OFFICIAL
Policy and Procedure Statement 5.01 Contracts and Grants of
Original: Fa/86 an Academic Nature
Review Cycle: Oct 1, ONY (42 paragraphs)
Review Date: 10/1/1999
AVP/Res & Sp Prog
PURPOSE
  1. The following information establishes criteria and procedures for obtaining approval of contracts and grants of an academic nature. This includes proposals submitted to State, Federal and private agencies.
  2. The Principal Investigator (PI), who may also he the Project Director, bears the primary responsibility for the accuracy of all the material in the proposal and for compliance with all applicable regulations.
  3. The PI is responsible for informing the department chair and dean of intention to submit and of proposal content.
  4. The PI is responsible for the completion of the contract application and route sheet according to the specifications in the application guidelines. NOTE: SWT/OL Form No. 16.02-BS-0779-01 is used for routing and is obtained from either the Office of Sponsored Projects (blue) or the Office of the Special Assistant for External Affairs (yellow).
  5. The PI checks all financial data with the Office of Grants Administration prior to the submission of the grant or contract through the procedure track.
  6. The PI ensures that the proposal meets all requirements of the Institutional Review Board on Human Research (see SWT/OL No. 16.09), complies with the Affirmative Action regulations, if applicable, and meets any other regulations which might apply, such as rules mandated by the Office of Safety and Health Administration, the Bureau of the Handicapped, State Department, etc.
  7. The PI ensures that the proposal itself represents the highest quality in purpose, scope, and plan of operation and reflects credit upon the department(s) involved.
  8. The PI notifies the Special Assistant for External Affairs if the proposal will be sent to a private source or foundation to ensure coordination of efforts. For state and federal awards, the Office of Sponsored Projects should be notified.
  9. The PI ensures that a single proposal is not submitted to several funding sources simultaneously.
  10. The PI checks that no other proposal has been sent to that funding resource, unless multiple submissions are appropriate (check with the Office of the Special Assistant for External Affairs or Office of Sponsored Projects).
  11. The PI provides the department chair with a copy of the final budget (if the contract is funded), keeps him/her up-to-date on expenditures, and clears with him/her all hiring of student assistants.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR

  1. The department chair checks the proposal for accuracy of content and for compliance with regulations listed in paragraph 6.
  2. The chair verifies, by signing the route sheet, that the proposal purpose, scope, and plan of operation represent the best interest of the department.
  3. The chair verifies that the proposal itself is of high quality and reflects credit on the department and its members.
  4. The chair verifies that he/she approves of all requests for released time, equipment purchases, funds for clerical assistance, use of facilities, and expenditures for travel.
  5. The chair verifies that any request(s) for additional staff lines has been discussed with the appropriate authority.
  6. The chair checks expenditures of funded grants and/or contracts on a periodic basis and, when student assistants are hired, will ensure that the regulations regarding nepotism (Texas State/OL No. 02.23) are followed both literally and in the spirit of the rules.
  7. Upon approval, the proposal is forwarded to the school dean.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DEAN OF THE SCHOOL
  1. The dean reviews each proposal, paying particular attention to commitments incurred and to the quality of the document.
  2. The dean verifies, by signing the route sheet, that the proposal represents the best interests of the school.
  3. The dean verifies the proposal is of the highest quality and reflects credit on the school and its faculty.
  4. The dean verifies that he/she approves of all requests for released time, equipment purchases, funds for clerical assistance, use of facilities, and expenditures for travel and other uses of University resources.
  5. The dean verifies that any request(s) for additional staff lines has his/her full approval.
  6. The dean signs and forwards only those proposals of quality and returns those that do not to the chair for subsequent discussion and possible re-writing with the principal investigator.
  7. The dean answers questions concerning programmatic commitments.
  8. Upon approval, three copies of the proposal are sent to the Office of Sponsored Projects (public) or the Office of the Special Assistant for External Affairs (private), whichever is appropriate according to the type of grant.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE OFFICE OF SPONSORED PROJECTS
  1. The Office of Sponsored Projects reviews each proposal submitted to a state or federal funding source and pays particular attention to non-fiscal institutional commitments incurred and to the technical quality of the document.
  2. The Office of Sponsored Projects returns the proposal to the school dean for implementation of paragraph 24 if there are any questions regarding the quality of the proposal and/or with factual accuracy.
  3. Upon approval, one copy is retained and two copies are sent to the Director of Grants Administration.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
  1. The Special Assistant for External Affairs reviews each proposal requesting grants from corporations, foundations, and the private sector and pays particular attention to non-fiscal institutional commitments incurred and to the technical quality of the document.
  2. The Special Assistant for External Affairs returns the proposal to the school dean for implementation of paragraph 24 if there are any questions regarding the quality of the proposal and/or a factual accuracy.
  3. Upon approval, one copy is retained and two copies are sent to the Director of Grants Administration.
ROUTING
  1. Requests for approval of applications for contracts and grants of an academic nature must be made by submitting three (3) copies of the proposal through the following channels:

    1. Department chair
    2. Dean of the academic school
    3. Office of Sponsored Projects (approval for State and Federal Funding) or Special Assistant for External Affairs (approval for private sector funding); one signed copy of the proposal is retained,
    4. Director of Grants Administration (the Director of Grants Administration forwards the proposal(s) to the Vice President for Finance and Management for approval and notifies the PI once the approval has been obtained); one signed copy of proposal is retained, one signed copy is returned to the PI for submission to the appropriate agency.

  1. The following calendar should be adhered to as closely as possible:
Activity Suggested Timelines
a. Submit proposal(s) to chair 10 days before mailing
b. Processing by Chair 2 days
c. Processing by Dean 2 days
d. Processing by Office of Sponsored Projects or Office of the Special Assistant for External Affairs 2 days
e. Processing by Director of Grants Administration 2 days
f. Processing by Vice President for Finance and Management/Return of signed proposal to PI for mailing 2 days

SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS AND
THE OFFICE OF SPONSORED PROJECTS SUPPORT SERVICES
  1. The Office of Sponsored Projects assists with the identification of state and federal funding sources and obtaining application guidelines.
  2. The Office of Sponsored Projects offers technical assistance in proposal development for state and federal funding. The Office of the Special Assistant for External Affairs may provide assistance depending on time limitations within that office.
FISCAL APPROVAL
  1. The Director of Grants Administration is responsible for certifying that the proposal is within institutional, state, and federal financial guidelines.
LIAISON FUNCTIONS FOR RESEARCH
  1. The Vice President for Finance and Management is responsible for liaison with all state, federal, and private sector funding services regarding fiscal aspects of research.
  2. The Office of the Special Assistant for External Affairs is responsible for liaison with all corporations, foundations, and private sector funding sources as regards non-fiscal aspects of research.
  3. The Office of Sponsored Projects and the Special Assistant for External Affairs will continually assess the advantages associated with the University's membership in research-related agencies and organizations and annually will recommend initiation, renewal, or termination of such membership.
ANALYSIS AND REPORTING
  1. The Office of Grants Administration will furnish the Office of Sponsored Projects, the Office of the Special Assistant for External Affairs and the Provost with a report about funded grants. This report will contain such information as: the title of each funded proposal, the source of funding, name of the Principal Investigator, and the amount of the budget. This periodic report will constitute the official analysis of the University's academic grant and contract status.
CERTIFICATION STATEMENT
  1. This PPS has been approved by the reviewer listed below and represents Texas State's Division of Academic Affairs policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.
Review Cycle: _____________________________ Review Date: _______________________
Reviewer: ________________________________ Date: _____________________________
Approved: ________________________________ Date: _____________________________
  Perry Moore  
  Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs  
 
Texas State University-San Marcos
Last Updated: June 28, 2005
Send comments and questions to: tg12@txstate.edu