Procedure for Proposals with No Deadlines

Due to the significantly increased volume of proposal submissions, the growing complexity of sponsor requirements, and the rise of sponsors adopting no‑deadline (rolling deadline) submission models, the ABR ORS Team must carefully manage their workload to prevent bottlenecks and ensure that pre‑award support is provided efficiently and equitably*. Therefore, the following guideline will be implemented, effectively on March 9, 2026, for proposals submitted to sponsors using a no‑deadline model.

  1. PI provides a target proposal submission deadline so ABR ORS Team can plan their workload.
  2. ABR ORS sends the PI a proposal checklist and timeline based on the ORS/OSP deadline policies and the team’s current workload.
  3. If the PI requests a proposal submission extension, ABR ORS will review their workload and work with the PI to set a new mutually acceptable proposal submission deadline. ABR ORS will then issue an updated checklist and timeline.
  4. If no new proposal submission deadline can be agreed upon, the PI will be directed to work with their department pre‑award administrator.
  5. If the PI misses the new agreed‑upon proposal submission deadline (Guideline # 3) and requests a second extension, the PI must submit a new proposal request form, which will return the proposal to the general submission request queue.
  6. If six months pass with no activity and no updated proposal submission plan, the PI must submit a new proposal request form, and the proposal will return to the general submission request queue.

*ABR ORS staff must plan carefully and frequently to manage the volume of proposals submitted to ensure quality of pre-award support and that deadlines are met for traditional proposal submissions. This careful planning happens as a request for assistance is received. When there is not sufficient ORS staff capacity, proposal submission responsibility falls on the department.  Recurring commitment of support for proposals with a rolling submission deadline with failure to submit on described target date unduly burdens ABR ORS and departmental staff and may limit opportunities for providing high quality pre-award support for other faculty.