Quick Start Guide on Applying for Externally Funded Grants and Contracts

Introduction

The College of Education supports faculty in their pursuit of external grants and contracts to promote scholarly and programmatic activities. This guide provides information on the collaborative College and University support structure for grants and contracts, information on getting started with applying for grants and contracts, and a checklist of steps to apply for and launch a grant or contract.

Grants & Contracts Support Structure

The College and Office of Research and Economic Development (ORED) collaborate to support faculty in grant proposal development, budget development, IRB applications, and post-award activities.

Getting started

Associate Dean Bre Evans-Santiago serves as the first point of contact for grants and contracts, particularly for idea generation and selecting appropriate funding sources. She also oversees applications for college-wide grants and contracts.

ORED Grant Development Specialist Karl Freels also supports grant development by providing access to grant development and search resources; review and proofreading support of proposal narratives; assistance with institutional data requests; assistance with requests for successfully funded proposals; grant development training workshops and one-on-one consultations.

Developing Budgets and Research Compliance

Pre-Award Processes and Developing Budgets: 

ORED pre-award specialist Jacqueline Reyes supports the preparation of the final proposal for submission, including reviewing the proposal based on sponsor and University requirements, responding to principal investigator (PI) questions about sponsor guidelines, developing and preparing budgets, creating applications in CAYUSE, and initiating the Internal Clearance Process (see below). 

Jacqueline is also the authorized organizational representative (AOR) for the College and is responsible for submitting most proposals to sponsoring agencies on the PI’s behalf and working with post-award staff on project administration.

Simon Kim is available to help faculty brainstorm on the kinds of items they need to include in a budget. 

Paul Ratanasiripong serves as the College’s Institutional Review Board liaison, while Dan Pham oversees human subject compliance with CSULB's Institutional Review Board.


Managing the Grant (Post-award):

Mona Arechiga in the CED Operations office assists faculty members with most post-award functions, including budget monitoring, hiring consultants and student research assistants, travel/mileage claims, direct expense forms, grant-funded scholarships, and supply orders. Odalis Perez is our ORED counterpart for post-award functions. ORED provides fiscal and human resources services.

Getting Started & Grant Writing

This section provides resources on getting started and searching for grants, plus resources for grant writing.

General Resources

Idea Generation

Not sure where to start? Associate Dean Bre Evans-Santiago consults with faculty on getting started, generating ideas about projects involving grants and contracts, and searching for grant opportunities.

Grant Development Canvas

Curated by the grant developer, ORED’s Grant Development Canvas provides a wealth of resources on grant search tools, funding opportunities, proposal development, data management plans, and CSULB institutional data, plus sample proposals.

New Faculty Guide to Competing for Research Funding

The New Faculty Guide to Competing for Research Funding by Mike Cronin and Lucy Deckard is available via the University Library as a free download with sign-in. The guide covers setting a research agenda, seeking funding sources, planning and writing a grant proposal, and tips for the grant writing process. Navigate to the University Library's OneSearch page and type in the title of the faculty guide.

CSULB-Sponsored Grant Search Databases and Alert Services

SPIN Grant Search Engine: Provides a searchable database with more than 40,000 opportunities from more than 10,000 global public and private sponsors. See ORED’s site for more information.

SMARTS Email Alert System: Create email alerts in the SPIN grants system to receive targeted emails on funding opportunities that match your search criteria. See ORED’s site for more information.

Grant Funding Opportunities in Education and Allied Fields

The following websites provide links to key federal and state agencies that provide funding and grant opportunities in education and allied fields:

Department of Education

Department of Education Grant Applications

Lists currently open grant competitions for the Department of Education.

Institute of Educational Sciences Webinar Schedule

Lists upcoming webinars on topics such as grant writing and the application process.

California Department of Education Funding and Grants

Lists funding opportunities for schools and other organizations for a variety of funding purposes.

Allied Funding Opportunities

Department of Health and Human Services Grants

Grant forecast for discretionary and non-discretionary grants forecast for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Describes the grant process and provides tips for preparing proposals.

Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Open Solicitations

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provides innovative leadership to federal, state, local, and tribal justice systems by disseminating state-of-the art knowledge and practices across America and providing grants for the implementation of these crime-fighting strategies.

National Institute of Mental Health Research Priorities

Funding forecast and research strategy for grants to promote mental health.

National Science Foundation E-bulletin

Grant forecast for active funding opportunities from the National Science Foundation.

Grant Writing Guides

Various guides from academic and nonprofit institutions provide general advice about proposal development. They cover topics ranging from how to write a compelling abstract to how to create a budget for projects based within university settings.

Steps for Preparing the Proposal and Launching the Grant/Contract

Preparing an external grant/contract proposal application package is known as the “pre-award” process. Proposal development begins at the college level with you as the principal investigator and culminates with transfer of the proposal application package to ORED for submission to the sponsoring agency. Importantly, all grant/contract applications for external funding must be processed, approved, and submitted by ORED.

Checklist of Steps to Prepare a Grant Proposal and Launch the Grant

  • Identify funding opportunity via databases, forecast lists, and requests for proposals.
  • Notify the associate dean for graduate studies, Bre Evans-Santiago, and your department chair of your intent to apply for a grant. If you plan to apply for a grant from a foundation, also notify the director of development, Hayley Miller. Provide a link to the grant solicitation/request for proposals; the funding source; the due date; and who will work on the proposal.
  • Check to see if the grant-solicitation limits proposals to one per university. If so, inform Associate Dean Evans-Santiago so that the university may conduct an internal process to identify which proposal CSULB will submit.
  • Also check whether there are cost-match requirements for the grant. If so, investigate whether the College and University can commit to cost matching before you begin working on the proposal. Cost matches are not typically able to be funded.
  • Once you know you plan to write a grant proposal, complete the Notice of Intent (NOI) form and submit electronically to ORED.
  • Familiarize yourself with CAYUSE. CAYUSE is a web-based software tool for pre-award grant proposal preparation, processing, submission, and administration. You will use CAYUSE for the internal clearance process and submission of the grant application to ORED.
  • Your grant may require a letter of intent (LOI) prior to submitting the full grant proposal. If a LOI does not require a budget, you may submit it directly to the sponsor. If the LOI does require a budget, it must go through the internal clearance process via CAYUSE and ORED before submission.
  • Develop your proposal, aiming to finish a first draft at least several weeks in advance of the due date. Have your draft(s) edited and reviewed by colleagues. Also prepare any required supplementary materials (e.g., an evaluation plan or data management plan).
  • Data you may need for your proposal can be found through the CSULB Institutional Research and Assessment website or the California Department of Education Data and Statistics page.
  • Check to see if the sponsoring agency requires that Institutional Review Board procedures, if applicable, be completed prior to submission of the grant application.
  • Simultaneous to writing the proposal, you will need to develop your budget and budget justification, working with ORED pre-award specialist Jacqueline Reyes.
  • ORED provides information on budget preparation.
  • Budget considerations: What is the indirect cost rate (also known as Facilities and Administration or F&A rate) required by the sponsoring agency? Does your budget (including indirect costs) fall within the maximum allowed per year, the correct number of years, and within the average awarded size (and any other guidelines in the RFP)? Have you factored in costs for any required budget items (e.g., travel to required annual meetings, costs for an external evaluator)? Have you included all costs associated with the project, including materials, equipment, participant incentives, dissemination, etc.? Have you accounted for costs going up over the duration of the grant (e.g., salaries, travel)?
  • Note: If your proposal requires an indirect cost rate lower than the university’s standard rate (check with Jacqueline Reyes), Associate Dean Evans-Santiago must request approval via the associate vice president for research and sponsored programs prior to proposal submission.
  • Submit your complete proposal, including abstract/project summary, proposal, budget, budget justification and any additional required documents to ORED via CAYUSE. Your proposal package will be routed through the university’s Internal Clearance Process on CAYUSE. You should strive to complete this process at least seven to 10 business days in advance of the proposal due date to ensure that the clearance process is complete before the proposal deadline.
  • ORED will review the proposal, check for errors and work with you to make corrections. Once corrections are made and you indicate the proposal is complete and ready for submission, ORED will submit the proposal on your behalf. Please note that all submissions for external grants and contracts must be made by ORED.
  • ORED will provide confirmation to you when the proposal has been received by the sponsoring agency.
  • If the sponsoring agency intends to make the award (congratulations!), it will typically notify you and ORED. An ORED grants and contracts manager will be assigned to the project and an orientation meeting will be set up to review the proposal and budget, and ensure a smooth start to the process.
  • The sponsoring agency may request changes to the work plan or budget, which should be submitted in a timely fashion. Changes to the budget may impact the scope of work and vice versa. Any significant changes to the proposal require approval from the CED dean.
  • If Institutional Review Board oversight is required and an application has not been submitted, it must be submitted before starting the project. Some granting agencies will not distribute the funds until these processes have been completed.