Externally-Funded Grants

Purpose:

To describe policies and procedures on the types of externally-funded grants to pursue, the review and approval processes of the grant proposal, and the administrative procedures of the awarded grants. For the purpose of this policy, the term "grants" shall be interpreted as "externally-funded grants" for the college.

Definitions:

Grants: cash, provision of gifts of services, generally referred to as in-kind gifts, real property, tangible personal property or intangible property, accepted from governmental agencies or nongovernmental organizations. .

Policy:

1. Grant funds include those monies or services sought and/or acquired through any grant- solicitation process for educational and/or support services. This policy excludes external grant funding for federal and state student financial aid programs, including federal and state financial aid or tuition support for non-credit workforce programs.

2. The college shall actively pursue grants from appropriate private and public sources for the support and enhancement of the college's mission, goals, and strategic plan.

3. Responsibility for the coordination of grant submissions and management of awards shall be through the grants administrator in the Office of Institutional Advancement or through the executive director of the J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College Educational Foundation (hereafter known as the Foundation), when applicable.

4. All grant proposals shall be coordinated through the grants administrator and receive approval by the President’s Executive Cabinet member(s) under whose purview the grant project falls. Grant applications requiring a college match must be approved by the vice president of finance and administration and the president of the college.

5. In general, grant proposals shall include job duties, responsibilities, and benefit costs that mirror/match current Virginia Community College System and Department of Human Resource Management position titles and compensation guidelines. Grant writers shall consult with the college associate vice president of human resources for current position and salary rate schedules, as well as impending state-approved salary increases.

6. Annual salary increases and supplementary salary pay actions for employees assigned to grant positions shall be applied in accordance with state and college compensation policies. The availability of additional grant funds may not be used to award salary increases above state and college compensation policy.

7. The Office of the Vice President of Finance and Administration shall be responsible for the review and fiscal impact determination of all grant awards, except those made directly to the Foundation.

8. The authority to accept a grant award lies solely with the president of the college.

9. Fiscal management responsibility for grant awards, other than those made directly to the Foundation, shall be handled by the Office of the Vice President of Finance and Administration in coordination with the grants administrator.

10. With the exception of Foundation acquired grants, the college's grants administrator shall be the designated negotiator for grant awards and must be designated as the appropriate college official for award notifications unless otherwise specified by the granting agency.

Procedures:

The Grants Handbook provides detailed step-by-step procedures to assist faculty and staff in the development of grant projects and proposals. Grant writers should refer to this document.

1. The grants administrator will:

   1. Coordinate the grant proposal-writing process with final oversight responsibility of document presentation, format, required college approvals, packaging, and delivery;

   2. Act as a resource person supplying information, data, statistics, personnel information, and persons to contact to assist the grant writer in the preparation process;

   3. Provide direct support in the grant-writing process by writing those sections of the grant that apply to general college information or statistics such as organizational structure, the college mission and goals, budget information, etc.; and,

   4. Be proactive in the grants process by working with potential grant writers to identify their goals, objectives, needs and wants, and to help them find grants that will support their ideas and planned activities well in advance of the grant's submission date.

2. All grant proposals are to be coordinated through the grants administrator in the Office of Institutional Advancement or the executive director of the J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College Educational Foundation, when applicable.

3. Prior to proposal preparation, the faculty/staff member seeking funding will:

   1. Complete the electronic JSRCC Form No. 20-0012, Grant Proposal Request;

   2. Secure approval from the applicable vice president of academic and student affairs or workforce development. The faculty/staff member will certify through submission of the web-based form that all necessary approvals have been obtained; and

   3. Submit the online JSRCC Form No. 20-0012, Grant Proposal Request.

   A summary of the web-based grant proposal form is forwarded via email from the grants administrator to the vice president of finance and administration, vice president of institutional advancement and strategic partnerships, and either the vice president of workforce development or academic and student affairs as well as the grant budget manager and grants accountant.

4. Prior to proposal preparation, the grants administrator will:

   1. Initiate and maintain JSRCC Form No. 20-0007, Grants Proposal Checklist, to ensure compliance with procedures;

   2. Consult with the grants accountant and the Office of the Vice President of Finance and Administration for fiscal impact of the grant proposal; and

   3. Review JSRCC Form No 20-0009, Grant Proposal Evaluation, with a member of the President’s Executive Council whose scope of authority is directly relevant to the focus of the grant competition.

5. Upon approval by a relevant member of the President’s Executive Council, the proposal writing and budget processes will proceed with support of writer(s), staff, and the grants administrator.

6. Before the proposal due date:

   1. The proposal developer will submit the proposal and budget to the grants administrator for review. The grants administrator will review the budget with the grants accountant.

   2. The grants administrator will review the grant proposal and, if necessary, forward it to the vice president of finance and administration for review by VCCS Legal Services.

   3. The proposal developer will review the entire proposal with the grants administrator for possible editing to conform with RFP requirements.

7. The developer of the proposal, with assistance from the grants administrator, the grants accountant, and the vice president of finance and administration if necessary will make final revisions to the proposal and/or budget.

8. The grants administrator will obtain final signatures and submit the grant.

9. The grants administrator will notify appropriate college leadership and proposal developers when award decisions are received.

10. After funding notification, the grants administrator, in conjunction with the vice president of finance and administration, the grants accountant, and the project director will negotiate final terms of the project with the funding agency officials.

11. The grants administrator will keep up-to-date files of funded projects and establish reporting guidelines and deadlines with the grants accountant and the project director to ensure that all activity and expenditures are in accordance with any and all contracts and agreements the college has made with the funding agency.

12. The grants accountant will obtain a budget code from the VCCS for the grant project.

13. The grants accountant will review reimbursement requests and fiscal documents prior to their being submitted to the funding agency.

14. Working with the grants accountant, the grants administrator will provide evaluation reports to appropriate college leadership regarding the status of all current, active grant projects as requested.

15. The grants administrator will be responsible for coordinating the submission of all required fiscal, evaluation, and follow-up reports to the funding agency

Other Information:

JSRCC Form No. 20-0007, Grants Proposal Checklist (Grants Office Use Only)

JSRCC Form No. 20-0009, Grants Proposal Evaluation (Grants Office Use Only)

JSRCC Form No. 20-0012, Grants Proposal Request

Grants Handbook