Proposal Submission Rush Requests
The Strategic Partnerships Office (SPO) Contracts Officers (COs) are the authorized officials of the Lab with delegated authority to submit proposals to non-DOE sponsors. It is the SPO submission policy that all proposals must be entered into eSRA and submitted to SPO for review and action no later than five (5) full business days before the submission deadline to the direct sponsor. PIs requesting an exception to this submission requirement are required to complete the SPO Proposal Late Submission Request Form. Since SPO began collecting data from these “rush” requests in June of 2021, FY24 is on pace to exceed the requests in prior years.
In addition to the increasing number of requests, COs at the Strategic Partnerships Office have experienced proposals received later than agreed upon and/or requests to submit to the Sponsor earlier than the due date approved on the “Rush” form. This further shrinks the already truncated review period and can cause resource issues across the team. For instance, if an assigned CO is lined up to submit on Wednesday, but is suddenly required to submit on Tuesday, it may require an alternate CO stepping in or the assigned CO dropping their other commitments on Tuesday. The reduced time is especially troublesome when the Sponsor requires submission in an online system which requires data validation and enforces the deadline.
We would like your help to the extent possible to reduce “Rush” requests as these proposals take COs away from other important duties like negotiations, award management, and review of proposals submitted on time.
- Be familiar with SPO’s five business day review policy as well as any timelines internal to your Division/Area. Plan accordingly.
- Before submitting a “Rush” request, see if the Sponsor has a flexible deadline. Ask for an extension in order to submit a quality proposal.
- When reviewing a solicitation, contact your Pre-Award Resource Analyst (RA) as early as possible if you think you might submit.
- When our direct Sponsor is submitting to a Prime Sponsor with a firm deadline, confirm the documents that will be required and the deadline to the direct Sponsor as they will need adequate time to incorporate our proposal with the full submission to the Prime Sponsor.
- Plan across time zones and know the deadline’s exact date and time when converted to Pacific Time.
- Pre-proposals, pre-applications, white papers that require CO review follow the same five business day policy as full proposals.
No Cost Extensions – Plan in Advance!
A No-Cost Extension (NCE) is an extension of the period of performance beyond the expiration or end date of the award, permitting a principal investigator to complete a project. As the phrase “no cost” suggests, there is no additional funding provided by the Sponsor.
SPO Contracts Officers are receiving an unprecedented number of last minute No Cost Extensions (NCEs) requests for expired or soon to expire PIDs. NCEs require time for processing, so it is critical that requests are planned and submitted well in advance so that PIDs can be used in time for transactions such as LETS.
Awards and PIDs should be monitored on a regular basis to plan for upcoming expirations. (NCEs) should be submitted by Division Resource Analysts using “Modification” requests in eSRA, 30 days before contract expiration. PIs should immediately review and approve NCE Modifications. PIs should be on the lookout for notifications via email from eSRA requesting their review and approval. The SPO CO will send the NCE request to the Sponsor following PI approval in eSRA.
