Quick Tips for Proposal Preparation

 

 

There have been a number of changes in Sponsored Program Services, Proposal Office during the last year.  Here are some quick tips to assist you in proposal preparation and submission to the sponsor.

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Bring the proposal to the Proposal Area in Room 729, Young Hall.  Taking a proposal directly to the Account Manager may slow the review process.  The proposal must be logged in by the Proposal Office before it begins the review process.

• The Proposal Office does not fax proposals.*  If a proposal must be faxed to the sponsor, the Proposal Office staff will notify the business office that the proposal has been approved for submission.  The completed proposal may then be faxed to the sponsor by the department.
  *The Proposal Office will also submit a completed copy of the proposal to the sponsor.  Because of the distance involved, the Proposal Office will fax for the Regional Campuses.

PROPOSAL TRANSMITTAL CHECKSHEET INFORMATION

• The Proposal Transmittal Checksheet is available on the SPS web site (www.purdue.edu/SPS).  The Proposal Transmittal Checksheet was revised effective November, 2004.  Previous versions should not be used since the information needed to process the proposal may not be available. If you cannot access this web site call 4-6204 or e-mail (proposal@purdue.edu).  A white copy from which copies can be made will be provided.

• A Proposal Transmittal Checksheet or a copy of the Proposal Transmittal Checksheet must accompany all proposals and/or copies as well as preliminary proposals.

• Item #7:  Sponsor's due date (on the Proposal Transmittal Checksheet) must be stated.  Please be sure to provide this information to assist SPS in prioritizing proposal processing.

• Item #16:  Collaborating Department Number(s)/ Percentage of Collaboration on Project  The total collaborating percent on any proposal must equal 100%.  Only whole percentages can be accepted.  If no collaboration data are provided, the full project will be assigned to the project director/principal investigator.

• You should include the Assurance number and the date of approval for regulatory and compliance issues.   This is very important and can slow the proposal process if not provided.  If the proposal involves the use of humans, animals, recombinant DNA, etc., the protocol needs to have been approved by the applicable University Committee.

• Item #31:  Conflict of Interest (on the Proposal Transmittal Checksheet) must be answered.  A conflict of interest will not stop a proposal from being sent to the sponsor, however, a University account will not be established for a funded project until all issues related to the management of the conflict of interest have been resolved.

PROPOSAL PREPARATION BY THE BUSINESS OFFICE

• Do not staple the original or copies of any proposal.  Pages must be signed and corrected and then reproduced and reinserted in the original and copies.  Proposals will be stapled or clipped, according to the directions of the sponsor, before it is packaged and sent to the sponsor.

• Forms for NIH (PHS) and NSF can be found on the Internet at:
  NIH (398 forms) http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html
          (2590 forms) http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/funding/2590/2590.htm
  NSF grant information is at http://www.nsf.gov/index.jsp

• To complete a proposal (or preliminary/pre-proposal) and send it to the sponsor, the following is needed:
  *        a.   Original Proposal Transmittal Checksheet with all necessary signatures
  *        b.   Original proposal with signatures and the number of copies required by sponsor
    c.   1 copy for the SPS file
    d.   Budget/work papers
  * NOTE:  A copy of the Transmittal Checksheet and proposal can NOT be used to initially get the login and review process started in SPS.

 

Submit the Checksheet!

• Proposals will NOT be released to the sponsor if SPS has not received the original Proposal Transmittal Checksheet with all required signatures.

• Original Transmittal Checksheets for Proposals are Due:
  3:00 p.m. the day BEFORE sponsor due date unless otherwise notified.
   
• If the original transmittal check sheet is not received in SPS by 4:00 p.m., the department or PI is responsible for picking up the proposal in SPS by 5:00 p.m. and delivering it to Federal Express.

• When giving the Dean the transmittal checksheet to sign, attach a COPY of the proposal unless he/she must sign the actual proposal.  This allows, the business office to bring SPS a copy of the transmittal checksheet with the original proposal and copies.  SPS can get the proposal ready to go while the original transmittal checksheet is being signed in the school/department.

• Always be sure to indicate this information on the proposal forms:
  e-mail address:  proposal@purdue.edu
  phone #:  765/494-6204
  fax #:  765/494-1360

• The following staff are those with signature authority:
  
  (Primary) Thomas B. Wright, Senior Operations Manager, Sponsored Program Administration
  (Secondary) Rebecca L. White, Assistant Director, Sponsored Program Administration
  Michael Ludwig, Associate Director, Sponsored Program Administration
  Larry Pherson, Director, Sponsored Program Administration
  (Primary Ag) Cherise Hall, Business Manager, Agricultural Sponsored Program Services

According to availability, they will be signing for different areas.  Do not fill in the name of the SPS reviewer on coversheets or wherever there is to be a signature.  SPS will make sure that the correct name/signature is inserted on the original and all copies.

Timing is Everything
Proposals should be delivered to SPS within the timeframe required by the Proposal Deadline Policy if not sooner.

NOTE:  Industrial Proposals require at least 1 week for processing.  This is necessary as a contract or agreement must be developed.

If proposals are received after 12:00 noon on the day they must be sent to the sponsor, it is either the responsibility of the business office or faculty to deliver the package to a FedEx drop if it misses the regularly scheduled 4pm pickup.  This is necessary as it is likely that SPS will not have been provided with adequate time to complete the review and preparation of the proposal to make the FedEx pickup.

Some proposals go through the Agriculture Field Office before they are brought to the SPS Proposal Office.  Please consider this and allow extra processing time for proposals before the normal Federal Express pickup in SPS.

Each month the SPS Proposal Supervisor will update the Deadline Listing that is available online at http://calendar.purdue.edu/cgi-bin/webevent.cgi?cmd=opencal&cal=cal33.

Federal Express Drop Sites:

Federal Express Office, 3524 Crouch Street, Lafayette
   (Near State Road 26 East behind the theatres)

INFORMATION FOR REGIONAL CAMPUSES
Federal Express has proven to be the most reliable courier service for delivery of proposals to SPS.  Remember, though, that you must send the package with enough time for it to be received by SPS in compliance with the Proposal Deadline Policy.

DELIVERY INFORMATION
All proposals are sent from this office via Federal Express for overnight delivery.   Most packages are delivered by 10:00 a.m. the next day.  We have a special Federal Express computer that tracks all packages and we can also track proposals on the Internet. Please feel free to contact the Proposal Office with any Federal Express questions.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Proposal Supervisor: Chris Tompkins, Phone:  4-6204, 
Proposal Office:  Room 729, Young Hall
Proposal Fax #:  4-1360