We just implemented new rules at our institution.   Despite having a 5 day/10 day guideline in place we were receiving 52% of proposals on the sponsor due date leaving us very little time (sometimes 2-3 minutes) to actually review and submit a proposal.  This obviously led to errors and late submissions.

We moved to a 1 day / 3 day deadline. (1 day for less complex R03, R21, R01, etc. and 3 days for higher complexity such as U's, Fed contracts.)  We also allow the PI's to send us the 3 science attachments (abstract, aims, strategy) up to 5 hours before the deadline.  It gives us enough room for error check.

The "teeth":  If the PIs miss our internal deadline then they must obtain written approval from their chairs for Sponsored Research to submit the proposals.  This includes the caveat that we will do our best to submit the late proposal but only after all the others that were received on time are completed.

To ease the faculty into this new practice, the Sponsored Research Office sends out an email reminder 48 business hours prior to the internal deadline This is followed by a late notice with a requirement for chair approval.  There is absolutely additional work required but the departmental staff love the reminders and the results have been quite impressive.  We have decreased from 52% of proposals received on the sponsor deadline to 15% in just 4 months.

I must say that this initiative is working because the department chairs support it and the faculty do not like having to get approval for being late.  We did our homework, presented the data, and highlighted the details and value of a full proposal review.

Hope this helps,
Kathy

Kathleen M. Kreidler
Director, Office of Sponsored Research
City of Hope
Beckman Research Institute
1500 Duarte Road, Mod 151
Duarte, CA 91010
xxxxxx@coh.org
626-218-9168 (office)
626-586-2378 (cell)

-----Original Message-----
From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@lists.healthresearch.org] On Behalf Of Paffrath, Dennis
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2015 2:40 PM
To: xxxxxx@lists.healthresearch.org
Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] Proposal Deadline Benchmarking

I would also like to hear from those universities that do have a proposal deadline, on whether your university actually say no to any faculty that submits after your university's proposal deadline day and is that no backed up by those with a higher pay grade?

Respectfully,

Dennis

Dennis J Paffrath, MBA
Assistant Vice President for Sponsored Programs Administration University of Maryland, Baltimore
620 W. Lexington Street, 4th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-706-1101
xxxxxx@umaryland.edu<mailto:xxxxxx@umaryland.edu>

On Sep 10, 2015, at 12:22 PM, "McClure, Christine Lynn" <xxxxxx@PITT.EDU<mailto:xxxxxx@PITT.EDU>> wrote:

The University of Pittsburgh is currently evaluating our proposal submission deadlines. As part of that process our Associate Vice Provost for Research Operations asked me to inquire with other institutions to find out how many business days prior to the sponsor deadline does your institutions Office of Sponsored Projects require the final proposal submission for review and submission?

Thank you in advance for your responses!

Best regards,
Christine

Christine L. McClure, MBA, MPPM
Associate Director for Grant Operations
University of Pittsburgh
Office of Research
123 University Place, B21
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
412-624-7400
www.research.pitt.edu<http://www.research.pitt.edu/>
Helping Research Happen!

Please note that I will be out of the office begining Friday September 11th through Friday September 18th.

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