Notification
Be patient, the review process can take a long time, many federal sponsors can take up to six or eight months to notify recipients.
When a sponsor issues and award (or declination), official notification can be made by phone, mail or email. Recipients may include the PD/PI and/or the OGRD. It is important to forward all documents to the grants office as soon as you receive them. Do not sign any documents.
While is it discouraging to not receive a grant award, many times proposals are not awarded the first time they are submitted. The number of proposals submitted outweigh the number funded; as a result, many strong proposals are not funded. Commitment and perseverance can be the keys to success.
Most federal sponsors provide readers’ comments and overall evaluation of the proposal. Review the feedback to determine strengths and weaknesses of the proposal.
For other funders, you may consider contacting the funding agency to request feedback, if available. It may be appropriate for Pre-Award staff do this in some situations. Speak with Pre-Award staff prior to any communication to discuss this.
Pre-Award staff are available to review feedback with you and to discuss the possibility of rewriting the proposal for resubmission, or submitting the proposal to another funder. If you plan to resubmit a proposal, it is critical to address the reviewers’ comments in the revised application and to ensure that all supporting documents are updated. You will need to meet with Pre-Award staff to develop a new timeline and to discuss the revision process.
All external grants and contracts awarded must be routed through the OGRD. There are several required actions that must be completed before funds can be expended or work on the project can begin.
Award Negotiation
Pre-award costs are those costs incurred prior to the effective date of the award where such costs are necessary for efficient and timely performance of the scope of work. Such costs are allowable only to the extent that they would have been allowable if incurred after the date of the award and only with the written approval of the awarding agency.
It is important to note that these costs are incurred at the PD/PI's own risk. Pre-award costs are allowed on an exception basis. Please contact your Pre-Award staff member to discuss this prior to expending any funds.
If the award notification reflects the exact budget as submitted and terms and conditions are acceptable, the award will be processed in accordance with the standards set forth by the sponsor.
On occasion, the awarded amount of funding is reduced. If this is the case, the budget must be revised according to sponsor requirements and submitted for approval prior to work beginning on the project. If a budget modification is necessary, Pre-Award staff will meet with you to discuss budget revisions and revise accordingly. Pre-Award staff will submit the revised budget to the funder as necessary along with any other information that may be required. This process must be completed before an agreement can be executed.
When a PD/PI has partnered with another institution on an extramurally funded project to complete a portion of the work to be carried out, the relationship usually takes the form of a subaward. The terms of the subaward agreement are influenced by the sponsor agreement that is detailed in the terms and conditions to EWU. The type of relationship will be determined by Pre-Award staff and will be managed in compliance with the Uniform Guidance 2CFR Part 200 Subpart D 200.330-345, state regulations and university policies and procedures.
Your Pre-Award staff member will guide this process.
Award Acceptance
Once the award negotiation and acceptance process is complete, you will be assigned a Post-Award Point-of-Contact, or POC, who will work with you to manage the award. At that time, a grant spending index will be set up and you will meet with your POC who will guide you through the post award management process.