​ 

Frequently Asked Questions

ON THE ROAD TO DEVELOPING AND SUBMITTING YOUR FIRST PROPOSAL 



1. How do I route/submit my proposal? 

All proposals should be routed through the Office of Sponsored Programs for review and final approval prior to submission to the sponsor. A signed OSP routing form should be completed, which requires the signature of the PIs department chair, Dean of Academic Affairs, appropriate campus Business Operations Lead, and Dean prior to submission to OSP for final review and official university signature. Please note that an OSP routing form is required for the following situations: 

    • Submitting a new proposal to a sponsor 
    • Submitting a revised proposal to a sponsor 
    • Submitting a revised proposal that includes budget or cost-sharing changes.

Please note: Continuation proposals that do not request any modifications in funding do not require the same level of approval routing, but they still should be submitted through the Office of Sponsor Programs as the primary point of contact with the sponsor. 

2. Who submits the proposal? 

The Office of Sponsored Programs submits the proposal. OSP requests you provide the proposal to our office at least four business days in advance of the proposal submission deadline to assure that we have time to complete a comprehensive review and can avoid any potential technical difficulties that might occur at the last minute. 

Please note: That most agencies will not allow for an extension of the deadline due to unforeseen technical outages, which is why we as for this extra time. 

3. What are facilities and administrative costs (F&A, Indirect or Overhead)? 

Facilities and Administrative costs, commonly referred to as indirect costs, are charges not directly borne by the project. For example, the costs associated with utilities and administration are indirectly charged. TCSPP’s current F&A rate is 37%, and this full rate should be included in your budget whenever possible. 


4. Why do Effort Reporting? 

Effort reporting is the mechanism used to confirm—after the end of the reporting period—salaries and wages charged to sponsored awards are reasonable in relation to the actual work performed. As a condition of accepting such funding, TCSPP must assure that the effort expended on sponsored activity justifies the salary charged to them. Our system for reporting the percentage of time (i.e., effort) that employees devote to all extramurally sponsored programs must comply with federal regulations regarding compensation charged to all sponsored awards. We must provide reasonable assurance that the compensation for salary, wages, and benefits charged to sponsored programs are: 

P
roperly allocated. 
        • Properly allocated

        • Reasonable for the project. 

        • Allowable under the sponsored award documents and federal regulations. 

        • In conformity to the established policies and procedures of TCSPP. 

        • Consistently applied regardless of the source of funds. 

        • In conformity to the established policies and procedures of TCSPP. 

        • Consistently applied regardless of the source of funds. 

        • No more than the percentage of effort actually devoted to the sponsored award.

        • Based on a compensation rate that does not exceed 100% of the Institutional Base Salary 

        • If you have any additional questions, please contact the office directly. ​​

​ If you have any additional questions, please contact the office directly.