The Proposal Development Process

To submit a proposal or application to an outside funding agency, it must be reviewed and approved by your Department, College/Division, Business Services, and the Provost, as well as by other offices or committees as determined by the activities contained within your project. This process is facilitated through the Institutional Review Sheet. To insure that everyone has the opportunity to review, comment on and provide substantive support for your project, the following steps should be followed:

Contact the Office of Sponsored Programs to (1) review your project, (2) discuss the prospective funder and review grant program guidelines, (3) identify review offices, and (4) establish your proposal development timeline.

Provide an early outline and then a well developed draft of your narrative and budget to your department chair or director, Dean or Vice President as soon as they are available so they know what you are planning to propose and can provide feedback on the scope of your project, the content of your proposal, and funds or other forms of support that may be available from the University.

Complete (type or ink) and sign the Institutional Review Sheet, leave Section C--Budget blank or complete in pencil.

Contact the offices and committees that will also need to review and sign-off on certain aspects of your project, learn what information they will need to provide it to them with the Institutional Review Sheet in sufficient time for them to review, sign and return it to you without significant impact of your proposal development timeline. These other offices and committees can include: (1) the Institutional Review Board for human Subject research (IRB), (2) the Committee on Laboratory Animal Welfare (CLAW), (3) Information Services or Instructional Research and Technology for computer lab or networking; (4) your Dean or Vice President or the Associate Vice President for Facilities for new or renovated offices or labs, Student Services for dormitory rooms, or the Registrar for classrooms; and your Dean or Vice President for new staff, consultants or release time . If faculty or staff from multiple departments will be used, a memo approving their name should be attached to the Institutional Review Sheet.

Prepare a review packet that includes a completed Institutional Review Sheet, a next-to-final draft of the narrative, a final budget and all pages that will require signatures.

Submit the review packet to your Department Chair or Director for review and signature.

Submit the review packet to your Dean or Assistant/Associate Vice President for review and signature.

Submit the review packet to the Office of Sponsored Programs for review and signature no less than 10 business days before the submission deadline. The OSP will prepare any cover letters or letters of support and coordinate the review by Business Services and the Provost's Office, and will obtain the appropriate Institutional signatures.

The OSP will work with you in assembling the final application package (final narrative, appendices, etc.) prepare photocopies for the application package, you, your Dean or Vice President, and others as needed, and will submit the proposal to the prospective funder.