College of Liberal Arts

CLA Grants, Fellowships,
and Research Funding
209 Johnston Hall
101 Pleasant Street S.E.
Minneapolis, MN 55455

clagrant@umn.edu
Phone: 612-626-9612

Submitting a Proposal through the Office of Sponsored Projects (SPA)

SPA EGMS OVPR

Working with SPA

SPA is a unit under the Office of the Vice President for Research or OVPR and is authorized to submit research proposals and receive awards on behalf of the University.

SPA’s role is to

  • Serve the research mission of the University and minimize risk
  • Help ensure compliance with internal and external requirements: (IRB, Regents Policy, Conflict of Interest)
  • Assist faculty and work with department support in submitting proposals and getting grants
  • Accept awards and ensure they are administered consistently with sponsor and University policies
  • Mediate the grant process
  • Make certain that the sponsor is satisfied

SPA, the process

Once your proposal is fully developed and ready for submission to the sponsoring agency, the completed proposal is sent to the Office of Sponsored Projects, SPA, along with the budget and completed PRF or Proposal Routing Form.

Then the Grants Administrator in SPA will

  • Review the proposal for institutional and external compliance
  • Obtain Authorized University Signature and transmit the proposal to the sponsor.
  • Once a grant is awarded, SPA sets up an account and manages the award through its life cycle

We strongly suggest that grants administrators be brought into the proposal process—early on. They are an excellent resource and a voice of experience—particularly when the agency instructions aren’t clear. They can assist in clarifying requirements up front. The Grants Administrators, given enough time, can be extremely helpful and an important ally to submitting a successful proposal.

Allow Enough Time

To ensure department, collegiate and SPA review and approvals it is important to allow enough time.

For example, while Grants.gov is the receiving mechanism, each federal agency has its own unique mechanism to review proposals for errors. Thus, PIs would be wise to allow SPA enough time to correct the final proposal before the deadline. On-time submission of applications is dependent on the receipt of "error-free" proposals at Grants.gov by the federal agency deadline. Grants.gov has a validation system and will return submissions if it detects certain errors. Extra time for review will reduce the potential for errors and ensure your proposal reaches the sponsor by its deadline.

Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA) requires principal investigators (PIs) to deliver all Grants.gov proposals to SPA at least five (5) working days prior to the sponsor's official published submission deadline. To calculate SPA's deadline based on the sponsor's deadline, go to the 5-Day Deadline Calculator.

All non-Grants.gov proposals must be submitted to SPA at least 24 hours prior to the sponsor’s submission deadline. Allowing a longer cushion of time is even better.

CLA Proposal Development Recommended Time Line and Support Services (PDF)

Proposal Routing Form (PRF)—What, Why and How

All applications for external funding must be approved by individuals at several administrative levels before they can be submitted to funding agencies. The following information is intended to aid primary investigators (PIs) in using the Proposal Routing Form to obtain the required approvals and signatures. Creating and Routing the PRF – step by step instructions.

What is the Proposal Routing Form (PRF)?

  • The PRF is an electronic document, which is accessed through the EGMS (Electronic Grants Management System)
  • The PRF is used by the University for internal proposal review only. It is never transmitted to a sponsor.
  • A complete PRF is required for all proposals, including renewals and continuations.

Purposes of the PRF

  • To provide basic information about the project for the department head, dean, and central grant administrators
  • To obtain PI, department head, and collegiate dean signatures
  • To act as a checklist to ensure that all compliance obligations have been considered and met, or are pending

CLA Proposal Routing Procedures

The PRF requires electronic signatures from the following, in order:

  1. Principal investigator's department chair and department chairs of any other key CLA personnel (e.g. co-PIs) on the project
  2. If key personnel outside of CLA are included in the proposal, the authorizing agent from their colleges or centers
  3. Gayle Anderson (ander104), Grants Management Coordinator - CLA Fiscal Administration. Gayle will review the proposal (see CLA Review Concerns) and if it is satisfactory, will forward it to the next level.
  4. James Parente (paren001), CLA Associate Dean for Research - whose signature authorizes final CLA approval.

CLA Review Concerns and Criteria

At the college level, the Grants Management Coordinator reviews the PRF and proposal budget to ensure the following:

  • Budget is reasonable and adequate justification is provided.
  • Cost-share or matching commitments have been documented and approved.
  • F&A/indirect cost rates are included OR a formal request to reduce or waive the rate has been completed and approved by Pamela Webb, Associate VP for Research.
  • Adequate space is available on campus for the project.
  • Applicant is eligible to be PI or Co-PI. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring that the PI has met the Responsible Conduct for Research (RCR) educational requirements or has a Report of External Professional Activities (REPA) on file.

Submitting a Proposal to SPA

Step by Step Instructions for Paper Submission to SPA

  1. Create PRF (Proposal Routing Form) online in EGMS and route it electronically for required signatures. The following individuals must be included in the routing stream:
    • PI (Principal Investigator. Needed only if the PRF is prepared by someone other than the PI)
    • Co-PIs (if any)
    • Co-PI’s department heads (if any co-PIs)
    • Co-PI’s deans (if any co-PIs)
    • Your department head
    • Gayle Anderson (ander104)
    • Jo-Ida Hansen (hanse004)
  2. Print PRF after Dean’s signature is acquired. (Use PDF form. You will see DRAFT written across the text—that’s what it should say).
  3. Attach a copy of the funding agency guidelines to the PRF
  4. Gather all components to be sent to the funding agency
    • Proposal, budget, and required number of copies
    • Supplemental material and required number of copies
    • Application fee check
    • Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope for return of materials
  5. Make one additional copy of the full proposal for SPA
  6. Place PRF on top of other materials and submit to 450 McNamara Alumni Center
  7. You’re done! SPA will mail (overnight) the proposal to the funding agency.

Step by Step Instructions for Electronic Submission to SPA

  1. Complete the PRF in EGMS and route it electronically for approvers’ signatures.
  2. E-mail the application to proposal@umn.edu. In Subject Field insert PRF # and PI last name
    • Attach full proposal to the e-mail. Be sure to include all parts of the proposal.
    • SPA will conduct standard administrative review.
    • SPA will notify PI and department if changes are needed.
    • If changes are needed, PI must resubmit the corrected application to SPA via proposal@umn.edu
  3. Having approved the proposal, SPA will usually submit the application to the sponsor. In cases that require PI submission, SPA will notify the PI that the proposal has been approved for submission and that he/she may send it to the funder.
  4. Reminder: Grants.gov applications must be received by SPA 5 working days before the agency due date. More about SPA published deadlines can be found at http://www.ospa.umn.edu/policiesandprocedures/deadlines/deadlineFAQs.html

Glitches and Trouble-Shooting

  1. Saving the PRF in order to return to it later to edit can be done only by "submitting" an incomplete version of the document. To do this, leave one of the essential text blocks empty (I usually leave off the Foundation Name right at the top) and hit the "submit" button located ¾ of the way down the page. The sanity check (love that term) will come back saying the document is partially incomplete. You can then exit and come back to the document later. To return to an incomplete PRF at a later time, go to EGMS Forms, PRF, Status of Requests.

Need Help? Call the EGMS HELPLINE: 612.624.1600
OR
CLA Grants Support Team

grants.cla.umn.edu

Social Sciences/West Bank
Barbara Scott Murdock
Grants Consultant/Writer
Institute for Global Studies
280 Social Sciences Building
612-624-2745
murdo004@umn.edu

CLA Fiscal Administration
Gayle Anderson
Grants Management Coordinator
209 Johnston Hall
612-626-9612
ander104@umn.edu