Pre-Award Services

The ORA is Your Guide

One of the primary functions of the Office of Research Administration (ORA) is the university-wide facilitation of proposal submission to external sponsors. Our office is committed to helping all WCU principal investigators prepare and submit successful proposals.

The Pre-Award Team has assisted WCU faculty and staff with the development and submission of proposals to federal agencies, educational and research institutions, non-profit organizations and foundations, state government, corporations, and other sources. Each of these applications started with a great idea that was crafted into a well-written proposal and then submitted to the sponsor for review.

The professional staff at the Office of Research Administration have skills and experience meeting funder requirements, and can help faculty, staff, and graduate students find relevant funding opportunities, develop fundable research and program plans, submit proposals to prospective sponsors, and manage grant awards.

As soon as you identify a funding opportunity to pursue, talk to us as early as possible before the submission deadline, so we can help you develop your concept, navigate compliance requirements, prepare your budget and justification, secure subcontractor commitments, and complete all the other steps along the way. We will assist with the InfoEd electronic routing system to procure necessary WCU approvals and then make the final submission to the sponsor on behalf of the institution. When your proposal is awarded, ORA will work with legal counsel to negotiate the terms of the agreement and transition the management of your award to the post-award team.

The ORA is always available to answer questions and assist you in your pursuit of external funding. We would be happy to bring information and training to your classroom or department meeting. To set up an appointment to get to know the ORA and ways in which we can support you, please contact us (828-227-7212).