New Guidance on Proposal Processing after September 1, 2019

August 23, 2019

(Editors note: The following was a campus email from Pamela Miller, Executive Director, Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) on Aug. 16, 2019.)

To the Campus Community,

Welcome back to Berkeley and the start of a new academic year.  On July 19, 2019 a joint communication was issued by the Vice Chancellor for Research (VCR) and the Vice Chancellor for Administration (VCA) outlining changes in the way proposals will be processed at Berkeley after September 1, 2019.  This notice is to provide an overview/reminder of these changes.

The first important change is that the Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) will move to an Institutional Proposal Review Model as of September 1, 2019.  A complete description of this model along with the reasons SPO has moved to this model are found on the SPO website.

The following is an overview of how SPO’s proposal review process will change after September 1, 2019:

  1. SPO will no longer review the technical or administrative sections of proposals for compliance with sponsor’s requirements. SPO will instead review only the elements of a proposal that pose financial, audit, and/or policy risks for the University. SPO’s website provides an overview of what will be reviewed by SPO as well as answers to a number of FAQs.
  2. The PI is required to submit a draft technical section and a final administrative section of his/her proposal to SPO no later than four (4) working days prior to the sponsor’s or target deadline. (This is a day later than required under past VCR policy.)
  3. SPO will return proposals without review if there is not sufficient information provided to conduct an institutional review: To avoid this, the proposal submitted to SPO should include at minimum.
    • A budget in the sponsor's format or an internal budget with all institutional rates displayed, each subrecipient’s total costs listed, and any proposed cost sharing included.
    • A draft of Berkeley’s SOW (must be clearly identified if part of a larger project).
    • All of the sponsor’s required proposal forms that contain University identifying information and/or require SPO signature. (Must be filled out.)
  4. VCR approval will still be required for late proposals—i.e., proposals submitted to SPO less than four working days before the proposal deadline.
  5. PIs are still limited to three late proposals per fiscal year.

The VCR/VCA’s joint communication also described a change in how Berkeley Regional Services (BRS)--formally referred to as Campus Shared Services--will process proposals after September 1, 2019.  An excerpt of this guidance is provided below.

PIs who want their assigned Berkeley Regional Services (BRS) Research Administrator (RA) to review and assist with the administrative components of a proposal must submit the proposal with a final administrative section and a draft technical section to the RA no later than seven (7) working days before the sponsor’s deadline.  RAs will review and assist with the administrative components of proposals submitted by this internal deadline.

PIs are encouraged to consult with RAs in their assigned region to obtain additional guidance on this new requirement.  To identity your service region, use the "Region Finder."

Departments and units not currently receiving research administrative services from Berkeley Regional Services may impose the same or different internal proposal review deadlines. Note that SPO’s internal deadlines and institutional review process will be the same for all proposals submitted through SPO.

Questions and any concerns about these changes are welcome and can be submitted using this Feedback Form. As the process is implemented across campus additional guidance and clarifications will be provided.

Pam Miller, Executive Director

Sponsored Projects Office