Grants – What to Expect

1. Grants.gov –What to Expect Presented by the Office for Research Cindy Hope, Director Office for Sponsored Programs

2. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov - History Public Law 106-107 -- Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 ► Improve the effectiveness and performance of Federal financial assistance programs ► Simplify Federal financial assistance and application and reporting requirements ► Improve the delivery service to the public U.S. President’s management agenda ► “Agencies to allow applicants for Federal Grants to apply for, and ultimately manage, grant funds online through a common web site, simplifying grants management and eliminating redundancies…”

3. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov - General Cross-agency initiative involving ► 900 grant programs ► 26 Federal grant-making agencies ► $400 billionin annual awards Federal government’s single online system to electronically ► ‘Find’ grant announcements http://www.grants.gov/Find ► ‘Apply’ for grants http://www.grants.gov/Apply

4. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov - General Federal government goals FY2006 ► Post 100% of funding opportunities on “Find” function ► Post 75% of those listed opportunities on “Apply” function ► 45,000 electronic submissions > Currently, UA funding is approximately 85% federal funds > UA submitted approximately 300 proposals to federal agencies in FY 05

5. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov – Operational “Find” function allows you to search for announcements by agency, program subject or keywords ► select the appropriate program announcement > synopsis of the announcement > link to the full announcement > if the awarding agency has not selected a particular program announcement for submission via Grants.gov you will be directed to view the full agency announcement for accurate application instructions

6. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov - Operational “Apply” function allows you to complete the application package ► Connects the solicitation you select to the application process > must have “PureEdge” Viewer installed (available at Grants.gov) --Windows-based software. Alternative now available for Macs and other non-Windows operating systems. > download the announcement to desktop and proceed to complete application > application package will contain a list of mandatory and optional forms to be completed for the specific application CONTACT SPONSORED PROGRAMS BEFORE PROCEEDING

7. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov – When Mandatory for all agencies by 2007 ► Is currently being phased in by most federal agencies. For example: > NIH is staggering Grants.gov submission requirement based on activity type (R25, R15, R01) (see attached NIH deadlines) > DOE doesn’t seem to have a pattern, some announcements require Grants.gov and some do not > NSF is making the Grants.gov submission optional on its programs and isn’t making it a requirement at this time > Dept. of Justice is now requiring all submissions via Grants.gov > NASA, DED, etc. are all also in progress

8. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov - Challenges Critical Issues/Problems ► Proposal deadline is not really the proposal deadline > proposal submitted to Grants.gov > acknowledgement is received from Grants.gov – it does not indicate that the proposal is approved by the agency > agency retrieves from Grants.gov then conducts “edit and format” check > if errors are present, application is returned to Grants.gov > Grants.gov notifies UA to correct errors ► This process can take days and must be completed by the agency deadline ► Proposal files may be too large for our computers to handle ► Number of proposals that need to be submitted by a particular deadline can be burdensome

9. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov – UA Strategy Training/Communication ► Presentation to Associate Deans for Research (Feb. 2006) ► Presentation toDeans (March 2006) ► Letter from VP for Research to faculty (in process - now) ► OSP website improvements (in process – soon) ► Email information regarding approaching deadlines, technology issues and updates from Grants.gov and agencies (planning) ► Campus training (accepting input) > workshops, on-line, I-Pod training?

10. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov – UA Strategy Systems ► GrantsERA will be our electronic proposal submission system (once Grants.gov accepts system-to-system) > electronic interface with Grants.gov > web based > secure ID > always viewing the most current version > electronic routing of proposal and approval/coordination sheet

11. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov – UA Strategy Policies and Procedures ► NEW - internal submission deadline of 4 days prior to agency deadline > Not mandatory, OSP will submit past internal deadline > HOWEVER, we cannot guarantee that the proposal will be accepted by the agency’s submission deadline

12. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov – UA Strategy Project Leader Assignment ► One person designated to serve as leader and coordinator of all aspects of Grants.gov preparedness > coordinate technical aspects in conjunction with GrantsERA > Kathy Bir, OSP Expenditure Compliance Specialist, will serve as the Grants.gov coordinator for UA

13. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov – Going Forward Anticipate ►Monitor solicitations for new forms ►Monitor Grants.gov newsletters ►Monitor andTrack submission information > which agencies are coming “online” and when > upcoming high volume submission deadlines ►Upgrade hardware, create upload/download sites, work towards electronic routing (GrantsERA) ►Continue participation in FDP, NCURA, COGR and other groups that are closely following Federal implementation

14. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov – Going Forward Anticipate ► Department Needs -- Determine department level challenges (technology, Grants.gov “local expert”,…). Soon.

15. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov – Going Forward Anticipate ► Grants.gov is changing every day. Adapting for it is a continuing process. Communication with OSP is essential!

16. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov Grants.gov Resources ► Online customer support > tutorials > user guide > quick reference guide > 1-800-518-GRANTS > email address: support@grants.gov >http:www.grants.gov/Support > http://www.grants.gov/Newsletter

17. OSP, working for you! Grants.gov Thank You! Office for Research Office for Sponsored Programs 348-5152 http://osp.ua.edu/ Cindy Hope, 348-8119, cindy.hope@ua.edu Kathy Bir, 348-3237, kbir@fa.ua.edu Carol Hollyhand, 348-8880, chollyhand@fa.ua.edu