Proposal Timeline: Green Service Zone

Green Service Zone Overview

Intake form submitted 20 or more business days prior to due date

Robust services for all proposal requests by a PI but especially for:

Proposals that involve multiple institutions (proposals with subawards*, contractors, or collaborations)
Complex sponsor requirements such as letters from Senior Administration and Leadership and/or complex budget forms
Requires cost-sharing/matching*
SPARCS submissions and/or signatures
Collaboration with other NCSU faculty/departments

*Pre-Award will manage document collection and upload

Proposal Assignment: Proposal is assigned to a Pre-Award Officer and PI is notified of their Service Zone
Timeline and Responsibilities: Provide the PI with an email confirming the timeline and responsibilities of both the PI and the Pre-Award Officer.
Budget Discussion:
- Schedule a meeting if the PI prefers.
- Confirm the Facilities and Administrative (F&A) rate.
- Plan a timeline for drafting / reviewing the budget.
- Assist with drafting the budget and justification.
Cost-Sharing Discussion (if applicable):
- Discuss needed documentation and timeline for the PI.
Sub-Award Discussion (if applicable):
- Obtain sub-award sites and points of contact.
- Pre-Award Officer contacts other institutions to request sub-award proposal documents.
Institutional Forms (if applicable):
- Clarify any required institutional forms and the timeline for their sign-off by COS Pre-Award or a Central University Office.
Submission Portal: PI and Pre-Award Officer will discuss the method to share documents for review (email, Google Drive, PINS, etc.) and who will upload final versions of documents to the sponsor portal.

Budget and Justification: If the PI has provided initial budget information by this date, the Pre-Award Officer will provide PI with drafts of the budget and budget justification for review and final changes prior to the 5 day deadline for budget documents. If the PI has not provided initial budget information by this date, the PI will be responsible for creating a budget justification using the template found on the COS Website.
Sub-Award Documentation: Any required documentation from a sub-award entity is due to the Pre-Award Officer. This includes, but is not limited to, budget, budget justification, statement of work, biosketches, and letter of intent signed by an authorized official of the sub-award entity.
Cost-Sharing Documentation: If cost-sharing is required, an email or letter is required from each responsible party documenting
- The source of cost-sharing funds
- The amount committed per year
- How the funds are authorized to be used

PINS to be reviewed/completed and approved by COS PI / Co-I
Draft Science Documents: Draft Project Narrative / Description, Abstract, and References are submitted to the Pre-Award Officer for formatting review.
Final Non-Science Documents: All non-science documents are now considered final and due to the Officer. This includes all sponsor required senior / key personnel documents.
Final Budgets: Any “in-process” budget and / or budget justifications are now considered final and no further changes are permitted by the PI.

Science Documents: All science documents are now considered final and due to the Pre-Award Officer. Final science documents received fewer than 3 business days prior to the sponsor deadline will be submitted without review; final science documents received after 8:00 a.m. on the submission deadline will move the proposal to the Red Service Zone.
Sponsor Portal: Submit access to the Sponsor portal is granted to the Research Office.
Final Proposal Version Available for PI Review: For proposals to be submitted in Cayuse, Pre-Award Officers will provide the PI with the final version of the proposal for review and edits.

PI provides feedback on final proposal via email
- Notifies Officer if changes are needed ~or~
- Notifies Officer if proposal is ready to submit
If SPARCS action or submission is required:
- Following PI approval of final edits, Pre-Award will forward the PINS and proposal to SPARCS for their sign-off and / or submission.
- This complies with SPARCS 2 business day policy for signatures or submission.

Final Submission:
- COS submits proposal with submission confirmation to the PI
- COS will address any errors in the submission of the proposal.

Failure to submit documents by the specified deadlines, will result in your proposal being pushed to the RED ZONE. Regardless of what zone you are in upon completion of the intake form.
This is the minimum timeline of due dates, after proposal assignment the Pre-Award Officer and PI can meet to discuss a more specific and nuanced timeline that meets or exceeds this timeline.