My AmeriCorps Portal and eGrants Maintenance Report

Dear Colleagues,

Today we released the 4.0 version of the My AmeriCorps Portal and eGrants software. This release includes many improvements made to both systems to improve your user experience. The following is the full list of bug fixes:

eGrants System:

• Fixed VISTA/NCCC pay system issue to better handle candidate exits during training
• The system now calculates the number of slots correctly when there is a change
• When the address information is changed, an email notification will now be sent to VISTA members who either are serving or have finished serving within the last 60 days
• Employer Identification Number suffix will now be attached to each grant record instead of the organization
• Removed formatting issues in AmeriCorps National progress reports
• Subs grantees can now submit back to CNCS after being returned for rework
• Grantee can now validate the budget of a National sub grantee
• Enhanced VISTA Progress Report for primary grantees and sub grantees. VISTA sub grantees now inherit report dates from their primary sub grantee while still being able to disable or change subs dates
• The Cost Share Executive Office will not receive any notification when a Cost Share application is awarded
• Approved amount in Obligation tab will not become zero after a budget item is changed
• Project Director is added to submitted/awarded application.
• The DUNS number no longer disappears between screens
• State profile reports show consistent data
• VISTA FFRs for Support Grants will exclude full time (non federal) and summer associate (non federal) from total recipient share required.
• There is added capability in eGrants for Senior Corps programs to submit a "concept paper" for their Programs of National Significance (PNS) Award competition
• The Administrator is now prevented from making inappropriate edits to sub grantee applicant data
• Users can enter more than 250 characters in the remarks text box for financial reports
• Allowed to have grantee share of percentage of funds expended when a date is over 1000% in FFRs
• Fiscal Year 2011 or beyond can now be selected on the “Enter NOFA” screen.
• Fixed issue where Grantee Fund Summary Chart, CNCS funding years and required match percentage were not calculated correctly
• Provided link to privacy information in banking information block for new peer reviewer screen
• User accounts will be inactivated instead of getting dropped/deleted
• System now accepts the new VISTA Recovery Act - Progress Report Supplement (VRPRS)

My AmeriCorps Portal:

• Improved navigation within online help
• Changed term in Portal from "Accept" to "Select" used by programs in the applicant recruitment process
• Improved how portal handles international addresses
• Enabled access to recruitment functionality for grantees that have been awarded, but where member enrollment period has not yet started
• VISTA sponsor recommendation additional comments are no longer required
• Added online help for applicant regarding description of assigned status
• VISTA/NCCC: automated mailing occurred on December 1 to appropriate members updating their W4
• VISTA/NCCC: automated mailing occurred on December 1 to appropriate members updating their W5
• Improved validations on institution account creation
• Improved online help for applicant's motivation statement
• Fixed typo in online help for education award
• Corrected typo in online help for applicant's references
• Fixed typo in online help for applicant
• Fixed typo in online help about application status
• Fixed HTML in template through admin interface
• Improved online help on service locations used by national programs
• Corrected VISTA specific system validation on maximum number of terms a VISTA can serve
• Fixed validation that VISTA applicants must be 18 on service start date
• Exit certification changed to accommodate scenario where member is not available
• Updated enrollment form: added Privacy Act language and fixed a problem with how education level was coded
• Fixed validation for members that choose to serve a 3^rd term without education award benefit
• Cleaned up symbols from online help currupted during help system upgrade
• Fixed issue where Interest Accrual form is prevented for members after a transfer
• Fixed issue that prevents edit of W5 by VISTA and NCCC Members
• Added DOB to trainees by state list as required for processing travel
• In eGrants II for VISTA sponsors, added DOB to Supervisor Travel Form as required for travel processing
• Updated check boxes on AmeriCorps State/National selection screen to align with grant requirements
• Fixed problem with NCCC time log approval for member that exit early
• Fixed problem that prevented NCCC teams from submitting their time logs when any one member had under 20 hours indicated
• Fixed problem where certain NCCC time logs could not be approved
• Changed code to prevent intermittent problem where some data on recruitment posting is lost during update
• Fixed bug that incorrectly validates the total VISTA education awards against slots available
• Fixed problem where VISTA travel profile departure state could not be changed
• Improved portal validation on simultaneous service terms
• Added validation to identify and prevent placing or transferring a VISTA Member to a primary grantee
• Removed question about shipping baggage for VISTA Supervisors attending training
• Changed language on the Informational banner on member portal home page

In order to keep you informed of the system improvements, we will continue to provide maintenance reports as they occur. Our next release is scheduled for February.

As always, if you have any problems or suggestions regarding the system, please call the eGrants help desk at 1-888-677-7849 so we can work to make the changes.

Thank you again for your patience.

Kristin McSwain
Chief of Program Operations
Corporation for National and Community Service