Nancy's comments are similar to ours.  We have recently implemented a
policy several years in negotiation, that identifies the research office
as the first point of contact for all faculty seeking external funds.
Our new policy manual states that no proposal may be submitted without
due process, and we are visiting each department to discuss the manual
and to reinforce that concept.  Projects that are better suited for
Development office action are referred by our office to the point of
contact in Development, and we work very closely together on projects
that require multiple sources.

We, too, have found that services pull in faculty much more quickly than
policy, so we do all budgets, copy all proposals, mail all proposals, and
provide editing assistance.  As someone once said, the trick is to make
the stick look like a carrot.  Our policy of "what do the signatures on
the routing form mean?" moves responsibility for stopping a potentially
problematic application from this office to the appropriate academic
official (chair, dean or provost).  This has worked like a charm, and we
thank Lucy Henry at UNC-Charlotte for that gem of an idea.

Best regards to the group!

Julie

Julie B. Cole, CRA
P.O. Box 7528, Reynolda Station
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109
(910) 759-5888
(910) 759-4823 FAX
xxxxxx@wfu.edu