Completing an Appendix E/Multistate Project Participation Form

Who Enters Appendix E Information? 

• Land-Grant University participants with Experiment Station or Extension (AES or EXT) Appointments: The Station Directors from a participant’s own state should always enter participant information into Appendix E via NIMSS.  Please refer to Appendix E Regional Requirements to view what information is needed for each type of project in each region. 
• Non-AES/EXT participants (ARS, Industry, other university, etc.): There are two ways these participants can be added to a participant list:
  • The Administrative Advisor of the project can enter any non-SAES participants.  The AA should send the participant a hard copy of the Appendix E form.  Next, the participant returns the hard copy Appendix E to AA, who then enters the information into NIMSS.  Again, please refer to Appendix E Regional Requirements to view the necessary information  for each type of project in each region. 
  • If the Administrative Advisor is unavailable, you may also send a completed Appendix E form to the NCRA office (Appendix E form).  The NCRA assistant director will enter it into NIMSS. 

How to Enter the Information Into NIMSS:

**Non-LGU participants, please DO NOT complete below steps; your Appendix E will get lost in the system. Please contact the NCRA Office for assistance.

You can watch the NIMSS Virtual Training located within the "Help" section of NIMSS or follow the instructions below.  

1. Go to the National Information Management Support System at http://www.nimss.umd.edu/.
2. Insert your login and password.
   • If you don't have a login, you'll need to register by clicking the "register" button on the login screen. If you have already registered but have forgotten your login/password, click the "Track ID" button to have it sent to your email address.
3. Once you have signed into the system, in the green navigation bar, mouse-over “Participants” and choose “Draft/Edit Participant Info” from the dropdown menu.  From the submenu, select “Draft New.” 
4. Select the appropriate region and project number.
• For a new/renewing proposal (not yet approved), fill out the form using Project Number "NC_TempXXXX" (may also use also NCCC_TempXXX, NCERA_TempXXX).  You should have been notified as to what number to fill in for "XXXX".
• For approved projects, enter the approved project number (NCXXXX, NCCCXXX, NCERAXXX, NCACXX, NCDCXXX, NRSPXX).
5. Select the correct station and participant name, if it's not already shown.
6. If you are the official station representative click on box (if not, leave blank)
7. Enter your percentages for Scientific Year, Professional Year, and Technical year as values < 1.0, where 1.0 = 100%. If you don't know what these are, please just enter 0.1 in the Scientific Year box and leave the others blank.
8. Enter your KA, SOI, and FOS codes. If you don't know them, you can look them up by clicking the title/link above each box. You must put a value in each box (i.e. if you have a KA, you must also have a SOI and FOS value or NIMSS will give you an error message)
9. If you have an Extension appointment, you should also enter your FTE (full time equivalent, as a percentage < 1.0, where 1.0 = 100%) and KA codes.
10. Finish by selecting "Submit.”  This sends the Appendix E to your Station Director for approval and then notifies the AA and NIFA that the participant needs final approval. 

*Please note that if minor changes need to be made to participants already in the system (i.e. typos, email entry, etc…), it may be best to contact the system administrator, Christina Hamilton (ncra@cals.wisc.edu).  She can make any minor corrections, without letters being sent out to NIFA, CRIS, Station Directors, etc…