Guidelines for Principal Investigators Seeking External Grant

Project Applicant

Except in the case of a grant to an individual, Wesleyan University is considered the project applicant and bears fiscal and legal responsibilities in administering a grant.  Wesleyan requests that faculty and staff follow the process described here in order to obtain institutional approval on all applications/proposals seeking external funding. It is important that all funding efforts are coordinated for those individuals seeking funding for their work as well as those projects that have been identified as university priorities.

Grants Checklist (WFS Production-Database)

Your first step in the grant process is to complete and submit a pre-proposal  GRANT CHECKLIST at least TWO WEEKS in advance of the proposal deadline. Unless a checklist is submitted two weeks prior to the application deadline, there may not be sufficient time to process the proposal in a timely manner. The checklist is approved by a member of  the Office of Corporate, Foundation & Government Grants and your department's fiscal manager (for academic departments this is the Office of Academic Affairs). For instructions on how to submit a Grant Checklist please click here. 

The Grant Checklist will actually become the official record of your submission and award.The grant checklist becomes the Wesleyan record for the entire life of your grant. For more information on the relationship between WFS and the Grants Process please click here.

Institutional Approval

Any grant being paid to Wesleyan University requires institutional approval before submission. This is done electronically through the Wesleyan Financial System (WFS). The Workflow Approval Process includes the Office of Corporate, Foundation & Government Grants, Grants Accounting Office, Your Fiscal Manager (for academic departments this is the Office of Academic Affairs), and finally Finance & Administration. To accommodate this a proposal should be submitted at least five days in advance (seven days in advance if it is an NIH proposal) of the due date to allow for a thorough review by the Office of Corporate, Foundation & Government Grants, Grants Accounting, Academic Affairs or other office fiscal entity and Associate Vice President for Finance. We cannot guarantee review and permission to submit if these time frames are not adhered to. Additionally, this helps us to avoid possible conflicts with other Wesleyan initiatives, allows us time to obtain advice about specific guidelines, notify existing contacts we may have with an organization and allow for early planning if there is a need for cost share.

To route a proposal we need any sponsor (funder) forms completed, a final budget, final budget justification, biographical sketch (if required), current and pending support (if required) and at least a draft of the project narrative.

If a grant is submitted without obtaining institutional approval actual acceptance of the award by Wesleyan cannot be guaranteed.

Federal Government Proposal Submission

All grants submitted to Grants.gov, NSPIRES, STGMS, and Fastlane require the Office of Corporate, Foundation & Government Grants to submit on your behalf.

Award Notification

When you have received approval notification on your proposal from a Private Foundation or Corporation please promptly forward a copy of your award letter and any checks to the Office of Corporate, Foundation & Government Grants, North College, Room 303.  When you have received approval notification on your proposal from a Government source please contact Kim Savinelli in Finance at ksavinelli@wesleyan.edu or ext. 3683.