Proposal Development Workflow and Submission System

General Information

Proposal development is as follows for all federal and non-federal funding agencies. The first step in any proposal process is reading the guidelines on how the agency will accept and review proposals. They are usually provided by the funding agency and can be called one of the following: Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), Request for Proposal (RFP), or Program Announcements. These guidelines are usually comprehensive with detailed information on the submission process. Here you may also find out if the award you are applying for fits the research you want to pursue. After the investigator has read the submission guidelines and has decided to move forward, the investigator will want to contact the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) and express their wish to apply. The OSP will also review the submission guidelines and work with the investigator in building a proposal to submit to the funding agency. Once all components of a proposal are finalized the submission process will be done through our online system called Cayuse 424. Cayuse 424 is a University-wide online system, for the development and submission of a sponsored project proposal. An investigator has to use this system even if using a separate portal. We use Cayuse for all proposals (for internal purposes). The system can be accessed via Yeshiva University’s InsideTrack Portal. Questions on how to register and use Cayuse 424 should be addressed with the OSP.

There are 3 different responses to a submitted proposal: Denied, Just In Time, or Approved. Denied proposals are self-explanatory however it may accompany a review of why the proposal was denied. This is important in case you wish to resubmit it in the future and address the concerns or comments the agency brought up. Some agencies may not provide a review and only the notice of denial. Just in time’s are proposals that the agency is interested in funding however they would like some clarifications/changes on the original proposal submitted. The OSP office can assist you through this process as well and resubmit the proposal per the agency’s instructions. Approved is self-explanatory but it opens the door to the post award process.

Albeit not part of the submission process, the OSP would like to briefly explain what happens when the award is funded. Once the award has been approved for funding it enters the post award stage. Everything mentioned above is considered pre-award. In post award, it is now about actually pursuing the goals that the investigator wished to meet from the submitted proposal. For the OSP office, this means we can assist you with the finances of the grant and answer any questions about Do’s and Don’ts. It is highly likely that reports are due to the funding agency in a specific timeframe. The investigator may need to submit these reports but if they are financial in nature then the OSP may do it. The post award stage will remain as so until the end of the award date. Once the award has ended all expenditures should have been posted and a final financial/technical report will be sent to the funding agency with the investigator’s findings. This would mark the end of the award lifecycle and the process is then repeated with the submission of a new proposal.