ORDA FAQs
- Why are offices like ORDA needed? What does ORDA do, anyway?
- How can I contact ORDA?
- Which ORDA staff member works with my college?
- What are ORDA's deadlines for submitting grant proposals?
- Where can I find information about grant data and listings of awards?
- How can I find grants to support my research?
- Who's responsible for what steps in writing and submitting grant applications?
- Does ORDA provide any assistance in preparing grant budgets?
- Why are indirect costs charged on grants?
- What is human subjects compliance?
- How do I get my new grant geared up? My department doesn't have staff to help with fiscal paperwork.
- How do I extend the end date of my award?
- What should I do if I think my research may be leading to something patentable?
- My graduate students need an introduction to grant writing. Can ORDA help with this?
- Are there resources for undergraduates interested in research?
- Where can I get large-format posters printed for research conferences?
Why are offices like ORDA needed? What does ORDA do, anyway?
All research universities have a central office to oversee sponsored projects (grants and contracts). Grants and contracts are legal agreements for which each university's governing board is liable; consequently, one office on campus is designated to submit grant proposals and accept grant awards on faculty members' behalf. At SIUC, that office is ORDA. Central oversight also is needed to make sure that grants and other research activities comply with federal, state, and University regulations and policies. This "compliance burden" on universities is ever-growing, and irregularities have caused serious problems in recent years for institutions ranging from the University of Minnesota to Johns Hopkins.
ORDA's activities are broader than those of many sponsored project offices. Besides the usual assistance provided to researchers in finding grant opportunities, submitting grant proposals, administering grant awards, and overseeing compliances, we also administer internal funding programs for faculty, an undergraduate research program, several centralized research support facilities, and a technology transfer program. See our About ORDA page, which lists our services to the campus community and has a directory of staff contacts.
How can I contact ORDA?
By phone: 618/453-4540
By fax: 618/453-8038
By e-mail: orda@siu.edu
By campus mail: Mail Code 4709
In person: Woody Hall C-206
Which ORDA staff member works with my college?
We urge all faculty and staff to get acquainted with the ORDA research project specialist who works with their college on proposal submission and grant management. See our directory. This directory also lists ORDA staff you may need to contact for other research- or grant-related matters. We also recommend that you let Joel Fritzler, our information specialist, know what your research interests are; he'll keep an eye out for funding opportunities that may interest you.
What are ORDA's deadlines for submitting grant proposals?
They are given in our Proposal Submission Policy.
Where can I find information about grant data and listings of awards?
Listings of individual grant awards may be found via the Award Listings link on the Reports and Publications menu. Grant fiscal-year totals and breakdowns may be found via the Fiscal-Year Data link on the same menu.
How can I find grants to support my research?
- If you're new to campus, you may first want to try getting a Faculty Seed Grant to fund pilot work.
- Send information about your research interests to Joel Fritzler, our information specialist. Joel will keep an eye out for grant program announcements that may be of interest to you.
- Create a profile and sign up for individualized funding alerts on the Community of Science grants database, which SIUC subscribes to. COS covers all disciplines, not just science.
- For federal grants, do a search on Grants.gov, the federal government's centralized web portal for grant programs.
- Check the grant programs and deadlines listed in ORDA's monthly newsletter, Research Matters.
- Check out the funding agency links on our External Funding web pages.
- Talk to your colleagues, department chair, or associate dean for research about possible grant opportunities.
- Sign up for agency funding listservs and SIUC listservs related to your research.
Who's responsible for what steps in writing and submitting grant applications?
As the principal investigator for the prospective grant, you are responsible for writing the proposal, developing the budget, and lining up any cost sharing or other institutional commitments to the project. ORDA can give you guidance on proposal and budget preparation if you contact us early enough. We also have resources online to help you plan your grant project, write the proposal, and prepare the budget (see Proposal Assistance).
When the proposal is finished, you are responsible for filling out the Proposal/Award Checklist, obtaining the signatures of your department chair and dean, and bringing the checklist and proposal to ORDA at least one working day before the submission deadline in the case of an electronic submission (more lead time is recommended) or two working days in the case of a nonelectronic submission.
ORDA reviews the final budget for accuracy and makes sure the grant application conforms with agency and University policy. We provide the final institutional signature. If the proposal is a nonelectronic submission and you have met the two-day deadline, we prepare necessary agency forms for you and photocopy and mail the proposal (unless you prefer to mail it yourself).
See The Proposal Process: A Start-to-Finish Outline, section 3.1 of our Sponsored Project Guide. Also see section 5, Proposal Submission.
Does ORDA provide any assistance in preparing grant budgets?
Our Sponsored Project Guide has a detailed section on budget preparation. One-on-one help is available as well: if you contact your ORDA project specialist in advance of the proposal deadline, he or she will be happy to walk you through the budget process or discuss the areas you're unsure about. We have available a Budget Planning Form that you should fill out before you meet with us. We also have available a Budget Spreadsheet (Excel file) that you can use as a template for preparing your budget, along with instructions. Fringe benefit rates and the standard indirect cost rate are already built in to the spreadsheet. You may need other rates, such as graduate assistant stipend rates for your college; see our Rates and Forms page. ORDA will review draft budgets on request, and we review the final budget before the proposal is submitted to the funding agency.
Why are indirect costs charged on grants?
All research institutions have an indirect costs assessment on grants (called "facilities and administrative costs"—F&A—by the federal government). This covers the overhead involved in administering sponsored projects--from library costs, to personnel costs involved in processing grant-related paperwork, to heating/cooling/lighting of the labs and offices used for grant projects. In practice, most universities, including SIUC, subsidize some of these overhead costs so that a portion of the recovered indirect can be used to support research activities on campus, such as seed grant programs, travel funds, and college/departmental research support. Any waiver of indirect means that the institution is subsidizing more of the project than it otherwise would. F&A rates are set by the federal government. SIUC's rates are lower than those of most comparable research institutions, which may run to 60% or more.
What is human subjects compliance?
Any research, grant-funded or otherwise, that directly or indirectly involves human subjects must be approved in advance and monitored by the University for adherence to ethical standards. This is a federal requirement. The definition of human subjects research is very broad, including not just medical trials and other experiments but also surveys, questionnaires, field work, and collection or study of existing data, documents, records, pathological specimens, or diagnostic specimens. See the Human Subjects web pages for guidance.
What happens if your research requires human subjects approval but you don't get that approval? If you're a faculty member, you are jeopardizing future funding for yourself and possibly for your SIUC colleagues; you also are potentially inviting a lawsuit from the affected parties. If you're a student, your thesis or dissertation based on your research may not be accepted and you will not be able to graduate. If you have any doubt about whether you need approval, contact the Human Subjects office at ORDA, 453-4533 or siuhsc@siu.edu. They will be happy to work with you.
How do I get my new grant geared up? My department doesn't have staff to help with fiscal paperwork.
First, make sure you send the award notice to ORDA so that we can review the award agreement and get an account set up for the grant. When you are notified that the account has been set up, acquaint yourself with Grant Survival! How to Spend Your Money Without Losing Your Mind, a quick introduction to the most common types of hiring procedures and purchasing transactions on grants. This intro will refer you to more detail when needed, or see the sections on Hiring and Purchasing in ORDA's online Sponsored Project Guide. You also can call the accountant assigned to your grant at Grant & Contract Accounting, 6-2351, for guidance.
How do I extend the end date of my award?
It depends on the type of award. For fixed-fee awards, which don't require agency notification of a project extension, ORDA handles the first requested extension to assure that any obligations ("deliverables"), such as research reports, have been met. After that, you can simply contact your accountant at Grant & Contract Accounting for any desired annual extensions.
For other types of grant/contract awards, the extension is handled through ORDA. Call the ORDA project specialist assigned to your college for assistance.
What should I do if I think my research may be leading to something patentable?
Contact Jeff Myers, ORDA's technology transfer specialist. He will help you determine when to make an intellectual property disclosure to the University and give you advice about protecting potential patent rights. Our tech transfer services include working with you and with patent attorneys to protect your intellectual property and/or identify potential industry licensees. For more information, read Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer: An Overview on our Technology Transfer website.
My graduate students need an introduction to grant writing. Can ORDA help with this?
Yes. We offer a Grant Writing for Graduate Students workshop each semester; look for announcements on ORDA's home page and flyers in departments. We also conduct workshops for colleges, departments, or classes on request, both for graduate students and for faculty. Finally, our Grant Funding for Graduate Students brochure is available online and as a print publication; call ORDA for copies.
Are there resources for undergraduates interested in research?
ORDA coordinates REACH, the University's undergraduate research program. A small-grant program is part of REACH, as is a Research Forum held each spring semester. Check the REACH website for details. That site also lists other on- and off-campus research opportunities for undergraduates, including undergraduate assistantships. Undergrads who are from certain underrepresented groups also may be eligible for SIUC's McNair Scholars Program, which has a research component and helps prepare undergraduates for graduate school.