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Proposal Submission & Timeline

Proposals

It is the principal investigator's responsibility to provide SPARC with all required documents prior to the deadline with a reasonable amount of time for review. 

These documents should be routed & approved by all parties in OSPREY prior to SPARC’s submission to the sponsor.

SPARC reserves the right to withdraw your proposal if there are irresolvable issues, including but not limited to, budget discrepancies and/or issues with cost-share. The financial consequences of such issues are the responsibility of the department/project team.

Also, please keep in mind that proposals submitted without approval from SPARC violate best practices, often take longer to set up on the award side, and run the greater risk of being returned to the PI without review.

Contact the Team

  • Shannon Chalmers, Pre-Award Manager – Email Shannon
  • Holt Herndon, Sponsored Programs Officer – Email Holt
  • Lauren Janney-Wolf, Sponsored Programs Officer – Email Lauren

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Quick Links

Tiered Services Offered by SPARC Pre-Award Team

Full Review At Least 5 Days Limited Review 3-4 Days No Review 2 Days or Less
*Days above indicates the number of business days until sponsor deadline. Note, business days do not include weekend, holidays, or university closures.
Sponsor Guideline Analysis & Review of Proposal
Specialist reviews administrative components of your proposal and ensures compliance with sponsor guidelines and RFP. ✔ ✔
RAMSeS
It is the responsibility of the PI to initiate, complete, and submit a proposal in OSPREY each time they plan to apply for funding. A proposal in OSPREY should always include all finalized sponsor required application materials in addition to the finalized budget, justification, and scope of work. Specialist will review OSPREY to ensure all aspects of the proposal match the application. ✔ ✔ ✔
Budget
Calculation Checks
Reviews personnel, travel, equipment, materials/supplies, other direct costs to ensure calculations are accurate.		 ✔
Salary and Fringe Benefits
Ensures proper salary and fringe rates applied.		 ✔ ✔
Facilities & Administrative Rate
Ensures the correct facilities & administrative rate is applied to your project.		 ✔ ✔ ✔
Vendor/Subrecipient Check
If applicable, confirms proper categorization and selection of category.		 ✔
Risk Assessment
SPARC’s dynamic and iterative process for identifying and analyzing risks towards achieving the organization’s objectives. ✔ ✔
Check Risk to PI, Department, & UNCW Check Risk to University *Please see disclaimer below
Submission
SPARC is the only authorized office on campus to submit proposals for external funding. The specialist will submit your proposal on or before the date it is due once all the above review components are met. ✔ ✔ ✔
Help Upload Documents, Review Submission Portal Review Submission Portal No assistance other than actual submission

Important Award Negotiation Terms

Terms and conditions are detailed in the award or agreement that funds a project or is incorporated in the document by reference. Sponsors regularly have their terms and conditions available on the internet or included in the funding opportunity.

These requirements can affect both financial and programmatic aspects of the project. Terms and conditions can include the frequency of technical reporting, allowable costs, and prior approval requirements. Therefore, it is important that Departmental Administrators, as well as the PD/PIs, are familiar with all the obligations that are included with accepting sponsored funding.
The Federal Research Terms and Conditions (RTC) are used by select agencies for Institutes of Higher Education (IHEs) and non-profit organizations. These clarify regulations specifically for Federal financial assistance programs (grants and cooperative agreements) provided for research and research-related projects. Awards issued under the RTC directly reference the terms and conditions and incorporate them by reference. These terms and conditions do not negate Federal-wide policies or Agency-specific requirements.

The RTC has recently been updated to incorporate additional information and supplements from Uniform Guidance (2 CFR §200) specifically for organizations like Universities. Current participating agencies include:
  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH)
  • National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
  • US Department of Commerce
  • US Department of Energy
  • US Department of Homeland Security
Contracts issued by Federal agencies use the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) as their method of providing recipient institutions with terms and conditions. Individual clauses from the FAR are applied to contracts based on the activities being acquired, the type of institution providing the acquisition, and the Federal laws and regulations that apply to the activities in the contract.
The period of performance is the time between the start and end date of the project. It is the period during which the University is allowed to incur costs to complete the work required by the scope of work for the project. It is important to be aware of these time limits to properly manage the scientific progress of the project and compliantly expense funds.
Programmatic reporting is the mandatory accounting for the technical and scientific progress of the project. It is important to be aware of the schedule of reporting requirements to confirm that they can be met. If these will constitute a hardship on the programmatic staff, it is important to attempt to mitigate the issues through negotiations.
Many sponsors have rules around budgeting and expenditures using their funds. Knowing how and when funds can be spent is vital to compliant project management. All individuals involved with a project should be aware of the sponsor’s budgetary restrictions.
Sponsors prohibit certain activities unless the University requests permission in advance of the action. Project changes such as carryover, certain types of rebudgeting no-cost extensions, and types of personnel changes must be reported and approved by the sponsor before the University can proceed. All requests must be routed through your department’s Sponsored Project Specialist (SPS). It is important that those involved with a project are aware of the mandatory approvals before making any changes to the project.
Sponsors regularly mandate how the University accounts for project expenditures. It can include a reporting schedule as well as the format of the reports. Attention to the schedule is important because the University must be able to meet the requirements. If the requirements are not within the University’s abilities, OSP will negotiate the reporting terms and conditions.
Sponsors may impose requirements surrounding research subjects in addition to those in place at the University. It is important for the PD/PI and project staff to be aware of these terms and conditions so that they can take the steps needed for approval and reporting when working with research subjects.
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