Frequently Asked Questions for Funding and Grants

The Office of Research & Sponsored Programs (RASP) can assist you in identifying funding sources and exploring collaborative grant writing opportunities. The Office of Research & Sponsored Programs' website also provides many search engine tools and current funding announcements.

As soon as you find a grant you are interested in, contact the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs. This allows RASP plenty of time to review the guidelines of the grant in order to assist you in the writing process. RASP will need your completed grant documents at least 10 business days before the due date, to allow time for revisions, routing, and submission.

Northeastern State University's Office of Research & Sponsored Programs is here to support you in all aspects of proposal development. RASP can assist you in finding a funding source, developing a budget, proof-reading the narrative, and submitting the final proposal.

A primary responsibility of the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs is to assist in the development of proposal budgets. The Director of RASP can be reached at 918-444-2243 or secratjr@nsuok.edu, and the Proposal Development Specialist can be reached at 918-444-2029 or hamilt42@nsuok.edu. 

A pre-award activity is any activity in the proposal development process that takes place before the grant is submitted and any funds are awarded, including routing for signatures and the actual submission of the grant. At NSU, pre-award activities are handled by the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs.

A post-award activity is any process associated with a grant that has already been funded. These activities include the tracking of expenditures, reporting, and close out. At NSU, post-award activities are handled by the Office of Grants and Contracts.

All release time requests must be pre-approved by the Dean of the faculty member's college. Any release time request over 25 percent must be approved by the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Please contact the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs for assistance in calculating release time. Project budgets that include salary for release time must also include the appropriate amount of fringe.

Add pay is permitted for the principal investigator, project director, or appropriate staff member if allowed by the funding agency. Salary additions are allowed on a scale of up to 25 percent per academic year of the faculty contract base salary. The grant or contract must also cover the related fringe benefits and indirect costs. Under certain circumstances, 12-month faculty or staff may be eligible for add pay for grant participation when the responsibilities assigned through the grant exceed normal duties and obligations of the full-time position.

All add pay must be pre-approved by the Dean of the faculty member's college and the Vice President for Academic Affairs. During the routing process, the add pay is also approved by the Office of Grants and Contracts and the Vice President for Administration.

NSU's current indirect cost rate is 52 percent of salaries and wages for on-campus projects and 27.4 percent of salaries and wages for off-campus projects. Whenever possible, grant proposal budgets should request full reimbursement of indirect costs. Contact the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs with any questions regarding indirect costs. The indirect cost rates are subject to change.

After funding, the Office of Grants and Contracts will administer the grant award and assist the Project Director with expenditures, reporting, close out, and all other post-award issues.

All proposals must be assigned to a Principal Investigator (PI) who is a faculty or staff member of NSU. Students can, however, assist PIs in their department with current research projects. A good way to find out what is going on is by exploring this web site and asking instructors about research opportunities. Another excellent opportunity is to participate in NSU Research Day and Oklahoma Research Day.