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  • 1.  Last minute proposal requests

    Posted 05-19-2022 10:03

    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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  • 2.  RE: Last minute proposal requests

    Posted 05-19-2022 11:54
    This is something that is always an issue in our field.  Final documents are due to us 5 business days in advance of the agency due date.  We'll accept a final draft narrative and final budget without other docs like biosketches, but we have to at least have a draft narrative where changes that may occur will not impact the budget.  There are some people who meet the deadline, but no one ever has everything final by that date.  We route and approve the narrative and final budget.  We communicate in emails if we don't have final documents and let them know that missing the internal deadline makes it less likely that their proposal will be submitted with a thorough review.  They get a more cursory review the later they submit past the internal deadline.  And depending on some systems, submitting on the day of could be problematic.  We just did a proposal and the guidelines said not to wait until the day of because the system slows down with people trying to submit at the same time.  We managed to do it the day before.  They had missed the deadline but we were able to get it done.

    It really helps if you have the deans/chairs/other administrators to support you.  Less than a day's notice? I refuse to work on it.  It's my name as the authorized institutional official that has to sign off on it and if I don't feel I have enough time to properly pull it together, get it routed and approved by the necessary signatories, AND do a review, I won't submit.  So far my supervisors have backed my decision.

    Are you AIO or do you work with the AIO?  I'd be concerned about turning around proposals in a day or so and would be careful of signing off on something that last minute.  Sometimes people say it's for a small amount of money, so...  But those can be the ones that take up the most time.  If it's international in nature, there are additional issues to consider.  Bottom line, I think your office should be able to determine what they can and can't do within reasonable time limits.  Rushed proposals like that can become post-award nightmares.  That's my 2 cents.

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    Audrey Wineglass Foster
    Assistant Dean for OSP + Research Svcs
    Gallaudet University
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  • 3.  RE: Last minute proposal requests

    RISING STAR CONTRIBUTOR
    Posted 05-19-2022 11:56
    Hi,

    Here at UC Irvine, we have a policy that requires proposals to be submitted to the Sponsored Projects office 5 days in advance of the submission deadline - meaning it has to go through all the departmental review & approvals first, before reaching Sponsored Projects, 5 days before the deadline. The policy also states that if there is a late submission and/or insufficient time to review, we will still submit, but will conduct an "after the fact" review and hold the right to withdraw the submission if needed.

    The campus has generally been very good at adhering to the 5 day lead time.

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    Jonathan Lew
    ERA Officer
    University of California, Irvine
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  • 4.  RE: Last minute proposal requests

    Posted 05-19-2022 12:04
    We will do that, too, but haven't made it policy.  Great point.

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    Audrey Wineglass Foster
    Assistant Dean for OSP + Research Svcs
    Gallaudet University
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  • 5.  RE: Last minute proposal requests

    STAR CONTRIBUTOR
    Posted 05-19-2022 12:09
    Ah, the age old problem!  I've been in the field a long time, and I always say that if I solved the last-minute proposal issue, I'd have been able to retire comfortably by now.

    Like most of you, all of the places I have worked usually submit the proposal with a minimal review.  I always indicate that we will review after the submission and will withdraw the proposal if needed. You need this to ensure that late submissions are not a reward... the "hey, I don't have to go through all those reviews" carrot!

    Ironically, years ago, I had a faculty member tell me he never submitted early because his proposals were always in good shape.  He told me this as he sat at my admin assistant's desk correcting something I'd found in his proposal.

    I am not the authorized official, but he does support our attempts to allow for more review time.  He's still fairly new, and of course we have to navigate the other side of the coin that doesn't want to discourage submissions, but we are working on it.

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    Pamela Vargas
    Director, Research & Grant Development
    Southeast Missouri State University
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  • 6.  RE: Last minute proposal requests

    Posted 05-20-2022 08:29
    Like Pam and some others, we have a "policy" about having completed proposals 5 business days before the deadline.  I use the word policy loosely, of course.  We also advise faculty that if they give us the documents with fewer than 5 days then we will not be able to give it a thorough review and even though we will submit it, it runs the risk of being withdrawn if it is found to have a risk to the university.  Have we ever withdrawn an proposal?  Not that I can recall (20+ years).   Our VPR is very supportive and if we have missed a deadline due to incomplete documents, etc. he has our back.  We preach it but, unfortunately it does sometimes miss the mark.


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    Colette Solpietro
    Senior Assistant Director, Office of Research Services
    Texas Tech University
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  • 7.  RE: Last minute proposal requests

    SUPERSTAR CONTRIBUTOR
    Posted 05-20-2022 09:41
    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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  • 8.  RE: Last minute proposal requests

    Posted 05-20-2022 09:49
    Raising my hand as, yes, I'm guilty.  You've said it so well here.

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    Audrey Wineglass Foster
    Assistant Dean for OSP + Research Svcs
    Gallaudet University
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  • 9.  RE: Last minute proposal requests

    STAR CONTRIBUTOR
    Posted 05-20-2022 09:59

    Excellent points, Andrea.  And yes, I am also guilty!

     

    I've also said repeatedly as well that an experienced and successful PI can afford to submit closer to the deadline.  Someone inexperienced and/or who has had little success in getting funded needs to allow more time for reviews.

     

    In the end, though, we want to be helpful, or we probably wouldn't be in this career.

     

    Sent from Mail for Windows