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Proposal Submission

Routing and Lead Time

The Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG) is responsible for the submission of proposals to potential sponsors. All formal proposals must be routed through OCG prior to submission to the agency/sponsor. Faculty is encouraged to keep the OCG informed of the submission of preliminary proposals which do not require formal sign-off by the University. OCG staff is available to assist with the review and submission of preliminary, as well as formal, proposals. In addition, some UH colleges have their own pre-award Research Administrators that can assist their faculty. Most sponsors use an electronic process for the submission of proposals.

Most of these processes require that the submission be made by the central sponsored projects office or its designee office. However, there are a few agencies that allow individuals to register and submit a proposal electronically without the appropriate institutional approvals. Please be aware that even in these cases, the University requires that the department chair, college dean and the Office of Contracts and Grants review and endorse the proposal prior to submission. Therefore, the method of submission does not change the necessity of submitting the proposal to OCG for review and approval. Please plan accordingly.

Documentation

If the award agreement comes to UH prior to the generation/approval of a project proposal, the project must be submitted through the proposal process described below before it can be set up in a cost center. This will ensure that the applicable department chair(s) and dean(s) are provided the ability to approve or disapprove a project. If this occurs, the entire process from proposal to establishment of the expenditure cost center may be delayed, especially if the project has any of the compliance issues described below.

Compliance Reviews

There are several compliance issues the faculty should consider when beginning preparation of a proposal. These issues could influence the amount of time that will be required to prepare/complete the proposal and obtain the appropriate university endorsements of the proposed project.