators who are managing grants is now available for campuswide use. This innovative dashboard consolidates all financial reports into a single, user-friendly overview, offering a comprehensive budget snapshot of a grant.

A quick-start guide with directions on how to access the report also available online.

The idea of a budget dashboard originated from the 'Advancing Marquette Priorities (AMP)' initiative, funded by Marquette's NSF ADVANCE program. The AMP initiative workstream on post-award service brought together faculty and staff to prioritize actions that would help reduce grant administrative burden on faculty and staff.

This new dashboard will enhance PIs' ability to track and manage grants effectively. Two open training sessions are scheduled to help PIs access their dashboards and learn how to utilize the features of this new tool. The training sessions will take place in Raynor Library Beaumier B/C on Tuesday, Sept. 17, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and Monday, Sept. 23, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. No registration is needed, although a calendar invite will be sent to PIs as a reminder. PIs should bring their laptops to use during the training. Department or college training sessions are also available; please reach out to the Office of Research and Innovation ([email protected]) to schedule.

A guide to the interactive grant budget dashboard.

"I am deeply grateful for the collaborative and dedicated efforts of the core working group and the many other faculty and staff involved in developing this new tool, which will aid PIs and campus staff in tracking grant expenditures," said Dr. Jeanne Hossenlopp, vice president for research and innovation, and PI on the NSF ADVANCE award. "This is a key milestone in continuous improvement in campus processes and infrastructure to support grant-funded activities, one of the priorities of our new strategic plan."

The dashboard's development was an 18-month process by a working group consisting of:

• Amber Jensen, business operations and grants management specialist in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
• Steve Wright, data engineering in ITS
• Blake Ward, director of data engineering in ITS
• Julie Knox, process improvement analyst in ITS
• Amy Albrinck-Schroeder, director of financial systems in the Office of Finance
• Kathy Durben, executive director of Research and Sponsored Programs
• Dr. Anita Manogaran, associate professor of biological sciences in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences.

The work group gathered input from PIs, staff involved with various aspects of grants management and support, and IT partners to create a dashboard solution that simplifies budget understanding for PIs. A group of PIs also assisted in beta testing the dashboard, helping debug the tool and assisting the team with identifying training resources that will assist future users.

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