Submitting a Proposal

Who Approves Your Proposal Prior to Submission

All proposals submitted for external funding must receive approval by SPA prior to submission. This includes proposals where NIU is the lead institution submitting to the sponsor and those where NIU is a collaborator on another organization’s proposal.

The following parties must approve your proposal through InfoEd prior to submission:

NIU principal investigator/co-principal investigator(s)
Department chair(s) or unit head(s)
College or division head(s)
Sponsored Programs Administration

When the proposal includes NIU co-principal investigators, their unit and division head(s) must also approve the proposal. Be sure to allow sufficient routing time for proposals that involve multiple PIs, departments, and colleges.

See the SPA Proposal Review Matrix to learn what you can expect from us based on when we receive your proposal.

Key Timeframes for Proposal Submission (business days)

Action	Who to Consult	Days/Weeks Prior to Sponsor Deadline
Notify SPA of proposal via Proposal Intake Form	Proposal Coordinator	30 days (6 weeks)
Route proposal through InfoEd	Proposal Coordinator	10 days (2 weeks)
InfoEd routing complete; full proposal ready for submission	Proposal Coordinator	5 days (1 week)

30 Business Days

Notify SPA - Submit Proposal Intake Form
10 Business Days

Institutional Routing Begins
5 Business Days

Proposal Ready to Submit

Timeframes for Budget Exceptions and Other Proposal Considerations (business days)

Action	Who to Consult	Days Prior to Sponsor Deadline
PI status request (for non-NIU employees only)	AVP	40 days (8 weeks)
Academic Release Time (including course buyouts)	Department	30 days (6 weeks)
Cost share	Department, College, AVP	30 days (6 weeks)
F&A waivers	AVP	15-30 days (3-6 weeks)
Tuition Remission Waivers	AVP	15-30 days (3-6 weeks)

Your department or college may have additional timelines and notification expectations for submitting external proposals. Check with your department on any additional processes.

Limited submissions may also have additional time requirements.

Principal Investigators should contact Dara Little (dlittle@niu.edu) to discuss any exceptions to the standard proposal deadlines. The Vice President for Research and Innovation Partnerships will adjudicate any unresolved exception requests.

Proposal Deadlines

Notice of Intent to Submit (with a PI request for budgeting and other assistance):

Thirty (30) business days

Investigators need to notify SPA of their intent to submit a proposal at least 30 business days before the sponsor deadline to ensure the highest level of support by their Proposal Coordinator.

SPA will endeavor to assist Principal Investigators with preparation of the budget and other non-technical components when this timeline is met.
SPA will strive to acknowledge receipt of the Investigator’s intent to submit a proposal within twenty-four (24) business hours.
The Proposal Coordinator and Investigator will agree to timelines up front and be responsive to each other to ensure that proposals are fully routed and ready for submission five days before the sponsor deadline. If established timelines are not met, it is likely the proposal will receive a lesser level of SPA review.
Investigators will identify a contact person if they will be in the field or otherwise unavailable for SPA questions.
Investigators will keep SPA informed of any changes in submission plans or when beginning budget discussions with other organizations.

Notice of Intent to Submit (with no PI request for budgeting or other assistance):

Fifteen (15) business days

Investigators who choose to prepare their own budgets and all other proposal components should notify SPA at least 15 business days before the sponsor deadline. This provides the Proposal Coordinator with approximately one working week to review the budget and work with Investigators to make any changes before beginning the internal review process in InfoEd.

A scope of work is necessary for SPA to review the budget for compliance (e.g., location of work for F&A rate confirmation purposes). When NIU is a subrecipient, SPA needs only a short summary explaining NIU’s scope of work. A copy of the full proposal in this case is not necessary.

A detailed budget is necessary for all projects in order for SPA to review cost items for allowability and to facilitate post-award account setup.

Internal Review Process

Ten (10) business days

The internal review process begins.

At minimum, the internal review needs:

Final budget and budget justification – unless approved by SPA, no changes will be made once the internal review begins.
Final cost share commitments – this enables all units committing cost share to review and approve commitments.
Draft proposal narrative or other scope of work.

Submission of Final Proposal Components to SPA (as required by the funding solicitation):

Five (5) business days

The Proposal Coordinator must have all final non-budget proposal components required by the program announcement/solicitation at least 5 business days before the sponsor deadline. At this point the Proposal Coordinator will begin preparing documents for uploading into sponsor systems. This timeline is also applicable to hard-copy mailings.

SPA makes no guarantees of an accurate or on-time submission when these timelines are not met.