Review proposal - Research Administration

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Responsibility: KE-Sponsored Proposals
Prepared by: Sponsored Proposals
Work Instruction Number: WI-SN-10

Review preliminary proposals

Pre-proposal definition:

Pre-proposals (also known as informal proposals, letter proposals, mini-proposals, preliminary proposals, letters of intent, pre-applications, concept papers, or white papers) are brief descriptions of research plans and estimated budgets submitted to gauge sponsor interest.

Pre-proposals requiring GCO approval due to institutional commitments:

1. Institutional commitments are defined as:

Sponsor requires Authorized Organizational Representative signature and/or submission.
Terms and conditions binding the pre-proposal to the full proposal submission.
Requirement for an itemized budget and/or cost share.

2. The Research Administrator (RA) identifies if the pre-proposal needs Grant and Contract Officer (GCO) approval and/or submission due to institutional commitments. (See WI-DP-02).

3. If the pre-proposal is a limited submission, the RA will indicate this in ERA and upload Limited Submissions approval.

4. The Proposal GCO runs the PNT Review Update or Complete activity.

5. The Proposal GCO proceeds with submission and runs Submitted To Sponsor (Non S2S) to record the submission.

Pre-proposal assignment

1. If the RA has indicated that ORSPA approval and/or submission is needed (via PP 1.2 Pre-Proposal Additional Information, Question 2.0), Sponsored Proposals will assign a Proposal GCO to the Pre-Proposal.

2. After assignment, the Pre-Proposal will appear in the assigned Proposal GCO’s ERA “My Home” page under the “Proposals in Process” tab..

Representations and certifications

Some representations and certifications require higher signature authority and coordination with other ASU departments. These can arise at any stage of a sponsored project (proposal development, submission, post-submission, agreement negotiation, post-award administration) and need to be managed as follows:

Project specific representations and certifications:

Subrecipient commitment forms required at a pre-award stage can be completed by a Proposal GCO.
Questions are elevated to management before submission.

Institutional certifications:

Institutional certifications: Certifications containing organizational data and declarations relating to Arizona State University as an institution. These certifications are used to qualify ASU as an eligible, capable and/or compliant sponsored-project recipient. Institutional certifications may be required with proposal, but they are not project or PI specific.
Proposal GCOs transmit sponsor requests for institutional certifications to the Assistant Vice President, Research Operations, for authorization and management.
Coordination with other ASU offices is typically required, and processes for obtaining required data may be lengthy.

Signatures

Designated GCOs are authorized to sign proposal applications. A full list of authorized officials to sign grants, contracts, and agreements can be found in the Standard Institutional Information.

Sponsored proposals can assist with securing Provost signatures required for proposal authorizations through the Assistant Vice President of Research Operations. ASU’s Research Development can assist with securing letters of support or commitment from ASU leaders.

Review proposals

After routing for department approvals, the RA will run the Forward for PNT Review to request final review before submission.
- If the Proposal GCO needs to review specific items (e.g., contract terms), the RA will run Notify PNT to send an email to the Proposal GCO. The Proposal GCO will then determine the next steps and create an Agreements Task request, if needed.
The Proposal GCO will review finalized proposal elements according to Pre-Award Points of Reference. If changes are requested:
- The Proposal GCO will run PNT Requests Proposal Changes to request changes.
- After changes are addressed, the RA will run Respond to PNT Request.
- The Proposal GCO will run PNT Review Update or Complete to capture:
  - Review of the funding announcement
  - Level of review and completion
  - Award negotiation and setup comments

Note: The PNT Review Update or Complete activity can be run at any review stage to assist the Proposal GCO. Sponsored proposals will mark as completed only after the final review to move the proposal to the next state.

Non-reviewed or partially-reviewed proposals may encounter problems with submission or noncompliance with university or sponsor policies. Research Operations reserves the right to withdraw incompletely reviewed or approved proposals. Awards resulting from non-reviewed proposals that place ASU at unnecessary financial or legal risk will only be accepted once compliant with university policy and reasonable terms and conditions have been negotiated.

Submit proposals

S2S Proposals
- RA will run the ERA activity, Validate Submission..
  - This will only validate for grants.gov errors and NIH agency specifics by checking for NIH errors or warnings.
  - If errors are present on a 424, the RA will be unable to complete the activity, Validate Submission..
- RA can make changes to the 424 once it has been validated by running the ERA activity, “Reopen for Edit.”
  - If “Reopen for Edit” is run the activity, Validate Submission will need to be run again by RA after changes have been made.
- GCO may need to run the ERA activity, Bypass Validations. This activity will allow the GCO to submit with errors present.
- Prior to submission, the GCO will need to run the ERA activity, Submission Pre-Check. This is a technical check, and the GCO needs to confirm the Green confirmation.
- After bypassing validations or if application was error free, the GCO will proceed with submission within the 424 by running activity, Submit to GrantsGov.
- Once submission is complete, within the full proposal workspace:
  - The GCO will run the ERA activity PNT Review Update or Complete.
  - Within the full proposal workspace run the ERA activity, Submitted to Sponsor (S2S).. This activity is intended to record the official submission of a proposal; within the activity the GCO will select who needs to be notified. The state will change from PNT Ready to Submit to Submitted-Pending Sponsor Acceptance.
  - For NSF and NIH submissions the GCO will attach the FP and CO (from agencies’ website) to this activity for storage in ERA.
- If error(s) encountered during submission, GCO must “Reopen for Edit.” Once errors are corrected, return to step 1.1, RA will run ERA activity, Validate Submission.
Non-S2S Proposals
- The Proposal GCO will run the ERA activity, PNT Review Update or Complete.
- The Proposal GCO proceeds with submission per FP smart form Submission Dates & Delivery Information and runs Submitted to Sponsor (Non S2S).
- The Proposal GCO attaches the Sponsor Bundle and Sponsor Confirmation to this activity for storage in ERA.

Process small/disadvantaged business subcontracting plan

If the sponsor requires a Small/Disadvantaged Business Subcontracting Plan as a component of the proposal package,the Proposal GCO will ork with the RA to develop the Plan according to the Small or Disadvantaged Business Subcontracting Plan Processing job aid.

Proposal terms and conditions review

If the Funding Announcement identifies Terms and Conditions, the RA will inform the Proposal GCO using Notify PNT activity. The Proposal GCO will review per Pre-Award Points of Reference and prepare an ERA Agreements RFP task as needed to identify exceptions and/or items requiring PI awareness.

Specific requirements

Specific Requirements Definition (SR): The SR notation in ERA identifies ASU’s specialized opportunities, Tier II-IV proposals, and significant partnerships. Proposals with Specific Requirements require increased research operations resources, and the notation signifies the need for additional time and expertise.