If you think that a Kuali Coeus is a cute marsupial from Australia, you probably haven’t been paying too much attention to how the new open-source program will change the world of research administration at Colorado State University and other Carnegie Class research institutions.
First, the name. Kuali is a Malaysian word for a small but essential cooking utensil. Kuali was announced in August 2004 as a community source initiative to build a financial accounting system for higher education, by higher education. In 2006, Kuali Coeus was launched, blending Kuali with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Coeus system to manage proposal and award information (in Greek mythology, Coeus was the Titan of Intellect and Wisdom).
Today, the Kuali Financial System is up and running at Colorado State University providing a comprehensive suite of financial software, and Kuali Coeus is coming online. The goal of KC is to provide a system of tools to relieve the administrative burden on research faculty and staff.
KC modules currently in development include Proposal/Budget, Awards, Institute/Proposal Negotiations, IRB/Human Participants, Conflict of Interest, Report Tracking, Subcontracts, and Animal Care and Use. Universities currently involved in the Kuali Coeus collaborative community are The University of Arizona, Colorado State University, Cornell University, Indiana University, MIT, and Michigan State University. Developers from each of the participating institutions are contributing to the development of Kuali Coeus.
“The way research administration is handled right now at Colorado State varies from department to department and even from researcher to researcher,” said Ed Kissam, manager of the KC project at Colorado State. “Kuali Coeus will really streamline the workflow and provide our faculty members and staff with a workable solution for research administrative needs.”
The release date for Kuali Coeus at CSU is April 2010 with a live date for pre- and post-award modules of Oct. 1 2010. Training sessions will be provided. For more information on KC, including project status, plan, timeline, training, and contacts, visit the KC website at www.kuali.colostate.edu.
