Re: submission policy Linda Campbell 23 Jan 2004 14:57 EST
Elsa, We're a very small and very centralized combined pre-/post award office [a total of 3 FTE staff] and a rapidly increasing number of proposal submissions. No assistance is available at the department level for budgets, etc. Last fall I sent an email to all faculty asking them to 1) contact me as soon as they know they want to submit a proposal and 2) to submit completed proposals to us 3 days in advance of the deadline. I explained that we now frequently have multiple proposal submissions for the same deadline and that if everyone waits until the last minute we might be unable to accommodate someone. Proposals submitted less than 3 days before the deadline will be processed on a time-available basis. While we'll still do all we can to make certain the proposal is submitted, I can't guarantee that we'll make the deadline. I've had a tremendously positive response to the first request. Compliance with the actual 3 days in advance request is spotty. The faculty understand the rationale behind my request. They just have problems (for various reasons) in complying. As long as they understand the potential consequences, there's not much else I can do. The reality is we've never missed a deadline due to a last minute submission. Our "record" for a last minute electronic submission was 90 seconds before the deadline. The professor was standing next to me as I submitted it and he looked like he would pass out when it took the system longer than he thought it should to acknowledge receipt and time stamp the application. I laughingly told him that in the future it would be helpful if "we" gave ourselves more time. Since my hair already is gray, the only option left is for it to fall out, and my head is far too lumpy to successfully carry off that "look." He left my office promising never, ever do to cut it that close to a deadline agin. Since he hasn't submitted any proposals recently, I can't tell you whether the impact was long-term or only temporary. Linda Linda Campbell Director of Sponsored Projects Santa Clara University 500 El Camino Real Santa Clara, CA 95053-0250 phone: 408.554.4408 fax: 408.554.2389 email: xxxxxx@scu.edu >>> xxxxxx@HSC.WVU.EDU 1/23/04 7:12:21 AM >>> Hello, all, I have some questions that have arisen lately because of our sponsored programs office's policy of requiring five working days to process proposals. 1. How many days of lead time prior to an agency deadline do you require to process a proposal? 2. Do you have a written policy? [If you have such a policy, is it on your Web site?... I have searched several research office Web pages and do not find any policies of this nature.] and related questions: 1. What do you do if a PI fails to submit a proposal to your office in a timely manner: 2. Have you ever failed to submit a proposal because your office did not have the stated time for processing? 3. If yes, how many? Thanks for any responses. I will create a table for distribution (# of days, policy, Web site for policy, etc.) Elsa Nadler Elsa G. Nadler Grants Manager Department of Community Medicine 1 Medical Center Drive PO Box 9190 West Virginia University Morgantown, WV 26506-9190 Tel: 304/293-3546 Fax: 304/293-6685 ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ====================================================================== ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ======================================================================