The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) supports administration, faculty, and staff in their efforts to procure and manage external funding for University projects. Whether you are seeking funding for curriculum and program development, student support services, research and scholarly activities or other innovative projects or ideas that benefit UVU and its students, OSP is the place you should begin.
Step 1. Identify Project
Step 2. Find Funding
Step 3. Initiate Proposal
Step 4. Prepare Proposal
Step 5. Submit Proposal
Step 6. Manage Awards
Sponsored programs are defined as:
Grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements provided to UVU in the form of financial or other resource commitments from federal, state, or local government entities, or from private or corporate foundations, where a written proposal or bid has been submitted and the award agreement contains at least one of the following:
Sponsored programs support research, scholarly or creative activities, programs of service, or projects involving the acquisition of funds, materials, other forms of compensation, or exchanges of in-kind items or efforts from sources external to the institution; where a written agreement has been signed and committed by the sponsor. Typical funding mechanisms include but are not limited to: awards, contracts, cooperative agreements, or congressional appropriations; from federal, state, or local government entities, contracts from for-profit business, and grant awards from private or corporate foundations.
Excluded from OSP involvement are state appropriations or gifts from private sources where no written contract or commitment is enforceable.
OSP acts as a liaison between the faculty and staff of UVU with external funding sources. OSP services include, but are not limited to, the following:
Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) is the only office designated by the University to facilitate and oversee sponsored program activity, written grant proposal development, proposal submissions, and contract negotiations. The Senior Director of Sponsored Programs is the designated Signature Authority for the University for all sponsored program grants and contracts.
Before an agreement can be enforced, it must be signed by a person with specific statutory authority. Only a limited number of individuals/positions are designated by Policy 247 to execute legally binding agreements on behalf of the University. For sponsored program grants and contracts, this authority has been delegated to the Senior Director of Sponsored Programs.
Please note that a sponsored program grant or contract is a written agreement or other formal instrument where there is mutual agreement to terms that bind the University to any legal obligation related to funding or resources from an external source to UVU. A contract may be in the form of an agreement, proposal, statement, notice, resolution, letter, memorandum of understanding (MOU), memorandum of agreement (MOA), grant, cooperative agreement, amendment to an agreement, etc.
Principal Investigators, Department Chairs, Deans, or other University employees should never sign or submit a sponsored program agreement or award. Any Principal Investigator/Project Director or other unauthorized University employee who signs a grant proposal, contract or agreement that s/he is not authorized to sign is acting outside the scope of his/her employment and may be personally liable for any resulting liability or obligation, and may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.
The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) facilitates an institutional climate of growth, innovation, and sustainability through ongoing development, acquisition, and oversight of grants and contracts from external private and public sources to enrich the scholarly and creative endeavors of faculty and students, and enhance the programs, services, and facilities of the institution.
All proposals must be received five (5) business days* before the proposal submission deadline to allow sufficient time to review for compliance issues and obtain an authorized signature. Please note that failure to comply with this policy may result in your proposal NOT being submitted. Additional time may be required if the proposal includes funding for research, new curriculum construction, external sub-awards, contractual relationships, revenue generating activities, cost sharing or match, indirect cost modifications, or other special activities or requirements. It is expected that, in general, projects involving human or animal subjects of research have already received institutional review board (IRB) approval prior to submission of the proposal to grant sponsors.
*Please note: If a document requires the President’s signature, it takes a minimum of ten (10) business days to obtain this signature.
UVU has a 38% federal Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) that must be calculated into the budget on all federal grants.
Grants from the State of Utah, local governments, and most private or corporate foundations have an associated indirect rate which can be different from the federal negotiated rate and must be used if allowable. Indirect costs are costs that cannot be easily and directly attributed to a specific project or program but are essential for the overall operation of the organization. Examples include administrative salaries, utilities, and facility maintenance. These are also sometimes called Facility and Administrative (F&A) costs.
These rates are non-negotiable unless otherwise restricted by the grant guidelines. Please contact the OSP to identify the applicable indirect rate for your specific project.
The following University policies govern OSP:
