Re: Internal deadlines for proposal submission

I'll share a story about a couple of "unrepentent procrastinators" I
encountered
in the past, but I'm sure everyone has a similar story...

Investigator A arrived in the office three days before the deadline with a
poorly written proposal for a very competitive NSF equipment program. After
reading through the proposal, I discovered the PI had also ignored the
program
guidelines, which had been substantially changed compared to the previous
year.
Judging that the needed changes would require significantly more time than
the
PI was at that moment able to invest AND that the existing draft would have
 been
an irritation to reviewers if not an embarrassment to the institution, I
recommended that the PI not proceed with submission. It was not mailed, but
 the
PI promised to try again the next year. Though I contacted the PI well in
advance of the next year's deadline, no proposal ever came forth for the
next
competition.

Investigator B arrived in the office the very day a proposal was due with
an
incomplete application, forms missing and no budget. The PI was planning to
drive the proposal to the city where the agency was located and wanted the
sponsored programs office to 1) complete the necessary forms, 2) devise and
approve the budget, 3) facilitate the institutional signatures (the final
signature was that of a VP not in our office). With extreme effort, the
proposal
was submitted, but my comment to the PI was, "this is not the way to
produce
your most competitive work, and I hope that the next time you submit a
proposal
we will have more time to assist you." The proposal was funded.

A few months later, Investigator B once again arrived in the office 3 days
before the deadline with essentially the same scenario, except this time
the
submission was contemplated for a major NSF equipment grant requiring
institutional match (not yet secured, of course). Forms not completed,
budget
not designed, proposal partially written. We groused, we grumbled, and we
worked
to meet the deadline. My thought was that THIS time, the PI would perhaps
gain
the insight that successful proposals require more advance planning.
Perhaps the
disappointment of having a proposal declined would underscore my message
that
our office would like a fair chance to help improve the proposal before it
goes
out. By the skin of our teeth, this one was also submitted (no page
numbers,
other problems). Much to my astonishment, the proposal was funded.

So there you are. The judgement to submit or not is based on many things,
but
the internal deadline (10 days before agency deadline) wasn't really a
factor in
any of the above cases. Like everyone else, OSP staff would like to be
appreciated for our efforts, particularly the superhuman ones. We don't
encourage repeated abuse of our good-natured staff members, but on the
other
hand, if it were not for the faculty initiative, we would have many fewer
proposals going out in the first place.

Personally, I rather like the approach of providing perks and incentives
for
those who are conscientious about the internal deadline. One university
that I
know of offers to copy and mail proposals which arrive in the OSP office on
time. They still process the ones which are late, but the PI is then
responsible
for making copies and sending off the proposal.

Molly Daniel
Grants Specialist
Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center
Mattoon, IL