As a reminder, the new proposal submission timelines go into effect this Friday. All proposals with published/hard deadlines must arrive submit-ready in DSP by 9am the day prior to the published deadline or it will NOT be submitted. Also note that many colleges have implemented additional days for internal review so please ensure you are aware of any local days needed as well.
Original Administrative Memo:
DATE:
April 16, 2018
UF ADMINISTRATIVE MEMO
FROM:
Dr. David Norton, Vice President for Research
SUBJECT:
New Office of Research Policy Regarding the Submission of Research Proposals
The Office of Research is responsible for submission of all applications for
sponsored funding on behalf of the University of Florida. Last year, this
office submitted over 5,400 proposals to a wide range of sponsors,
including federal and state agencies, companies, and non-profit
foundations, resulting in awards of over $685 million. The Division of
Sponsored Programs (DSP) is responsible for confirming institutional
support for the application; verifying the accuracy and validity of all
administrative, fiscal, and programmatic information; and ensuring that
the proposal is compliant with university and sponsor policies and other
submission requirements.
Many of these proposals are in response to solicitations with specific
deadlines. Submission of proposals at or near the sponsor deadline creates
significant workflow issues for staff within DSP and the units, and increases
the risk of missing non-compliant sections, of oversights or errors in
formatting and budgeting, and of encountering technical glitches and
bottlenecks.
The Office of Research has long recommended that proposals be
submitted to DSP at least two business days prior to the sponsor’s
published deadline to provide DSP with time to identify and resolve any
issues with the proposal that are inconsistent with university policy or
sponsor submission requirements. This is important as such issues may
result in the inability of the university to carry out the work within the
submitted budget or in the proposal being rejected by the sponsor without
review.
As the UF research enterprise has grown, it has become increasingly
apparent that a recommended internal submission timeline is not
sufficient to ensure compliance. So, after soliciting several months of
feedback from faculty and administration, the Office of Research is
instituting a new policy to strictly enforce this two-day submission window.
Under this new policy, beginning on June 22, 2018, any proposal
responding to a published deadline must arrive in DSP submit-ready by 9
a.m. on the business day prior to the sponsor deadline. This policy applies
to any sponsored program whose solicitation is published by the sponsor
at least 30 calendar days prior to the sponsor’s due date. This two-day
deadline brings UF more closely in line with peer institutions, which
currently enforce deadlines of at least two days.
The new policy is posted at
http://generalcounsel.ufl.edu/media/generalcounselufledu/documents/ProposalDeadlinePolicy.pdf.
FAQs regarding sponsor submission system requirements, clarification
on “submit ready” and “published deadline,” what to do when errors
or omissions are found after the two-day deadline, and other details
are available at http://research.ufl.edu/dsp/proposals/proposal-deadline-policy/faq.html.