Service 2: GAN Electronic Signature

Provide an end-to-end solution for processing the Department’s thousands of grants.

Other Information:

Overview: The Department’s G5 grants management system provides an end-to-end solution for processing the Department’s thousands of grants. The GAN process provides the Department’s grantees with official documentation of their Federal grant award and instructions for grants management. This process is currently paper-based, requiring a traditional signature from the Department’s representative and the signed GAN being mailed to the grantee. The G5 grants management system will be enhanced to make use of the digital certificate capability of the HSPD-12 implementation and PIV card to digitally sign electronic GANs. The G5 system will also provide the capability to electronically email the GAN to grantees. The electronically signed GAN will also be stored in an electronic grant file. Challenges: The current challenge the Department faces in servicing these customer groups is the lag time between grant funding and recipient notification. The GAN process is paper-based and slow. Delays are attributed to the manual process of printing and signing large GAN documents averaging 42 pages, in triplicate. Additional delays are attributed to the stuffing, mailing and delivery of two copies to recipient offices throughout the United States and U.S. territories. Currently GANs are mailed via the U.S. Postal Service to the grantee days after the GANs are signed, and it takes approximately five days for a recipient to receive a GAN after it is mailed. Finally, there is no way to track the grantee’s receipt of the GAN documents once mailed, and signed copies are stored in paper file folders. Featured Actions: The G5 grants management system will be enhanced to make use of the digital certificate capability of the HSPD-12 implementation and PIV card to digitally sign electronic GANs. The G5 system will also provide the capability to electronically email the GAN to grantees. The electronically signed GAN will also be stored in an electronic grant file. Impact and Benefits: Each printed GAN for new awards averages 42 pages at a combined cost of approximately $.96 per page. The estimated cost of the supplies and services to handle and mail over 30,000 GAN documents annually is $1.2 million per year. This initiative reduces costs associated with printing, paper and postage. Implementation of the electronic GAN will also improve customer service as follows: * Reduces GAN delivery from five or more days to minutes. * Reduces the amount of time required to notify grantees of awards received. * Allows grantees to view a cataloged history of GAN documentation at any time. * Creates a completely paperless grant funding process. Key Milestones and Timeline * November 2011: Design Completed * March 2012: Construction Completed * May 2012: Integration Testing Completed * June 2012: Training Delivered * July 2012: User Acceptance Testing and Go-Live

Stakeholder(s):

• Office of the Chief Information Officer/Financial Systems Services: Department of Education


• Grantee Community: Key Customer Groups: The grantee community, program office and grant officers are affected by the change.


• Program Office


• Grant Officers

Objective(s):

S 2.1: Feedback

S 2.2: Best Practices

S 2.3: Metrics and Standards

S 2.4: Streamlining

Content