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This article describes how to publish an announcement.

Roles

Publish

The following users can publish announcements:

• Lab Calls: Announcement Manager
• NOFOs, NOTAs, NOIs, RFIs: Grants Officer (GO). Note: The GMS/CS should set aside adequate time the day they expect to receive the green light to verify announcement data.

How to Publish

Step 1: Publish in EPIC

Open the Announcement

• From the dashboard, select the Announcement menu and click Announcement Management.
• Click on your Announcement Title to open it.

Verify Team Members

• Click on the Announcement Planning tab, then click on Points of Contact page in the left-hand navigation.
• Ensure all team members appear on this page (exception: Topic Area Leads appear on the Basic Information page so verify their names there). All people listed on this page will have edit rights to the Announcement in Exchange for Merit Review.
• Click on the Announcement Development tab to continue.

Confirm Topic Areas Meet Exchange Requirements (if applicable)

• If the announcement has topic areas, click on the Topic Area Details page in the left-hand navigation and verify the topic areas meet the requirements below. Use the drop-down arrow to switch between topic areas to verify each.
  • Topic Area Titles and Topic Area Descriptions must match the approved announcement document exactly.
  • Confirm Topic Area Leads are accurate. Topic Area Leads listed in EPIC will be granted edit rights in Exchange.
  • Technology Readiness Levels (TRL): The TRL values can vary across topic areas.
  • Anticipated Cost Share: Cost share for each topic area must match the approved announcement document exactly.
  • Eligible Applicants: Lab eligibility must match the approved announcement document exactly.
• Click on the Submission & Webinar Summary page in the left-hand navigation and verify the following:
  • Submission Types: Submission types must match the approved announcement document exactly.
  • Announcement Deadlines: All deadlines must match the approved announcement document exactly.
• Click on each sub-page under Application & Submission Information in the left-hand navigation.
  • Verify all match the approved announcement document exactly.
• Click on Evaluation & Selection Questions page in the left-hand navigation and verify:
  • The response to "How will you make comments available to applicants on Full Applications?" must match the approved announcement document exactly.

Review EPIC Fields for Consistency with Approved Announcement

• The GMS/CS and Grants Officer (for NOFOs) or the Announcement Manager (for Lab Calls) ensures the following EPIC pages match the approved announcement document. Once this data is pushed to Exchange for Merit Review, it is not editable.
  • Funding and Award Details page
  • Cost Share Summary page
  • Eligibility Summary page
  • Application & Submission Information Pages
  • Limitations & Other Information page
  • Evaluation & Selection Questions page
  • Review Criteria (all sub-pages)
  • Application Scoring (all sub-pages)

Business Clearance (if applicable) (NOFOs Only)

• If Business Clearance review is applicable to your NOFO, upload the approval (or waived review) to the Document Library.
  • Navigate to the Document Library by clicking the Document Library button or Document Library tab.
  • Click Add Document to upload the Business Clearance review and approval documentation (or waived review).

Review Public-Facing Information

• Select the Publish page from the left-hand navigation.
  • Confirm the Announcement Title matches the approved announcement document exactly.
  • Review and finalize the Announcement Description for Applicants. This description will be visible to applicants on the Funding Opportunity page of Exchange. To edit, select “no” for Sync from Description.
  • Review and finalize the Grants.gov Synopsis. This field is not pushed to STRIPES or Exchange, however, the GMS/CS can copy and paste from this field into STRIPES, so the Grants Officer should confirm that it is an appropriate length and makes sense. To edit, select “no” for Sync from Description.

Upload Approved Announcement PDF

• In the Announcement Documents box, select Edit/Upload Document. Note: The final announcement document must be a PDF.
  • Choose the approved document from your computer, set the Document Status to Approved, then click Upload/Save.

Add Other Publication Documents (if applicable)

• The Other Publication Documents section is reserved for documents that are informational, or which supplement the announcement and do not require action from the applicant (i.e., a teaming document). To upload, click the Edit/Upload Document link.

Webinar Details (if applicable)

• If a webinar is applicable to your announcement:
  • Click on the Webinar Details page in the left-hand navigation.
  • Confirm the Informational Webinar Link field contains the proper link (to include HTTP:// or HTTPS://).

Run Validations

• In the left-hand navigation, click the Show Validation Warnings drop down. Note, depending on the size of your screen, you may need to scroll down to see the expanded menu.
  • Choose the Publication radio button.
  • If EPIC identifies any validation errors, the page status will show an orange exclamation point on the left-hand navigation.
  • Click on each page with an orange exclamation point and review the warnings listed in orange. Correct the data, then click save to clear the validation.

EPIC Publication Checklist

• Verify the following items:
  • Topic Areas match the announcement document exactly.
  • All EPIC fields match approved announcement document.
  • The following items have been uploaded to the Document Library:
    • Approved FRD (NOFOs only)
    • Approved Announcement Overview or EE-1 approval email (NOFOs and Lab Calls only)
    • If Business Clearance is required, documentation of that review (NOFOs only)
  • Announcement Title and Announcement Description for Applicants are up to date and correct.
  • The Publication Green Light has been provided (N/A for Lab Calls).
  • The approved, PDF version of the announcement document has been uploaded on the Publish Page.
  • All publication validations are cleared.
  • When ready to publish, navigate back to the Publish page, select the three dots on the document line and select Publish Document.

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