Subject:                               Time:12:20 PM
  OFFICE MEMO          Problems/NSF Tracking                  Date:5/10/94
Has anyone else experienced problems with NSF in tracking proposals?  In
several recent cases, neither the program staff nor the grants office staff had
accurate information about the status of a pending proposal.  In one instance,
the program staff told us that the program director had not yet signed off on
the proposal, so it would be 4-6 weeks until an award would be processed--and
the award notice arrived the next day!  In another case, we were told that all
approvals had been given and we should see an award within days, but it took
several weeks for the notice of award to arrive.  This worries me, especially
as we are frequently asked to approve pre-award costs and we rely on
information from the agency to make a decision.  Any suggestions?
--Sally Tremaine, Yale University, xxxxxx@qm.yale.edu