Submission Timeline

The 5-Day Policy Pilot (Effective April 1, 2019, for proposals due on or after April 8, 2019)

Please note: While the 5-Day Policy pilot period officially ended on December 31,2019, the policy continues to be in effect until further notice as RAS completes its assessment and submits its policy recommendations to FAS and university leadership for their consideration.

Proposal review and submission is a collaborative process between the Office for Sponsored Program (OSP), FAS Research Administration Services (RAS) and the Department / Principal Investigator (PI).  RAS and OSP have worked with the FAS Faculty standing Committee on Research Policy (CRP) to develop an alternative to the current proposal submission policy (i.e. “Five Day Rule”). The CRP has recommended the implementation of a revised proposal submission policy that would provide additional time for faculty to finalize the proposal’s statement of work, provide a more restrictive policy on exceptions, and strictly prohibit the submission of proposals provided to OSP within a day of a sponsor’s deadline. The new proposal submission process will be tested as a nine-month pilot project starting in April 2019. This pilot does not impact OSP’s Proposal Review Process or the Provostial Review Criteria.

 

  • Policy During the Pilot Period
A proposal must be received by OSP at least five (5) full business days prior to the sponsor’s due date. The proposal components must be in final form with the exception of the technical narrative/statement of work (SOW), which may be submitted in draft form subject to revision. The final and complete proposal is due three (3) full business days prior to the sponsor’s due date; such proposal shall be considered submission-ready. A proposal submitted less than 1 business day prior to the sponsor’s due date will not be submitted, and there will be no exceptions granted for these same-day submissions. A same day submission is anything received after 5:00PM EST the day before the proposal is due.
 
 
  • Review Process
To ensure that the review process is fair and PIs who comply with the proposal submission deadline are not penalized, OSP and RAS will review proposals in the order in which they are received. Proposals will not be permitted to “jump the queue” ahead of proposals that were submitted earlier even when a deadline is imminent. Principal Investigators (PIs) are also encouraged to request that OSP submit a proposal in advance of a sponsor’s deadline as an added precaution. Early submittal may allow for the correction of errors that are detected by the sponsor during the transmission process and may provide an opportunity for resubmission prior to the sponsor’s due date.
 
 
  • Exception Process
There will be a change to the exception process for late proposals which do not meet the internal deadline. Automatic exception requests will no longer be accepted, and late proposals will be allowed only under very limited circumstances that are outside the control of the PI. The cognizant School or Divisional Dean (or their designee) will be responsible for granting exceptions. For example, a sponsor contacting a PI with a request for a last-minute proposal would be a compelling reason to approve an exception. Lack of planning to meet a proposal deadline for a federal solicitation announced well in advance of the due date would normally not be an approved exception request. A proposal submitted less than 1 business day prior to the sponsor’s due date will not be reviewed or submitted, and there will be no exceptions granted for same-day submissions.