GRANTS & CONTRACTS

The Regional Services Institute maintains application forms and a file of grant information. The Regional Services Institute staff and the Vice President for Administration and Finance assist faculty writing grants with the development of budgets and completing the sometimes complex Federal and State application forms. Faculty who are writing grants may be able to save time and effort by contacting these offices early in the planning stages.

To expedite the approval of grant applications through the School and unit offices, the Administration and Finance Office and the Office of the President (grants usually must be processed within a limited time period to meet granting agency deadlines), the following procedures must be adhered to:

Pre-Grant Process

• A faculty member who intends to make application for a grant should contact the Dean of the School or unit administrator to discuss her/his interest.
• The Dean of the School or unit administrator will make the initial decision about whether the faculty member has adequate time to complete the grant application and carry out the project and whether the program proposal meets faculty, institutional or other needs, then deciding whether to provide initial authorization to proceed with the application.
• The Dean of the School will advise the Provost that a grant application is being prepared, the granting agency's deadline date, and the general nature of the proposal.
• Upon receiving authorization from the Dean of the School or unit administrator to proceed with the grant application, the faculty member will make an appointment with the Vice President for Administration and Finance or the Regional Services Institute staff to review the guidelines which apply and for assistance in developing a project budget.

Application Process

• The faculty member completing the application will prepare an institutional Proposal Cover Sheet form. The form may be obtained from the School and unit office or the Office of the Vice President for Administration and Finance. The Proposal Cover Sheet is to be attached to the proposal and should be filled out completely and signed by the Dean of the School or unit administrator, the Provost, and the Vice President for Administration and Finance prior to submitting the proposal to the President for his action. The Business Manager may approve the project budget in the absence of the Vice President for Administration and Finance. In the absence of both the Vice President for Administration and Finance and the Business Manager, the Director of Regional Services Institute may approve the project budget. The Provost may approve an application in the absence of the President but will do so only if he is aware that the President has prior knowledge of the grant application and approves.
• Adequate time should be allowed for the President to review the grant application prior to submission. If a faculty member follows the pre-grant procedures as outlined, the President will be aware that a grant is being prepared for submission and the purpose of the grant so that there will be no delays in obtaining final approval.
• The President will return the approved grant application to the faculty member submitting. The Proposal Cover Sheet and one copy of the grant application will be retained for filing in the Budget Office.
• In the unlikely event that a grant is disapproved locally, reasons will be provided in writing to the faculty member who submitted the grant. Timely submission to allow all parties involved ample time to review the application is critical.

Funded Grants

• The President is normally notified that a grant has been funded. Upon receiving notification of funding approval, he will notify the faculty member submitting the grant application and the Vice President for Administration and Finance. The Vice President for Administration and Finance is responsible for seeing that all other interested parties are notified, including: the Provost, the Dean of the School, unit administrator and the Communications and Marketing, and that a copy of the approved proposal and the award document is provided the Budget Officer.
• The faculty member who will be responsible for grant activities will prepare for the Budget Officer a project calendar which details when periodic and final progress and fiscal reports must be submitted to the funding agency. Copies of Granting Agency fiscal reporting forms must be obtained, if not already available in the Administration and Finance Office, and provided to the Budget Officer.
• The Vice President for Administration and Finance and the Budget Officer will review the award document and project budget with the principal investigator when an account number is requested.
• Copies of progress and final reports must be submitted to the President and Dean of the School or unit administrator for review.
• The principal investigator must provide copies of all reports to the Budget Officer for the audit file.

[Responsible for Accuracy: Darlene Morgan, Vice President for Administration and Finance - Last Verified: 7/13/00]