Grants and Sponsored Programs
The Office of Grants and Sponsored Programs (OGSP) is responsible for assisting faculty, staff and administrators with pre-award services; such as preparing and submitting proposals, developing and conducting workshops and seminars, and providing regulatory oversight.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- To assist faculty members, staff members and administrators in preparing and submitting competitive proposals to external sources of support for instructional, service, and research activities.
- To develop workshops and seminars on opportunities, issues, and tasks related to extramural support.
- To provide oversight of federal, state, and university compliance issues.
- To maintain a current online bibliography of funding agencies.
- To collect and maintain records of internal research activities.
Some specific services are:
- Providing information regarding grant opportunities;
- Assisting in obtaining information and forms related to proposal preparation and submission;
- Assisting in the development of budgets for grant and contract proposals;
- Assisting with the internal proposal routing and approval process;
- Providing the Principal Investigator / Project Director with the applicable regulations, policies, and procedures pertaining to the administration of sponsored projects.
Post-award services are provided by the Budget Manager/Post Award Administrator. Some specific functions performed include:
- In conjunction with the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, engages in fiscal and business negotiations with awarding agencies;
- Facilitates the internal and external contract approval process;
- Set up new awards within the university and Southern University System;
- Provides contract administrative support, monitors contractual compliance;
- Oversee the closeout process for all sponsored projects.
Grant Writing Tips
Differences Between Writing Academically and Writing Grant Proposals
Summarized With permission - Porter, Robert, 2007. “Why Academics Have a Hard Time Writing Good Grant Proposals”, The Journal of Research Administration, Society of Research Administrators International, Volume XXXVIII.
There are many differences between writing academically and writing a grant proposal. The styles of writing are not the same. Many researchers or academicians must learn a new set of writing skills. Scholarly papers, essays, and journal articles are usually written in a style that may be referred to as ‘academic writing’. The chart below helps to identify some of the major differences between the two types of writing.
Academic Writing | Grant Proposal Writing | |
Long sentences |
Short sentences, bulleted lists, graphs, tables, drawings, energetic, direct, concise |
|
More highly technical terms |
Easily understood |
|
Historical perspective (past oriented) |
New ideas (future oriented) |
|
Scholarly pursuit |
Sponsor goals |
|
Theme-centered (theory and thesis) |
Project-centered (objectives and activities) |
|
Explain to reader |
“Selling” the reader |
|
Impersonal tone |
Personal tone |
|
Individuals |
Team-focused |
|
Few length constraints |
Strict length constraints |
|
Specialized terminology (insider jargon) |
Accessible language (easily understood) |
Thank you. We hope these grant writing tips will be helpful in your next proposal writing endeavor.
Dr. William Belisle
Director Grants and Sponsored Programs
Submitting a Proposal
No proposal may be submitted on behalf of the University without proper notice to the Office of Grants and Sponsored Programs and the consent and approval of the Chancellor.
Examples of Agencies and Sources for Funding Opportunities
Federal Sources:
U.S. Department of Education - https://www2.ed.gov/fund/grants-apply.html
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - https://www.hhs.gov/grants/index.html
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/spm/gmomgmt/grantsinfo/fundingopps
U.S. Department of Transportation - https://www.transportation.gov/grants
U.S. Department of Justice - https://grantsnet.justice.gov/programplan/html/Home.htm
National Science Foundation - https://nsf.gov/funding/azindex.jsp
National Endowment for the Humanities - https://www.neh.gov/grants
National Endowment for the Arts - https://www.arts.gov/grants
State Sources:
Louisiana Board of Regents - https://web.laregents.org/programs/
Foundations:
W. K. Kellogg Foundation - https://www.wkkf.org/grants
The Ford Foundation - https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/
Other Sources:
Grants.gov - www.grants.gov
Grant Guidelines
Grants, Sponsored Research and Contracts Handbook
Grant Proposal Routing Form
To assure minimum proper review, the Office of Grants and Sponsored Programs should receive a completed Proposal Routing Form along with the proposal at least ten (10) working days before the deadline date. We would prefer to receive proposals 30 to 60 days prior to the due date in order that we may assist you with “guaranteeing” the funding of the proposal.