University Policy on Late Submittal of Proposals

University Policy on Late Submittal of Proposals to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP)

Current UL Lafayette policy requires paper copy proposal submission to ORSP at least three days prior to the date the university needs to 1) place a proposal in the mail, or 2) submit it electronically.

1. No proposal will be processed that is submitted to ORSP less than three working days prior to the date that the proposal needs to be mailed or electronically submitted except as provided below.
   
   

   This means, for instance, that if a proposal must be mailed or electronically submitted to the funding agency by the end of the day Tuesday, it must be received by ORSP by the end of the day on the previous Thursday. This allows Friday, Monday, and Tuesday for reviewing, checking, rewriting, and preparing the final version of the proposal. Each proposal submission must include a completed and signed routing form.

2. In addition to the deadline for paper copy submission to ORSP, when a proposal will be submitted to the agency electronically, the principal investigator must submit a completed electronic file to ORSP at least 24 hours prior to the agency’s deadline for submission.
   
   

   Electronic submission of proposals frequently involves conversion and merging of documents, unanticipated technical problems and glitches, and additional staff and administrative review time to adhere to specific submission requirements. This 24 hour period will help ensure that each proposal will be submitted by the agency deadline and in compliance with those requirements.

   In the past, a small number of proposals have been submitted electronically, mainly through the use of the NSF FastLane system. This will change radically over the next year. By mid-2007, twenty-six federal granting agencies must implement electronic submission of proposals through the newly created grants.gov website. In addition, the Louisiana Board of Regents is also fully implementing its LOGAN system for electronic submission. We expect that the newness of these systems, which have already proven to be unpredictable, coupled with first time use by many PIs will add to ORSP time needed to submit proposals electronically.

3. When a proposal is submitted through a college, the university will accept and process a proposal submitted after the university deadline only when the respective Dean and the Director of Research agree that sufficient extraordinary justifiable circumstances exist to grant an exception and allow its consideration. In the case where a Center that reports directly to the Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development submits a late proposal, the Vice President may authorize processing the proposal.
   
   

   It is understood that occasionally a situation may develop beyond the control of the PI that requires a late submission of a proposal. Thus, we have allowed for limited exceptions.

4. However, each college or center will be limited each year to only a few specified number of exceptions to the university policy of not considering late proposals.
   
   

   Each dean has been assigned a specific number of exceptions per year based on the number of proposals historically submitted from that Dean ’s College. The VP for Research, likewise, will grant only a limited number of exceptions each year.