Here's a piece of this that we don't talk about. The research admin front-line staff are just as likely to subvert this process as are the PIs. We have a 5-day rule. We break the rule ourselves ALL THE TIME - and I would argue that leaning toward faculty support/research support rather than rule enforcement is the way to go.
The way I know front-line staff ignore the rule is that I did it when I had that job and I know my staff do it too. They know their faculty. They know who can be trusted with more "rope," if you will - and who needs to be kept on top of at all costs lest a deadline be missed.
So, yes - have a policy. And just know that it is largely unenforceable - at least in my experience. Here's what I DO tell faculty and administration. You're going to get less help from us than if you had gotten in line in the more traditional way. The reason we HAVE the rule is so that you (the faculty) can have time to access all the help we can provide. If a proposal gets submitted and we discover later that we can't implement it the way the PI prepared it, we absolutely will withdraw the proposal from the sponsor's consideration. (I don't think I've ever had to do this.)
And, a failed proposal because of deadline issues should come as a surprise to no one. If a faculty member is just not sending us documents and the deadline is alarming us, as Director, I write a non-shaming but clear letter to the PI, Chair, Dean, and VPR documenting the risk the PI is assuming and asking that group to think about additional support that might be required to get the required documents to us. When -as is almost always the case- the documents then do appear, I close the communication loop by telling everyone that there was a successful submission. Or that there wasn't, but that's only happened a time or two. So, to this end, a standard component of our staff meetings is "who's inside the 5-day window? Should I be alarmed? Is it time for the email?"
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Andrea Buford
Director, Office of Sponsored Programs
Oakland University
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-19-2022 10:03
From: Amy Moakley
Subject: Last minute proposal requests
Hello -
We are having an increasing number of last minute requests for proposals with sometimes less than a day's notice which does not give proper time for review and routing. We are wondering how other organizations handle this and if you have a lead time requirement for proposal submissions. If so, what are your requirements? What are the repercussions if a PI submits a proposal after the internal deadline?
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Amy Moakley
Research Information Coordinator
University of Oklahom
amymoakley@ou.edu
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