Ramapo College of New Jersey || Faculty Grants: Grants Manual

Faculty Grants: Grants Manual

1. Financial Support for Research and Other Projects
2. Proposal Preparation
3. Post Award Administration
4. Policies and Procedures

Financial Support for Research and Other Projects

Institutional Support

Institutional support for research is provided through the Committee on Faculty Research. This committee, under the leadership of the Provost, evaluates proposals and makes grants for faculty initiated research; facilitates opportunities to carry out research; and disseminates information on studies and experiments conducted annually by faculty.

The Committee on Faculty Research shall: (1) evaluate proposals and make grants for faculty research (2) facilitate opportunities to carry out research (3) distribute a statement of the studies and experiments completed within the previous year and those which are in progress (4) encourage systematic research studies and experiments and (5) strive to stimulate research viewpoints and interests.

External Support

1. Public Sector - refers to state and federal agencies.

2. Private Sector - refers to individuals, foundations and corporations. The Foundation Center defines a foundation as "a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization with its own funds (usually from a single source, either an individual, family or corporation) and program managed by its own trustees and directors, which was established to maintain or aid educational, social, charitable, religious, or other activities serving the common welfare primarily by making grants to other nonprofit organizations."

Funding Information Resources

The Internet and selected publications are used to identify sources of available funds for research and other sponsored activities. Many federal agency Web sites offer current information on grant opportunities in the public sector. Increasing numbers of major foundations provide information on their giving programs via the Internet. A monthly publication, "Grants Alert", is prepared by the Office of Grants & Sponsored Programs and distributed campus wide.

Grants Office staff members can provide guidelines from potential funding sources for proposal submission, and technical assistance in the development of proposals for faculty, staff, and administrators. Project development consultations, and assistance with proposal narratives are also available.

Proposal Preparation

Solicited Proposals

All federal agencies provide guidelines that describe the procedures to follow in preparing an application for funding. These guidelines are published and made available at no cost to interested persons and institutions upon request. Included in these guidelines are such things as:

deadline date for submission of the proposal
total funds available for awards, approximate number of awards to be made, range of award amounts
eligible applicants
program priorities
review/selection criteria
required proposal components
procedures for submitting the proposal (number of copies, mailing/delivery information)
point of contact at the agency for additional information

The basic steps to follow in developing a proposal are given below:

Discuss the solicitation/announcement with school Dean or department director to determine feasibility and appropriateness with respect to the school or department's program plans.
Complete and submit an Intent to Submit a Proposal form (See Appendix 1) for approval to the Dean, the Provost, or the Vice President for Institutional Advancement (if soliciting a corporation, foundation or individual), and lastly to the Vice president for administration & Finance. The Intent form should be submitted well in advance of the proposal (14 days).
If appropriate, discuss the proposal with a representative of the funding agency prior to its submission. Such contacts serve to help investigators to focus their ideas more fully on the requirements of the agency.
Develop the full proposal in keeping with the guidelines. The proposal should be discussed in detail with one’s Dean or director as it is being developed. Assistance in constructing a budget or cost proposal is available from the Director of Grants & Sponsored Programs. All persons who develop proposals are encouraged to include students in their projects or as salaried personnel (e.g. research or laboratory assistants, tutors, counselors, mentors, etc.) unless prohibited by program guidelines.
Complete the Request to Apply for Grant Form and submit it, along with one complete copy of the proposal, to the persons listed on the form under "Authorization Recommended" in the order presented (See Appendix II). Allow sufficient time for everyone to thoroughly review the proposal.
Proposals with established deadlines should be submitted for approval at least 7 days prior to the deadline.

Proposal Components

In instances where specific guidelines are not enumerated by a potential funding source, a complete proposal will most often respond to the journalistic inquiries of who? what? where? when? why? and how? From beginning to end, the proposal should "flow" in a manner that suggests that it is a well-conceived and well-structured document. Included in such a document are the following components.

1. Abstract. The abstract should clearly and concisely delineate the following:

Need (importance, timeliness of the project)
Objectives (realistic, quantifiable)
Methodology/Procedures (should match the objectives and include your knowledge of related work in the field)
Significance/Impact (relationship to other disciplines/universality)
Available resources and personnel

The abstract should be written last as a concise statement of the full proposal. Reviewers will read the abstract first to gain a perspective of the project and its expected significance, or use it as a reference during discussions with other readers. Care should be taken to highlight key concepts.

2. Table of Contents. The Table of Contents should list all of the major topics of the proposal, including appendices. However, it need not be included in brief (3 to 5 page) proposals.

3. Introduction. The Introduction should identify the institution and the area(s) involved in the proposed program. What are its goals and how does the project help to attain those goals? Who will be involved? This section should also discuss the qualifications of the investigator(s). One or two page staff vitae are preferred and should be placed in the Appendix section unless otherwise requested.

4. Problem Statement/Rationale/Need. This section should include a well-documented and realistic description of the problem and your proposed solution(s). Include relevant statistical data to support your assessment of the problem. Does this project duplicate an existing program? Why undertake the project now?

5. Objectives. This section should state clearly what you intend to accomplish. Objective statements should focus on the ends to be achieved rather than on the methods (means). Whenever possible, objectives should be stated in quantifiable terms (e.g. to raise the reading proficiency of 25 tenth graders by one grade level over a twelve-month period).

6. Methodology. This section should fully describe the means to be employed in achieving the objectives. Equally important in this section is the need to show familiarity with methods previously tried and their results. The methods should follow a logical sequence and support the premise that it is more likely to prove successful. Major activities should be identified and set within a timetable for orderly presentation. Research that involves human subjects requires certain approvals and safeguards, which should be discussed in this section if applicable. Procedures for obtaining Institutional Review Board approvals for matters concerning human subjects in research are discussed in this manual under the heading Policies on Research.

7. Evaluation and Dissemination. This section represents an essential element of any proposal. The evaluation provides final evidence of success or failure for both the College and the funding source. It serves to measure needed changes or adjustments in programs lasting ore than one year. Subjective evaluations are generally discouraged as they focus primarily on opinions and feelings of participants. Objective evaluations are preferred as they will likely include pre- and post-test instruments, interim testing or other examinations of observable circumstances. Who will conduct the evaluation? How does its cost compare to the total cost of the program? What will be done with the results?

8. Budget. Great care must be taken when assigning costs to your project. The budget must provide a complete picture of the project to include personnel, activities, evaluation and dissemination. Primary budget categories will include the following:

Personnel/Salaries and Wages - may be charged to a project on a full or part time basis. When salary support is less than on a full time basis, particularly for the principal investigator or project director, specify the hourly rate or percentage of full time effort and the salary base. Salaries for future years may be estimated with annual increments of 5%.

Student Support - includes graduate student stipends, fellowships and tuition support, undergraduate salaries and scholarships. All research grants are expected to provide some form of student support unless prohibited by the agency/organization being solicited.

Fringe Benefits - must be charged to each grant application as a direct cost. The cost of fringe benefits for a full time employee is 24.65% of annual salary. Fringe benefits for part time employees including summer is 9% of salary.

Travel - includes the expenses incurred by project staff for transportation, lodging, subsistence and related items (tolls, gratuities, parking, etc.). Full details on both domestic and foreign travel should be provided. The College has an established Travel Policy that governs all travel expenditures. Copies are available in the Business Office.

Supplies and Materials - consists of consumable items, raw materials for fabricating project items, computer software.

Equipment - includes items with an estimated cost exceeding $500 per unit or having an estimated life exceeding two years. Funding source guidelines should be carefully checked to determine whether specific items of equipment are among allowable costs.

Alterations and Renovation - includes work required to change the interior of an existing facility so that it may be used for a currently designated purpose or adapted to meet a programmatic requirement.

Other - includes items not readily assignable to another category. For example, rental costs (space, equipment, furniture), costs for shipping and handling, communications (postage, facsimile transmissions, and toll calls), library acquisitions, Internet access fees, computer time, printing, duplicating, evaluation, participant support, conference fees, and consultation. Consultant fees and expenses should be included in this category unless guidelines provide for a separate listing. The fee basis for consultants should always be shown.

Indirect Cost - when research is conducted at colleges or universities, budget items such as salaries and wages, materials, supplies, equipment and travel are easily identifiable as direct costs. Other costs, however, cannot be directly charged to the research projects because they result from shared services -- such as library facilities, building and equipment maintenance, utilities, purchasing, payroll, accounting, and general administration. These items are budgeted as indirect costs.

The College has a Negotiated Rate Agreement with the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services that sets the amount to be applied.

At present, that rate is 57% of salaries and wages included in the grant.

9. Appendices. This section of the proposal should include letters of support, charts and technical documentation. Care should be taken to avoid "overkill" resulting from a proposal that is too lengthy and too cumbersome.

10. Electronic Submissions. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is currently the only federal agency that requires all proposal submissions to be made electronically through the FastLane system. Detailed instructions for proposal submission via FastLane are available at http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/al/newstan.htm. For information about submitting proposals to the U.S. Department of Education you can access web-site http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/HEP/idues/index.html Once the project director completes the FastLane submission, the Grants Management Officer will enter the college’s code number and complete the proposal submission process.

ALL PROPOSALS SUBMITTED ON BEHALF OF THE COLLEGE ARE TO BE SIGNED BY THE PRESIDENT.

To give your proposal the best chance at being favorably reviewed, consider the following:

The proposal is a reflection of the applicant, and the institution he/she represents. How does it look? How does it read? Is it responsive to the solicitation? Is it complete?
Evaluate your proposal as a reviewer might.
Resist including extraneous materials.

10. Compliance/Assurance Forms. A number of assurances must be included in proposals as a result of congressional actions. They include: Drug-Free Workplace, Lobbying, Anti-Discrimination, and Debarment/Suspension. The Vice President for Administration & Finance signs these forms on behalf of the college.

Individuals (faculty, staff, other administrators) are not authorized to sign these documents. The Director of Grants & Sponsored Programs secures the Vice President's signature and inserts the forms in the proposal before it is transmitted.

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Post Award Administration

Negotiating The Award

If a proposal is recommended for funding at less than the amount requested, the project director/principal investigator may be contacted by a representative of the funding agency who will, after noting that nothing is official until a signed copy of an award document is received by the College, state the approved amount and offer comments/suggestions on project activities for which funds have been requested. Project Directors may not provide official responses to the funding agency. Rather, they should contact the Director of Grants & Sponsored Programs for assistance in constructing a revised budget. The Project Director should prepare responses to inquiries on project activities that do not involve budget items. Both responses, (financial and technical) are to be transmitted over the signature of an authorized College representative (President or Vice President for Administration & Finance).

The Award Instrument

The award instrument formally acknowledges the award of funds by an authorized representative of the funding agency. The award instrument will contain, at a minimum, such information as:

The Grant Number assigned by the agency
The Project Title
The Amount of the Award
The Name of the Principal Investigator/Project Director
The Name of the Agency's Program/Technical Officer assigned to the grant
The Name of the Agency's Grant/Fiscal Officer assigned to the grant
The Period of the Award (start and end dates)

A copy of the award instrument is provided to the Principal Investigator/Project Director, the Director of Grants & Sponsored Projects, and the Grants Management Officer.

Financial Accounting System

The College's accounting system operates in compliance with OMB Circular A-21 that facilitates the monitoring of grant expenditures as well as the preparation of required reports. It is extremely important that both the Principal Investigator and Grants Management Officer cooperate in the budget management process to ensure that budgets are not exceeded. Equally important is the need to limit the under-expenditure of funds, which might denote efficiency of operation but at the same time indicate that the sponsor is not receiving the level of expected output.

Upon receipt of the award instrument and a request from the Grants Management Officer, the Fiscal Officer will assign a College Account Number identifying the award. The budget will be placed in the Financial Records System to facilitate both purchasing and accounting procedures. Monthly expenditure reports are provided to Project Directors to assist in budget management.

The Grants Management Officer prepares all financial reports. Project Directors/Investigators may not submit such reports on behalf of the College. They are asked to assist the Grants Management Officer in verifying expenditures.

Technical/Progress Reports

All federal agencies require grant recipients to report periodically on the progress of work being supported in compliance with Attachment H of OMB Circular A-110. A complete copy of these reporting requirements is on file in the Office of Grants & Sponsored Programs.

Award documents include information on reporting requirements. Additional information is provided in OMB Circular A-11).

Sole (Single) Source Procurement. Grantees may only use non-competitive proposals (or sole source procurements) when the small purchase, sealed bid, or competitive proposal methods are not feasible, and one of the following circumstances exists:

the item is only available from one source
there is public exigency or emergency need for the item which will not permit the delay associated with competitive solicitation
the awarding agency authorizes non-competitive proposals

Purchasing Agent. Issues the Purchase Order and commits the College to the acquisition.

Purchasing Policies and Procurement Manual. A copy of the Manual is available for review in the Purchasing Office.

All agencies that provide funds for the acquisition of equipment require that the equipment be accounted for annually, maintained, and in some instances, available for return to the agency upon request. The grant/contract administration manuals of public funding agencies will include the regulations governing grant purchased equipment. Title to grant purchased equipment depends upon the funding agency’s regulations. Project directors are required to have equipment inventoried immediately upon receipt and acceptance. The College’s Purchasing Director should be contacted so that items can be assigned an inventory control number. It is incumbent upon project directors/investigators to take appropriate steps to assure that the ongoing security of equipment.

Prior to accepting Government Furnished Property that is to be loaned to the College to aid in the performance of a contract or grant, investigators must notify the Grants Management Officer in writing that such equipment is being requested. The written notification should include the item(s) of equipment being requested; the name and account number of the grant/contract under which the property is to be used; and the projected period of use. Only persons designated as principal investigators may make such requests and they must also have the approval of a school Dean. The principal investigator must notify the Grants Management Officer of the date on which the equipment is to be brought to the campus, its location, and its condition. The Vice President for Administration & Finance formally accepts the loaned equipment.

Hiring Project Personnel

The employment category of the individual(s) to be hired on externally funded projects will determine the type of employment documents required for approval. For the most part, positions having some level of instructional and/or administrative responsibility will require the submission of a Personnel Action Form before the hiring process may begin. The PAF is available on the College’s web site.

Non-instructional personnel (secretaries, administrative assistants, laboratory technicians, etc.) are usually employed through the Office of Human Resources.

Employing students on research and sponsored projects requires the involvement of the Cahill Center. Contact the Center’s Coordinator of Student Employment for assistance with engaging students to work on funded projects.

Project personnel who are assigned to off campus sites are required to do the following:

attend regular meetings with the project director
undergo a periodic performance review of their work
submit regular Time and Effort reports

These individuals are to be treated as employees of the College, rather than as employees of the organization at whose site they are located.

Annual Leave for Grant-Supported Personnel

Persons who have twelve (12) month appointments funded by grants are required to take accumulated annual leave during the period of their appointment.

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Policies and Procedures

Fraud In Research

Research fraud is a form of scientific misconduct involving deception. It should be distinguished from honest error, which can occur inadvertently in any enterprise. It is often difficult when confronted with an allegation to determine where along the spectrum from error to fraud a particular case will lie.

(a) Misconduct means -

fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or other serious deviation from accepted practices in proposing, carrying out, or reporting results from research;
material failure to comply with federal requirements for protection of researchers, human subjects, or the public for ensuring the welfare of laboratory animals; or
failure to meet other material legal requirements governing research.

(b) Falsification of Data - ranging from fabrication to deceptively selective reporting, including the purposeful omission of conflicting data with the intent to falsify results.

(d) Misappropriation of Others’ Ideas - the unauthorized use of privileged information (such as violation of confidentiality of peer review), however obtained.

Institutional Review of Research Involving Human Subjects

An Institutional Review Committee to review projects and activities that involve human subjects will be convened by the Provost when research of this type is being proposed. The Committee determines for each activity, as planned and conducted, whether subjects will be placed at risk and, if risk is involved, whether:

The risks to the subject are so outweighed by the sum of the benefit to the subject and the importance of the knowledge to be gained as to warrant a decision to allow the subject to accept these risks
The rights and welfare of any subjects will be adequately protected
Legally effective informed consent will be obtained by adequate and appropriate methods and
The conduct of the activity will be reviewed at timely intervals.

Intellectual Property Rights Policy

Intellectual property is defined as any new and useful process, machine, composition or matter, life form, article of manufacture, software, copyrighted work or tangible property. It includes such things as new or improved devices, circuits, chemical compounds, drugs, genetically engineered organisms, data sets, software, musical processes, or unique and innovative uses of existing inventions. Intellectual property may or may not be patented or copyrightable. It is created when something new and useful, obtained with an existing invention, can be practiced for some useful purpose. One or more individuals, each of whom is to be an Inventor, must have conceived of an essential element or have contributed substantially to its conceptual development, can create Intellectual Property.

The Vice President of Administration and Finance is the final arbiter of any disputed issues related to intellectual property, or the interpretation of this policy.

The Vice President for Administration and Finance is responsible for negotiation, execution and administration of all College agreements with external sponsors of research grants and contracts and for ensuring that the rights of the sponsors in technology developed under external grants and contracts are protected. Grants office staff members are available to assist all principal investigators and sponsored program administrators in the negotiation and interpretation of intellectual property terms of grants and contracts. Research priorities will have precedence over technology development priorities. Thus, no grant or contract terms are to be accepted which inhibit the utilization by the public of the results of the research at Ramapo College. In unclear situations or where there appears to be a conflict between the priorities, the Vice President for Administration and Finance will be the final arbiter.

Release Time

All release time associated with externally funded projects during the academic year must be fully paid for by the sponsoring agency. Proposal budgets must, therefore, reflect the full cost of release time (salary, fringe benefits, and indirect cost) to the funding agency.

Deans may not award release time to a faulty member at the College’s expense in order to carry out activities associated with an externally funded project. Faculty who have release time for the academic year may not defer that time in order to gain more release time in any one semester. For example, faculty may not combine two semesters of release time into one. Further, faculty investigators may not have more than 50% release time.

Any exceptions to this policy will require the recommendation of the School Dean and the approval of the Provost.

Contacts With Funding Agencies

Once a grant has been awarded, principal investigators may not contact funding agencies on matters pertaining to budgets without approval from the grants management Officer. This is necessary to protect the integrity of the College’s fiscal procedures and to ensure that requests for budgetary revisions do not unfavorably impact the College.

Proposal Submissions By Adjunct Professors

Persons holding less than a full time position at the College (e.g. adjunct faculty) must name an individual who holds a full time faculty position as co-investigator in order to receive College approval to submit proposals. Both parties, therefore, must sign proposals.

It will be the responsibility of the regular Ramapo College employee to ensure that required technical reports are submitted, that equipment is inventoried, and that students are hired as indicated in the approved proposal. The Director of Grants & Sponsored Projects will have responsibility for ensuring that appropriate co-investigators are named in proposals submitted by adjunct faculty.

Financial Assistance

The Office of Financial Aid is responsible for the distribution of all student aid funded through external grants, contracts, and sponsored programs. All private scholarship funds will be used to offset the College's scholarship budget unless the donor prohibits such use. In such cases, private scholarships will be administered in accordance with the wishes of the donor.

The PI shall process the Student Aid/External Grants and Contracts form containing student aid information for the full academic year and summer session, specifying the amount available for each semester/session. It is recognized that changes in a concentration or a student's eligibility may result in changes in the award.

The Financial Aid Office will use established procedures to post student aid awards to students' accounts an/or to generate student work/study contracts.

Generally, a student’s institutional scholarship assistance will be reduced by the amount of the external scholarship grants to a student. Institutional scholarship funds cannot be used to over award a student.

Stipends. Financial Aide must approve all student contacts for employment at the College. A student cannot receive a stipend and college/work student simultaneously. When allocating financial aid, the allocation of all external funds will occur prior to the payment of any Institutional funds. The Financial Aide Office will be notified of all stipends being paid to students.

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Conflict Of Interest

In compliance with OMB Circular A-110, Ramapo College maintains the following standards of conduct governing officers, employees, or agents engaged in the award or administration of contracts using federal funds:

“No employee, officer or agent will participate in the selection, award or administration of a contract in which federal funds are used, where to his or her knowledge, any of the following has a financial interest in the contract:

the employee, officer or agent;
any member of his or her immediate family; or his or her partner;
an organization in which any of the above is an officer, director, or employee;
a person or organization with whom any of the above individuals is negotiating or has any arrangement concerning prospective employment.”

Employees, officers or agents may neither solicit nor accept gratuities, favors or anything of monetary value from contractors or potential contractors.

A committee appointed by the Provost will review violations of, or requests for exceptions to, this policy. If violations to these standards are found, officers, employees or agents will be subject to disciplinary actions as recommended by the committee. Disciplinary actions may include letters of reprimand, suspensions, or termination of employment. The review process is to be completed within 30 days and a written recommendation made to the Provost at that time.

Investigator Financial Disclosure

Federal regulations require the College to manage, reduce or eliminate any actual or potential conflicts of interest that may be presented by a financial interest of an investigator in covered federal programs. Thus, the College requires that investigators disclose any significant financial interest that may present an actual or potential conflict of interest in a sponsored project.

Regardless of the above minimum requirements, an Investigator, in his or her own best interest, may choose to disclose any other financial or related interest that could present an actual conflict of interest. Disclosure is a key factor in protecting one's reputation and career from potentially embarrassing or harmful allegations of misconduct.

As required by federal regulations, all Significant Financial Interests must be disclosed prior to the time a proposal is submitted. If a new Significant Interest arises at any time after the submission of the proposal through the entire period of any resulting award, the Investigator must file a new Disclosure Form within 14 days of becoming aware of a potential or actual conflict of interest.

Effective Date

This policy is effective as of July 1, 2002 and will remain in effect until modified or rescinded. It may also revised in response to modifications of the applicable federal regulations and guidelines.

This Financial Disclosure Policy for Federally Funded Projects is unrelated to, and in no way supersedes, the College’s Conflict of Interest Policy.

THE UNSUCCESSFUL PROPOSAL

Most federal agencies provide an explanation of the reasons why an application was not recommended for funding. This usually takes the form of information on the score or ranking achieved as a result of the review process. Often a copy of the reviewers' comments/scores is provided upon request. The National Institutes of Health offers the following reasons why some research proposals are not funded.

1. Research Goals Inappropriate or Unclear

Proposed research is not responsive to the scope of the announcement.
The purposes of the proposed study are not clear or are not sufficiently detailed; hypotheses are not explicit.

2. Study Design Deficient

Insufficient attention is given to related research by others. In some cases applicants are apparently unaware of relevant published research. Sometimes the research proposed has been done or the study design has been tied and judged inadequate.
The study design is not carefully related to the purposes of the project.
The sampling design is not appropriate.
Data are biased and there is no recognition of the problems of bias or of ways to correct the bias.
The methodology is not sufficiently detailed.

3. Staff Time and Budget

Specific tasks are not clearly related to personnel, time, and budget.
There is insufficient time commitment by the principal investigator(s).
Scientific disciplines of the research team are not appropriate for the topics to be investigated.

4. Problems in Overall Presentation

The proposal essentially asks the reviewers to trust in the past reputation of the applicant rather than detailing a specific plan of research.
The proposal assumes that the reviewers will have read and referred to past research done by the researcher.
The proposal is unbalanced in presentation. For example, it focuses on a particular data set or a technique of analysis and obscures the overall research goal.

5. Administrative Detail

Budgets should be realistic for the work proposed; otherwise the budget will be regarded as naive or padded and will cast a shadow on the entire application. The budget justification should be sufficiently detailed to allow reviewers to relate the various phases and levels of the project to the budget.
If consultants, subcontractors, or other types of outside collaborators are proposed, letters, and/or memoranda outlining the willingness and scope of collaboration should be included with the application.

For assistance with any part of the proposal process, please contact Ron Kase, Director of Grants & Sponsored Programs (rkase@ramapo.edu), Russ Reinhardt (rreinhar@ramapo.edu) Grants Management Officer or Claudia Esker, (cesker@ramapo.edu) Senior Grants Writer, or visit the Office of Grants & Sponsored Programs in Room 113 in the Mansion.