Grant Proposal Process
All proposals must be submitted through
USCERA for internal approvals.
Develop the proposal including the budget and budget justification. Proposals should be prepared for electronic submission and can be prepared using word processing software. The budget can be included in the proposal document or can be prepared using an electronic spreadsheet. If you wish, you can convert these to PDF documents prior to submission.
Provide your USCERA login information and electronic copies of the proposal budget, budget narrative and proposal narrative to the Director of Grants and Contracts. The Office of Grants and Contracts will upload and submit the proposal through USCERA for internal approvals.
Once the form has been submitted it is automatically routed through an approval chain that includes the department chair, the dean, and the University designee in Sponsored Awards Management (SAM). The proposal can only be changed by the originator, so if any changes are needed the proposal is denied, with comments about the reason, so that the proposal can be modified and resubmitted. All communications regarding proposal disapprovals or other matters will be coordinated through the Director of Grants and Contracts.
Once the proposal has been approved, SAM creates a cover letter to send or submit to the funding agency along with the proposal. The SAM liason for the College will contact the Director of Grants and Contracts directly when the letter is ready and the proposal has been approved.
The PI will work with the Office of Grants and Contracts to submit the complete proposal along with the cover letter to the funding agency. If the proposal is funded, this information will be conveyed to SAM and an account will be set up for the project. SAM will then notify the College administration about this new account and this information is sent to the PI.
Important notes and helpful information
The University SAM liason is the only official authorized to request grant funds or to submit proposals. Faculty or staff members should never request funds without going through the above process.
Budget Preparation Guidelines - Everything you need to know when developing a proposal budget: Fulltime/Summer Salaries, Equipment, Supplies, Travel, Subcontracts, Indirect costs, Cost sharing, Budget Justification, Consultant costs, etc. The Office of Grants and Contracts of ready to assist with budget development. Please contact the Director of Grants and Contracts for invididual assistance.
Graduate assistants who are hired to work on externally-funded projects are not provided tuition credits unless these credits are included in the project budget.
All proposals, including fixed-cost proposals, must include a budget for internal accounting purposes.