Routing Steps & 10-5-2 Timeline
For guidance on how to review and approve proposal routes see the Proposal Actions webpages.
See the Quick Tip on Adding Individuals to Routes if an additional approver is required outside of the standard proposal route.
Routing Steps
| Routing Step | Who Can Edit? | For PIs Working With a Hub | For PIs Working Without a Hub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Submitted for Pre-Review | Anyone with access to the record | By Hub, PI, or Department | By PI, or Department |
| Submitted for Final Review | Hub and ORA | By Hub, PI, or Department | By PI, or Department |
| Step 1 | Hub and ORA | Hub Notification | |
| Step 2 | Hub and ORA | PI Certification/Approval | PI Certification/Approval |
| Step 3 | Hub and ORA | Other Investigators (if Applicable) Notified; no action needed | Other Investigators (if Applicable) Notified; no action needed |
| Step 4 | Hub and ORA | Department Head(s) Approval; approvals in parallel if more than one | Department Head(s) Approval; approvals in parallel if more than one |
| Step 5 | Hub and ORA | Center and/or Cluster Approval(s) (if applicable) | Center and/or Cluster Approval(s) (if applicable) |
| Step 6 | Hub and ORA | College Approval(s) Approval; approvals in parallel if more than one | College Approval(s) Approval; approvals in parallel if more than one |
| Step 7 | Hub and ORA | Departmental/Hub Admin | |
| Step 8 | Hub and ORA | ORA Approval | ORA Approval |
| Step 9 | ORA | Completed Review Notification Hub and PI | Completed Review Notification PI |
NOTE: The proposal should NOT come to ORA’s queue for review until ALL documents are in the FINAL state.
This means, for those submissions working with a Hub, the Departmental/Hub Admin should only approve the proposal once ALL documents are in the FINAL state.
For those submissions working without a Hub, the College in which the project’s administrative department is housed (Lead PI’s college) should only approve the proposal once ALL documents are in the FINAL state.
10-5-2 Timeline
| Due Date | 10-6 Business Days Before Due Date | 5-3 Business Days Before Due Date | 2 Business Days Before Due Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsor deadline; if ECU is a subawardee this may be different than the prime sponsor deadline | Draft budget and Research Plan/Statement needed; route for Pre-Review approvals prior to Final Review | Final Route initiated in eTRACS; All documents need to be finalized except for Research Plan/Statement; PI/Hub/Dept. responsible for monitoring routing status in eTRACS. Approval by HUB/College (final approval before ORA) should NOT approve until all documents listed above are the FINAL version | Proposal must be in ORA’s eTRACS queue for review and submission; All documents must be finalized in both eTRACS and sponsor portal. | |
| Example #1: NIH R01 | 5:00 p.m. Saturday, June 5, 2021 (moves to next business day, Monday June 7, 2021) | 8:00 a.m. Monday, May 24, 2021 – 8:00 a.m. Friday, May 28, 2021; | 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 1, 2021 – 8:00 a.m. Thursday, June 3, 2021; Specific Aims, Research Strategy, and References can be in draft form. | 8:00 a.m. Friday, June 4, 2021; Submitted System-to-System (S2S). |
| Example #2: HRSA | 11:59 p.m. Friday, July 23, 2021 | 8:00 a.m. Monday, July 12, 2021 – 8:00 a.m. Friday, July 16, 2021; | 8:00 a.m. Monday, July 19, 2021 – 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, July 21, 2021; Project Narrative and References can be in draft form. | 8:00 a.m. Thursday, July 22, 2021; Submitted System-to-System (S2S). |
| Example #3: North Carolina DHHS | Thursday, May 27, 2021 (no time specified) | 8:00 a.m. Friday, May 14, 2021 – 8:00 a.m. Thursday, May 20, 2021 | 8:00 a.m. Friday, May 21, 2021 – 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, May 25, 2021; Proposal Upload document can be in draft form | 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 26, 2021; Submitted via email to sponsor |
| Example #4: Department of Defense | 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Friday, May 14, 2021 | 8:00 a.m. Monday, May 3, 2021 – 8:00 a.m. Friday, May 7, 2021; | 8:00 a.m. Monday, May 10, 2021 – 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 12, 2021; Project Narrative and References can be in draft form | 8:00 a.m. Thursday, May 13, 2021; Submitted via grants.gov Workspace; All documents needed to be finalized in eTRACS and grants.gov Workspace |
| Example #5: NSF Collaborative | 5:00 p.m. submitter’s time, Monday, May 10, 2021 | 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 27, 2021 – 8:00 a.m. Monday, May 3, 2021 | 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, May 4, 2021 – 8:00 a.m. Thursday, May 6, 2021; Project Narrative and References can be in draft form | 8:00 a.m. Friday, May 7, 2021; Submitted via Fastlane; All documents needed to be finalized in eTRACS and Fastlane |