Extramural Grant Proposal Preparation
Steps in Processing Extramural Proposals for Research and Academic Programs within CAHNRS
Proposal Review;Submission/ Contacts for Proposals/ Post Award Considerations/
Steps in Budget Review Process:
1. The principal investigator (PI) works with a departmental finance person to prepare a proposal budget using the guidelines set forth below. The budget should be prepared in accordance with the Office of Grant and Research Development's (OGRD's) guidelines found at: http://www.ogrd.wsu.edu/policies_guidelines.asp. Once the budget is in final form, it should be faxed to the Ag Research Center (ARC) for review (fax: 509-335-6751) to Mary Lou Bricker, or if through Extension, Esther Tate, Joan Root or Jennifer Jansen (fax: 509-335-2926). If you are submitting a proposal to a foundation, please contact the ARC or the CAHNRS Alumni and Development Office at 509-335-2243. There may be an annual limit to the number of proposals that can be submitted to the foundation by the university, and some foundation proposals might not be submitted through the ARC or through OGRD but rather through the WSU Foundation.
2. When you prepare your proposal budget, identify the personnel whose time is being budgeted. If you are budgeting for a general salary category, and you do not have a specific person in mind, so indicate. State the fringe benefit rate used for each person. In other words, provide as much detail as necessary so the figures can be verified without the need for a phone call for additional information.
3. The fringe benefit rate used in proposals for faculty members, classified staff, post-docs, research associate, etc. is 34%. Use the actual fringe benefit rate for each person if the actual estimated fringe benefit rate is greater than 34%. Actual estimated fringe benefit rates for many classified staff, post-docs, and research associates are usually greater than 34%. The fringe benefit rate for full-time student time-slip is 2.4% and 9.9% for part-time student time-slip. For non-student time-slip, the fringe benefit rate can vary greatly. See below:
9.9% = No PERS, No Health (less than 70 hrs a month)
16.6% = PERS with No Health Insurance (more than 70 hours for 5 or less months)
71.2% = PERS, with Health Insurance (6 consecutive months PT work more than 1040 hours per year)
4. When submitting your budget to the ARC for review, please provide an equipment breakdown. Equipment in units of $5,000 or less is subject to indirect costs. The amount of detail you provide under other categories, such as material and supplies, travel, publication costs, etc., will depend on the particular agency to which a proposal is being sent. Some agencies--USDA in particular-- demand substantially more budget detail than they have in the past. In the case of USDA, it is wise to fully justify and/or show how you calculated each budget line item. This may save the PI a question-and-answer session with USDA prior to an award being made.
5. Please use the inflation factors discussed on the OGRD website. The current practice is to inflate your figures 4% each July 1. This is particularly important when calculating salaries and Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) rates. (See "Research Assistant Grid" on the OGRD website.) Please use OGRD's suggested inflation rates for GRA salaries, tuition, and health insurance. If you know that someone being funded in your proposal is getting a specific salary increase, make sure that increase is reflected in the budget particularly if that increase exceeds the standard 4% inflation rate. Do not forget to use level L for calculating classified staff per OGRD Memorandum No. 2
(http://www.ogrd.wsu.edu/policies_guidelines.asp)
6. On-campus Research indirect costs are currently calculated at 49.5%. The off-campus rate is 26%. Please refer to OGRD's website for additional indirect cost rate information. To calculate indirect costs, the indirect cost rate is multiplied by Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) where MTDC equals total direct costs minus such items as: equipment, tuition, non-WSU facilities rental, the cost of subcontracts, some participant support costs (such as stipends, travel, maintenance, lodging, etc.), and other types of costs listed in WSU's indirect cost rate agreement. (Note: There are indirect cost charges on subcontracts, but these costs are figured separately at the current rate of either 49.5% or 26% of the first $25,000 for each subcontract, depending whether the on- or off-campus indirect cost rate applies.)
7. If the proposed budget does not include indirect costs, or a lower indirect cost rate is being budgeted, the PI will have to provide proof that the agency does not pay indirect costs or pays less than WSU's full indirect cost rate (such proof is most often found in the agency's solicitation document). With such proof, OGRD will accept the lower indirect cost rate proposed. Authorization to use an indirect cost rate that is lower than WSU's full indirect cost rate (in the absence of the above-mentioned proof) requires a memo of justification submitted to and approved by the Director of OGRD in advance of sending the budget to the ARC for review. Requests for reduced indirect costs are rarely honored. (Note: When an indirect cost rate is lower than WSU's full indirect cost rate, indirect costs are calculated on Total Direct Costs and not on Modified Total Direct Costs. In other words, such costs as tuition, equipment, non-WSU facilities rental, subcontracts, etc. are not eliminated before the indirect cost calculation.
8. If the funding agency requires a match in conjunction with your proposal, you should be prepared to produce documentation stating that the match is required. The agency's request for proposals (the RFP) will likely state that fact. The general rule is: do not match unless you are required to do so, and match only to the extent necessary. If you must match, first use indirect costs lost/waived (i.e., indirect costs not recoverable from the agency but those which WSU would normally receive if the full indirect cost rate applied); then match salaries, wages, benefits, and indirect costs on the salaries, wages, and benefits being matched. (Please note that in some cases, funding agency guidelines prohibit the use of unrecoverable indirect costs as a cost match.) An equipment match requires prior consultation with the ARC. And, if you are looking for an equipment match from the Vice Provost for Research, you should be aware that matching is only considered when the cost of the equipment is $50,000 or more.
9. Fax the proposal budget (and any budget justification) to the ARC for review two weeks before the proposal is due at the agency. The budget will be reviewed/revised and then faxed back to you as soon as possible, generally that same day (Fax: 509-335-6751).
Steps
in Proposal Review/Submission Process:
10. Extramural proposals for research and academic programs being sent out through OGRD should first come to the ARC with a REX form (http://www.ogrd.wsu.edu/forms.asp click on REX form) signed by all CAHNRS PIs involved in the project and their dept chairs. (All non-CAHNRS co-PIs will also need to sign the REX form along with their chairs and deans before the proposal package goes over to OGRD; however, these signatures can be obtained after CAHNRS signs.) Note that REX forms should not be signed by anyone outside of WSU, excluding adjunct faculty connected with the project. Also note that OGRD will never send a copy of a REX form to a funding agency. (If a non-CAHNRS faculty member is not a co-PI, per se, but is providing a match, OGRD will want that person to sign the REX form along with that person's chair and dean.) Along with the REX form, please make one additional copy of the proposal for the ARC and one copy for OGRD.
11. When multiple copies of the proposal are required by the agency (and most agencies require multiple copies), you might want to either wait until the REX form and proposal are reviewed at the ARC before making additional copies of the proposal or at least leave the individual copies unstapled in case changes are needed. Most proposals contain minor typographical errors that need to be corrected before the proposal can be sent to the funding agency.
12. If you want your proposal to be sent out by courier (i.e.: Federal Express), please provide a "request for shipment" form. Without the form, OGRD will send your proposal out by regular mail.
13. Once the REX form has been signed by CAHNRS, someone from your department will need to pick up the proposal package and take it over to OGRD. When the proposals are hand-carried to OGRD, they should not be put in OGRD's "in" box. Hand the package to someone in OGRD and tell that person that you have a proposal that needs to be sent out. Someone will probably check-in the proposal while you wait. Do not leave the package in OGRD's "in" box.
14. Additional Comments/General Information:
-- For research stations, since both the station director and the department chair need to sign the REX form, proposals from research stations should be sent directly to the ARC first. The ARC will ensure that the proposal gets to the departments for the chair’s signature. Please note that the ARC does not make copies of proposals for the agency.
-- If you include a budget for a subcontract or personal services contract with your proposal, please make sure that you have a letter of support from the contractor and a budget that has been approved by the subcontractor's grants/contracts office. A letter of support is also needed from collaborators who are providing matching contributions to a project.
-- Some types of proposals, such as those to commodity commissions and USDA Special Grant subproject proposals, do not go through OGRD and therefore do not require REX forms. If you are unsure whether a REX form is required for a particular proposal, please contact the ARC.
Contacts:
For Research and Academic Programs Proposals:
Mary Lou Bricker
Ag Research Center
Room 403, Hulbert Hall
tel: 509-335-3691
fax: 509-335-6751
mdesros@wsu.edu
For Extension Proposals:
Address:
CAHNRS Business Finance Office
Room 405, Hulbert Hall
Esther Tate
tel.: 509-335-6885
fax: 509-335-2926
etate@wsu.edu
OR
Joan Root
tel: 509-335-2885
fax: 509-335-2926
rootj@wsu.edu
OR
Jennifer Jansen
tel: 509-335-2867
fax: 509-335-2926
jjansen@wsu.edu
Post-Award Processing/Considerations: for Research and Academic Programs ONLY:
-- When OGRD receives a research or academic programs award, they send it to the department administrative manager/lead fiscal person. The fiscal person should give the PI a copy, and either the PI or the fiscal person should note if the agreement is in any way unacceptable to the PI. Once the award has been reviewed by the department, it should be forwarded to the ARC where it will be reviewed.
-- Once the original agreement is initialed by CAHNRS and signed by both OGRD and the agency, the grant is forwarded for account setup to WSU's Sponsored Programs Services.
-- If an award includes a subcontract, either the PI or the fiscal person will need to complete a subcontract information form and send it directly to OGRD in order for OGRD to issue a subcontract. In other words, subcontracts are not established automatically once the award arrives at WSU; they must be initiated by the department in conjunction with OGRD. Please do not send requests for subcontracts through the ARC.
Grant Opportunity Listings:
The Office of Grant and Research Development (OGRD) has established two mailing lists (OGRD RFP LIstings ) to
aid your search for funding opportunities. Obtaining a subscription to these lists through WSU’s Mailman List-serv is easy. Select the appropriate website and fill in the required information.
Limited Submission Funding Opportunities
Office of Research Funding Opportunities
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