Our institution has no internal deadline for proposals of any kind, but then we don't provide mailing services.  The PI must either do it or make arrangements for someone else to do it.  Our institution would not support an internal deadline, and if I insisted, I would be left twisting in the wind.

As for Fastlane, we had an experience that really could be viewed as a good thing coming from a bad thing.  In the submission of a proposal to the MRI program, a PI waited too late and was unable to submit the proposal because the server was busy and he was unable to fill out the forms on line.  We tried until an hour after the deadline, but could not get access to Fastlane.

I had communicated with him for 2-3 months prior that he needed to start early and not depend on being able to get things done the last day.  He assured me that he understood and was on it.

I use him as an example (unnamed, of course) whenever I talk with people about Fastlane.  We had that ITR noon deadline, too, and was ready to submit by 9 am.

Sally

Sally Eckert-Tilotta, Ph.D., Associate Director
Office of Research & Program Development
University of North Dakota
PO Box 7134
Grand Forks, ND  58202
Tel:  701-777-2049
Fax:  701-777-2504
Email:  xxxxxx@mail.und.nodak.edu

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