SIUC SPONSORED PROJECT GUIDE

Section 5: Proposal Submission

5.1 Is the Grant Application Ready for Review?

The review/sign-off process applies to all grant/contract proposals. It also applies to preproposals or other preliminary grant applications, such as concept papers, if they involve budget figures or a commitment of University resources. Some noncompeting renewal grant applications also require sign-off, depending on agency requirements; check the program guidelines.

The principal investigator (PI) must complete the proposal, budget, and Proposal/Award Checklist before circulating the grant application for signatures. The checklist is a routing/signature form that records key information about the proposal. A few issues to be aware of:

Limited (restricted) proposal submissions: If the grant program you want to apply to limits the number of proposals or letters of intent it will accept from an institution, you should have submitted a Notification of Intent to Apply to a Grant Program form to ORDA 30 calendar days in advance of the deadline. See the policy on Limited Proposal Submissions. If the notification deadline passes but the agency's proposal limit has not been reached, proposals are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Put another way, there is no guarantee your proposal will be considered for submission unless you meet the 30-day deadline.
You must have approval from the Graduate School for any graduate student tuition/fee waivers associated with the project. (These are most often waivers for participants in training projects. Graduate assistants employed on a grant automatically receive tuition waivers.) Allow plenty of lead time—preferably a couple of weeks—to get Graduate School approval.
Research compliances: You must note on the Proposal/Award Checklist if the research involves human subjects, human stem cells, vertebrate animals, or hazardous materials (includes recombinant DNA). All such projects require internal review and approval. If a grant award is made for the project, a budget account cannot be established until all necessary approvals are obtained. Note that some agencies require approval before the proposal is submitted or before the award is made (the latter is the case with NIH and NSF). Read program guidelines carefully.
You must disclose on the checklist whether you or any project employee, or any member of your/their immediate family, has a financial interest in any business entity sponsoring the research. If so, you or the employee must fill out an Annual Disclosure of Proposed Non-University Activities and Financial Interests form and return it to ORDA with the proposal. Disclosures that indicate a potential conflict of interest are reviewed and must be approved, or safeguards agreed upon, before a grant can be accepted. More on conflict of interest...
Any SIUC match not included in the budget must be cited in the budget justification or the proposal narrative (e.g., in the Resources section). Also make sure you indicate the match on the Proposal/Award Checklist.

WHO SIGNS?

The Proposal/Award Checklist must be signed by the PI, by any co-principal investigators named on the project, and by the chairs and deans of any faculty and staff contributing time to the project before it can be signed at ORDA.
If the proposal involves SIUC contributions outside the department and college, the person with fiscal authority for the contribution also must sign the checklist. Exception: If the Vice Chancellor for Research makes a commitment of matching funds, he will sign the Matching Funds Request Form; to expedite matters, he does not sign the checklist.
ORDA provides the final review and the official institutional signature on the Proposal/Award Checklist and the application itself for all grant/contract proposals. See the Policy on Institutional Submission of Grant/Contract Proposals and Acceptance of Awards.

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5.2 Review by Chair and Dean

Review of the proposal by the department chair and college dean should be thorough, not perfunctory. If funds are awarded, the proposal will become a legally binding document, and its provisions will be subject to funding agency audit.

Allow sufficient lead time. ORDA recommends that the department chair review and forward the proposal to the dean's office at least two weeks prior to the date that the proposal must be mailed.

Department Chair's Review

The department chair's review and signature constitute departmental endorsement of all aspects of the proposal. The chair determines:

If the proposal activity is within the broad goals and scope of the department or center and academic discipline. (NOTE: This condition is not intended to infringe in any way on the academic freedom of the PI. It is intended to clarify that the proposed activity should contribute to the mission of the department/center and academic discipline and not interfere with the capacity of the department to meet its responsibilities to students.)

If the college and department can meet any obligations that the University may have to assume when the grant ends.

If the PI and the department have the ability to carry out the project successfully.

If salary arrangements for academic or summer support are reasonable and are not inflated by a higher-than-expected percentage.

If the amount of personnel effort that is contributed (cost-shared) by SIUC is reasonable for the size of the project and if the amount of effort meets departmental guidelines. Personnel effort cannot add up to more than 100% for all activities—research, teaching, and service. Both the PI and the department chair should be familiar with cost-sharing guidelines.
If the personnel, matching funds, and facilities for the activity, based upon the budget and budget narrative, are adequate and meet departmental guidelines.
If there is adequate space available for the project.

Dean's Review

The dean acts upon recommendations of the department chair regarding use of space and facilities in the department. The dean's review determines:

If the proposal activity meets the goals and is within the scope of the college. (NOTE: This condition is not intended to infringe in any way on the academic freedom of the PI. It is intended to clarify that the proposed activity should contribute to the mission of the college and not interfere with the capacity of the college to meet its responsibilities to students.)
If the budget, salary, and employment of present or proposed personnel are appropriate for the college.
If the college and department can meet any obligations that the University may have to assume when the grant ends.

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5.3 ORDA Proposal Submission Policy

Signature Authority

Grant proposals and awards are processed through the Office of Research Development and Administration. (See the policy on Institutional Submission of Grant/Contract Application and Acceptance of Awards.) All grant proposals, whether electronic or hard-copy, must be reviewed and approved by ORDA before going to the funding agency. Only the ORDA director or a designee has institutional signature authority for the grant application.

Even when a funding agency's electronic system gives principal investigators (PIs) the authority to submit their own proposals, for legal reasons ORDA approval is required first. Likewise, proposals that do not require an institutional signature still must be approved by ORDA before the PI submits the proposal to the agency. This is also the case when SIUC is a subcontractor with another institution.

ORDA Deadlines

Once you know you will be submitting a proposal, notify the ORDA staff person assigned to your department/college at least a week in advance of the agency deadline. If the proposal is to a limited-submission program, notification is 30 days in advance of the agency deadline; see www.siu.edu/orda/general/limited.html.
Completed electronic proposals must be printed out and brought for ORDA review at least one working day in advance of the agency deadline. Allowing two or more days is strongly recommended; see the first two notes in section 5.4 below. A completed proposal includes the proposal narrative, budget, agency forms, and fully signed Proposal/Award Checklist.

ORDA cannot guarantee that the proposal will be submitted if you do not meet this deadline. Last-minute submissions can overload the funding agency's system, and may result in incomplete information being submitted and a whole host of other problems. ORDA cannot be held responsible in these situations.
Completed nonelectronic (hard-copy) proposals must be brought for ORDA review one working day in advance of the agency mailing deadline if all you need is proposal review and sign-off (see section 5.5 below). If you want ORDA to handle the photocopying and mailing of the proposal as well, bring it two working days in advance.

Funding agencies assume a proposal has had adequate review and approval before the institution submits it. Proposals written haphazardly and without adequate review reflect unfavorably on the PI and the institution. When a researcher brings a proposal too late for adequate review, the director of ORDA may agree to sign the proposal to meet the agency deadline but reserves the right to withdraw it from agency consideration if it is found not to meet University guidelines and standards.

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5.4 Special Notes on Electronic Proposal Submission

We can't say it enough: Allow plenty of lead time. When a federal agency begins implementing Grants.gov, or a state or private agency begins implementing its own electronic system, proposal submission can be a headache until the agency has the bugs worked out. Also, ORDA may have to develop new procedures required by the agency's process. We recommend contacting your ORDA project specialist as soon as you know that you will have to submit part or all of a proposal electronically, unless you have submitted electronically to that agency before.

Likewise, the most common pitfall with electronic proposal submissions is bringing them in for signature at the last minute. We advise that you make your electronic application available to your ORDA project specialist for troubleshooting at least a couple of days in advance of the agency deadline (the earlier the better). That allows the project specialist to check for missing or inaccurate information and gives you time to make the necessary changes. Meeting ORDA's one-day submission policy for completed applications is essential.

Allow time for the funding agency to process your registration if required. Some agencies are taking up to two days to process researchers' registrations.

The federal government has mandated that all federal grant-making agencies will eventually accept electronic proposals via Grants.gov, a centralized system. At the moment, some federal agencies are using Grants.gov, some are using their own electronic proposal submissions systems, and some are using both. Our Proposal Assistance page has submission guidelines for Grants.gov, NSF's FastLane system, and the Department of Education's e-Grants system. If you plan to apply for an NSF grant but do not have an NSF password, call ORDA (453-4540).
NSF FastLane: If a proposal is to be submitted via NSF FastLane, the PI must give ORDA access to the proposal and permission to submit it. The PI is responsible for uploading the narrative into the FastLane system and completing the forms. ORDA can make minor last-minute changes if the PI uses the "SPO edit" feature. See our FastLane summary guidelines page.
Grants.gov: Grants.gov proposals and other e-grant submissions that require ORDA uploading should be either e-mailed or brought to ORDA on an external memory device. The proposal should be complete, including the forms and budget. PIs must follow agency submission guidelines when compiling the documents. See our Grants.gov summary guidelines page.
Other electronic submissions: Contact your ORDA project specialist for guidance. Remember, even when the agency gives PIs the authority to submit their own proposals, ORDA approval is required first.

5.5 ORDA Review and Submission

In submitting grant proposals to ORDA, be sure to adhere to the deadlines listed above. Here's what ORDA will review and the procedures we will follow.

Your ORDA project specialist reviews the final budget to ensure that it is accurate and that the correct fringe benefits and F&A rates have been used. (Remember that project specialists will discuss budget needs and review draft budgets upon request. This can prevent last-minute problems during proposal review.)
He or she reviews the budget narrative and other parts of the proposal to ensure that the proposal conforms with University and agency policies.
He or she will check that any SIUC match not itemized in the budget is cited in the budget justification or in the proposal narrative (such as the resources page). This is an important requirement, and any matching funds for the grant from the Vice Chancellor for Research could be rescinded if it is not met.
He or she reviews the Proposal/Award Checklist pages, including the appropriate signatures from chairs and deans, and checks compliance statements to ensure that appropriate regulatory committees (e.g., human subjects, animal care, etc.) have reviewed and approved the proposed research where necessary or that the review is pending.
With electronic applications, the agency usually requires the PI to fill in information for necessary forms, such as assurances, budget forms, and cover sheet, as part of the online application package. For nonelectronic proposal submissions, the PI will have to prepare hard-copy forms, or in some cases get copies of forms from ORDA. If you need guidance, please call your ORDA research project specialist. Institutional identification numbers are available in section 4.1 of this guide.

As mentioned in section 5.4, proposal submission can be jeopardized when an application is brought to ORDA with missing or inaccurate information. We do not want to see anyone's proposal miss the agency deadline. Consequently, although we require only one day of lead time, we strongly recommend that you give your ORDA project specialist access to the application two or more days in advance of the agency deadline. This allows time for him/her to troubleshoot the application and gives you time to remedy any problems.
After review, the ORDA director provides the official institutional signature on the Proposal/Award Checklist and the grant application itself.
For electronic proposal submissions, ORDA either "pushes the button" to submit the proposal or authorizes the PI to do the same. Which party submits the application depends on how the agency's electronic system is set up. For legal reasons, PIs are not to submit proposals without ORDA authorization.
For nonelectronic proposal submissions, ORDA photocopies and mails the proposal if you give us two working days of lead time. Otherwise, photocopying and mailing are your responsibility as PI. Note: Campus Mail's daily delivery time to the Carbondale post office is 3:30 p.m.
- The PI is responsible for copying materials other than those explicitly required by the funding agency, such as reprints and extensive appendices of supplementary information.
- ORDA will pay first-class postage for the application, but the PI must foot the bill if expedited mailing is required.
- ORDA will mail the PI and department chair a copy of the proposal for his/her files.

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5.6 Proposal Revision and Resubmission

Many faculty and staff with an excellent record of grant funding did not succeed on their first, second, or even third attempts. Rejections can seem devastating, but they can be used as a valuable learning opportunity.

See Proposal-Writing Tips for some good information about the agency review process. If your proposal is turned down by a funding agency, request the reviewers' comments and seek feedback from the program officer. If the agency discourages resubmission, consider finding an alternative funding source or modifying your project idea or approach. The program officer, your colleagues, and ORDA's project specialists may be able to give you suggestions in this regard.

If the agency is encouraging about resubmission, your chances of success on a second go-round are good. Respond specifically to reviewers' comments in the narrative of the revised proposal. Point out changes made to strengthen the proposal in the areas judged to be weak, and clarify information that may have been misinterpreted in the initial review. You can further help your cause by working closely with the program officer, being willing to rethink aspects of the project based on the agency's feedback, and being as objective as possible in revising the proposal.

ORDA's project specialists can familiarize you with agency review processes and give you specific advice about revising your proposal. They also can suggest ways to tailor a proposal to the needs and interests of an alternative sponsor. Reworking a proposal and resubmitting it, either to the original agency or to a different one, often results in a funded project.

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Questions/comments about the Sponsored Project Guide? Contact Marilyn Davis
Office of Research Development and Administration
Southern Illinois University Carbondale

last updated 05/19/08