The University has a 5/3-day requirement for proposal submission. The completed proposal should be ready for routing five (5) business days before the sponsor deadline and the PI can take an additional three (3) days to finalize the scientific and/or programmatic components of the application. Guidance is presented below in four sections:
Timeline for scientific and/or programmatic components of the application
Practices for Monday due dates, holidays, and Pre-proposal
Further Guidance on the 5/3 Day Rule by Proposal Type
Timeline for scientific and/or programmatic components of the application
In order to allow Principal Investigators additional time for a final read‐through and last-minute minor editing, corrections or updates to proposals, the five-day requirement is amended as follows:
- To ensure institutional approval, complete proposals in a near to final format are due at SPA five business days before the sponsor’s deadline, however:
- PIs will have until Day 3 of the 5-day period prior to the Sponsor’s due date to replace a draft version of technical/science documents with a final polished version. On the morning of Day 4 (8:30 am) SPA is authorized to submit the proposal without further review, i.e., there will be no review of the revised section(s) of the proposal. PIs who take advantage of this relaxed internal deadline must accept the risk that a change to the technical section of the proposal may cause a submission failure. SPA will not retrieve the proposal and correct resulting submission errors caused by PI changes to update proposals.
- The final version of a proposal will be submitted by SPA in advance of a Sponsor’s due date whenever possible to ensure it is successfully received by the sponsor.
In fairness to all Principal Investigators, on-time and complete proposals receive a thorough review and priority for submission.
Exceptions
Compelling reasons to approve an exception from the policy would be:
1. a solicitation is released 30 days or less prior to the due date, or
2. a sponsor contacts a PI with a request for a last-minute proposal.
A final package must still be provided to SPA with enough time to properly submit to the sponsor.
In these circumstances an approval email granting an exception must be received from the department chair/center director and dean/Institute Director or associate dean of research prior to submission.
Proposals which receive an expedited review will be given a less thorough review than those proposals which arrived in time to adhere to the University’s 5/3 Day timeline, as outlined above. The thoroughness of this expedited review will be dictated by several factors, including but not limited to University proposal volume, and the amount of time between routing and the sponsor’s deadline.
Submitting a Complete Proposal
The guidance requires that a complete proposal be sent to SPA five (5) days in advance of the sponsors’ due date. This allows routing in CAYUSE for Institutional approvals and to address any non-compliant issues. The submitted proposal must include all required elements specified in the sponsor’s application guidelines. Technical/Science sections submitted in draft format should be labeled in the document file title by section name and followed by “DRAFT” or “FINAL.”
Practices for Monday due dates, holidays, and Pre-proposals
University policy states that proposals for external support are ordinarily due to the Pre-Award Compliance Unit of SPA, five (5) business days prior to the sponsor’s due date. However, the following exceptions are made to accommodate the proposal preparation process:
- For deadlines that fall on a MONDAY, complete proposals may be submitted until 9:00 am on the Tuesday prior to the deadline date. This gives the PI an additional weekend to work through the technical portions of the application.
- For University Holidays that fall on Monday, proposals are due to SPA on TUESDAY by noontime after the Holiday. The Holidays include
- Labor Day First Monday in September
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (obs.) Third Monday in January
- Memorial Day Last Monday in May
Further Guidance on the 5/3 Day Rule by Proposal Type
- White paper or Concept Paper - preliminary ideas or data presented to determine interest of sponsor in funding a project or program
Short narrative (1-5 pages)
No SPA review, PI submits directly to sponsor
5/3-day proposal submission rule does not apply
- Letter of Intent to apply (a/k/a "LOI") - informs sponsor of planned full proposal
Short narrative (1-5 pages)
Total cost estimate only, no detailed budget
SPA approval is optional (per Sponsor instructions)
PI or designee submits to sponsor
5/3-day proposal submission rule does not apply
- Pre‐Proposal (simple) - federal and non-federal sponsors
Narrative with minimal other components (e.g., Biosketch, COA List)
Total cost estimate, no detailed budget
SPA approval is optional (per Sponsor instructions)
No Cayuse record
PI submits directly to sponsor
5/3-day proposal submission rule does not apply
- Pre‐Proposal (complex) - National Science Foundation (NSF), other federal and non-federal sponsors
Narrative with minimal other components (e.g., Biosketch, COA List)
Detailed budget may be required
SPA approval may be required
CAYUSE record required
Research.gov/Fastlane and federal submission by SPA
Non-federal sponsor submission by SPA.
Due to SPA 3 days before Sponsor's due date
- Full Proposal
Narrative with statement of work; detailed budget and justification; current/pending support; biosketch/cv; facilities and environmental; bibliography/references, etc.
Detailed line item or modular budget is required
SPA signature required
CAYUSE record required
Submission by SPA
5/3-day rule applies
