In mid-December, the Office of Sponsored Programs will implement a new process in SUMMIT requiring principal investigators to verify information provided in proposals before submission to the sponsor. Increased compliance and monitoring by federal sponsors require this new step, ensuring that all questions have been answered correctly and mitigating risks for the principal investigator, the research team, and the university. 

Watch the video to view the new process. 

The following is the step-by-step verification process:

  1. When a proposal changes status to “In Routing,” requests will be emailed to approvers as before with no change to the current process.
  2. Additionally, a request to verify the proposal will be emailed directly to the principal investigator.
  3. Verifications may be found in the Approvals folder, under subfolders based on verification status. All verifications awaiting Principal Investigator attention are in the “To be approved” subfolder.
  4. The principal investigator is expected to review and must click “Verify Proposal” to complete the verification process.
  5. If there are any concerns regarding the verification, the principal investigator should contact the Pre-Award Associate assigned to the proposal.
  6. If a Proposal Routing is canceled or Approval is discarded, a new verification will be required by the principal investigator due to the possibility of changes to the proposal. In this case, the Principal Investigator will receive a new email notification when the proposal goes into Routing again.
  7. Labels at the top of the screen in the Proposal Editor in Summit identify the status of the verification.

SUMMIT is Virginia Tech’s proposal development and internal routing system and facilitates the internal workflow for faculty, departmental staff, and administrative personnel as they pursue external funding projects. The tool simplifies the process of initiating proposals, developing the associated budgets, and obtaining needed approvals. The entire process of proposal development, management, and approval takes place within SUMMIT. As a result, all the communication, documents, and data are in one place. 

For questions, contact Lauren Magruder, director of pre-award, at lmagrude@vt.edu.