Grant Submission Policies and Deadlines

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) at York College approves and authorizes all grants and contracts pertaining to sponsored research initiatives.

Grants Submission Policies and Tips

Grants Process Outline

For any Principal Investigator (PI) intending to submit a grant and/or contract, please be advised that all grants and contracts must be reviewed and approved by an authorized institutional official - at YC this is the Grant Official (GO) in the ORSP. That is, all funding proposals, e.g., sponsored research or grants for training, funding from private foundations, or individual fellowship opportunities, must be reviewed by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) before submission. Though further review may be necessary, these reviews may be performed by a dean, chairperson, and/or other academic personnel at YC, ultimately the final approval for grants and contracts is usually the discretion of the GO, at YC, this role is performed by the director of ORSP.
Additionally, any sponsored research proposals submitted to either federal or state agencies must also be signed (whether electronically and/or physically) by the ORSP director at YC. Any faculty or staff interested in submitting a grant proposal should contact the ORSP by sending an email (please see the "Contact Us" page for email addresses). Please note, that at least one other person must be CC'd in your email, and your email must contain:
- The name of the agency or program of intent.
- Information regarding budget allocations or other information.
- The names of any collaborators.
You can call or email us at the ORSP to make an appointment with one of our staff members ASAP, to review any program guidelines, develop budgeting plans, and discuss any other requirements. Note: all funding proposals must undergo an Internal Approval Process. During this process, the chairperson(s) of the principal investigator’s (PIs) department along with the dean of their division concur to approve the grant proposal and budgeting.
Please Note: The ORSP requires that all PIs upload and submit all final grant-related material 10 days before the deadline posted on the respective granting agency's website!
Finally, the Research Foundation website (RF CUNY) serves as the hub for PIs to monitor any funds accrued and funding expenditures. Please make sure you monitor any spending monthly by visiting the RF CUNY web reports system, and please make sure that all spending is done in a timely manner keeping in mind the end date of the project as you do so.

Grant Compliance Reminders

Prior to any new (or renewal) grant submissions, the following Federally mandated compliance forms and training are to be completed and submitted. Please note, that compliance in fulfilling these requirements impacts the submission of your grant.

For more information please see our Responsible Conduct of Research webpage.

Research Personnel Pointers

Onboarding - New employees must be onboarded prior to the employment start date.
Timesheets - due every other Monday per the RF payroll calendar. All employees must create and submit their timesheets to ensure payment. The time sheets are approved by the PI or other designated personnel. Note: PIs and employees should monitor any Annual Leave and Sick Leave.
Annual Leave - Any accrued annual leave must be taken prior to an employee's appointment end date (if any annual leave remains a payout is processed and the charge will be made to the grant).
Unscheduled Holidays - Full-time employees are apportioned 4 unscheduled holidays per fiscal year (July 1st to June 30th). Any unused unscheduled holidays are forfeited (.: ineligible for payouts).

For more information please see our Hiring Personnel webpage and our RF CUNY Employee Overview webpage.

Summer Salary Reminder

For any PIs eligible for summner salary, Three months is the maximum timeframe qualified for summer salary per year (for all CUNY sources).

For more information please see our Faculty Summer Salary webpage.

Travel Reminders

Per the Fly America Act, all flights made under an awarded grant must be booked using the lowest available sare in economy class of U.S. flag air carriers. The only exceptions are per the EU Open Skies Agreement, allowing a Swiss, Australian, or Japanese carrier (permitted under separate governmental agreements).
Any tickets issued with a foreign carrier's call letters and flight number (even if operated by a U.S. carrier) will NOT be reimbursed.
All boarding passes must be kept (or a screenshot must be taken if using an airline app) as they are required as proof during the reimbursement process.
All travel expenditures under a grant must be submitted within 30 days of your return.

For more information please see our Purchasing and Payments webpage.

Please see below for Grant Submission deadlines and for more information on internal guidlines.

Life cycle of a grant; Pre-award, project development, identifying funding opportunity, proposal preparation, finalize and submit proposal; Award, award notification, negotiate or accept award; Post-award, award management, award close-out.

The Life Cycle of a Grant

Pre-Award Processes

Project Development - Develop a research project idea aligned with RF CUNY and federal policies that is a distinctive and fundable concept.
Identify Funding Opportunities - Once you have developed your unique research project concept, you can explore the scope of funding opportunities available from various resources including federal funding, non-federal funding, national databases, private foundations, nonprofit institutions, and other funding corporations.
Grant Proposal Preparation - As you begin to prepare your grant proposal, please remember to Read...Read...Read! That is, review the grant’s application guidelines, processes, and requirements carefully.
Finalize and Submit the Grant Proposal - When finalizing your grant proposal, create a checklist using the proposal guidelines, making sure all formatting requirements have been addressed, remember the ORSP is here to assist you and is the final authority when submitting your grant proposal.

Award Process

Grant Award Notification - Granting agencies require time to review and evaluate grant proposals. You should expect at least a six-month wait period between the grant proposal submission and the onset of a funding opportunity.
Negotiate or Accept Award - Once you have received confirmation of an awarded grant, the Research Foundation (RF CUNY) will take over as the fiscal administrator for grants and contracts. The RF will review the terms and conditions of the grant award; and will also negotiate and accept the award on your behalf.

Post-Award Processes

Grant Award Management - The ORSP will assist you in setting up your grant account with the RF, including facilitating all grant-related transactions and setting up subcontracts or sub-awards, your RF grant account will allow you to view and allocate your grant award.
Grant Award Close-Out - The ORSP will also provide aid in completing any final reports, creating any invention statements, detailing invoices, and outlining financial reports to close out the award.

ORSP Grant Applications - Internal Guidelines and Deadlines

Lead Time

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) recommends that grant proposals be submitted to the office in AC 2H05 several weeks before the deadline. That is, at a minimum, the principal investigator (PI) must complete and submit the Internal Approval Checklist 15 business days prior to the application deadline. Also, a completed budgeting decision, proposal justification, and the final draft of the grant proposal must reach the office, in AC 2H05, at most 10 working days before the application deadline. In addition, the Significant Financial Interest Disclosure Form must be completed prior to submission and all training through CITI for Responsible Conduct of Research and Conflicts of Interest must be up-to-date. An Export Control Evaluation should also be completed.

Note: If the ORSP does not receive the final grant proposal at most 10 days prior to the deadline, the proposal may not be reviewed or submitted. At this point, the PI may have to wait until the next application cycle, which includes assuming the possibility of correcting errors in any electronic submissions and that the proposal may miss initial program deadlines.

The ORSP recommends that any complex proposals be submitted at least 14 business days before a deadline, e.g., involving non-CUNY personnel - resulting in multiple consortium or subcontract arrangements, participation of any foreign institutions, and complicated budgeting.

Proposals including cost-sharing by York College, must be approved by the Provost, the Chairperson and Dean, and the University Provost for Research.

Note: Voluntary cost-sharing is prohibited by federal and CUNY guidelines and any cost-sharing not mandated by a sponsor will be approved only in extraordinary circumstances.
All cost-sharing proposals require at least 30 days of lead time for review. Signatures from the campus are required at least 15 days before a request from the vice-chancellor.
PIs are strongly encouraged to alert the ORSP well before the deadline if cost-sharing is required for a sponsored project (e.g., waivers of indirect costs, matching funds, uncompensated release time). These proposals will be held to rigid review procedures.

Changes

Primary investigators (PIs) are held accountable for including changes according to program guidelines or York College policy before submitting the proposal.
Once the grant proposal is completed and the Chairperson and Dean have signed off on an internal approval, the grant proposal and budgeting cannot be changed.
As always, the ORSP will try our best to submit late proposals before the deadline. However, priority will go to faculty who have submitted on or before the 10-day deadline.

Compliance Issues

The CITI Responsible Conduct of Research and Conflict of Interest training modules must be completed by all personnel working on a sponsored research project. Additionally, if the PI and/or associating research personnel are involved with human subjects or animals in their research initiative they must also complete these training modules.
Before submitting a grant proposal, PIs must file completion reports. A Disclosure of Significant Financial Interests form must also be completed and sent to the ORSP.
If the project includes any work outside the United States, an Export Control Preliminary Evaluation form must be completed; this policy applies whether York College is the lead applicant or a subcontractor under another college’s submission. If you have any questions about these requirements, please contact the ORSP at x2061.