In general, once you decide to submit a proposal under an RFP, please:
- Alert your JROC contract manager and our general inbox at
researchcontracts@wusm.wustl.edu. We will review the RFP to determine whether there are any contractual issues to review, comment upon or further investigate. - Alert your grant analyst and the OSRS Grants team general inbox at
researchgrants@wusm.wustl.edu. Your grant analyst will assist you with budget issues or other proposal related issues that are not contract-related. - Your JROC contract manager will alert you to contractual issues that must be investigated through or addressed with other WU departments or regulatory offices.
Requests for proposals (“RFP”), requests for quotations (“RFQ”), broad agency announcements (“BAA”) or other program specific general announcements (here, we’ll collectively refer to these proposals as “RFPs”) seek either specific proposals for a particular project, or proposals for a project within a general area of study. In each case, the RFP should specify the needs described in the proposed scope of work prepared by the funding agency. RFPs typically include not only specific programming information requirements, but also list documents, budget parameters, and also often include contractual terms and conditions or even a template form contract. Both the OSRS Grants and JROC teams should be advised of your intention to submit a proposal under an RFP as soon as possible as most RFPs include a hard deadline for proposed submissions and a submission package typically must include significant administrative information in addition to the proposed research plan.
Your JROC contract manager will review an RFP to identify requirements of the proposal as they relate to the eventual form and terms and conditions of the contract that the funding agency will issue. Sometimes the RFP will include proposed or sample contract terms. In all RFPs, any suggested revisions to the eventual contract terms must be submitted as part of the proposal (in the form described in the individual RFP).
Often, there are proposed contractual terms that must be investigated further with other Washington University administrative or regulatory departments. For instance, if there are contractual requirements related to the Federal Information Security Management Act [FISMA], the department should contact WU’s information security officer to review the requirements and how WU can comply with such requirements. Federal contracts or sub-contracts that exceed a certain value threshold (currently, $700,000), require a small-business subcontracting plan which is sometimes required at the proposal stage. Both of these issues, provided here only as examples, could affect the suggested budget. Therefore identifying these issues early in the process allows you to present a strong proposal package that is carefully tailored to the requirements of the RFP.