Project Wahoo is a multi-year, multi-phased project focused on restructuring Research Administration. The goals of the project include redefining business practices, policies and procedures supporting research administration across UCF based on industry standards and best practices. An accompanying technology modernization will provide opportunities to streamline processes, gain new efficiencies and automate productivity.
Huron Grants is a comprehensive solution for proposal submission and award management. The system ensures successful proposal creation and budget development, electronic submission to Grants.gov, and post-award management capabilities including award setup, modification entry, and budget reconciliation to enter and track sponsor approved budgets.
Migrating from ARGIS to Huron Grants will provide ease of use for principle investigators (PIs), reviewers, and the Office of Research to complete actions within the system. The reports and metrics from Huron Grants are more advanced and will provide better insight into submission details. Improvements to routing and business processes will make contract submissions more efficient.
Huron Grants was successfully implemented on October 21, 2019.
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is established to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects involved in UCF research activities being conducted under its authority. Huron IRB will replace the existing iRIS system.
Migrating from iRIS to Huron IRB will provide ease of use for Principle Investigators, reviewers, IRB Staff, and IRB Committee Members to complete actions within the system. The reporting and metrics from Huron IRB are more advanced and will provide better insight into submission details. Improvements to routing, business processes, and committee review will make IRB submissions more efficient.
Huron IRB was successfully released on December 21, 2018. The decision to implement the IRB module of the Huron Research Suite first was made based on the timing of the Common Rule regulation changes (set for January 2019), the scope of IRB, and the Huron upgrade schedule.
Temporary IRB Protocol Revisions in Response to Coronavirus
The unprecedented coronavirus (COVID-19) situation may necessitate some investigators to alter their research protocols in some way to minimize the spread of this virus. We understand this has IRB implications, so we are providing Temporary Protocol Revisions, procedures and guidance on when to notify the IRB.
This is an individual investigator decision, unless UCF places additional restrictions. Please take into account, any added risk to the subjects, in particular, those subjects that may be at heightened risk from this disease vs the true need to continue your research during this crisis. Please reference the CDC website (cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html).
In general, changes that:
In general, changes that:
If it is in the best interest of the subject, and will minimize or prevent transmission of COVID 19, then make the change, however:
There is no need to inform the IRB. However,
Study team members may create a study, however only the PI has the ability to “Submit” the study to the IRB in the system. Please note that after completing the IRB SmartForm (study application), you have the opportunity to complete other actions on the study, such as adding an Ancillary Reviewer, adding members to the Guest List, and revising answers on the SmartForm. The final step is to “Submit” the study to the IRB Office, which is completed by using the “Submit” activity found on the left-hand side of the Workspace, under “Next Steps”. Once the study has been submitted to the IRB Office, the state (status) will be updated from “Pre-Submission” to “Pre-Review”.
A shell of each study was created in Huron IRB, with minimal information. When submitting either a Continuing Review or Modification, all first time Huron submissions will require study documents, either those previously approved in iRIS as- is or with updates to reflect a new modification request, uploaded in Huron. In addition, verification of the study team member needs to be completed by answering the yes/no questions regarding financial conflict of interest and study role. Please review the attached UCF Huron IRB Quick Reference Guide on "How to Submit a Modification or Continuing Review Request" found in the Help Center in Huron IRB (IRB > Help Center). Please note this guide has been updated to provide additional information based on feedback from the Research Community. Refer to this guide prior to starting your first modification or continuing review. Specific steps must be followed during the first time you log in to the study. If these steps are not followed correctly, there is no way to edit the submission and researchers will be asked to discard the submission and start over.
These studies were not carried over to the Huron system and will remain active in iRIS, unless a change is made to the study. If a modification is needed, a new study submission must be submitted in Huron using the new exempt study templates labeled "Request for Exempt Determination and Explanation of Research". These documents can be found in the Huron system under IRB> Library> Templates. Once an exempt study has been completed in Huron IRB, modifications can be made to that study with the same modification process used for Expedited studies.
A comprehensive list of Quick Reference Guides and how-to videos can be found in the Huron system under IRB > Help Center. If you have questions about how to use the Huron software, you may find the Help Center a very useful starting point.
Studies involving one PI should be created as a "Single-Site" study in huron IRB, even if there are multiple research locations. Please see the Huron IRB Quick Reference Guide "How to Create a Single Site Study" for additional information (IRB > Help Center).
Previously Faculty Advisors were to be listed on the last smart form page “” within the Huron IRB system, however based on feedback from the Research Community, this process has been revised. Going forward, Faculty Advisors should be listed as a team member with the role of “Faculty Advisor” on the Study Team Members page of the SmartForm (study application) in Huron IRB. This allows for Faculty Advisors to review study documents prior to final submission to the IRB Office. Because of this, the existing Faculty Advisor question was removed from the last page of the SmartForm. However, the Faculty Advisor checklist submission remains on the last page. For studies still in the “Pre-Submission” state (indicating they have not been submitted to the IRB Office), please update the Study Team Members page of the SmartForm. For any studies in review with the IRB Office but have not yet been approved, the IRB Office will send the study back so that you can update the Study Team Members page of the SmartForm. For any study that has been approved by the IRB Office, Faculty Advisors should be added to the Study Team Members page of the SmartForm the next time a MOD/Addendum is needed.
iRIS will be in “read-only” mode at the end of February 2019. You will have access to the information for up to a year. iRIS will be taken offline in the first quarter of 2020. The IRB Office and GRIT want to thank you for your patience and understanding as we are learning the new system. If there are any questions, please contact the IRB office at irb@ucf.edu. Any technical issues should be reported to gritservicedesk@ucf.edu.
Huron Agreements provides management of financial and non-financial research agreements.
Migrating from CobbleStone to Huron Agreements will provide ease of use for principle investigators (PIs), reviewers, and Contract Managers to complete actions within the system. The reports and metrics from Huron Agreements are more advanced and will provide better insight into submission details. Improvements to routing and business processes will make contract submissions more efficient.
Non-Financial Agreements in Huron were successfully released on June 17, 2019 and financial agreements were successfully released on October 21, 2019.
Huron IACUC facilitates high-quality, compliant reviews for research studies involving the care or use of animals. The system provides access to species, procedures, substances, training information and inspections to facilitate the submission and review process.
Huron IACUC will be the first online program that UCF IACUC and the Office of Animal Welfare (OAW) will use to review research protocols involving animals. Huron IACUC allows researchers to create and update teams, substances, and procedures that will be able to be used across multiple protocols. Researchers will be able to submit protocols, update animal counts, and update animal information for the OAW to review
Huron IACUC was successfully released on September 23, 2019.
Huron Safety is a comprehensive solution that supports the Institutional Biosafety Office and Committee. It supports the submission of safety protocols, thorough review cycles, the ability to carry out continuing reviews, a complete amendment process, a full suite of reports, and integration with other solutions in the Huron Research Suite.
Huron Safety will be the first online program that the Institutional Biosafety Office in the UCF Environmental Health and Safety Office will use to review, track and report on research safety protocols.
Huron Safety was successfully released on February 28, 2022.
Huron COI is Huron’s software management system for disclosure of outside activities, financial interests, and potential conflicts.
UCF will migrate from ARGIS to Huron COI to provide a centralized place for faculty, executive service, postdoctoral employees, individuals in positions of trust, and employees engaged in the design, conduct, and reporting of research at UCF to submit their UCF Potential Outside Activity, Employment, and Conflict of Interest and Commitment Disclosure (AA-21).
The reports and features within Huron COI are more advanced than ARGIS and will provide better insight into the reporting details. The Huron COI system also integrates annual disclosure data with related research certifications to ensure transparency and document researcher compliance.
Improvements to routing and business processes will make AA-21 submissions more efficient for both disclosers and reviewers.
Huron COI was successfully released on October 31, 2022.
These university-wide sessions led to the development of the program plan.
This is an example of moving to an industry standard organizational structure to support the $250M funding goal. Move will allow for an integrated pre-and post-awards division within the Office of Research.
This is an example of moving to an industry standard organizational structure to support the $250M funding goal. Dorothy is responsible for sponsored award administration and supports the work of faculty and staff involved in all sponsored awards. Dorothy has more than 25 years of experience in research administration and related areas, including compliance. Prior to joining UCF, she served as associate vice president for research and economic development at the University of Wyoming. She has held positions at the University of Colorado Denver and former UC Health Sciences Center, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Focus on research industry standard best practices and organizational changes has enabled the Office of Research to set a new funding record increasing funding by $34 million dollars.
Moving to standard business processes and commercial, well-supported technologies to support the $250M funding goal of the university. Completion of the overall program over the next 2 years will add efficiencies throughout ORC, with the department administrators and the ORC principle investigators.
Moving to standard installation of a commercial, well-supported technology to support $250M funding goal of the university. Completion of project and integration with Huron Research Suite in fiscal year 2019 will increase efficiencies throughout ORC, with the department administrators and the ORC principal investigators.
Huron IRB was successfully released into production on December 21, 2018.
The Office of Research increased sponsored research funding by $9.19 million dollars from prior year.
Huron Agreements, for non-financial agreements, was successfully released into production on June 17, 2019. Huron Agreements, for financial agreements, was successfully released into production on October 21, 2019.
Both Huron IRB and Huron Agreements were successfully upgraded to version 9.0 on September 7, 2019.
Huron IACUC was successfully released into production on September 23, 2019.
The Office of Research increased sponsored research funding by $12 million dollars from prior year.
The Office of Research increased sponsored research funding by $12 million dollars from prior year.
Huron Grants and PeopleSoft Grants integration was successfully released into production on May 11, 2020.
All modules in the Huron Research Suite (HRS), Grants, Agreements, IRB, and IACUC, were successfully upgraded to version 10.0 on May 21, 2021. The upgrade provides suite-wide enhancements including a new Dashboard, general display and usability improvements, and a new Site Search feature.
The Office of Research increased sponsored research funding by $8.76 million dollars from prior year.
Huron Safety was successfully released into production on March 21, 2022.
Huron Grants and Workday Grants integration was successfully released into production on July 1, 2022. This concludes an 18-month effort to align and streamline the Huron Grants module and the AURORA research reporting system with the university’s new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, Workday.
The final award number for UCF Office of Research funding for fiscal year 2022 is $214,862,264. This is a .94% increase from fiscal year 2021.
Huron Conflict of Interest (COI) was successfully released into production on October 31, 2022.