For The Consortium

New Participant Q & A


What is the CTSA Consortium?

The CTSA program brings together research institutions with NCRR and other NIH Institutes and Centers as a national consortium to advance priorities in clinical and translational science. Through close collaboration, the CTSA consortium is beginning to propose, disseminate and implement “best practices” and new policies, procedures, standards and systems to reduce roadblocks and accelerate the pace of research activities. The work of the consortium is carried out through important scientific and administrative committees.

Progress towards these goals are coordinated in five corresponding Strategic Goal Committees (SGC).

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How do I participate in the CTSA Consortium?

The CTSA Consortium consists of committees with representatives from each CTSA site. We encourage consortium institutions to identify and nominate appropriate representatives for each of the CTSA committees. This will help members of CTSA sites get involved in Consortium-level activities and develop contacts with others in similar roles for advice and questions.

If you wish to be added to a CTSA Committee, inform your PI or Administrator of your role within the committee and they will add you to that committee’s roster via the Committee Participant Management System (CPM) on the CTSA Wiki.

The Consortium includes of the following committees:

CTSA Consortium Steering Committee (CCSC) – consists of the PIs from each CTSA site and Federal leadership

CTSA Consortium Child Health Oversight Committee (CC-CHOC) – consists of CTSA site members and Federal leadership interested in issues related to child health

The Strategic Goal Committees (SGC) are responsible for coordinating progress towards each of the five strategic goals. SGC membership is composed of CTSA representatives and Federal Staff.

The CTSA Key Function Committees (KFC) serve as a venue for developing and sharing best practices and ideas between members to promote the CTSA Consortium aims. KFC membership is composed of CTSA representatives and Federal staff.

View most recent version of the CTSA Governance Manual.

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What are the various roles within a committee?

An individual may participate in a CTSA committee in a variety of capacities. NIH and CTSA institutions may name multiple individuals to a committee; however, only one individual may be assigned as a voting member for a CTSA institution.

The various roles are:

Voting Member – Individual designated with voting authority. Each CTSA institution will have one “voting member” who serves as the liaison between the committee and the respective CTSA. The NIH voting member will serve as a liaison between their respective NIH Institute or Center.
Non-Voting Member – Representatives who are active participants in a committee but do not vote.
Topic Expert – Individuals who participate in a CTSA committee, a group, or a subgroup because of their knowledge or expertise, or because of their specialized participation in a group or subgroup of the parent committee. Their participation may be short term for a specific project, or longer term as needed.
Informational Copy – Individuals who receive copies of all emails to committee representatives, but are not an active participant in the committee, group or subgroup.
Ex Officio – member(s), by virtue of office or official position, who do not vote.

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How do I add my institution’s participants to CTSA committees?

CTSA PIs and Administrators control who from their institutions participate in CTSA committees. Through the CTSA Committee Participant Management System (CPM), PI and Administrators are able to enroll and manage their institution’s roster of Consortium participants. Once a new participant is added, they are contacted by the CTSA Help Desk to collect their full contact information. This information is used for e-mail distribution lists, committee rosters, and is required before new participants can be granted access to the CTSA Wiki.

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How can I be added to a CTSA committee?

If you wish to be added to a CTSA Committee, inform your PI or Administrator of your role within the committee and they will add you to that committee’s roster via the Committee Participant Management System (CPM) on the CTSA Wiki.

The CTSA Committee Participant Management System (CPM) is a web-based interface on the CTSA Wiki that allows institutions to enroll and managing their rosters for CTSA committee participants. Access to the CPM is restricted to CTSA PIs and Administrators who have authority to assign representatives to committees.

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Where can I find information for a specific committee meeting?

Visit CTSAweb.org and click on the respective committee and meeting of interest for meeting materials such as the agenda and summary. Additionally, each committee has a CTSA Wiki space that includes detailed information on upcoming meetings, meeting frequencies, and how to join the meeting. View a calendar of all CTSA committee meetings.

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What is and how do I access the CTSA Wiki?

The CTSA Consortium uses a wiki to communicate, post resources and work on projects. A wiki is a web-based communication tool that allows participants to view and edit information and documents.

After your Administrator or PI enrolls you in the CPM (see above FAQ), all new participants in the CTSA Consortium are contacted by the CTSA Help Desk to collect their contact information. This information is used for e-mail distribution lists, committee rosters, and is required before new participants can be granted access to the CTSA Wiki. Once this information has been provided to the Help Desk, the new participant will receive access to the CTSA Wiki.

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What is Federated Access for the CTSA Consortium?

Federated Access is a process used by the NIH that allows individuals at institutions to use their institutional log-in and password to access CTSA Consortium information. This is not required, but is helpful in terms of not requiring additional log-in names and passwords.

Learn more about NIH and InCommon federated access.
View the full list of NIH and InCommon federated institutions.

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I cannot access my CTSA Wiki account. Who should I contact?

If you cannot access your CTSA Wiki account, do not remember your password, or have other questions, please contact the CTSA Help Desk.

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