Office of Sponsored Programs

Sponsored Program Lifecycle

We are here to help with any questions, concerns or ideas you may have. We look forward to helping with framing a fundable idea, seeking mentors, collaborators and sponsors.

We know faculty time is a prime and limited resource. With that in mind we created a proposal preparation timeline (see link under Learn More).

• The most active part of our role begins once a sponsor has been identified. We will always keep an eye out for potential matches, but we also empower you to create your own targeted funding searches.

• We will help you frame your idea in the terms required by the sponsor and try to bring to your attention research compliance issues that might arise as early as we can.

• We work with you to prepare a budget and answer questions about compliance. Once you have a rough idea of the sponsored project we strongly suggest that you complete the electronic Proposal Summary Form as early as possible but no later than two weeks prior to the proposal due date.
  This document allows you to share your ideas with your chair and dean, who may be sources of invaluable knowledge and other resources. If you are seeking course release, they will need to know as soon as possible for planning purposes.

• Once the ePSF has been approved by your dean, it goes to the Office of the Provost for approval.

• Next comes the actual application for funding. We will work with you throughout the entire process. We edit, build budgets, aid with budget justifications, ensure compliance to the sponsor guidelines and generally are a team of cheerleaders, waiting to guide you through the process.

• We need the complete proposal, meaning that all drafts are final and ready for submission, three business days prior to the due date. Once we upload and give the proposal the final review, we will submit your proposal to the sponsor. We will wait with you for the up to nine months the sponsor can take to respond to your proposal.

Three scenarios are possible at this point:

1. The proposal is declined by the sponsor. If this occurs we will work with you to obtain reviewer comments and help determine what the sponsor was looking for that we didn't provide. We will work with you to revise your proposal, incorporating the reviewer comments and resubmit.
2. The sponsor has additional questions or requirements prior to award. The National Institutes of Health require just-in-time documents, such as approved IRB or IACUC protocols. We are there with you in pulling these documents together. Other sponsors may request further justification or clarification. Again, we will be there to help in any way possible and get the information back to the sponsor.
3. Your proposal is funded.

If your proposal is funded, two scenarios are possible:

• You are funded at the rate requested. We will review the award documentation to ensure there are no troubling terms and conditions, such as limiting your academic freedom, and negotiate those out.
  Once we have a meeting of the minds with the sponsor, we obtain institutional signatures and issue a notice of grant award to almost everyone letting them know about your success. We ask the Business Office to establish a Banner account number where your award will be financially tracked and to which expenditures will be applied.
  We will arrange a time for a principal investigator (PI) orientation with you so that you will know how to administer your award. We will:

  • Give you a copy of our PI Handbook
  • Review your award documentation
  • Detail your reporting responsibilities and ensure you complete the necessary training, such as financial conflict of interest, and are aware of your responsibilities to students who might receive compensation on your award.

Now that you have an award, we help you navigate the administration of your award. All Business Office policies and procedures apply to your grant expenditures, with one exception: we approve expenses to ensure they are "allowable, allocable and reasonable." These terms relate to the cost principles, which can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations 2 CFR 200.400 and are applied to all externally funded programs.

The required forms and instructions for expending grant funds are located on the Business Office site and should be initiated with your departmental administrator much as any department expense would be initiated. OSP approves some expenses, and rather than your department account number, you use your grant's Banner account number.

If your program is not fully funded we will start the discussion with you about what portions of the scope of work need to be cut to match the reduction in funding. We will review the contract for troubling language and begin the negotiations with the sponsor to reduce your statement of work and remove troubling clauses.