General Responsibilities for
Grant Development and Administration

The Office of Educational Programming coordinates the College’s efforts in the area of external grant funding. This responsibility includes the following functions:

  1. Identification of possible sources of funds and dissemination of information to appropriate persons with regard to grant opportunities.
  2. Review and make recommendations concerning proposal ideas.
  3. Provide assistance in the development of the grant proposal.
  4. Review and edit proposal drafts to ensure the quality of the grantsmanship effort.
  5. Assist with budget construction in close cooperation with business office.
  6. Coordination of proposal approvals internally and obtaining the President’s signature on these forms.
  7. Coordination of formatting of, packaging and mailing proposal to granting agency.
  8. Process grant awards. Assemble contracts, obtain signatures, and return contracts to grantor in a timely manner.
  9. Review fully executed grant contracts from grantor agency, prepare authorizing memorandum to set up accounts for the project and obtain President’s signature.
  10. Work with project director to ensure that all grant compliance issues are addressed.
  11. Ensure that reports required by grantors are completed in a timely manner.
  12. Assemble reports, obtain signatures and mail reports to grantor agencies to meet deadlines.
  13. Submit close-out report and other required materials at completion of grant project.
  14. Maintain the official files on all pending and active grant awards, as well as on completed projects and unfunded grant proposals.

The President is the only person who can commit the College to an institutional grant. In most cases, his signature is required on the application, and no application may be submitted without his approval. The President should be kept informed, through the Director of Special Projects and the appropriate vice-president, as a proposal is being developed. Some institutional contribution is usually expected-in-kind and / or cash--and the President has final authority for these kinds of decisions. Space and facility arrangements, stipends, released time, new personnel, salary classifications, and such questions also are subject to the President’s approval.

The person initiating a proposal is responsible for checking the idea out with the appropriate Associate Dean, Dean, and Vice-President at the outset. Will the project meet a recognized need? Is it within the College’s mission and goals? How would it integrate with existing programs?

The proposal initiator is also responsible for preparing the Initial Approval form ( Appendix A) and for attaching to this form an abstract and tentative budget for the proposed project. This description must provide the information needed by the President and vice-presidents to make an informed decision concerning the feasibility of the project.

The Office of the Vice-President for Business Services is responsible for assisting with budget construction, for maintaining the official fiscal records, and for financial reporting. The Office of Business Services must approve the budget that is submitted, and the vice-president must approve the final submission. All fiscal reports are prepared by the business office.

The fiscal officer is responsible for ensuring that federal, state, and College financial requirements are followed in expending and accounting for external funds received. This responsibility includes ensuring that expenditures conform to the approved budget.

The proposed initiator, vice-president, dean, and Director of Special Projects are jointly responsible for ensuring that a proposal conforms to all applicable federal and state financial requirement and applicable College policies.

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