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CSULB Internal Clearance Process for Grants and Contracts

The Internal Clearance Process at CSU Long Beach is designed to provide rapid response by the cognizant offices to facilitate timely submission of competitive proposals.

The process has been reduced to the review of essential documents and obtaining the signatures of key persons who have been specifically authorized to approve the use of:

• The University name
• Facilities
• Personnel
• Student
• Other infrastructure

The process is designed to save time, but it is essential that applicants for external funding and persons reviewing proposals and their budgets have enough time in which to do a responsible job. From time to time a proposal is not approved for the lack of sufficient time to review it.

To avoid this crunch and possible disappointment we have established a proposal scheduling process that relies upon the PI/Project Directors giving the offices advance notice of their intent to apply for external funding. As soon as the PIs/Project Directors believe that it is "likely" they will apply, they must submit an Intent Form . Failure to do so will place the proposal in jeopardy of not getting reviewed in time for submission.

When the time comes for this "internal clearance" process, the University uses a "Internal Clearance Form," known affectionately as the "green sheet." (See the Clearance form here .) The Office of University Research enters the data on this form:

• A budget summary
• Some information about the proposer and proposal
• Some questions regarding special regulations are answered

In addition, where cost-sharing is required by the funding agency or is offered as part of the proposal, Internal Clearance Cost-Sharing Addenda are also completed to summarize the understandings we have concerning University and other resources that will be committed to the project, if funded. (See the Addenda forms here .)

Process

The following steps are the responsibility of the Principal Investigator/Project Director and are essential to this clearance process:

1. When it is likely that a proposal will be submitted, but not necessarily completely certain, submit a Notice of Intent.
2. When you have a complete idea of the activities to be conducted in your project, and before you have finished writing your proposal, make an appointment to see the Budget Specialist in the University Foundation to have your budget ideas reviewed and/or assembled into standard or agency format. The Budget Specialist will offer advice on budget items and provide you with a copy of a spreadsheet containing your full budget, and will forward a copy to the Assistant Director of Research for Sponsored Projects in the Office of University Research. Or, when you have a good idea of the activities of your project, you can use the "OUR Proposal Development Workbook" to create your budget. It will produce budget information for all but the most complicated projects. It also produces the Internal Clearance documents. When you have your budget the way you want, just email the workbook file to the Budget Specialist. Be sure to call the Office of University Research before you first use this program.
3. In a brief interview, (by telephone or in person) the Assistant Director of Research will prepare the Internal Clearance Form for you and, if necessary, the Cost-Sharing Addenda. The budget entered on the front of the Clearance Form will correspond to the budget information in your proposal budget spreadsheet. If changes must be made later, the Assistant Director will assist you.

Routing

All colleges are authorized for electronic (email) routing of the Internal Clearance Forms. Except with the most complicated proposals and those involving cost-sharing/cost-matching we will always use that electronic process, saving you personal trips to each of the offices.

You will be sent an "output copy" of the Clearance Forms together with routing instructions. Whether it is done by email or manually, the routing circuit is the same. The Foundation approved budget and an abstract or statement of work will be attached to this email. You will have provided the abstract prior to this step.

Note: An "abstract" or "executive summary" is a standard precis of the proposal and includes not only the rationale for the study, but concise statements of the methodology and goals of the project. A "statement of work" is the "deliverables" part of a contract. It contains a list of the specific activities to be carried out for the benefit of the contractor by you and the time frame for these activities. A statement of work should be sufficiently detailed to protect you from unwarranted claims of breach of contract.

4. Using the "forward" command on your email utility, you will forward the Clearance Form from your personal email account to your Department Chair together with
   • the attached copies of your budget,
   • budget narrative (if you are required to have one by the funding agency), and
   • the abstract of the proposal or statement of work.
5. Normally, this will take place at least one week prior to submission date of your proposal. Some colleges require earlier routing. The act of forwarding through one's personal email account constitutes "electronic signature." This means that you will be held to the content of all the materials forwarded just as if you had signed them manually.

5. The Department Chair will forward the package to the College Office according to the routing instructions provided by the Office of University Research. Each college office has a somewhat different routing sequence, so you and the Department Chair must be careful to observe the proper routing. As the Clearance Form output document and the attachments are forwarded from one official to the next through the email accounts, each forwarding constitutes approval of the proposal. Be sure to remind each person in the department and college to copy you on the email as they forward it. Also be sure to use the telephone to determine whether key signatories are actually available. They need not be on campus, (or even in the country) as long as they have access to the internet, they can sign off.
6. When finished reviewing the proposal documents, the College Dean or designee will forward the materials back to the Office of University Research. We will obtain Foundation sign-off on the proposal. Once this occurs, the Director, Office of University Research will either ask for the completed proposal for duplication and mailing by the Office of University Research (when this is the delivery method selected on the Clearance Form) or will sign the cover page and compliance documents and provide you with permission to mail the document.

This is the process. To function well, it requires a reasonable amount of cooperation from all parties. Logistics

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