Step 4: Route & Submit Your Proposal

• ORSP obtains the required institutional signatures and submits the proposal once your final review is complete.
• You can’t sign or submit your own proposal — only an authorized organizational representative can commit the University to the grant terms.
• Finish routing by the lead time set in the Reynolda Campus Proposal DeadlinePolicy also detailed below.

• All external proposals and fellowship applications, regardless of how they’re ultimately submitted, must be routed and approved in Cayuse SP before submission. Log in through the Evisions Research Suite, which gives you access to both Cayuse SP and Cayuse 424.
• Cayuse is the system WFU uses to route, approve, and (for some federal proposals) submit your application. You won’t have to build the whole thing yourself — your GCM can also help with most of the data entry and file uploads — but you do need to log in to review, provide critical compliance information, and certify. Here are some basic instructions.
  • Log in through the Evisions Research Suite, which gives you access to both Cayuse SP and Cayuse 424. 
  • Cayuse works best in Chrome or Firefox. Your landing page is the “My Proposals” dashboard.
• Start the proposal with your GCM. In most cases your GCM creates the internal proposal record (the IPF) in Cayuse SP and enters the general information, personnel, budget, and attachments. Your job is to get them what they need early — the opportunity, your budget figures, the science, and answers to the compliance questions. The Lead PI is entered first and is responsible for the technical, regulatory, and financial aspects of the project.
• For the rationale behind routing, see Purpose of Routing document. Briefly, because awards are made to the University, internal review protects both you and the institution before its resources are committed.
• Certify quickly when the email arrives — an uncertified record stalls the whole chain.
• If you can’t find your proposal or a button, your GCM can see the same record and walk you through it.

• Create the proposal record in Cayuse SP — GCM or PI.
• Upload the FINAL budget and budget justification — GCM or PI.
• Answer the compliance questions — PI. (See the research-security note below — some sponsors require training before a person can be listed.)
• Set the routing order for authorizations — GCM.
• Route for authorizations, in order:
  • Review and certify — your key step.  — PI
    • Once the record is complete, it’s submitted for routing, and you’ll get an email asking you to certify. Log in, and you’ll see a number next to your PI Certification Inbox. 
    • If the proposal involves a Center, the PI will need to certify twice – once as Lead PI and again as PI. One role will be affiliated with your home department and the other with the Center. Please note: if your proposal includes data collected from pilot funding from a Center, you are obligated to route your proposal through the Center as well as your department.
    • Open the proposal, review the record (you can view the IPF or a compiled PDF), and click Certify Proposal. 
    • Your certification confirms the information is accurate and that the project will follow sponsor and University requirements. 
    • Every PI and co-PI listed has to certify. 
    • Do it promptly — routing can’t continue until you do.
  • Approvals continue automatically. After you certify, your center director (if applicable), department chair, and dean authorize the proposal in their own approval inboxes, then ORSP reviews it. You don’t need to chase these — Cayuse emails each approver in turn.
    • Departmental authorization — Department Chair
    • ORSP pre-award review — reviews the budget within ~2 business days and returns it for correction if needed (which re-starts approvals). 
    • Office of the Dean — second budget and compliance review
    • Vice Provost for Research approval
  • Please note: The proposal routing is required to restart if the budget is changed. 
• Federal Grants.gov submissions only: download the opportunity and build the application in Cayuse 424, linked to your SP record.
• Complete and upload the sponsor’s required forms — the PI supplies and confirms all forms are final
  • Your GCM and ORSP may help you to prepare the cover page and budget forms.
• Submit
  • Most externally funded research proposals and contracts are processed and submitted by staff in ORSP. This team serves as the University’s authorized organizational representatives.
  • Your primary pre-award contact is the ORSP pre-award team — currently led by Stephen Williams (, 336.758.4909), with additional team members available to help. 
  • Some foundation grants require submission by an institutional authorized representative. Corporate and Foundation Relations may serve that role. Contact the Provost’s office Research Team () for guidance.
  • Some foundations allow the PI to submit directly. Even then, the proposal must be routed through Cayuse and approved by ORSP before you submit. 
  • Who to contact: Your GCM and the ORSP pre-award team () guide routing, confirm whether Cayuse 424 applies, and submit on the University’s behalf.

Some sponsors now require research security training before a person can be listed on a proposal. Be safe and complete your training early!

• NSF — effective in late 2025, all senior/key personnel must complete Research Security Training within 12 months before submission and certify completion on their Current & Pending (Other) Support page 
• DOE — required since May 1, 2025, with annual certification
• NIH‘s related research-security and Other-Support training is required since May 25, 2026 
• NASA — required before proposal submission on or after August 5, 2026
• USDA — required since October 10, 2025.
• Training is reusable: once completed, a person is generally compliant for 12 months across all federal agencies that have adopted the requirement. Refresher training is required annually.
• Start early, and see WFU’s Research Security page. Note that anyone currently party to a Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program is ineligible to serve as senior/key personnel on a federal proposal.

• Read the full policy
• Due Five (5) Business Days Prior to the Submission Deadline
  • Completed Cayuse record, all sections including:
    • Link to sponsor guidelines on the General Information tab or guidelines uploaded as an attachment
    • Project Abstract
    • Final budget and budget justification as attachments
    • Proposal submitted for routing and certified by the Lead PI
  • Subrecipient final budget, scope of work, and letter of intent or Subrecipient Commitment Form
• Due by 10 AM Two (2) Business Days Prior to the Submission Deadline
  • All other sections of the proposal including the final research plan and sponsor specific documents such as biographical sketches, facilities, other support, etc.
• Business days do not include University holidays or weekends, except for during fall and spring breaks
  • Proposals due between 12/21/2026 – 1/4/2027 must be completed and ready to submit by 10 AM, Thursday, December 17, 2026.
• Budgets must be finalized prior to these deadlines
  • If the budget or justification is changed following routing and approvals, routing will need to be re-started for authorization following the changes. There is no guarantee that ORSP will have time to review the changes for compliance before the sponsor’s submission deadline. Please note that errors resulting from these kinds of un-reviewed changes can lead to an inability to submit the proposal through the sponsor’s system.
• Proposals Involving Subawards/Subcontracts
  • Proposals involving collaborations or subawards/subcontracts take more time. Subrecipient budgets and other proposal materials must be received five (5) business days prior to the sponsor submission deadline. This deadline is required in order to have sufficient time to complete WFU’s own budget and to ensure all required documentation from the subcontractor(s) is included in the proposal. 
  • PIs are encouraged to set their own deadlines for their collaborators to ensure that they (the PI) can meet the 5 day WFU policy to have a final budget.
  • Proposals with deadlines after 5pm
    • When a sponsor’s stated deadline is after 5pm, for example 11:59 PM, the WFU deadline to submit is still 5 PM. Only ORSP staff can officially submit proposals to federal sponsors therefore the normal deadline policy of having all documents, including the final research plan, uploaded in final format into Cayuse 424 or the sponsor’s system by 10 AM two (2) business days before the sponsor deadline must be followed.
• Proposals will be reviewed and submitted in the order in which they are received.
• Proposals received after the 5-day deadline will not be submitted unless there are no other proposals in the queue, and ORSP staff are able to review and submit the proposal

• After submission, a sponsor may request additional information before making a decision.
• Review and submit Just-in-Time requests.
  • After a proposal is submitted and during the sponsor’s proposal review process, a sponsor may request additional information from the PI, via a Just-in-Time (JIT) request (typically for NIH proposals, though many federal funders are beginning to request additional information before award). 
  • Such information may include updated budgets, protocol approvals, updated disclosures, or other items upon the sponsor’s request.
  • Work with your GCM and ORSP to respond promptly and to confirm that any required IRB, animal care, or biosafety approvals are in place.
  • A PI’s response to these requests must be reviewed and submitted to the sponsor by ORSP.
• Prepare and submit budget revisions.
• Complete IRB, IACUC, or other certification requirements.