Beginning in February 2010, Florida Sea Grant will require all principal investigators who have active Florida Sea Grant projects to use the new Online Activity Reporting System (OARS) to submit interim and final project summaries. OARS reporting modules incorporate many of the standard reporting options found on the previous interim and final project summary forms.
Visit the OARS Login Page (http://oars.flseagrant.org/)
OARS Version 1.0 can be still accessed at the following link: https://archive.flseagrant.org/fsgreporting/
Jackie Whitehouse will email each principal investigator a unique User ID and Password to access OARS. Interim and final summaries for ongoing projects must be entered into OARS. Please email or call Jackie Whitehouse at Florida Sea Grant should you need assistance with passwords or logging into the OARS system (352) 392-5870.
The OARS reporting interface has been designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. Nonetheless, detailed instructions on how to use the system are provided in the form of a tutorial (1.7 Mb, pdf) that can also be accessed at the “Help” option at OARS. Investigators may enter and exit OARS sessions and the OARS system as many times as necessary, but please save progress prior to exiting.
Florida Sea Grant will use the data in OARS to evaluate project outcomes and extend information to key audiences, including Congress, the Federal executive branch, educated laymen, users and industry, as well as peers in agencies and academia. Thus, the quality of the information that investigators provide is important. Noteworthy accomplishments will be highlighted independently for the National Sea Grant Office, university officials, and others, who use them as documentation of program success.
OARS Reporting: Interim and Final Project Summaries
OARS consists of seven project reporting modules which must be satisfactorily completed for the interim or final project summary to be accepted:
- project status
- objectives
- accomplishments
- outreach activities
- communications products
- outcomes and impacts
- prizes and honors
These modules are accessed as menu options in the banner at the top of the OARS home page. They will allow investigators to summarize progress for each one-year reporting period. An interim project summary covers the first year of the project. A final project summary, due at the end of the project and usually after the second year, summarizes the entire project. An interim summary will also be required after the second year if the project is granted an extension. Investigators will identify the type of summary (i.e., interim versus final) in the OARS “Project Status” module.
OARS is intended to allow investigators to provide a quick summary of their project and associated activities. It does not allow for the inclusion of images, charts, tables, or equations. OARS data entry text boxes also do not support spell checking but can support information cut and pasted from a word processing program (e.g., Microsoft Word). If an interim or final project summary references material that cannot be sent electronically, the material should be mailed to:
Florida Sea Grant College Program
University of Florida
PO Box 110400
Gainesville, FL 32611-0400
To meet interim and final project summary requirements, investigators must complete ALL data entry options associated with each of the seven reporting modules. Investigators are strongly encouraged to enter project-related activities or accomplishments into OARS as they occur. This will ensure that activities, publications, accomplishments, and outcomes and impacts pertaining to research projects are up to date and included in the Florida Sea Grant annual report to the National Sea Grant Office.
For More Information
Charles Sidman, Associate Director
csidman@ufl.edu
Phone: 352.392.5870