Request for General Letter of Support or Cost Share Letter
Procedure for Requesting Letters of Support/Commitment from Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors
FOR SPONSORED PROGRAM PROPOSALS ONLY
Requests for letters of support from the offices of the President, Provost, or Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors (VPR) are coordinated through the VPR’s office. All principal investigators and pre-award support personnel must to adhere to the deadlines and processes below when requesting letters; do not send these requests directly to the President, Provost or VPR. Non-compliant letters will be returned for correction.
Deadlines
Requests for letters of general support should be submitted at least two weeks prior to the proposal submission date.
Requests for letters of support that include a specific financial, space or other material resource commitment from the institution should be submitted at least 30 days prior to the proposal submission date.
Requestors should take into account periods of University closure when meeting these deadlines.
Process
GENERAL SUPPORT LETTERS
Requests for Letters of Support should be sent to vpr@clemson.edu by the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies (ADRGS) or unit head for non-college administrative offices, per the deadlines noted above. Include in the subject line in ALL CAPS: REQUEST FOR SUPPORT/COMMITMENT LETTER.
Attach a WORD version of the final draft of the letter, free of typos and grammatical errors, and in compliance with the sponsor guidelines. Professional quality letter format should follow the standards in the attached template. The Division of Research will 1) review the content for factual accuracy, and 2) secure signatures from the appropriate administrative official for all compliant letter requests. The Division of Research does not provide copyediting services.
The Division of Research reserves the right to make changes. Incomplete, inaccurate, or non-compliant letters will be returned for correction.
In the body of the email, include the following information:
- Proposal Processing Number (if applicable)
- Sponsor Name
- Brief description of the project with hyperlink to the RFP (attach RFP if not available electronically)
- Final sponsor deadline
- Any special requirements
- Point of Contact Information (one individual)
LETTERS COMMITTING UNIVERSITY RESOURCES
In addition to all of the above, attach an email approval from the unit head(s) responsible for the resources committed in the letter. NOTE: Cost-Share requests must be made using the eForm in InfoEd per standard practice.
Division of Research Response
The signed letter will be returned to the Point of Contact by email. If originals are required, the Point of Contact will be notified when the letter is available for pick-up in the Division of Research Office (Strom Thurmond Institute, 230 Kappa Street, Suite 200. The Division of Research reserves the right to not provide a letter of support.
