External Funding Proposal or Request Policy

Responsible Unit: Offices of Scholarly Activity and Development | Executive lead: Provost 
Created: 8/2015 | Reviewed/Revised: 7/17/2018 | Effective: 7/17/2018 
Compliance: NWCCU 2.E.3  
Approving Body: PAC | Classification: Institution-wide 

Policy:  
Every proposal or request to support submissions for external funding, to any agency or organization, such as but not limited to PNWU projects, partnerships, sponsored community activity, or other, whether public or private, must receive administrative approval by the chief research officer and/or the chief development officer (or the designee of either) prior to submission or stewardship. There are no exceptions to this rule. Extramural funds and sponsored project submissions may only occur as follows: 

Submission: Only the chief research officer or the chief research officer’s designee may submit sponsored project applications either as a prime or sub-applicant with another institution. The chief research officer and/or the chief development officer (or the designee of either) may submit an application for funds.  

Donor Relations and Stewardship: The Office of Development shall coordinate, collaborate, and/or approve all solicitation and cultivation activities. Only the chief development officer or the chief development officer’s designee may solicit or cultivate donor funds on behalf of PNWU. The chief development officer’s designees may be volunteers, board members, employees, or students. 

Award Acceptance: Only the chief research officer or the chief research officer’s designee may accept a sponsored project award on behalf of PNWU. The chief research officer and/or the chief development officer (or the designee of either) may accept funds award (contributions, donations) on behalf of PNWU.  See Gift Acceptance Policy. 

Application Development: Individuals planning to write a sponsored project or funds application must notify Office of Scholarly Activity and/or the Office of Development prior to beginning the process of writing the application. 

Pre-submission Approval: The Office of Scholarly Activity or Office of Development determines the process and documents necessary for pre-approval to submit sponsored project and funds applications. Project directors and principal investigators (PD/PI) must follow the standard operating procedures (SOP) provided by the chief research officer and/or chief development officer with regard to application procedures. 

Failure to comply with the above policy will result in review of the individual’s actions by the representative dean, provost, and president. In the event of an award or funds on a non-compliant submission/request, review by the respective chief officers will also be conducted and all awarded funds are subject to complete return to funding agency. 

Definitions: 
See Definitions and Acronyms Related to Funds and Sponsored Projects on the OSA webpage for definitions of the terms funds, sponsored project, and extramural.  

Procedure: 
The procedures and forms for application submission are posted on the OSA webpage. 

Related documents: 
OSA Glossary of Terms 
Gifts Acceptance Policy 

Policy Resources

For assistance with policies and procedures contact:

Lori Fulton
lfulton@pnwu.edu