In the past month (since November 6), we have received 11 eGC1s after the Dean’s Office deadline for proposals, or 25% of the total proposals we received in this time period. This problem is a cause for serious concern and I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of several policies and best practices regarding the submission of grant proposals that are designed to make this process as smooth as possible for everyone involved.

Dean’s Office 4-day eGC1 deadline

The Dean’s Office requires proposals to be available for review at least 24 hours before OSP’s three-day deadline, or four days before the sponsor deadline. Please remind your investigators that if they do not submit their proposals for review to the Dean’s Office by this deadline, the PI risks having the proposal arrive late at OSP and not be approved for submission to the sponsor. The Dean’s office does not have staff dedicated solely to reviewing eGC1s, so when several late proposals arrive at the last minute, we cannot guarantee a timely review. If you are aware that a proposal will miss the Dean’s Office deadline, please get in touch with us as soon as possible ahead of time so that we can be ready for a quick turn-around. You can contact Suzanne Zitzer (sezitzer@uw.edu or x1-8456) or Stephanie Harrington (stephah@uw.edu).

Please be aware that we take the time to check for the following:

  • Explanations for any compliance questions marked “yes,” or when the project description implies that one or more should have been marked “yes.”
  • Documentation for auditable cost share commitments.
  • Documentation for use of off-campus or non-standard IDC rates.
  • Implied space commitments on all proposals with a budget of around $1M or higher.

We take these steps to reduce the chance of your proposal being returned at the University level as well as to avoid serious problems of committing nonexistent resources to funded proposals.

GIM 19 Waiver Request Process

I would also like to remind you of the College’s and OSP’s process for submitting requests for GIM 19 waivers. Please make sure your PIs are also aware of this process in order to save time in getting a decision from OSP when, by definition, time is short.

All requests to OSP for GIM 19 waivers MUST be submitted by me (or Stephanie Harrington in my absence). Requests to OSP directly from unit heads or PIs will be returned by OSP without consideration. Waiver requests should be sent to me from the unit chair/director and include an endorsement of the request and documentation of why an exception to the GIM 19 deadlines is warranted. Waiver requests should be submitted well in advance of the GIM 19 3-day deadline. Please be aware that only under exceptional circumstances will OSP consider late requests.

Delays due to problems such as waiting on information from collaborating institutions, a subcontractor waiting for information from primary awardees, revisions of text or losing track of a deadline are also not accepted reasons and they will not be approved by OSP.

For reference, the CoENV-OSP policy is available on the College intranet and the GIM 19 is available on OSP’s website.

GIM 19 waivers are a precious resource and we have to use them in accordance with the GIM 19 policy. Obtaining them outside of the GIM19 policy is rare. If any PI foresees the possibility of a complicated or delayed submission for any reason, please contact the Dean’s office as soon as the possibility arises.

Sponsored Program Activity Type

Several months ago SAGE modified the eGC1 fields to include a Sponsored Program Activity Type field that allows for more detail regarding the type of proposed activity. The screenshot below shows the available terms. Please make sure that you are selecting the correct type for your proposals – approximately 88% of the College’s eGC1s to date are coded as either “Research: Basic” or “Research: Applied” when a more specific activity type may be appropriate. GIM 13 provides detailed guidance on what activities fall under each of the categories below.

 With the competition for research funding becoming increasingly competitive, it is critically important that we make every effort to ensure that research proposals are completed and submitted on time to prevent delays.  Please help your faculty and staff in their proposal preparation so that the submission of their proposals is not unduly delayed.