Pre-Proposal Submission Policy

SUBJECT:

Pre-Proposal Submission Policy
(AKA: Letters of Intent, White Papers, Concept Papers, Pre-Applications)

 Effective Date:
06/05/2017 		Policy Number:
10.2.11
  Supersedes:
New Policy 		Page 1 of 3
  Responsible Authorities:
Director, Sponsored Programs
Vice President for Research

  1. BACKGROUND

    Sponsors may require that applicants submit a pre-proposal (aka, Letters of Intent, White Papers, Concept Papers, and Pre-Applications) for review prior to a full proposal. The pre-proposal typically includes a brief summary of the project, list of personnel, and budget amount. If selected, the Principal Investigator would then submit a more formal or full proposal.

  2. PURPOSE

    To establish a uniform policy, to expedite the pre-proposal submission process, and to provide guidance to faculty and staff regarding the submission of pre-proposals (aka Letters of Intent, White Papers, Concept Papers, and Pre-Applications) to sponsoring agencies.

  3. GENERAL STATEMENT

    FAU is committed to the pursuit of increasing the research enterprise. One way this occurs is through the submission of pre-proposals to external funding agencies. This policy allows faculty to submit pre-proposals as expeditiously as possible to solicit interest in their respective research programs. This policy identifies when pre-proposals require review and approval of the Office of Sponsored Programs.

  4. POLICY

    When a sponsor requires the submission of a pre-proposal, the Principal Investigator (PI) may need to submit the pre-proposal through the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) proposal routing system for review and approval.

    Pre-Proposals Routed for Review and Approval through Sponsored Programs

    1. Pre-proposals must be submitted to the Office of Sponsored Programs, through the proposal routing system, for review and approval when any of the following are required:

      1. The pre-proposal includes a detailed line-item budget that cannot be altered when submitting the full proposal, or
      2. The pre-proposal includes FAU cost-sharing/matching and requires a firm commitment be included in the pre-proposal.

    2. Pre-Proposal Submission Deadline

      Pre-proposals will follow the Proposal Submission Deadline Policy (No. 10.2.10) which states:

      All proposals must be received via the proposal routing system used by Sponsored Programs no later than five (5) business days before the sponsor’s deadline. For instance, if the sponsor’s deadline is 5:00pm on Friday, the Sponsored Programs deadline is 8:00am the previous Monday.

    Pre-Proposals Submitted to Sponsor without Submission through Sponsored Programs

    1. Pre-proposals that do not require any of the items listed under number 1 above, may be submitted to the sponsor without going through OSP’s proposal routing system. When submitting the pre-proposal to the sponsor via e-mail, the PI should copy the appropriate Proposal and Contract Administrator (PCA). If submission is not through email, a copy of the pre-proposal should be emailed to the PCA, after it has been submitted to the sponsor.

      For the pre-proposals submitted without Sponsored Programs review and approval, it is recommended that the PI check with their department/unit to verify their process prior to submitting the pre-proposal to the sponsor.

    2. F&A (Indirect Costs)

      • It is the PI’s responsibility to ensure that the pre-proposal budget includes F&A. PI’s must include the FAU Federal Negotiated Rate in pre-proposals unless the solicitation states differently. Any deviation from charging the appropriate rate must have prior approval of the Director of Sponsored Programs.
      • If the appropriate F&A rate is not included in the pre-proposal budget, the Office of Sponsored Programs will include the F&A at full proposal submission, even if it affects and lowers the total direct costs for the project.
      • Only the Director of Sponsored Programs or the Vice President for Research are authorized to negotiate the F&A rate. Any negotiations done by the PI or anyone besides those authorized will not be honored and may result in the full proposal not being submitted to the sponsor.

    Limited Number of Pre-Proposals

    If the Program Announcement (PA) or Request for Proposal (RFP) limits the number of pre-proposal submissions from an institution, the PI is required to contact the Division of Research (DOR) at limited@fau.edu and indicate their interest.

    DOR will review the guidelines and arrange an appropriate internal review process, as applicable. This selection process could take several weeks. Submit early and allow ample time for this process.

    Policy Review: The Pre-Proposal Submission Policy will be updated as necessary.

POLICY APPROVAL

Initiating Authority

Daniel Flynn, Vice President for Research
06/07/2017

Executed signature pages are available in the Initiating Authority Office