Proposal Preparation

Proposal Packaging

At UTSA, PIs interested in submitting a proposal for a sponsored project or engaging in a potential partnership that may result in a contract negotiation must complete a Notice of Intent Form and notify their respective College Research Administration Team.

All proposals should contain the following documents:

• Statement of Work
• Sponsor Budget Form
• UTSA Budget Template
• Budget Justification
• All other proposal package documents per the solicitation (e.g. Biosketches, Current, and Pending Support documents, letters of support)
• UTSA Cost Share Form, if applicable
• Conflict of Interest Training and Disclosure Verification for all Key Personnel listed in the proposal
• Subrecipient Documents, if applicable
  • UTSA Letter of Intent Form
  • Subrecipient Profile Questionnaire
  • Letter of Commitment from Subrecipient signed by their Authorized Organizational Representative
  • Budget
  • Budget Justification
  • Statement of Work
  • Subrecipient Determination Form

When UTSA is submitting a proposal as a sub-recipient, the following documents are required:

• Statement of Work
• Sponsor Budget Form
• UTSA Budget Template
• Budget Justification
• Federal Demonstration Partnership Letter of Intent Form

15/5 Day Rule

To guarantee on-time submission to a sponsor, a Notice of Intent Form must be submitted to the College Research Administration Team at least 15 business days before a sponsor submission deadline.

Then, all finalized ready-to-submit, submission-ready proposal packages must be provided to your researchers’ assigned College Research Administrator no later than 8:30 A.M. at least five (5) business days before the sponsor submission deadline.

For more information on this policy and the exception process, please visit the 15/5 Day Rule page.

Cost Share

Cost sharing is a commitment made by the institution to fund a portion of the total cost of a sponsored project. This commitment may be for direct and/or indirect costs and may consist of institutional funds or funds from other outside sources.

In accordance with HOP 10.07 Cost Sharing on Sponsored Programs, UTSA only provides the minimum cost sharing required by a sponsor in written proposals, whether such cost sharing is in the form of salary or other resources. Offering to share costs is highly discouraged.

If required for a proposal, the Cost Sharing Matching Funds Request Form should be completed and included in the proposal package.

Participant Support Costs

As defined by 2 CFR 200.1, participant support costs are direct costs for items such as stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not employees) in connection with conferences or training projects.

A participant is defined as the recipient, (not the provider), for a service or training associated with a workshop, conference, seminar, symposium, or other short-term instructional or information-sharing activity. Participants do not perform work or services for the project or program unless it is for their benefit (e.g., training fellowships). UTSA employees are not considered participants. The attached Participant Determination Guide [PDF] can assist in identifying participants in a project.

Subrecipient Determination

A sub-award is an award issued under the award of a larger sponsored project for specific program-related tasks. Subrecipients perform an intellectually significant portion of the scope of work under UTSA research projects. This should not be confused with a procurement contract used to acquire goods or services from a vendor.

The PI should complete the Subrecipient Contractor Determination Form [PDF] for every proposal containing subrecipients.

Representations and Certifications

Representations and certifications are written guarantees to sponsoring agencies that affirm UTSA’s compliance with various federal requirements. Much of the required information can be found on UTSA’s profile in the Federal Demonstration Partnership Directory or on UTSA’s profile at sam.gov.

OSP can assist with providing any additional representations and certifications required by Federal agencies and pass-through entities.

Proposal Submissions

OSP serves as the institutional signer for all proposal submissions. A proposal must be approved by an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) in OSP before submission to a sponsor.

Proposals are routed to OSP for review and approval through the Cayuse S2S platform. The type of review performed by OSP depends on when OSP receives the proposal concerning the sponsor submission deadline. For more information, please see the Proposal Submission Deadlines Procedure [PDF].