NCAA Division III Strategic Initiatives Conference Grant Program Web Form Instructions
Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Logging On Entering information into the requisition form Editing information already entered into a form Submitting the requisition form and using the signature page Entering information into the impact form Submitting the impact form and using its signature page Saving versus submitting information Viewing historical information Program verifications Where to go for help Common issues
1.
Logging on
A link to the application process can be found on the NCAA Division III Strategic Initiatives Web page. To access this page: 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Go to www.ncaa.org; Click on Legislation and Governance on the menu on the left side of the home page; Click on Division III homepage; Click on Strategic Initiatives (under Division III General Information); Click on Strategic Initiatives Conference Grant Program; Click on Online Forms (you may want to bookmark this page for future use); Enter your user ID and password. These are the same as those used for accessing the sports sponsorship and demographic form and NCAA Championships information.
A NOTE BEFORE GETTING STARTED: When navigating within the system, use the tab key or mouse to advance from text box to text box. Depending on your web browser, using the ‘enter’ or ‘backspace’ keys when the cursor is not in a text box may move you to a different page. Please use the buttons on the bottom of the page (and not the arrows of your web browser) to maneuver between pages.
Web Form Instructions Page No. 2 _________
2.
Entering information into the requisition form
2.1 When you log on to the system, you will see your conference homepage with requisition forms on the left, and impact forms on the right. Select the form on which you wish to enter information by clicking on ‘edit form’. Only the current year’s forms will be available for editing; past forms may be accessed here as read-only. All forms begin with tier one. The first thing to do on the tier one screen is to verify your conference membership. This step is critical because it will ensure you are working with the correct dollar figures. Staff updated conference membership lists according to the information collected by the Division III Commissioner's Association in February; but it is understood that conference membership may have changed since February. Conference membership verification is accomplished by clicking on the number of full time members in the ‘allocation basis’ section of the form. Clicking on the number will cause the system to show you the conference membership list currently on file for the conference. If this list is not correct for the relevant academic year, please add or delete as appropriate. To add an institution, type the first few characters of the institution’s name in the available text box. The system will then display a list of all NCAA institutions containing those characters. Click on the correct institutional name so that it populates the text box. Once the name appears in the text box, click ‘add’ to complete the process. To delete an institution, simply click ‘delete’ next to the institutional name. The system will not allow two conferences to include the same institution as a member. If you enter a new member before another conference removes them as a member, the system will prompt you to contact that conference or the NCAA staff to resolve the duplication. The staff has already entered information to accommodate for institutions considered to be "half-member" in each of two conferences. Once the list of conference institutions is correct, click ‘close’ to return to the tier one screen. 2.3 After you have verified conference membership, please enter the amounts requested and requisition detail in same manner as the previous paper forms. If you enter data outside the parameters of the grant program, the system will give you an error message informing you of the specific problem (e.g., if you enter less than $200 per institution for SAAC, the system will require you to increase that amount). You will be required to fix the problem before you can submit the form or move to other tiers. It will be possible to delete the problematic values and move to other tiers to continue working on the requisition form. Once appropriate tier one values are determined by the conference, you may log back on and update the tier one information. After tier one information is entered, please save and move to another tier or log out. To move to another tier, click on that tier at the bottom of your screen. To log out, click ‘log out’ in the upper right corner of your screen. If you choose to enter only a portion of tier one information at a time, you may either save and log out or save and move to another tier.
2.2
2.4
2.5
Web Form Instructions Page No. 3 _________
2.6
Enter tier two information. Again, the system will give an error message informing you of specific problems with program parameters. You should save your entry and either log out or move to another tier. Enter tier three information in the same manner as tiers one and two. Tier four is the administrative allocation. It is automatically distributed to each conference receiving a grant and does not require any entry on behalf of the conference. If you log on and wish to work on tier two or three before tier one, simply click on the appropriate tier at the bottom of the screen. Once all information is accurately entered into the form, submit according to the instructions in section four.
2.7 2.8
2.9
2.10
3.
Editing information already entered into a form 3.1 You may return to edit the grant forms any time before the form deadline AND before making a final submission to the NCAA. Remember that your forms become read-only at the point you officially submit them. Log on to the system as described in the ‘logging on’ section above. Move to the tier you wish to edit by clicking on the appropriate tier button at the bottom on the screen. Edit the form. Save your work before logging off the system.
3.2 3.3
3.4 3.5
4.
Submitting and using the signature page for the requisition form 4.1 After all tier one through three information has been entered in final format, move to the tier four screen and click on ‘submit/signatures’. You will be prompted to complete any required fields that have been left empty. If all required fields are complete, you will be directed to the signature page, and your form will become read-only. Once on the signature page, enter the name, e mail address and phone number of each required signatory. All signatures noted on this page are required. Once all signature information is accurately entered, click on submit.
4.2
4.3
4.4
The system will then generate an e mail to each signatory showing them a link to the conference submission. The signatory will be able to view the submitted form at this time. The generated e mail will ask for their acceptance or rejection of the
Web Form Instructions Page No. 4 _________
conference submission. Individuals will have the opportunity to provide comments to the NCAA if they chose to reject the conference submission. Note that the requisition and impact submissions are two separate transactions, thus individuals will receive this signature verification separately for each of the requisition and impact forms. 4.5 This action completes the conference’s requisition process.
5.
Entering information into the impact form 5.1 When you log on to the system, you will see your conference homepage with requisition forms on the left, and impact forms on the right. Select the form on which you wish to enter information by clicking on ‘edit form’. As described in the requisition instructions, only the current year’s forms will be available for editing; past forms may be accessed here as read-only. (Note if you are already logged into the system, click ‘form options’ at the bottom of the screen to show all available forms.) All forms begin with tier one. Once in the form, you will be provided with read-only information from your requisition form for easy reference. The first section of tier one shows you the dollar values received by the conference for the relevant grant year, and then has text boxes for you to enter the amount spent by the conference in the grant year. After you enter the amount spent, the system will calculate the conference’s carry over amount. The next section of tier one includes a text box asking the conference to justify any discrepancies in the amount received and amount spent on each item in the tier. This field will be required for any conference that has any discrepancies in the amounts received and spent on any individual item in the tier. If a conference enters values such that there are no discrepancies in the amounts awarded and spent, the box will disappear. (Note that the system will keep track of the conference’s overall fund balance and will require the conference to address this balance as part of the final submission process. The conference will be prompted to submit a plan for future use of any fund balance of $1,000 or less or will be reminded to return any funds in excess of $1,000. See section 6 for further details.) The final sections of tier one are identical to the previous paper forms. Please answer the questions as applicable for the conference. Once all information is accurately entered into the form, submit according to the instructions in section six.
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
Web Form Instructions Page No. 5 _________
6.
Submitting and using the signature page for the impact form
6.1 After all tier one through three information has been entered in final format, move to the tier four screen, where the conference will be prompted to address its fund balance. Depending on the value of the fund balance (under or over $1,000), the system will prompt the conference to either submit a plan for future or to return any funds. Click ‘submit/signatures’ after addressing the fund balance. 6.2 With this click, the conference will be prompted to complete any required fields left empty. If all required fields are complete, your form will become read-only and you will be directed to the signature page. Once on the signature page, enter the name, e mail address and phone number of each required signatory. All signatures noted on this page are required. Once all signature information is accurately entered, click on submit.
6.3
6.4
6.5
The system will then generate an e mail to each signatory showing them a link to the conference submission. The signatory will be able to view the submitted form at this time. The generated e-mail will ask for their acceptance or rejection of the conference submission. Individuals will have the opportunity to provide comments to the NCAA if they choose to reject the conference submission. Note that the requisition and impact submissions are two separate transactions, thus individuals will receive this signature verification separately for each of the requisition and impact forms. This action completes the conference’s impact process.
6.6
7.
Saving versus submitting information Saving does NOT submit the application to the NCAA. Saving holds the information for future use by the conference. Submitting the information triggers the electronic signature process and notifies the NCAA that the conference’s application is complete. Submission makes the form unavailable for future edits by the conference.
8.
Viewing historical information A conference may view read-only versions of previous requisition and impact forms. Once a conference logs on to the system, it will see all conference forms saved in the system. Click on the ‘date submitted’ to retrieve a form for viewing. The NCAA staff entered historical information for each conference. It is possible that the information entered does not reflect addendums submitted after the original 2007-08 grant deadline. If you want to update the text in
Web Form Instructions Page No. 6 _________
your historical record, please contact Leah Nilsson Kareti or Debbie Kresge at the NCAA national office. 9. Program verifications The system will verify if the conference covered all minimal requirements, including mandatory enhancements in tier one and spending minimums for SAAC. For year four of the program, the system will verify if the conference’s four year aggregate tier two spending meets the required funding levels for each of student-athlete well-being, sportsmanship, and diversity/gender-equity.
10.
Where to go for help Please contact Leah Nilsson Kareti, Director of Division III, or Marquette Jamison, administrative assistant for Division III with any questions about the web forms or grant program. The conference grant program Q&A is accessible through the web system via a link in the upper right portion of the conference home page. There are tier specific questions accessible by clicking on ‘FAQ’ in the upper right corner of each tier screen. Note also that the web system has a ‘contact us’ feature in the upper right corner where you may e mail the staff directly with your question or issue.
11.
Common issues a. When cutting and pasting from Word to the System, quotations and apostrophes are changing to question marks. Because this has to do with web browser applications, please keep an eye out for such marks and correct as necessary. What should I do if I accidently submit the form before entering all final information? Please alert your signatories that they received an incomplete submission and contact Leah Nilsson Kareti or Marquette Jamison at the NCAA about resetting your form. How can I print screens within the web system? Use the file, print function of your web browser to print screens in the system. How can I share information from the web system electronically before my final submission? You can share this information by printing it as described above. You can also use your mouse to select and copy information that may be pasted into a word document. Where is the submit/signature button? This button is only accessible from the tier four screen. It was intentionally left off of the tier one through three screens to limit accidental and premature submissions. What buttons should I use to move around the system? Please avoid using the arrows in your web browser. The system functions best when you click into different boxes with
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Web Form Instructions Page No. 7 _________
your mouse, or when you use the tab key. To move from screen to screen, please use the buttons on the bottom of each screen. g. Why does the return or backspace key sometimes take me to a different screen? If you click return or backspace while your curser is NOT in a text box, the system will send you to a new screen. This is because the system is interpreting actions outside the text boxes as a desire to move between screens. Information not saved can be lost in this movement from screen to screen. So, use the navigational buttons in the system and save often! The amount showing for my conference in the web system does not match the amount in the spreadsheet distributed to the conferences. Which is the correct amount? The amount in the spreadsheet is the amount calculated from the conference’s expected membership for the upcoming year. If the conference had not correctly verified conference membership in the web system, or if unexpected changes in membership have occurred, the two figures may not match. Please contact Leah Nilsson Kareti or Marquette Jamison for assistance in resolving the discrepancy.
h.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association February 18, 2009 LNK:maj