Step-by-Step Guide for Submitting Proposals at TCNJ
ERSPA: Electronic Research and Sponsored Programs Assistant
- How to Use ERSPA
- Step 1 - Submit the Early Notification
- Step 2 - Developing the Proposal Budget
- Step 3 - Developing the Proposal Narrative
- Step 4 - Preparing the Proposal Routing form
- ERSPA Workflow Diagram
Electronic Submissions - Applications must be submitted at least 3 days prior to the due date in order to ensure the proposal is received by the sponsoring agency.
- FastLane - National Science Foundation (NSF)
- NIH Proposal Submission Forms - National Institutes of Health
- Grants.gov - All Federal Grants
OAGSR and the Department Application Development Team (DADT) of Information Technology at TCNJ collaborated in developing TCNJ's electronic proposal preparation and grant management system, ERSPA. This useful tool guides the prospective Principal Investigator (PI) through the major steps in preparing and submitting a proposal to an external sponsor.
ERSPA allows PIs to inform their chairs, deans, and OAGSR of the intention to submit a grant proposal or seek other outside funding. It also assists with the preparation of proposal budgets, and electronically routes completed proposals through the internal sign-off process that includes approval by chair, dean, and OAGSR, and other departments, as needed.
The ERSPA Pre-Award module includes the Early Notification Form, Budget Template, and Proposal Routing Form.
While ERSPA does provide a platform on which PIs can develop and submit proposals, it cannot substitute for a good timetable and strategy, which are essential to preparing a high quality, competitive proposal. Click here to view our suggested timetable for proposal development and submission. Any questions or concerns regarding proposal development strategy should be referred to OAGSR staff.
How to Use ERSPA
All TCNJ employees can log in to ERSPA at: http://www.tcnj.edu/~dadt/grants/ using their regular UNIX system login and password. We recommend using Internet Explorer, if at all possible. First-time ERSPA users will be instructed to Register first. Previously registered users can continue to the Main Menu items.
Please refer to the OAGSR Timetable for a guide to the timing of the various steps in the development and submission process that are explained below.
Step 1 - Submit the Early Notification
The first step is the preparation of the Early Notification Form. Early Notification is the official mechanism by which the chair, the dean, and OAGSR are made aware of the PI's intention to submit a proposal or seek other external funding. All of the requested information should be entered on the form, especially the specific URL for the program and specific application guidelines. It is in the PI's best interest to prepare the Early Notification as early as possible, especially in cases where there is a limit to the number of proposals that can be submitted to a particular program. The Early Notification Form is submitted electronically though ERPSA.
A Note on Proposal and Budget Development
The most successful submissions have budgets that are developed simultaneous with their proposal narratives. The ERSPA Budget Template will assist in this process by keeping a running account of all the direct costs, fringe amounts, and indirect costs, thereby allowing the PI to know exactly how much money is being budgeted from all sources at any stage of budget development. When there is a budget cap or matching requirement, this information is extremely helpful.
Step 2 - Developing the Proposal Budget
A new budget can be created by clicking on Fill Out/Edit a Budget Template. If the PI has already completed the Early Notification Form , there will be an option to create the budget from the Early Notification, and doing so will transfer most of the information from that form directly into the budget template. The template is organized into categories common to most grant budget requirements and can serve as a checklist for the PI to ensure that all the necessary budget categories have been considered.
Basic information about the College such as fringe benefit rates and F&A (Facilities and Administration, a.k.a. Indirect Costs) rates are built into ERSPA and are automatically calculated, as are projected salary increments for subsequent budget years. The prospective PI can edit these rates in the header if a different rate must be used for a particular proposal. There are several viewing options available under the Edit Budget function that allow the budget to be viewed and printed in summary form or itemized form.
When working within a budget category, information is entered by clicking on "Add Row". When working within each row, the Tab key should be used after each entry, finally tabbing to the end of the line. This action computes the totals using the information that has been entered, and saves the information to the template. Once a draft first year budget is prepared, clicking on Submit will send the budget to OAGSR for preliminary budget approval. Once the budget is given preliminary approval from OAGSR, the prospective PI will receive an e-mail confirmation.
It is advisable to complete the budget for Year 1 and obtain preliminary approval on it before generating the budgets for following years. It is much easier to generate subsequent years and modify them than it is to create all budget years at the same time. To add a year to your budget, click on Add Year to end of Current Budget. ERSPA will generate a budget for the next year that is identical to the first year budget, but it will automatically increase salaries by the increment rate that appears in the budget header. The PI can then make whatever adjustments are necessary to the new budget year, and continue to generate as many budget years as are needed.
Step 3 - Developing the Proposal Narrative
The PI will develop the proposal narrative using his or her own word processing files. We strongly recommend that PIs work with OAGSR staff who can provide assistance in reading the manuscript for consistency, clarity, and responsiveness to funding guidelines. Early drafts are encouraged and may be sent as e-mail attachments to OAGSR staff. From time to time, OAGSR offers mini-workshops in proposal preparation and development. Interested PIs should contact OAGSR staff for more information.
Step 4 - Preparing the Proposal Routing Form
After the budget has received preliminary approval, all budget years have been generated, the budget explanantion and the project narrative are finalized, the Proposal Routing Form can be completed by clicking on Submit a Proposal Routing Form on the Pre-Award menu. The Form will draw information from the budget, and there will be very little information left to add manually. After completing the remaining entries, the proposal files can be attached by browsing local files on the PI's computer. The budget will automatically attach to the Routing Form. After all the applicable files have been attached, the PI can Submit the Routing Form, and the proposal files and budget will route electronically, first to the chair, and then to the dean, for approval. The submission then returns to OAGSR for final approval. The PI will receive an e-mail notification of the proposal acceptance or denial at each stage, with comments. The advantages of the ERSPA system are numerous, including easier, faster, and more streamlined electronic access, approval, and sign-off processes than physically delivering forms around campus.
The Chair's approval on the Grant Routing Form confirms that:
- the proposal is appropriate within the discipline;
- the proposal is in keeping with Department mission and goals;
- reassigned time, if applicable, is approved;
- all cost-share items listed for the Department are committed by the Chair; should the grant be awarded, those monies will be moved from the departmental account to the separate cost share account set up for that grant project.
The Dean's approval on the Grant Routing Form confirms that:
- the proposal is in keeping with Department, School and TCNJ mission and goals;
- reassigned time, if applicable, is approved;
- all cost-share items listed for the School are committed by the Dean; and that should the grant be awarded, those monies will be moved from the School account to the separate cost share account set up for that grant project.
Once the proposal has final approval from OAGSR, it is ready to be copied and delivered, or submitted electronically, to the Sponsor.
ERSPA Workflow Diagram
The flowchart below summarizes the entire pre-award process on ERSPA.
