Wisaard Q & A

Greetings! I am going to start posting some of the great questions (with answers) that we get about Wisaard here on the BLOG. Hope these help make it more user friendly! As always, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to us at support@dahp.wa.gov!  DAHP answers are in RED. Question #1 (from a consultant): Could I get a clarification on the process for submitting an activity? When doing a project, I typically move along the following process (below): In general, it is the agency/consultants responsibility to consult with each other before submitting to DAHP. So steps 1-4 are entirely up to you.

1. Send draft report to Client via email for approval.
2. Make desired Client edits.
3. Have the Client email the revised report to stakeholders/agencies.
4. Make desired stakeholder/agency edits.
5. Submit report (with Client permission) to DAHP via WISAARD. Just submitting the report in Wisaard is not enough. We must also receive correspondence from the agency via email. The review clock starts when we receive the correspondence. The system cannot yet reliably notify DAHP staff that projects are there and ready for review. It is kind of a hybrid system right now.
6. DAHP approves. Project is done. DAHP may approve the report in Wisaard, but there will also be a letter back to the agency that requested the review.

Question #2 (from a consultant): Is every reviewer supposed to approve through WISAARD? This would mean every one (even clients) would need a WISAARD account and would have to learn the program. It is up to you to decide how you want to coordinate with your clients. The system is not yet completely capable of a full workflow, although anyone with access to your Projects can use it to view documents/HPI forms. As long as an Activity is in Draft status, you can upload and delete as many drafts as you want for your clients to look at. If you prefer to do that coordination via email, that is up to you. If the COE did not notify us that they approved the report via a letter, then we do not know. If you are responsible for submitting the report, you must let your client know that you did so and provide them with the Project number so they can reference it in their letter to us (if a Project number was not already created). That is how we know where to find things. Question #3: Does WISAARD notify reviewers that an action is needed?  No. Wisaard is set up to notify users when an action is taken, but does not notify when an action is needed. It is up to you to personally coordinate with others that a review is needed.