When a technical issue threatened the University of Colorado’s ability to submit research grant proposals through a key federal system, teams across University Information Services (UIS), campus operations and external partners quickly came together to find a solution. 

The issue centered on a system-to-system, or S2S, security certificate used to establish a secure connection for transmitting research grant submissions. The S2S process allows CU research teams to submit proposals directly to federal funding organizations, including the National Institutes of Health. Campus partners estimated that dozens of proposals could potentially have been affected if the connection became unavailable during a critical submission period. 

A technical problem with a tight deadline 

The challenge emerged as security standards for digital certificates were changing. New certificate requirements had been introduced, while older standards were being phased out. 

UIS obtained and installed a new certificate based on the available technical guidance, but the connection did not work as expected. 

After troubleshooting internally with security staff, the team engaged InfoEd, the vendor supporting CU’s research administration software. InfoEd helped identify that although the receiving system was expected to accept the newer certificate standard, testing indicated the older standard was still required. 

That discovery created a new challenge: the existing certificate was close to expiring, while obtaining and activating a replacement could take up to 48 hours at multiple points in the process. The team estimated only about 48 hours remained before the certificate expired and S2S grant submissions could be interrupted. 

Teams move into triage mode 

With the deadline approaching, UIS technical staff, security teams, strategy partners, developers and vendors worked in parallel to troubleshoot the problem and pursue an exception that would allow a certificate using the required standard to be issued. 

At the same time, the team kept campus partners informed about the potential impact and the work underway to prevent an outage. 

“When problems happen, I see the department just coming together, people coming together, and making it work,” said Carlos Mennechey, assistant director of finance & eRA systems development. 

The collaboration extended beyond UIS. Security staff supported troubleshooting and the certificate exception process, developers tested the solution, and InfoEd brought in additional technical expertise to help determine what was happening. 

Kelly Kim, assistant director of eRA IT services, said the team quickly moved beyond formal roles and focused on what was needed to solve the problem. 

“We really just went into triage mode: What can I do? ... Let’s just figure out who needs to do what.” 

Rather than duplicating messages or creating additional confusion, team members divided responsibilities for technical troubleshooting, leadership escalation and communication with campus partners. 

Collaboration delivers a solution 

Working together, the teams were able to obtain the needed certificate, coordinate with the receiving system and complete the necessary testing before the existing certificate expired. 

“We brought everybody in and we were successful at it. And that’s really the collaboration part of it,” said Mennechey.

He credited UIS security staff, developers, strategy partners, leadership, campus teams and vendor partners with contributing to the response. He also highlighted the work of staff who handled the hands-on troubleshooting and implementation. 

Stronger relationships after the incident 

The response also reinforced relationships that UIS teams have worked to build over time. 

Instead of simply solving the immediate issue and moving on, the experience strengthened confidence that UIS, campus partners and vendors could rely on one another when problems arise. 

The incident ultimately avoided a service disruption, protected a critical research function and demonstrated how coordinated technical expertise, communication and strong relationships can make the difference when time is limited.