Lead Time Guidelines for External Funding Applications
Given the changes at the federal level, it has become increasingly important that we assess new grant and fellowship opportunities and engage in a deliberate assessment and discussion process (among the faculty member, the grants officer, and sometimes the Dean of Faculty and Advancement leadership as well) before moving forward with a grant or fellowship application. This is the case whether we are applying to familiar funders or new funders, federal funders or private funders.
As the College may make a variety of commitments at the time of application, we want to give ourselves plenty of time to review a funder’s terms and conditions (if available) or other institutional expectations or commitments, before we invest in the grant development process.
While in the past we were able to be very nimble, forging ahead with an application with relatively short notice, now we need to plan on more lead time before officially moving forward with an external grant proposal.
Even with fellowship proposals, which are typically awards to an individual, we need to be thoughtful; expectations of the applicant’s home institution can sometimes be incorporated within the guidelines, requiring a thorough review.
In addition, once we have decided to move forward, we need to develop and finalize our budget with more lead time than we have in the past. As of October 2025, the Dean of Faculty and the Chief Financial Officer have requested a detailed budget at least two weeks before the deadline, with more time needed if there are any cost share considerations.
Given these considerations, below we outline the following:
Recommended Process and Timeline
- As soon as you decide you would like to explore a grant or fellowship application, please reach out to the appropriate grants officer with the solicitation information. (Requested notice: at least 2 months before the deadline)
- For research grants, the sponsored research officer (SRO/Tess Powers)
- For institutional grants, a corporate and foundation relations officer (CFR/Laura Hines and Janna Jones)
If you are unsure of the appropriate grants officer, please reach out to any and we can direct you to the right office.
- SRO/CFR will review the funder’s materials (solicitation, terms & conditions, etc.) Given competing deadlines and the need to ensure active submissions are not compromised, please allow 1-2 weeks for review. If there are questions or concerns for SRO/CFR to discuss with you and/or the Dean of Faculty/Advancement leadership, this will require additional time.
- Once this review is done, the grants officer (Laura, Janna or Tess) will invite you to a proposal launch meeting where you can discuss proposal elements and next steps, including an internal timeline until submission including: development of the budget in consultation with you and preparation of an Authorization to Submit form, which will be signed by department heads (chairs), the CFO and a cabinet-level official (eg, Dean of Faculty for research grants).
- Given the possibility of technological issues, we highly recommend submission at least one day before the deadline.