Water Sustainability Fund (WSF) Application …Water Sustainability Fund Application User Guide Page...

Water Sustainability Fund

(WSF)

Application

Website

User Guide

Water Sustainability Fund Application User Guide of 27

Table of Contents Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 3

Logins ....................................................................................................................................................... 4

New User Registration .......................................................................................................................... 5

Forgot Password ................................................................................................................................... 5

Timeout ................................................................................................................................................. 5

Upload Application and Support Documents ........................................................................................... 6

Administrator ............................................................................................................................................ 8

Admin ................................................................................................................................................... 8

Name and Amount ................................................................................................................................ 8

View Users ............................................................................................................................................ 9

Director ................................................................................................................................................... 10

Director Review .................................................................................................................................. 10

NeDNR Reviewer ................................................................................................................................... 13

Application List .................................................................................................................................. 13

Application Review ............................................................................................................................ 14

NGPC Reviewer ..................................................................................................................................... 15



NRC Application Review Committee Individual Member Scoring ....................................................... 17



NRC Application Review Committee Scoring Review & Full Commission Review ............................ 21

NRC Application Review Committee Scoring Review ...................................................................... 21

Full Natural Resources Commission Review ..................................................................................... 25

Full Commission Summary ................................................................................................................ 27


Overview The Water Sustainability Fund website (https://nrc.nebraska.gov/water-sustainability-fund-0) provides an online portal for Fund applicants to register on the website and to submit applications and supporting documents to request funding. Funding is available currently on an annual basis. The annual submission period is from July 16 – 31.

After applications and support documents are uploaded during the submission period, Department of Natural Resources (NeDNR) Reviewers and Nebraska Game & Parks Commission (NGPC) Reviewers assess the application submissions. The reviewers evaluate answers to questions as Satisfactory or Not Satisfactory.

Next all applications are forwarded to the NeDNR Director for review. The director is responsible for the final overall determination of applications as Satisfactory or Not Satisfactory.

Applications with a Satisfactory determination by the NeDNR Director move forward to the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) Application Review Committee for scoring by each individual committee member. Committee members score each application according to 15 statutory factors plus a determination of a federal mandate.

Committee members must score all applications or abstain from scoring particular applications if a conflict of interest exists. Any committee member who fails to either abstain or score every application will have his/her scores removed from consideration for all applications.

The Committee will establish and then forward its final recommended score per application to the full Commission for final determination and funding recommendation.


Logins Logins are assigned roles by NeDNR to allow users access to appropriate areas of WSF. The roles include the following:

No assigned roles – user registers and logins to upload applications and support documents

Administrator

NeDNR Director

NeDNR Reviewer

NGPC Reviewer

NRC Application Review Committee Scorer

NRC Application Review Committee Scoring Review and Full NRC Commission Review – to be completed by an administrator with NeDNR

For 2019, NeDNR increased security and all users will need to click ‘Forgot Password’ to reset their password.

As a returning user, enter the appropriate login and password into the login screen as shown below.

Main Login screenshot


New User Registration As a new user wanting to upload an application, click ‘Register’ in the upper right to create a new account.

After filling out the registration form, click ‘Register’ and a confirmation email is sent to the newly registered email address.

Login with your newly created credentials to enter the website.

Forgot Password Forgot password? Click ‘Forgot Password?’ to reset your current password. An email is sent to the registered email address with a link to reset your password.

Timeout IMPORTANT: There is a 20-minute timeout period for a login! If you login and have not completed any actions within that 20-minute period you will be logged out. The next time you attempt to upload an application or submit a score, you will be asked to login again. The action that you attempted just prior to a timed logout was not completed – application not uploaded and scores not saved. Please submit and save your scores often to ensure scores are retained.


Upload Application and Support Documents After successful login, the screen to upload an Application is displayed, as shown in the screenshot below.

Upload Project screenshot

The following are required to upload an application to request funds from the Water Sustainability Fund:

Project name

Amount requested

Upload the completed application file (based on template provided on https://nrc.nebraska.gov/water-sustainability-fund-0)

Upload Support Documents after the application file has been uploaded. Click ‘Add Support Document’ to then browse and select a file. Select all support documents, then click ‘Upload Support Documents’ at the bottom to fully upload the support documents.

Add and Upload Support Document screenshot


Accepted file formats include Excel, Word, pdf, and zip. The accepted file size of the application file is 40 MB and the accepted file size of each support document is 500 MB.

Large files may take 20 minutes or more to upload depending on the internet connection. Please do not refresh the page while a file is uploading. To reduce upload time with a slower internet connection, first submit only the application file and then upload support documents one at a time.

Uploaded files are final once submitted. Changes or deletions are not allowed.


Administrator After successful login with an Administrator role, the tab options available are ‘Admin,’ ‘Name and Amount,’ and ‘View Users.’

Admin Click the ‘Admin’ tab to navigate to it. The ‘Admin’ tab displays the current Fund Tracker cycle start and end dates. The start and end dates are the dates when users may upload applications and support documents. Applications and support documents may only be uploaded during these times for an application cycle. All applications and support documents must be uploaded on the website. Other submission methods are not allowed.

Admin tab screenshot for Start and End date selection

In the ‘Start date’ and ‘End date’ fields above, modify the date/times as needed. Set the dates similar to the following for the full first day and through the full final day:

Start date - 7/16/2016 12:00:00 AM

End date - 7/31/2016 11:59:58 PM

Click ‘Save’ to submit the changed start and end dates. A message appears that dates updated successfully.

Name and Amount For application names to be consistent and easily recognizable, the NeDNR Administrator enters a new Short Name for the application in this tab.

Name and Amount screenshot

The NeDNR Administrator also has the ability to update the amount requested in the application if the amount entered by the submitter was incorrect or if the amount requested changes after submission.

For example, a project initially asks for $100,000. Before project approval by the Fund, the project was granted $20,000 by another donor. After submitting an email to NeDNR with the donor information, the project requested amount is now $80,000. The NeDNR Administrator can update the requested amount from $100,000 to $80,000.


Click on the blue edit button to enter the short name for the application and to modify the amount if needed.

Update and Save Name and Amount screenshot

Click the green save button to save the modifications. (To cancel an entry and revert to the last

save, click the red cancel button .)

View Users The View Users screen shows the list of registered users. This screen allows the addition of roles to users to give users access to the screens needed for review of applications.

Validated users have clicked the link received in their email to enable them to successfully login. Disabled users are not able to login.


Director Director Review The Director Application Review screen shows the list of submitted applications and support documents for the NeDNR Director’s review and designation of an application as Satisfactory or Not Satisfactory. The NeDNR Director may also add comments to an application. See the screenshot below. The view defaults to 30 applications listed at one time.

Director Application Review screenshot

Review the application and all support documents to complete your review. To view the support

documents under an application, click the sign to the left of an application number as shown on the next screenshot.

Expanded view of Application and Support Documents.

Red circles show where to click to view NeDNR review and NGPC review answers and comments.

Click on a document file name to open the document. Submitted documents are one of four formats – pdf, Excel, Word or zip. Depending on the browser and the file type, each document either opens in a separate window or downloads separately for viewing.


Application Review

For Director Review, an application has two different status types:

1. NeDNR review status a. Satisfactory – all questions were marked satisfactory when reviewed by NeDNR staff b. Not Satisfactory – at least one question was marked not satisfactory when reviewed by

NeDNR staff 2. NGPC review status

a. No Harm b. No Harm with Conditions – view the comments for more information provided by

NGPC c. Harm – view the comments for more information provided by NGPC d. Insufficient Information – view the comments for more information provided by NGPC

To view the questions and answers provided by NeDNR staff and NGPC click the review status of an application – noted by red circles in the above screenshot.

After the application, supporting documents, and NeDNR/NGPC reviews are reviewed, begin the Director Application Review. Select the application to be reviewed – the application line item will

change to blue. Then click on the blue edit button in the lower left to complete the application review. See the example below.

Application under review screenshot


After clicking the edit button, the Director Review window opens and allows for entry of the Director Review Status and Comments. The review status defaults to ‘Satisfactory’ and can be modified to ‘Not Satisfactory.’ The comments are limited to 1000 characters. The Director Review window and the Comments text box can be increased in size as needed from the lower right corners. Click the ‘Submit’ button to save the status and comments.

Director Review and Comments screenshot


NeDNR Reviewer Application List After successful login, the NeDNR Application Review screen will show the list of submitted applications and support documents as shown below.

Application Review screenshot



Expanded view of Application and support documents


Click each document file name to open. Submitted documents are in one of four formats – pdf, Excel, Word or zip. Depending on the browser and the file type, each document either opens in a separate window or downloads separately for viewing.

Application Review An application can have three types of status:

1. Not Started – review has not yet been started 2. In Progress – not all questions have been answered 3. Completed – all questions have been answered

Click ‘Review’ under the ‘Complete review’ column to begin an application’s review.


Questions 0 – 12 correspond to the order of questions in the original application. Each question must have a radio button selected and a comment entered for the question to be complete.

Each question can have only one reviewer. Thus, when one reviewer answers a question, only that reviewer can modify the answer or comments. Another reviewer will not have access to modify that question.

The ‘Submit’ button must be selected to save answers and comments. The ‘Cancel’ button will return focus to the ‘DNR Review’ tab without saving any responses. The ‘DNR Review’ tab can also be selected to return to the list of applications.

When all applications have been completed, an NeDNR Administrator will lock the reviews and further changes will not be allowed.


NGPC Reviewer Application List After successful login, the Application Review screen will show the list of submitted applications and support documents as shown below.






Click each document file name to open. Submitted documents are in one of four formats – pdf, Excel, Word or zip. Depending on the browser and the file type, each document either opens in a separate window or downloads separately for viewing.

Application Review Click ‘Review’ under the ‘Complete review’ column to begin an application’s review.


The endangered species question must have a radio button selected and a comment entered for the question to be complete. Enter ‘NA’ as a comment for ‘No Harm’ if there are no other comments.

Click the ‘Submit’ button to save answers and comments. After saving the question, the status of the application review changes from ‘Review’ to ‘Completed.’

Only one reviewer can answer the question. Thus, when one reviewer completes the endangered species question, only that reviewer can modify the answer or comments. Another reviewer will not have access to modify the question.

The ‘Submit’ button must be selected to save answers and comments. The ‘Cancel’ button will return focus to the ‘NGPC Review’ tab without saving any responses. The ‘NGPC Review’ tab can also be selected to return to the list of applications.

When all applications have been completed, an NeDNR Administrator will lock the reviews and further changes will not be allowed.


NRC Application Review Committee Individual Member Scoring Application List After successful login, the ‘Committee Member Review’ tab will open with the Scoring Committee Member Review screen. This shows the list of submitted applications and support documents as shown below.




Applications may also be viewed from the flash drive provided to each Application Review Committee member.



Each document file name can be clicked to open. Documents have been submitted in one of four formats – pdf, Excel, Word or zip. Depending on the browser and the file type, each document either opens in a separate window or downloads separately for viewing.

Application Review An application can have three types of status:

1. Not started – review has not yet been started 2. In progress – not all questions have been answered 3. Completed – all questions have been answered

Click ‘Review’ under the ‘Complete review’ column to begin an application’s review.



Should you need to abstain from scoring an application, click ‘Yes’ on the first question. Then skip all

of the following criteria and click the ‘Submit’ button at the bottom of the screen. The status of the application will be ‘In progress’ as all criteria will not be scored and the total score will be zero.

If you are not abstaining from scoring an application, click ‘No’ on the first question. Then select a score on the following 16 criteria. Each criterion must have a radio button selected for the application to be completely scored and the status to change to ‘Completed.’ The total possible score is 71 if the maximum value is selected for each criterion.

The ‘Submit’ button at the bottom of the screen must be selected to save responses. The ‘Cancel’ button will return focus to the ‘Committee Member Review’ tab without saving any responses. The ‘Committee Member Review’ tab can also be selected to return to the list of applications.


After scoring an application, the total score is calculated and is shown on the Application Review screen. This allows comparison across the applications. The ‘Total’ column can be clicked to sort the applications by score (either low to high or high to low).

Sort applications by Total score

When all applications have been scored by Application Review Committee members, an NeDNR Administrator will lock the scores and further changes will not be allowed.


NRC Application Review Committee Scoring Review & Full Commission ReviewIMPORTANT: Before beginning the Committee Review, the NeDNR Administrator verifies that all Committee members have completed their individual scoring and then locks down all Committee member logins. This ensures that individual Committee members are unable to login and modify their scores when the Application Review Committee meets to finalize the Recommended Scores.

After successful login with a Committee Review & Full Commission Review role, the tab options available will be the ‘Scoring Committee Review,’ ‘Full Commission Review <= $250K,’ ‘Full Commission Review > $250K,’ and ‘Full Commission Summary.’

Committee Review screenshot

NRC Application Review Committee Scoring Review As needed during the Committee Review, review the application and all support documents to

complete the Committee review. To view the support documents under an application, click the sign to the left of an application number as shown on the next screenshot.

Each document file name can be clicked to open the document. Documents have been submitted in one of four formats – pdf, Excel, Word or zip. Depending on the browser and the file type, each document either opens in a separate window or downloads separately for viewing.

To begin a specific application review, click ‘Review’ on the row of the application to be reviewed by the Committee. The individual application under review screen opens to begin recommended scoring. Use the ‘Average’ score per question to assist in determining a committee recommendation.


Committee Review screenshot

Single Application under review screenshot

After clicking Review on an individual application, follow the steps below (and numbered in red on the previous screenshot) to enter the Committee Recommended Scores:

1. Click the Scorer header to sort the Scorers by name. This will then show all names in alphabetical order.

2. Uncheck the Scorers that have abstained or the alternates whose scores are not needed. At most, ten (10) scoring committee members should remain checked. The total and average points will update for the scorers selected.


3. Document on the ‘ScoringCommitteeReview_UncheckedMembers.xlsx’ spreadsheet the scoring committee members whose scores are not needed.

4. Recommended Scores default to zero. To enter the Scoring Committee’s recommendation,

click the blue edit button .

5. Select the ‘Committee Recommended Score’ from the dropdown.

6. Click the green save button to save the score. (To cancel an entry and revert to the last

saved score, click the red cancel button .)

7. Repeat steps 4 – 6 to edit and save scores for all questions.

8. Click on the ‘Scoring Committee Review’ tab to return to the listing of all applications to be scored.

9. Click Review on the next application to be scored and repeat steps 1 – 8 above to complete recommended scores for all applications.


To view a summary of the Committee Recommendations, click the Full Commission Review tabs. Use the Full Commission Review pages as summary pages only at this time.

Full Commission Review screenshot for Summary

As designated by the red boxes above, blank values indicate where the Committee has not entered a Recommended Score. Return to the ‘Scoring Committee Review’ tab and complete the applications that need to have scoring completed.


Full Natural Resources Commission Review The Full Commission Review is separated into two tabs – less than or equal to $250,000 and greater than $250,000 as the funding decisions for the full commission will be based upon the $250,000 limitation. Click on either tab for the full commission to score applications.

Full Commission Review screenshot

The Committee recommended scores are listed in the grid. The Final Total is the column for the full commission’s final score. Before any scoring is completed by the full commission, the Final Total defaults to the Committee’s recommended score.

To begin a specific application review, click ‘Review’ on the row of the application to be reviewed by the full commission.


After clicking ‘Review’ on an individual application, the row for the application being scored changes to blue in color. The questions for scoring by the full commission open below for the selected application. Follow the steps below (and numbered in red on the above screenshot) to enter the Full Commission’s Final Score:

1. The Final Commission Score defaults to the Committee Recommended Score. To keep the

score, do nothing. To modify the score, click the blue edit button .

2. Select the Final Commission Score from the dropdown.

3. Click the green save button to save the score. (To cancel an entry and revert to the last

saved score, click the red cancel button .)

4. Refresh the browser. In Google Chrome, click on the refresh button to update the Final Total in the grid above.

5. Repeat steps 1 – 4 to edit and save scores for all questions.

Click ‘Review’ on the next application to be scored and repeat steps 1 – 5 above to complete the final scores for all applications.


Full Commission Summary After the full Commission Review is complete, the NeDNR Administrator clicks on the ‘Full Commission Summary’ tab to designate the application as funded or not as decided by the Commission.

Full Commission Summary screenshot

Follow the steps below to enter the Full Commission’s funding decision:

1. Select the row of the application to set the funding. The row will highlight in blue.

2. Click the blue edit button to check an application as funded. Unchecked will designate that the application is not being funded.

3. Click the green save button to save the funding. (To cancel an entry and revert to the last

saved entry, click the red cancel button .)

4. Refresh the browser. In Google Chrome, click on the refresh button to update the totals and grand total.

5. Repeat steps 1 – 4 to edit and save funding decisions for all applications.

Water Sustainability Fund (WSF) Application …Water Sustainability Fund Application User Guide Page...

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