Internal Approvals Process

Purpose of Policy

The purpose of this policy is to document established procedures at St. John Fisher University for submitting proposals to external sponsors.

Pre-Award Proposal Submission Process

The proposal submission process includes the following steps:

  • The Principal Investigator (PI) or Project Director (PD) discusses their intent to apply with the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP).
  • In conversation with the department chair and dean, the Assistant Provost arranges a meeting with the PI/PD to review the sponsor guidelines and develop a timeline for the submission of the grant proposal.
  • OSP staff assist the PI/PD with editing project descriptions, preparing proposal attachments, compiling institutional information, and building a project budget and budget justification.
  • The internal approvals process begins at least one week prior to the sponsor’s deadline. The internal approvals form is completed by the Assistant Provost who then leads the process.
  • The form, along with grant proposal materials, are circulated by the OSP to the following administrators for review and approval: department chair, dean, provost, vice president for academic affairs, controller, and chief financial officer.
  • Following chief financial officer (if applicable) approval and/or Controller’s Office sign-off, the Assistant Provost submits the proposal to the sponsor, certifying the application as the authorized organizational representative. The Board of Trustees has granted the president specific institutional authority to execute documents pertaining to federally funded proposals and agreements on behalf of St. John Fisher University. The president has sub-delegated this full institutional signatory authority to the provost and vice president for academic affairs, who has sub-delegated this authority to the Assistant Provost.