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Procedures for the Submission of Proposals

7.2 Materials Required for Review

In addition to a DSS and any additional required internal forms and/or permissions, a complete application includes any and all materials in final format required by the sponsor’s guidelines for the submission.

Because the actual proposal development and submission process can take days, weeks and even months, we recommend that the PI contact OSP very early in the process, so a Sponsored Projects Officer can help facilitate the overall process. Some sponsors do not require an authorized signature or require the proposal be submitted through an authorized institutional representative however University policy still requires that OSP review the proposal prior to submission.

The primary reasons for this are:

  • To assist the Principal Investigator(s) in creating and submitting a proposal that is within sponsor guidelines including: assistance with an appropriate and accurate budget, assistance with format, to ensure that the proposal is complete and that it represents the University and the investigator in a positive way.
  • That the award is made to the University, not to the principal investigator (PI), and therefore OSP has the legal and fiduciary responsibility to ensure that all University, sponsor, state and federal regulations, laws, and policies are met.

This may at times seems "bureaucratic" but is designed to protect both the individuals and the institutions involved over the long term.

5-Day Grant Submission Deadline

Because of the volume of proposals and the technical and administrative requirements that increase the processing time for each application, the University requires that a complete and final proposal be submitted to OSP five (5) business days prior to the sponsor’s submission deadline. This ensures adequate time for a thorough review and the signature process.

Proposals that are incomplete or contain inappropriate information or which do not follow University policies or procedure will need to be corrected and resubmitted to OSP before the proposal may be sent to the sponsoring agency.

Proposals that are given to OSP with less than five working days jeopardize a thorough review and risk: being rejected by the sponsor for incomplete or improper information and/or format; or simply outright failure of proposal submissions.

Last Updated: 12/1/22