Grants and Strategic Initiatives

Vision

Through proactive collaboration with faculty, staff, and other stakeholders, the Office of Grants and Strategic Initiatives (OGSI) helps to advance Willamette's strategic priorities by identifying and securing external grants and fellowships that support faculty scholarship and University initiatives. 

Services

OGSI helps prepare grant applications, ensure compliance with grant submission guidelines, and complete post-award tasks.

Preparing and Submitting Your Grant Proposal

Planning your project:

• Talk with OGSI about your proposed project. We’ll be able to help you think about how to frame your project for funders, think about meaningful outcomes, and plan for any institutional considerations around your project.
• You’ll also want to connect with campus partners who may have a stake in any project details such as equipment purchases, hiring, project assessment, hiring contractors, documenting collaborations with other organizations, etc. OGSI can help you navigate this!
• Once you have a project in mind, you’ll want to identify potential funding sources. OGSI staff can help you navigate through various databases and other resources, and give you tips for leveraging your professional networks and organizations to find funding opportunities. 

Preparing your grant proposal

• OGSI will provide you with a checklist of tasks to be completed as part of your grant submission, as well as templates and sample submission for common grant components (e.g., budgets, federal forms, etc.)
• OGSI can help edit your proposal, prepare budget materials, gather institutional documentation, etc.
•  If you’re collaborating with colleagues at other institutions, work with OGSI staff to ensure all subaward materials are completed.
• If you’re conducting research that involves human subjects or animals, you need to submit these projects to Willamette’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). See links for Human Participants or Animal Participants. 

Internal Review Process

• All externally-submitted grants, contracts, and fellowships (even those made directly to faculty) must go through the Internal Review process, which ensures that relevant personnel have approved the project details, budget, and any institutional commitments.
• The grant narrative and budget must be turned in to OGSI two weeks before the submission deadline. OGSI will review and send the documents through the internal review process. 

After the Grant has been Awarded

• OGSI staff will help review your grant contract and obtain appropriate institutional approvals and signatures (faculty and staff may not sign grant contracts on behalf of the University). 
• Once OGSI has submitted the contract to the funder, OGSI and the Accounting team will help you set up your grant account. 

OGSI staff will also help with key post-award responsibilities, including:

• Tracking your grant expenditures
• Coordinating subaward agreements and payment plans with collaborators at other institutions
• Setting up vendor requests for any contractors or sub-awardees
• Setting up grant-funded employees
• Planning your grant reporting 
• Understanding and completing Time and Effort certifications for federal grants 
• Purchasing any grant-funded equipment in accordance with University and funder requirements 
• Completing any required trainings for federal grants 

Wrapping up your grant

• If the project cannot be completed within the original timeline, OGSI staff will help you submit an extension request to the funder
• Otherwise, you’ll work with OGSI staff to complete and submit any required grant reporting

Additional Information

Please see Forms and Links under the Menu for additional information.

Contact us

The sooner you can engage us in your grants planning and development, the better. Please reach out to us anytime at grants-staff@willamette.edu. We are eager to hear your project ideas!