To ensure that this policy meets the needs of the Berkeley academic community, the VCR has approved the following enhancements:

1. Proposals submitted to SPO with a draft technical section on or before the five business day deadline will be considered “on time” if the proposal is complete in all other respects. This is designed to give PI’s additional time to refine the technical component and thereby improve the proposal’s chances for success.
2. If a proposal cannot be submitted on time, even with the use of a draft technical section, the PI must obtain the VCR’s approval to submit a late proposal.

Submitting an On-Time Proposal

To be considered “on time” and in compliance with the VCR’s five day policy, the proposal must be submitted to SPO five working days before the proposal deadline. For electronic proposal submissions, both an electronic and hard copy of the proposal must be submitted to SPO by the deadline.

An on-time proposal must include:

• Completed and signed Proposal Review Form, which must include the date and time proposal is due, with the applicable time zone noted
• Statement of work or technical section (in final or draft form)
• Budget with complete justification (note: if the budget in any required sponsor format is not sufficiently detailed or explanatory, then an Excel spreadsheet should be included for SPO review). Indirect costs must be calculated with either the federal negotiated rate or the rate specified by the sponsor in written policy or program guideline documents. Any request for a vital program waiver must accompany the proposal to SPO
• Concurrence, i.e. Subrecipient Commitment Form, statement of work, budget and budget justification from any proposed subawardee
• Letters of support from named consultants and/or collaborators
• Properly documented cost sharing, matching
• Project specific justification for inclusion of administrative costs for “major project” (Note: this justification cannot be generic)
• Completed State and/or Federal Conflict of Interest disclosure forms
• Approval of PI exception (please take VCRO deadlines into account)

Submitting a Draft Technical Section

A draft of the technical section of a proposal should not be just a “place holder.” The draft should address all required elements specified in the sponsor’s application guidelines. The draft should be written in sufficient detail to allow the proposal to be reviewed even if only the draft statement of work or technical section were to be submitted. The PI should keep in mind that any changes made to the statement of work or the technical section should not affect any of the following administrative elements:

• The amount of project funds requested from the sponsor
• The project’s budget justification
• Cost sharing or matching
• F&A (indirect) costs requested
• Effort of key project personnel
• Named consultants and/or subcontractors
• Administrative costs requested

If a draft statement of work or technical section is being contemplated, the PI/department should contact the SPO Research Administrator assigned to the PI’s department as soon as possible to work out a revised due date for the submission of the final technical section. The PI/department also should indicate in writing on the PRF that the technical section is in draft form prior to submitting the proposal to SPO. SPO will require that the final version be submitted in time to physically meet the sponsor’s submission deadline after considering the number of proposals being submitted on that deadline date.

Submission of proposals that must be submitted electronically requires that both the paper and electronic form of the proposal be received by the SPO deadline. Grants.gov and other proposals in electronic format should be submitted via SPO’s electronic drop box. For NSF proposals, SPO should be allowed access to the full proposal on FastLane.

Late Proposal Exceptions

If a proposal cannot be submitted on time, even with a draft technical section, the PI should request an exception to the VCR’s late proposal policy. These are the steps for requesting VCR approval for the submission of a late proposal to SPO:

1. Complete the VCR Late Proposal Approval Request Form found on the SPO web site.
2. Submit the completed VCR Late Proposal Approval Request Form to the Department Chairperson or ORU Head for review/approval.
3. Ask the Chair/Head to forward the completed VCR Late Proposal Approval Request to the following email address: vcrlateproposal@berkeley.edu. Please note that request forms must be received from the Chair/Head’s or designee’s email address. Incomplete request forms will be returned without review.

VCR-approved requests will be returned to the PI and the Chair/Head with a revised date and time for submission to SPO. Submission of late proposals that must be submitted electronically requires that both the paper and electronic form of the proposal be received by SPO by the revised internal deadline. Grants.gov and other proposals in electronic format must be submitted via SPO’s electronic drop box. For NSF proposals, SPO must be allowed access to the full proposal on FastLane.

Draft Technical Sections

What happens if the final version of the technical section is not submitted by the revised SPO deadline?
At the time the new deadline is established for the final technical section, the PI will be offered the option of having SPO submit the draft technical section if the new, revised deadline is not met. If the PI does not choose this option and also is unable to submit by the revised deadline, SPO will accept the late proposal when it arrives but will process the proposal in the normal queue only after other on-time proposals are submitted. Such late proposals are at risk of not being submitted by the agency deadline.

What happens if the revisions to the technical section alter the administrative component of the proposal?
At the time of the submission of the final statement of work or technical section, the PI should either highlight the changes that have been made or inform SPO that only editorial changes were made. If the changes made in the final statement of work or technical section are inconsistent with what the PI has submitted in the administrative section, SPO will have to return the proposal to the PI so that the PI can make sure that the administrative and technical sections are consistent. This will result in the proposal being processed by SPO after all other on-time proposals have been submitted. Such late proposals are at risk of not being submitted by the agency deadline.

Late Proposals

What happens if I receive approval from the VCR to submit a late proposal but fail to meet the VCR’s revised deadline?
SPO will accept the late proposal when it arrives but will process the proposal in the normal queue only after other on-time proposals are submitted. Such late proposals are at risk of not being submitted by the agency deadline.

Can the PI submit the late proposal exemption request form directly to the VCR?
No. Only the Department Chair, Dean or Academic Director or Lab Head of the submitting unit can submit the late proposal exemption request to the VCR because submission is considered administrative approval.

If I have approval for a late submission, does that guarantee my proposal will be submitted on time?
No. Every effort will be made to meet the sponsor deadline; however, proposals are still reviewed in the order in which they were received. A proposal submitted on time by your colleagues will take precedence. It is unreasonable and unfair to expect that a proposal submitted on time by one of your colleagues should be delayed or not get the review it deserves because your proposal was late.

Where should we send the late proposal, to SPO or VCRO?
The late proposal in final form (final technical and administrative sections) must be sent to SPO where it will be logged in as “late” and held for review until VCR approval for late submission is granted. Please note: Submission of an electronic proposal requires that both the paper and electronic form of the proposal be received by SPO by the revised internal deadline. Grants.gov and other proposals in electronic format must be submitted via SPO’s electronic drop box. For NSF proposals, SPO must be allowed access to the full proposal on FastLane.

What if SPO has questions about a late proposal and the PI is not available?
The PI should make arrangements for someone to be available to answer questions and make any necessary changes to the proposal.

How should the delivery box outside of SPO be used for late proposals?
It is always preferable to deliver your proposal to the front desk. Late proposals dropped in the box outside of SPO before 8am will be retrieved when the office opens at 8am. Proposals dropped after 5pm will be retrieved when the office opens at 8am the following business day. All deadlines still apply.

Are pre-proposals covered by the policy?
Any pre-proposal, white paper, letter of intent, etc., which requires SPO endorsement is subject to the five day rule.