Sponsored Programs:Guidance
Guidance for Grant-seekers and Awardees
Sponsored Programs reports to the Provost and Dean of Faculty and provides pre-award and non-financial post-award support as well as research development and consultation on research compliance under the direction of the Office of Academic and Faculty Affairs.
The office collaborates with the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and Development, the Finance and Business Office, Advancement, The Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations and Legislative Affairs, and other constituents such as Information Technology, Institutional Research, and Communications.
Faculty Grantsmanship
One way in which Sponsored Programs supports faculty grantsmanship is through subscriptions to several databases that can be used to locate funding for a proposal.
Faculty members should contact our office when planning and preparing grant applications; we will provide comments on proposals, assist with development and preparation of budgets, and act as a resource for other information that is useful to grant applicants. All proposals submitted to outside sources by faculty members require institutional approval prior to submission and are reviewed here to assure compliance with the sponsor's and the Colleges' policies and guidelines, and to ensure budgetary accuracy and completeness. Preliminary draft proposals are welcome.
A more detailed explanation of the respective roles of the Principal Investigator (PI), Office of Sponsored Programs, the Business Office and the Provost in the pursuit and administration of grants in the pre- and post-award phases can be found here.
Getting Started
The Quick Guide is a concise set of instructions for faculty wishing to submit a grant or fellowship proposal for external funding. In addition to providing an overview of the HWS internal process, it also links to OPRA, the Colleges' Online Proposal Routing Approval system. Faculty can upload their proposal documents to OPRA and route them to the appropriate offices for institutional approvals prior to submission to the external agency or sponsor.
Award Implementation
When a proposal is successful and has been awarded funding, the Colleges will receive official notification, usually by email or letter to an institutional official. At that point the post-award phase begins. Following review of the award instrument, which may take the form of a grant, contract, or other type of agreement, Sponsored Programs initiates the award set-up process with the Business Office. The Business Office then establishes a unique grant program account that is based on the sponsor-approved budget and to which the program expenses will be charged. For new PIs or awards with complex compliance or reporting requirements, Sponsored Programs may also schedule an Award Implementation Meeting to which Business Office staff and the Principal Investigator are invited. The purpose of the meeting is to review relevant terms and conditions of the award, discuss how project funds may be accessed and expended, and answer any questions the PI may have. At that time reporting responsibilities and any other required deliverables would also be addressed. Sponsored Programs and the Business Office continue to administer the award on behalf of the Colleges until the period of performance for the award ends, all reporting has been completed, and the project has been officially closed.