Proposals require institutional review and sign-off before they are submitted, whether Chapman serves as the lead institution or as a sub-recipient. The purpose of this review is to ensure that all proposals for external funding meet university, sponsor and federal/state regulations and are in line with Chapman University's intellectual and academic objectives. The review process also identifies and documents the key personnel and necessary resources needed to complete the proposed scope of work.
All final documents and the accompanying proposal routing form must be received by The Office of Research at least 5 days prior to the submission deadline. The routing form documents submission information and is used to notify all constituents of the work proposed and the resources required to complete it. Proposals submitted to The Office of Research for review outside of the 5-day window are not guaranteed to be successfully submitted to the sponsor. The Office of Research may also elect to revise or voluntarily withdraw proposals that are submitted to external sponsors without proper review and sign-off or decline to accept the award if funded.
During the proposal review process, The Office of Research will check the proposal routing form and narrative for the following:
- The PI and Co-I(s) (if applicable) has/have PI eligible status;
- The proposal package has been completed per the sponsor's RFP guidelines and the format follows the sponsor's required font and page limits;
- All project equipment, technology, specialized software and space requirements, renovations or modifications have been identified;
- Potential Research Compliance requirements or Research Restrictions have been addressed (e.g., IACUC, IRB, IBC, Export Controls, FCOI);
- Intellectual Property/Technology Transfer (IP/TT) issues have been addressed; any confidential or proprietary information has been clearly identified as such per sponsor requirements;
- The PI, Co-I(s) and all collaborators certified they have not been debarred from receiving federal funding;
- The Financial Conflict of Interest and Assurance Statements have been signed by the PI and Co-I(s);
- The lead PI's unit and each Co-I's collaborating unit's dean/director have signed the routing form indicating approval to submit; and
- If Chapman is listed as a sub-recipient, ensure that all forms required by the lead institution have been completed.
The proposal budget will be reviewed to ensure:
- Correct addition of the budget totals;
- Dollar amounts are consistent throughout the proposal narrative, application/face page, budget detail and budget justification, if required, and clearly delineates how costs are calculated;
- Items have been listed in the correct budget categories and correctly identified as direct or indirect costs;
- Only allowable costs have been listed and are in line with the sponsor's program guidelines and university, state or federal regulations;
- Salaries have been verified and calculated correctly for all personnel listed on the project (faculty, administrators, academic personnel, staff and students), appropriate benefit rates have been used based on federal or non-federal sponsors, and projected annual increases have been calculated for merit, tenure and promotion;
- Sub-recipients have been identified, and a detailed budget, budget justification, statement of work and sub-recipient letter of commitment is included (signed by the sub-recipient's AOR). Consultants to the project have included a letter of support documenting their advisory role, daily rate, length of participation and qualifications;
- Graduate Research Assistantships (GRAs) stipends and tuition remission (if applicable) have been calculated correctly to ensure appropriate GRA level, correct number of academic program units, total program length, health insurance and/or mandatory fees (if applicable), and projected tuition increases;
- Travel has been identified and categorized as domestic/foreign, and the correct per diem rates are calculated;
- Facilities and Administrative (F&A)/Indirect/Overhead costs have been properly calculated per Chapman's current federally negotiated agreement, and deviations from the full allowable F&A recovery rate have been documented with the sponsor's published policy on indirect costs; and
- Cost sharing or matching funds have been allocated and documented (if required by sponsor guidelines).