MEMORANDUM

DATE April 1, 1998

TO: Principal Investigators, Deans/Heads/Chairs

FROM: F. W. Byron, Jr.

Vice Chancellor for Research

RE: Proposal Submission - Office of Grant & Contract Administration (OGCA)

With the spring semester (and proposal writing) well underway, I would like to take this opportunity to review some of the current procedures necessary to facilitate campus proposal review as well as introduce some new guidelines for proposal submission. The proposal review process carried out in OGCA is a combination of services related to submission of proposals as well as an institutional review to assure compliance with University and sponsor policies. Some of the service related aspects of proposal submission include: compliance with sponsor guidelines, review of budgets for mathematical errors/omissions, correcting budget forms, filling out and signing sponsor certification forms, photocopying and mailing proposals. Review for compliance with University and sponsor policies may include:

Confirmation of matching commitments/cost-sharing documentation provided by PI's.

Regulatory compliance regarding use of human subjects, animals, toxic substances, radio isotopic and hazardous materials.

Consistency and accuracy in pricing, including proper application of indirect costs, fringe benefits and salary rates.

Conflict of Interest assurance.

Acceptability of Terms and Conditions in Federal RFPs.

Assuring departmental and college support with regard to space, time and effort, and concurrence with programmatic focus.

Confirmation of proper documentation for significant third party commitments other than cost sharing.

For a long time now OGCA has requested five or more working days lead-time on proposal submissions prior to deadlines in order to provide adequate proposal review. Of late, there has been significant disregard for this review period with a large number of proposals received with less than 48-hour lead-time. Failure to allow for these reviews has a number of consequences particularly at the time of award. Many sponsors will summarily disqualify applications that do not strictly adhere to application guidelines and inaccurate costing may lead to under-estimating true costs, inadequate cost sharing, and disallowance of expenses. Finally, there is the possibility that not adhering to regulatory compliance policies could result in a penalty to the whole institution.

As a result of the slippage with regard to adequate lead-time, OGCA has been experiencing intense deadline pressures (up to 50 proposals may be submitted for certain competitions). In order to address this pressure I have, in consultation with the Research Council, directed OGCA to operate under the following guidelines:

Proposals received with at least five or more working days to submission deadline will be reviewed for full institutional and sponsor compliance, along with minor correcting, copying and submission services. OGCA will attempt to turn around all submissions within five working days regardless of time to deadline.
Proposals received with three to five working day lead-time will be reviewed for institutional policy compliance only. Responsibility for sponsor guideline compliance, making changes and providing camera-ready copy within 24 hours of deadline, reverts to the PI.
Proposals received with two working days' notice will be reviewed, as in Category II, for institutional policy compliance only, and the investigator will do all corrections, copying and submission. (Two copies of completed proposal to be provided to OGCA soon thereafter.)
Proposals received with less than two working days' notice will be treated as in Category III and not be held up, but might be accompanied by a disclaimer letter to the agency stating that OGCA had insufficient time to review the proposal.

Working with these guidelines, the OGCA is eager to serve the needs of faculty investigators in the development and submission of grant proposals. All investigators are encouraged to contact OGCA as soon as they are committed to a submission deadline, in order to coordinate activities. For a vast majority of campus principal investigators who do provide adequate lead-time there should be little change. It is also expected that the soon to be implemented on-line grant management system (GAMS) will also allow for shorter lead times in the future. If there are any questions regarding these new guidelines or if you require additional services in the identification of sponsoring programs, development of budgets, or editing of proposals, please contact Bruce McCandless at 5-5283 or mccandless@ora.umass.edu.