Article Intended For
All university faculty, staff, researchers with permission to use and/or access Penn State Research Information Systems - Internal Approval Form (IAF).
Introduction
Understanding the proposal IAF standard workflow process.
Article Body
The following standard processing guidelines are for a “New” Proposal IAF.
- Any AOR, DRA, or DP user can start a Proposal IAF.
- AORs, DRAs, and their delegates can send a Proposal IAF into workflow for approvals. The following tabs are required: Basic Info, Budget, Waivers, and all investigators in the Personnel tab. The submitter can also add other approvers who don’t automatically appear in the workflow. An approval path is also generated for the administering unit if it differs from the submitting unit.
- The Primary PI is automatically sent an email (see “IAF Email Schedule”) notifying them that a Proposal IAF is awaiting approval. Prior to Primary PI approval all tabs must be reviewed and completed by the Primary PI.
- After Primary PI approval, any other approvers added to the workflow in step two are automatically sent an email for review and approval of the Proposal IAF.
- Other investigators listed on the Personnel tab are automatically sent an email after Primary PI approval notifying them that the Proposal IAF is ready for their approval. Each investigator completes their own individualized version of the Investigator tab (see “IAF Investigator Tab”) and approves.
- After all the investigators in their department have approved, DHs are automatically sent an email notifying them that a Proposal IAF is awaiting their review and approval (see “Building a Path” escalation rules)
- If the option for RD approval has been selected on the Approvals tab, they are automatically emailed for review and approval upon completion of all DH approvals in their college.
- After all required approvals within their unit have been completed, the investigator AORs are sent an email for review and approval.
- If the administering unit differs from the submitting unit, the administering unit DH automatically receives an email after all required approvals for their review and approval.
- After the administering unit DH approves, the administering unit AOR receives an email for their review and approval.
- After all approvals have been completed, the submitting unit AOR receives an email to review, make any final changes, upload any required documentation, including the final version of the proposal, and approve.
- The PI and any investigators with individual compliance issues are emailed a Compliance Checklist of items to be resolved before an award could be accepted by Penn State.
PSU Policy Note: Steps 1-3,5 are expected to be completed prior to proposal submission in all units at Penn State, and steps 5-7 can be completed within 10 business days at the discretion of the submitting AOR. The submitting AOR also has the discretion to require some or all of the approvals listed below prior to proposal submission on a per-proposal basis. Submitting units also have authority to impose a more conservative policy, such as requiring pre-approval of all submissions (e.g. Hershey COM).
Proposal Approvals:
The following will always be required to approve the Proposal IAF, although not necessarily before proposal submission, depending on the submitting unit policy and availability:
- Primary PI
- Other personnel listed on the Proposal IAF (Investigators)
- Primary PI and other Investigators’ DH(s)
- AOR of Primary PI AOR (if different than submitting AOR) and other Investigators’ AOR(s)
- Submitting AOR
The submitting AOR is responsible for ensuring all compliance requirements. If changes are made to the Proposal IAF after approval, the requirement for obtaining a re-approval from the same individuals is at the discretion of the submitting AOR.
Additional approvals may also be required at the discretion of the submitting AOR. These approvals may include:
- Research Dean of Primary PI and Investigators (for example, in cases involving cost-sharing, course buyout, facility requirements, overhead waiver, or major equipment purchase)
- Financial Officer as an Other approver
Change Rules
If certain changes are made after the Proposal IAF was approved, the IAF will be automatically routed or re-routed to additional approvers as listed in the table below. Re-approvals are only required when the approver has previously approved. The AOR may also choose to require additional approvals
In the case of Other Approvals that are added through change rules, AOR/DRA can delete the approval, if not applicable (e.g. user no longer with Penn State). AOR/DRA must enter a comment giving a reason why the approval is being removed.
In addition to approvals being automatically routed or re-routed, certain changes will also automatically clear previous answers provided on the IAF before recalling from workflow which is also listed in the table below.
|
Change |
Approvals Required By |
Data Updates |
| Primary Investigator (PI) |
Former PI (if still a PSU employee), New PI, and the associated DHs and AORs |
Changing the PI after workflow has been started, will not only clear all approvals but will also clear all existing answers on the Investigators tab. |
| Increase (of 5%) to cost sharing amount | PI, PI's DH, Submitting AOR | |
| Named/Key Personnel | Personnel added or removed and associated DH(s) and AOR(s) | |
| Assignment of Credit | PI, Personnel whose credit changed and the associated DH(s) and AOR(s) | |
| Advanced Funds | Submitting DH, Submitting AOR | |
| Waiver to "Gift" or "Unrestricted Grant" | Investigators, all associated DH(s) and AOR(s) | |
|
Sponsor Type changes:
May be due to removal or addition of prime sponsor. |
Investigators and subsequent approvers
|
Example 1 (Fed to Industry): The original sponsor listed on the proposal was a federal sponsor, and was changed to an industry sponsor after the PI has approved and the proposal does not have an F&A reason of Gifts or Unrestricted Grants. This will cause additional questions related to intellectual property to be required, and the change of sponsor will require approvals to be cleared in order to have that information filled in. Example 2 (Industry to anything other then industry): The original sponsor listed on the proposal was an industry sponsor, and was changed to a non-industry sponsor after the PI has approved and the proposal does not have an F&A reason of Gifts or Unrestricted Grants. This will cause intellectual property questions to no longer be required (thus clearing this data). A warning will indicate that information may be cleared as a result of this change. Example 3 (NSF to anything other then NSF): The original sponsor listed on the proposal was NSF and was changed to a sponsor that is NOT NSF after the PI approved, this will cause the NSF specific Off-site research question on the investigator tab to no longer be required (thus clearing this data). A warning will indicate that information may be cleared as a result of this change. |
Other Proposal Types
There are some situations that may alter the standard approvals required as listed below:
General Approval Rules and Escalation
- DHs and RDs may delegate their approval. Investigators may not.
- No one can approve in more than one role.
- Unique situations for Investigators that hold another role (e.g. DH) involve approval escalation. See the chart below for escalation rules:
For more information, please contact simsadmin@psu.edu
Links
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