Your proposal is likely to affect you, as project director, your staff, and other resources and have ramifications that go well beyond your particular unit or department. The following is a check list intended to assist you in thinking about these issues.
- What is the likely percentage of effort (FTE%) this project will have on your currently assigned duties? In other words, how much time will you spend administering this grant and can you truly afford the time to do it right given the current extent of your regular duties?
- What percentage of effort will be required of other staff? Have employees been advised of the added work load? Will current employees need to be entirely reassigned and retrained? Who will train them in their new duties?
- Will new employees need to be hired? Hiring new staff is expensive and time-consuming: have you figured these into your proposal budget and schedule? What happens to these employees when the grant cycle comes to a close?
- Is there sufficient office space available for these new personnel? What other physical space needs, shelving, storage, work spaces, other, will you need to complete your project?
- Will new equipment, computers, telephones, Internet connections, book trucks, etc. need to be purchased or reassigned to implement your proposal?
The more wide-ranging the impact of your proposal on the library system is, the more lead-time you will need prior to the submission date. Your AUL and the University Librarian should be apprised of your intention to submit a proposal as soon as you decide to proceed but not later than six weeks prior to submission. They can assess whether your proposal might conflict with other library projects, adversely effect other possible proposal submissions or hamper important library initiatives of which you may not be aware. (Also, they may be able to provide assistance through their own contacts with sponsors.) Your proposal may require the support of other units or departments and you will have to determine whether they can absorb the added effort at the time your proposal would need it. In some cases, you may be advised to withhold submitting your proposal until a more appropriate time.