FAQ
Provides support throughout the life of all publicly funded sponsored projects to College personnel and partners. This includes assistance with proposal development, submission, accepting/negotiating awards, managing awards, and project closeout. OSP is responsible to provide expert regulatory and grant administration guidance, oversee compliance, provide infrastructure for project activities, guide Principle Investigator's (PI) on project strategy/management, negotiate with sponsors, retain project records, and facilitate the internal approval process. OSP has authority to sign sponsored projects, negotiate with sponsors (the funding source), accept awards, and withdraw/decline projects.
OSP is the signatory authority for all sponsored projects at the College, which means only OSP is authorized to sign sponsored projects. College faculty and staff should NOT sign sponsored projects. In doing so, they assume significant personal liability and negate the obligation of the College to provide support for the project.
Sponsored Projects include grants, contracts, designations, waivers and other externally funded or externally bestowed instrument granted to an institution (not a student).
A grant is a source of funding that does not have to be repaid but is conditional upon attainment of specific objectives and outcomes. Grants are also subject to a large number of regulations, which must be adhered to by the entity receiving the grant.
A principle investigator is the leader on a sponsored project and is ultimately responsible for all aspects of project performance and compliance. The PI may or may not be paid by the sponsored project.
The PI is responsible to oversee all aspects of the grant, ensure project outcomes are met, ensure work is done on the project regardless of staffing levels, and follow internal and external grant regulations. The PI has the authority to enlist the resources necessary to accomplish the project outcomes, including those resources outside the PI’s institutional jurisdiction.
The Budget Office, in partnership with OSP and HR, has developed a template to help PI’s calculate personnel costs accurately. Costs must be calculated according to College policy; thus the PIs are strongly encouraged to work with OSP and use the template to calculate costs. The template is available on the Forms and Templates page.
OSP provides a bi-weekly list serve of finding opportunities. You can subscribe by contacting osp@osp.edu. All federal agencies and many state and local entities have list serves that send out emails listing opportunities. Individuals can sign-up to receive updates (a list of agency links are located on the External Resources page). Grants.gov also provides email updates. Sign-up by going to grants.gov/manage. You can also contact OSP for guidance to resources that are specific to your area of interest.
Pubic grants are funded by government sources. Private grants are funded by non-government sources (businesses, non-profits, etc.). OSP handles all public grants, and private grants that are subject to public grant regulations. The Development Office oversees private grants that are not subject to public grant regulations.
Grant reporting requirements are different for each award/project. They can be found in the notice of award, accompanying funding documents, regulatory requirements and other laws and statutes. There are usually two types of reports - Programmatic and Financial. Reports can be electronic sponsor specific platforms or simple word processing documents sent via email. It is important to know what kind of reports are required, the information needed for them, due dates, the mechanism to report and its delivery system. OSP is happy to help PIs identify and navigate the reports required for their project. Financial reporting is overseen by Business Office grant accounting staff.
Funding amounts vary widely depending on the funder, type of funding and project. It can be as little as $250 or as large as several million. Contact OSP office to discuss your funding needs and funding options.
Grant funding supports activities that are 1) reasonable (would a reasonable person determine that the cost is necessary for this project), allowable (does the sponsor allow the cost), allocable (can the cost be clearly linked to project activities). Attempting to use public funding for activities that do not meet these criteria can jeopardize funding for the PI, the project, and the College. Specific guidance on costs is located in the solicitation, sponsor guidelines and other regulations. PI's are encouraged to read these guidelines and contact OSP with questions. Cost regulations for federal grants are located on U.S. Government Publishing Office
No. Per College policy, all grants must be routed through OSP. OSP will work with PIs to review and submit the proposal. Most grant applications require approval by the authorized signatory. OSP is the authorized signatory for all sponsored projects. In some situations, PIs may submit the grant but only after it has been reviewed by OSP and received internal approval.
OSP does not write grants for PIs; however they provide extensive guidance, review, and editing support if requested. Some PIs at the College hire consultants to assist with the writing process, find a grant-writing mentor or support team, or attend grant writing classes. OSP is in the process of developing an internal grant writing course. Until that time, OSP has compiled a list of quality grant writing resources. Grant consultants and training can vary widely in content and quality. PIs are encouraged to contact OSP for feedback if they have identified a specific training they are interested in that is not listed below.
- National Science Foundation Guide for Proposal Writing: provides guidance for writing grants for NSF
- University of Utah Research Administrative Training Series: local 2 hour courses on a wide-variety of grant administration topics. Classes are $25 for non-university employees. Some courses are heavily geared toward specific practices at the University, and are not recommended for SLCC employees.
- Foundation Center: provides a brief outline of how to structure a grant proposal, and provides general descriptions of what proposal sections should contain.
- Management Concepts: provides intensive in-person or online courses on a variety of grant topics, see specifically, “How to prepare the Application Budget,” and How to Write the Application Narrative.”
OSP has recently purchased an electronic grant administration system that provides this information for current and future projects. For past projects, OSP can provides references based on project type, i.e. if a PI is interested in a Department of Labor grant, OSP can refer them to another PI who received a DOL grant.
For proposals $25,000 and over, the internal approval process must be started at least two weeks before the submission deadline. For proposals below, $25,000, the internal approval process must be started at least one week before the submission deadline. The internal approval process is the minimum requirement for submission. The PI must work with OSP to determine other review needs their proposal has before it is submitted.
Contact OSP. Changes to sponsored projects must be reviewed by OSP before they are submitted to the sponsor. OSP provides expertise and amendment templates to conduct this process. Submitting official documents to the sponsor without OSP approval can jeopardize sponsor relationships and undermine SLCC's ability to comply with regulations. Negotiation of or requesting changes to an award from the sponsor is a function of OSP not the PI. OSP conducts negotiations or requests changes on behalf of the institution, including the PI.
If you have received the notice of award directly, send the notice to OSP immediately. Because proposals are submitted, and awards are granted to the College and not individual PIs, only OSP personnel are authorized to accept grants and execute contracts on behalf of the College. OSP will review and, as appropriate, negotiate the terms and conditions of the award on behalf of the College and the PI. The grant will receive an index number in Banner. The Director will then assign a grant officer who reviews reporting requirements with the Principal Investigator and Financial Services.
PIs should work with their assigned Grant Accountant in the Business Office to complete a "Request for Grant Index/Budget Authorization" (Purple Sheet) located on the Budget Office website. Grant Accountants are assigned to projects when the notice of award is received.
Most sponsored projects involved some type of research. There are regulations that govern the use of human subjects in research. PIs with projects that involved human subjects or sensitive human subject data must contact the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the College to determine if their project requires review. The IRB will ensure that research conducted at the College remains in compliance with the Federal guidelines that protect research participants and their personal data and/or information.