7.2.1 Submit for Department Review

Navigate to the Funding Proposal Workspace when you are ready to Submit for Department Review. Select the Submit for Department Review activity from the left side column of activities./

7.2.2 Fix any Errors or Warnings

If a Required Field is missing in the Funding Proposal, you will receive a pop-up window with an error message that will alert you to the missing field. You can use the “Jump To” link generated to go to this field and enter the requested data.

Once the errors are fixed you can return to the step above and select the Submit for Department Review activity again.

7.2.3 Certify/Approve PI Endorsement

The Submit for Department Review pop-up window will include a summary of any ancillary reviews. A warning message will appear if there are outstanding ancillary reviews. Ancillary Reviews that are required will need to be complete prior to the proposal being submitted but will not prevent the Funding Proposal from being routed for Department Review. Once the Funding Proposal is submitted for review the PI and 21 any associated administrative Contact/Editors listed in the Funding Proposal will not be able to edit the Funding Proposal or the Budget but will still be able to edit the 424 application to be able to upload the final narrative (i.e., Research Strategy).

If you are the PI of the submission, select the first option confirming that you approve the certification statement on the page and select OK to Submit the Funding Proposal for review.

If you are a member of the Proposal Team and acquiring the PIs signature for endorsement, select the second option on the page and select OK to Submit the Funding Proposal for review. Please note, it is this individual’s responsibility to ensure they have obtained the PI’s signature for endorsement.

The 1st Department Reviewer (typically the Chair of the Lead PI’s Department) will receive a notification email from GRAMS and the Funding Proposal will also appear in their GRAMS Dashboard Inbox for their review.

Once the 1st Department Reviewer approves, the Funding Proposal will be routed to the 2nd Department Reviewer for review and approval in the same fashion. In most instances there will be 2 Department reviewers (Department and College) for a PI, but for some units on campus there may only be 1 tier of Department Review before the Funding Proposal is routed to Specialist Review.

Once your 2nd Department Reviewer approves, your Funding Proposal will be routed to your GCA Specialist for them to be able to start reviewing your completed Funding Proposal.

At either stage of the Department Review or at the Specialist Review, the Reviewer can create Reviewer Notes in the Funding Proposal and Request Changes or Clarifications from the PI within the GRAMS System. If one of the reviewers Requests Changes in the GRAMS system, the PI, Administrative Contact, and any Editors included in the Funding Proposal will receive an email from DoNotReply-GRAMS-Grants@untystem.edu that alerts them that changes have been requested.

You will notice that the status of the Funding Proposal changes to “Department Review: Response Pending from PI” and to the “Clarification Requested” bubble of the workflow chart.

Please Note: The PI will need to address any clarifications requested and Re-Submit for Approval before the Funding Proposal can move forward for further review.

7.3.1 Receiving a Request for Clarifications

If one of the Reviewers Requests Clarifications, the PI, Administrative Contact, and any Editors will receive an automated email from DoNotReply-GRAMS-Grants@untsystem.edu that alerts them that changes have been requested. The subject heading of the email will be “Reviewer Requests Changes from PI”. The Funding Proposal can be accessed by selecting the link in the email.

Alternatively, the Funding Proposal will have returned to the PI’s “My Inbox” section of the GRAMS Dashboard and can be accessed by selecting on the Funding Proposal Name. Note the new State of the proposal is “Department Review: Response Pending from the PI”.

7.3.2 Accessing Reviewer Notes and Comments

Once you have accessed the Funding Proposal Workspace, review the History tab to see if the reviewer added any general comments such as changes needed to the budget or 424 application (if applicable). The Funding Proposal and Budget will now be editable again so the PI/Administrative Contact/Editors can make any needed adjustments.

The History tab also indicates if any Reviewer Notes were logged in the Funding Proposal SmartForm pages.

To review the notes, select the Review Notes tab. This will show all Reviewer Notes on the Funding Proposal to summarize them, including which fields changes are requested for and if the response is required.

Select the Page Name that is hyperlinked in blue, to navigate directly to the Funding Proposal SmartForm indicated. Alternatively, you can access the Funding Proposal by directly clicking the Edit Funding Proposal button.

7.3.3 Responding to Reviewer Notes

In the Funding Proposal SmartForms, the left navigator indicates which SmartForm pages have reviewer notes. An orange comment bubble on the page indicates which question(s) have reviewer notes. A red dot above the comment bubble indicates that a response is required before you will be able to Resubmit for Department Approval.

Navigate to the correct page and click on the orange comment bubble to open and review the comment. Make any needed changes and select Reply to reply to the comment

After any needed changes are made, enter any comments needed and select OK to reply to the Reviewer Note.

Once all Review Notes have been responded to or addressed, select the Exit button in the lower right corner to exit out of the Funding Proposal SmartForms to navigate back to the Funding Proposal workspace.

7.3.4 Submit Changes for Department Review/Submit Changes to Specialist

Once all Clarifications have been addressed, the Funding Proposal can be submitted back to the reviewer. Select Submit for Department Review activity (if changes requested by department reviewer) or Submit Changes to Specialist activity (if changes requested by the GCA Specialist). Note that sometimes the GCA Specialist may require updates go through department review again before returning to the specialist. If GCA has requested this, the proposal will automatically go to Department Review again even if you select the Submit Changes to Specialist activity.

If you get error messages about reviewer notes, that means there are required reviewer notes that you did not reply to. Click on the link in the “Jump To” column to go to that question and reply to the reviewer note. Then click on the Submit for Department Review or Submit Changes to Specialist activity as appropriate.

The proposal status will update to “Department Review” or “Specialist Review” depending on who requested thechanges. An email notification is sent to the department reviewer and the proposal will appear back in their Inbox for review and approval.

After the assigned GCA Specialist has reviewed and approved the proposal, they will move the proposal to Final Review Status. This indicates the proposal is finalized and is queued to be submitted to the sponsor. The status of the Funding Proposal will change to “Pending Submission to Sponsor”.

After the proposal has been submitted, GCA will update the Funding Proposal to the “Pending Sponsor Review” status and the workflow chart will now be in the Sponsor Review bubble. Note: If the proposal is submitted directly by the PI (i.e.: sponsor portal website), be sure to forward the submission confirmation received to the GCA Specialist along with a copy of the submitted application. They will use this documentation to update the status to “Pending Sponsor Review”.

The PI and any Administrative Contact or Editor included in the Funding Proposal will receive an automated GRAMS notification email from DoNotReply-GRAMS-Grants@untsystem.edu when the proposal status is changed to “Pending Sponsor Review”.

The Funding Proposal will stay in this status until a funding determination is made by the sponsor.