Proposal Preparation and Submission
We will:
 Prepare budgets according to:
 Federal/sponsor regulations
 TAMUS policies
 Coordinate subcontract and collaborative




arrangements
Monitor sponsor guidelines for compliance
Route for campus approvals
Submit proposals to sponsors
Provide copies of submitted proposals
Contact:
Sue Hibbs
Senior Proposal Administrator II
shibbs@tamus.edu
979-845-8630
Timing is Everything
 Contact Sue Hibbs 14 days before the sponsor’s
deadline
 Confirm finalized budget and justification at least five
days before the deadline – proposal must be routed in
time to obtain campus approvals prior to submission
 Don’t make any budget changes after the proposal is
electronically routed
 Provide the final proposal text to Sue at least 48 Hours
before the deadline
What’s the Hurry?
 Proposal must have electronic signature approvals by TAMU-CC
before it is submitted to the sponsor
 Subcontracts and Independent Consultants are a part of your budget
and so:
 Their institutionally authorized proposals must be received
before the proposal is routed – we have to include their entity’s
information.
 Cost Sharing must be authorized before the proposal is routed.
Complete form at:
http://research.tamucc.edu/fr/forms.html
 Proposals must be submitted in time to prevent any last-minute
submission problems, i.e. problems with Grants.gov.
“Logging-In” a Proposal
 Contact Sue 14 days before the deadline
 Provide her with:
 Sponsor’s Name
 Funding Opportunity Announcement
 Proposal Title
 Co-Investigators names and contact information
 Outside collaborators (subcontractors’ information and
budget)
Proposal Preparation
 Sue will work with you to finalize your proposal budget
and route it with the budget justification and project
scope of work.
 Sue will also ask that you complete an assurances page
via e-mail. Assurances are required for each proposal
and must be returned to Sue before the proposal can
be routed. You will be asked if you will have any
significant financial interest in the planned
project. You will also be asked to check compliance
items such as the use of human subjects, lab animals,
rDNA, infectious biohazards, etc.
Electronic Routing for Approvals
 A process of budget approval by the department,
college and RGS prior to submission
 Routing takes place while you finalize the text, but all
budget related issues must be finalized
 Contact Sue with any changes to the proposal
 Contact Epikmaestro@tamu.edu for help with
the electronic routing system.
Routing on Campus
 Standard routing (Five days Minimum – it may take
longer and must be complete prior to submission)
 PI, Co-PI(s)
 Department Head(s)
 Dean(s)
 RGS
 Finance (if cost sharing exists)
 Multi-campus routing (Seven days)
Proposal Routing
 We will provide you with a guide to routing approval
and we will be available to answer any questions you
have about routing.
 You will receive an e-mail with routing instructions.
You will be asked to log into the EpikMaestro system
and approve the proposal. Once you approve, it will
move to the next person on the list.
Document in routing package:
 Cost sharing documentation
 Final budget
 Final budget justification
 Draft scope of work
 The final scope of work will not be included, so that you
have more time to complete it while the proposal is
being routed for approvals.
Quality Assurance
 Our procedure is to review every proposal that is
submitted before it is submitted, to make sure there
are no administrative (non-scientific) problems that
will prevent acceptance by the sponsor.
 This process relies upon the researcher to provide us
with the final proposal prior to the deadline.
 We are looking for compliance with Federal/sponsor
regulations and TAMUS policies regarding:



Allowable Costs
Cost Sharing Documentation
Formatting of Final Submission
Final Submission
 The final proposal text must be received by Sue at least 48
Hours prior to the submission deadline (PDF format, if
required by sponsor).
 Sue will:
 Review the final text for compliance with the sponsor’s
guidelines
 Submit the final proposal to another senior staffer for final
review
 Submit proposal via appropriate method (e.g., Grants.gov)
in advance of the deadline to avoid last-minute problems.
Your concerns?
 Will it be a problem that we’re in College Station but







the researchers are in Corpus Christi?
Do we know what we’re doing?
Will we be responsive?
Will we be able to handle last minute requests?
Will we know how to work with your sponsors?
Will we keep TAMU-CC offices in the loop?
Will we submit a proposal without your approval?
Will I get a copy of what is submitted?
Will it be a problem that we’re in College Station
but the researchers are in Corpus Christi?
 No
 We’re very used to working with researchers all over
the State of Texas.
 We prepare and submit proposals for other campuses,
such as TAMU-G as well as all of the AgriLife Research
Centers throughout the state.
 We’re only a phone call or e-mail away, which is how
most College Station researchers stay in touch with us.
Do we know what we’re doing?
 Yes
 You have the most senior proposal administrators
assigned to you, with a total of 26 years of experience.
 They’ve prepared and submitted proposals from
virtually every sponsor you can name.
 We don’t know everything… but… we’ll find out and
respond quickly if we don’t know the answer.
Will we be responsive?
 Yes
 We’re only an e-mail or phone call away.
 You have a senior proposal administrator assigned
ONLY to you – your priorities are her priorities.
Will we be able to handle last
minute requests?
 Not always
 Although you are our TOP priority, we are often at the
mercy of Federally-imposed deadlines and mercurial
submission systems.
 We’ll do our best, but our very best is always guaranteed
by giving us plenty of time to do an excellent job for you.
Will we know how to work with
your sponsors?
 Yes
 Our office submitted 2,000 proposals last year, to a
wide variety of sponsors, ranging from local
government offices to Federal agencies. We’re
accustomed to working with sponsors all over the
world and we’re flexible and collaborative in our work
so that we facilitate sponsored projects.
Will we keep TAMU-CC offices in
the loop?
 Definitely
 We work as partners with your research office staff.
 Our experience includes developing such partnerships with
AgriLife Research Centers all over the state and we’ve been
successful in that through our partnerships with their staff.
 We’ll make sure you approve proposals before they are
submitted.
 We’ll make sure you know about any issues of concern
during the proposal preparation process.
Will we submit a proposal without
your approval?
 No
 We have electronic routing in place to make sure you
approve proposals before they are submitted.
 Please let us know if you have any issues with what you
see in routing and we’ll address them before the
proposal is submitted.
Will I get a copy of what is
submitted?
 Yes
 The proposal will be scanned at the time of submission
and a PDF version will be e-mailed to everyone who
signed the electronic routing sheet within two weeks.
Still have questions?
 Please contact us:
 Sue Hibbs, Senior Proposal Administrator II
 shibbs@rf-mail.tamu.edu, or 979-845-8630
 Or Sue’s back-up, in case she is out of the office:
 Shelly Berry, Senior Proposal Administrator II
 mkb@rf-mail.tamu.edu, or 979-845-8758
 If further questions:
 Jane Zuber, Associate Vice President
 jxz@rf-mail.tamu.edu, 979-845-8615
 Becky Carranza, Coordinator II
 hrb@rf-mail.tamu.edu, or 979-845-8652