Financial Services
Policies and Procedures - Contracts and Grants
Procedure 1 - Overview of Proposal Preparation and Processing
The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) is responsible for the administrative coordination of review, approval and reporting of proposals for external funding involving UNCG. Several review procedures for proposals have been established by the President of the University of North Carolina. The Director of Sponsored Programs and the Associate Director have been authorized by the President to sign proposals and accept awards on behalf of the Chancellor.
In addition to research proposals, any contract or agreement for external commitment of the University (e.g., internships, service programs, exhibitions, etc.) must be reviewed by OSP prior to submittal to a potential funding source. The Director and/or the Associate Director will also provide or coordinate certification of compliance with Federal legislative requirements having to do with civil rights, handicapped access, human and animal subjects, drug-free workplace, etc.
The grant preparation packet, which is called the Green Folder, is coordinated by OSP with the Office of Contracts and Grants. Please refer to this site for step-by-step instructions for completing a Green Folder and for the services provided throughout the proposal process.
The Office of Contracts and Grants
The Office of Contracts and Grants is responsible for the budgetary review and approval of the proposal for the Chief Financial Officer. Contingent on what your needs are and the quality of your proposal package, the budgetary review can be brief or require an extensive review.
In order to expedite the processing of your proposal, please be sure that the following matters are addressed:
- If the proposal is being submitted to a funding source that does not pay facilities and administrative (indirect) costs, please provide an e-mail, a letter or an official statement, such as their program announcement, from the sponsor.
- If less than full facilities and administrative costs are being requested from a sponsor that will pay these costs, a request for waiver or partial waiver must be submitted to the Director of Contracts and Grants for approval by the Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs based on the recommendation of the Provost.
- If the proposal is being submitted to a funding source that does not pay fringe benefits (if requesting salary), please provide an e-mail, a letter or an official statement, such as their program announcement from the sponsor. You will need to obtain an "internal funding source other than general fund monies" from your department and/or dean to cover these costs.
- If you have other entities performing part of the work on your project, they need o provide a separate budget and budget narrative along with a letter of support from their organization. If they include facilities and administrative (indirect) costs as part of their budget, they also need to provide UNCG with a copy of their latest federally negotiated facilities and administrative cost rate.
- If you declare that your proposal will involve matching/cost sharing, there must be a detailed budget that validates this commitment. In addition to this fact, the same restrictions apply to matching/cost sharing funds. More specifically, if the sponsor will not pay for equipment, or foreign travel, matching/cost sharing funds cannot be used for this purpose.
- In cases where the sponsor requires a MODULAR budget, UNCG still requires a detailed budget and budget narrative. For example, proposals including modular budgets to the National Institute of Health can be requested in modules of $25,000 for all years of support. A typical modular application will request the same number of modules for each year. However, if you are requesting $125,000 in year one and $62,500 for years two and three, an explanation is required. Thereby, making a detailed budget an essential part of the proposal process. For example, purchase of major equipment in the first year may justify a higher overall budget in that year, but not necessarily in succeeding years.
- Research leave proposals should be thoroughly discussed with the appropriate Department Head and Dean to assure the faculty member's benefit package is understood. The terms of this arrangement should be forwarded as part of the proposal package.
- All UNCG employees involved on a project should be specifically named, if known. Deviations from the standard cost of living allowances (see Appendix 2) must be validated.
- Unless specifically required by the sponsor, UNCG's composite fringe benefit rate should be used. Please refer to Appendix 2 for the current rate. Special approval will be required for deviations from this composite rate.