Receiving Grant Application Internal Approval

Meeting with your department chair is a crucial first step:

• Since the department chair is likely to be the only reader familiar with the faculty member's discipline, he or she should read the text carefully and be certain that it makes sense.   
• The department chair should make certain that the budget includes all relevant costs.
• Some proposals commit the department to providing space and other resources necessary to successful completion of the project, often including release time for the faculty member. The department chair should make certain that the department can meet these expectations should the proposal be funded.
• The department chair should note the curricular impact of any proposed project and make certain it is in line with the department's resources and mission.
• The department chair should discuss the proposal with the faculty member, noting strengths and weaknesses and raising questions regarding space, budget, release time, or curricular impact.

The role of the division director in the approval process:

• To pay particular attention to staffing implications of any grant proposal, including the need for secretarial, clerical and/or technical support.
• To be alert to any space requirements, particularly if grant funds are to support construction of new space or modification of existing space.
• To check matching fund requirements and establish the source of institutional matching funds if required.
• To be alert to the need for special signatures, such as those of the animal control officer or the chair of the institutional review board.
• To consider the curricular impact of the proposed project.

The role of the dean/provost's office in the approval process:

• To consider the grant in terms of the long-term commitment of institutional resources required by a proposed project.
• To be alert to any aspects of the proposal that will require extensive or exclusive use of particular space or that will entail construction of new space or renovation of existing space.
• To consider the institutional appropriateness of the proposed project: is it something that Colgate should be doing?
• To check the budget and make certain that all salary figures, including provisions for annual raises, are accurate, and that the institution can meet any matching requirements.
• To review federal grants for financial conflict of interest.

The role of the grants office in the approval process:

• To review the text of the proposal, checking for typographical errors and making any suggestions that would improve the presentation of the project to the funding agency.
• To check to see if all attachments, including requirements for assurances, are in order.
• To obtain the signatures of the controller and treasurer and notify the principal investigator when the routing process is complete.

The role of the controller in the approval process:

• To check the budget, seeing that all computations are correct and that the budget figures shown in the budget page match those in the budget narrative.
• To check all expense categories to make certain that they are legitimate expenses for the project.
• To see that the budget complies with all federal regulations.