The Steps

First, obtain permission from your department chair and/or immediate supervisor to pursue the research or special program in question.

MAKE INITIAL CONTACT with John Morello at the Office of Academic Affairs to indicate that you planning to submit a proposal to an external funding source. You may call (654-1052) or email to make this initial contact. The purpose of this step is to indicate that you are interesting in pursuing an application, and it puts the office on notice about your intentions so that your application process may be effectively supported. Please make this initial contact as soon as it is feasible for you to do so, and before the "deadline dates" indicated below. If there is any reason why you should not proceed with your intended project, or if additional information is required about the projece you are pursuing, you will be notified at the initial contact step.

ALL APPLICATIONS FOR EXTERNAL FUNDING MUST BE PRE-APPROVED BY UMW OFFICIALS BEFORE THE APPLICATION IS SUBMITTED. In order to be cleared to submit the proposal, you must complete the External Grant Cover Sheet, available from this website, and submit it with the required attachments (project narrative and budget) to John Morello, Academic Affairs Office. Submit these materials at least two weeks before the online submission deadline (if the grant is to be submitted electronically), or 3 weeks before a "received by" deadline (if the application is to be mailed). Be sure that both the principal investigator and supervisor/department chair have signed the cover sheet before you submit it.

When the proposal is under review, you will be notified about any changes required before it is submitted. Once the proposal receives all required approvals, it will be cleared for submission. In most cases, with the exception of those that must be submitted by the Authorized Organizational Representation (AOR), the principal investigator/project director is responsible for submitting the proposal. In the case of National Science Foundation grants, or any federal grants that must be submitted via Grants.gov, John Morello (the UMW AOR) will submit them.

If your proposal is funded, or if you receive other written notification from the funder, please send a copy of the award notification to John Morello. The grant project director is responsible for all financial and other reporting, unless other arrangements were made when the grant was submitted.

After receiving a grant award, the project director will be contacted by the Office of Business and Finance regarding specific procedures required to set up the accounting procedures required administer and support the grant.