Institutional Funding & Proposal Development Series™

Research Administration Foundations Pathway™

Half Series | Modules 1–6

Strengthen Funding Strategy, Proposal Development & Institutional Competitiveness

Build the foundational knowledge, judgment, and institutional perspective needed to identify funding opportunities, assess sponsor alignment, develop proposal infrastructure, prepare responsible budgets, navigate institutional review, and strengthen competitive proposal development.

6 Modules | 6 Contact Hours | Self-Paced | 90-Day Access | Certificate Awarded

Strong proposals begin before the writing starts. They are built through strategic alignment, institutional readiness, disciplined development, and responsible decision-making.

Why This Series Matters

Successful proposal development begins long before a proposal is submitted.

Institutions must identify opportunities that align with their priorities and capabilities, understand sponsor expectations, coordinate investigators and administrative partners, develop responsible budgets, navigate institutional approvals, and position proposals competitively.

The Institutional Funding & Proposal Development Series™ Half Series develops the foundational capabilities needed to support that work.

Rather than treating proposal development as a transactional submission process, learners examine how funding strategy, institutional readiness, financial judgment, governance, and competitive positioning work together to strengthen an institution’s ability to pursue sponsored funding responsibly.

Grounded in the CODE™ Standard

The CODE™ Standard guides learning throughout the series.

Competence
Build the knowledge and professional judgment needed to evaluate funding opportunities, support proposal development, and contribute to responsible institutional funding decisions.

Oversight
Understand the review, approval, accountability, and decision-making structures that support proposal development and institutional submission.

Documentation
Strengthen the records, assumptions, approvals, budget support, and proposal documentation needed for clear and defensible decision-making.

Execution
Translate funding opportunities and institutional priorities into organized, responsive, and competitive proposal-development activity.

What You’ll Learn

Upon successful completion of the Half Series, learners will be able to:

• Connect institutional priorities, research strengths, and funding strategy.
• Evaluate funding opportunities for sponsor alignment, eligibility, feasibility, competitiveness, and institutional fit.
• Assess the infrastructure and institutional readiness needed to support effective proposal development.
• Apply sound financial judgment to proposal budget development and funding-related risk.
• Navigate institutional review, routing, approvals, commitments, and proposal governance.
• Apply strategic proposal-development practices that strengthen competitiveness and institutional funding outcomes.

Who Should Enroll

The Institutional Funding & Proposal Development Series™ Half Series is designed for professionals who support, contribute to, manage, or need to better understand the institutional proposal-development process.

This series may be especially valuable for:

• Research Administrators
• Pre-Award Research Administrators
• Sponsored Programs Professionals
• Research Development Professionals
• Department and College Research Administrators
• Grants and Contracts Professionals
• Proposal Development Professionals
• Research Finance Professionals involved in proposal budgeting
• Research Managers and Supervisors
• Principal Investigators seeking greater understanding of institutional proposal development
• Professionals transitioning into research administration or pre-award responsibilities
• Institutional teams strengthening proposal-development capability

Because this series is part of the Research Administration Foundations Pathway™, it is designed to build strong foundational capability while remaining valuable to experienced professionals seeking a more institutional and strategic perspective.

What Makes This Series Distinct

The Institutional Funding & Proposal Development Series™ focuses on the institutional capability required to move from funding strategy and opportunity identification toward a competitive, financially responsible, and institutionally approved proposal.

Its focus is specifically on the proposal-development environment and the institutional systems that support it.

It does not replace other Purple Sheep Institute™ series.

Emerging Research Administrators Series™ provides broader foundational preparation for professionals entering or developing within research administration.

Funding Mechanisms & Sponsor Strategy™ provides deeper professional-level examination of funding mechanisms, sponsor environments, and strategic funding positioning.

Post-Award Financial Stewardship Series™ focuses on responsible stewardship after sponsored funding has been awarded.

Institutional Compliance & Control Systems Series™ provides deeper development in institutional compliance, control, monitoring, and assurance systems.

This distinction allows learners and institutions to build capability intentionally without duplicating learning across the Purple Sheep Institute™ portfolio.

Explore the Curriculum

Module 1: Institutional Funding Strategy & Research Competitiveness

Examine how institutional priorities, research strengths, funding environments, and strategic decision-making influence research competitiveness and sponsored funding growth.

Learners begin connecting individual funding opportunities to the broader institutional research enterprise rather than viewing proposals as isolated transactions.

Module 2: Proposal Development Infrastructure & Institutional Readiness

Examine the people, processes, systems, roles, resources, and organizational capabilities required to support effective proposal development.

Learners consider how institutional readiness affects the ability to respond to opportunities consistently, coordinate proposal activity, support investigators, and sustain research growth.

Module 3: Sponsor Alignment & Funding Opportunity Assessment

Evaluate funding opportunities for sponsor alignment, eligibility, institutional fit, feasibility, competitiveness, resource requirements, and strategic value.

Learners strengthen the judgment needed to distinguish between an available funding opportunity and an opportunity the institution is genuinely positioned to pursue.

Module 4: Proposal Budget Development & Financial Risk Assessment

Develop proposal budgets using sound financial judgment, sponsor requirements, institutional practices, cost considerations, and appropriate risk analysis.

Learners examine how budget decisions communicate institutional commitments and affect the financial feasibility and long-term stewardship of proposed work.

Module 5: Institutional Review, Approval Systems & Proposal Governance

Examine internal routing, review, approvals, institutional commitments, decision authority, and accountability before proposal submission.

Learners explore how strong proposal governance helps institutions identify concerns early, clarify responsibility, document decisions, and submit proposals with appropriate institutional authorization.

Module 6: Strategic Proposal Development & Competitive Positioning

Apply strategic proposal-development practices that improve competitiveness and institutional funding outcomes.

Learners connect sponsor expectations, review criteria, institutional strengths, proposal strategy, and disciplined development practices to strengthen the institution’s position for funding success.

Explore the Learning Experience

Each module follows the Purple Sheep Institute™ Research Center learning structure:

Instructional Lecture
Engage with focused instruction designed to strengthen professional knowledge, institutional understanding, and decision-making.

Applied Learning
Move from understanding to application through institution-focused exercises, scenarios, assessments, planning tools, and professional judgment activities.

Knowledge Assessment
Demonstrate understanding of the module’s core concepts and their application within research administration practice.

The learning experience is designed to help learners understand not only what happens during proposal development, but also why it matters, where institutional risk can emerge, what evidence supports responsible decisions, and when escalation or additional expertise may be needed.

Applied Learning & Practical Value

The Half Series moves learners beyond passive instruction by connecting each module to practical institutional application.

Applied learning may include:

• Institutional funding strategy assessments
• Research competitiveness analyses
• Proposal infrastructure reviews
• Funding opportunity assessments
• Sponsor-alignment exercises
• Proposal budget scenarios
• Financial-risk assessments
• Institutional routing and approval analyses
• Proposal-governance exercises
• Competitive-positioning activities
• Institutional decision-making scenarios

Learners are encouraged to apply concepts within the context of their own institutional environment while recognizing that organizational structures, sponsor portfolios, approval systems, and research priorities may differ across institutions.

Credential Alignment & Professional Development

This pathway supports continuing education and professional development aligned with:

• Certified Research Administrator (CRA)
• Certified Pre-Award Research Administrator (CPRA)
• Certified Financial Research Administrator (CFRA)
• SOCRA Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP) Domains
• Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) Competencies
• Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) Principles

Learners remain responsible for determining how earned contact hours apply toward certification renewal, licensure, recertification, or professional development requirements.

Completion Information

Modules: 1–6
Contact Hours: 6
Format: Self-Paced
Access Period: 90 Days
Certificate: Awarded Upon Successful Completion

The Half Series consists of Modules 1–6 of the Institutional Funding & Proposal Development Series™.

The Half Series is derived directly from the Full Series curriculum and is not a separately developed or independently sequenced curriculum.

Course completion does not remove access during the active enrollment period. Learners retain access for the duration of their 90-day enrollment period.

Content Currency & Governance

Purple Sheep Institute™ designs its research administration curriculum around enduring principles, institutional capabilities, professional judgment, and applied practice rather than temporary requirements alone.

Curriculum is reviewed annually through the Institute’s Governance Board and Advisory Council review process and updated to reflect meaningful changes in regulation, sponsorship, technology, professional practice, and the research environment.

Sponsor requirements, funding opportunities, submission systems, forms, policies, and other operational details may change. Where current requirements are discussed, learners remain responsible for confirming the requirements applicable to their institution, sponsor, funding opportunity, and submission at the time an operational decision is made.

This approach allows the curriculum to remain durable while ensuring that meaningful developments can be incorporated through the Institute’s ongoing governance and annual review process.

Build Capability Across Your Organization

Strong proposal-development capability does not depend on one knowledgeable individual.

It requires coordinated people, processes, systems, expectations, and decision-making across the institutional research enterprise.

The Institutional Funding & Proposal Development Series™ can support:

• Research administration onboarding
• Pre-award workforce development
• Departmental and central-office professional development
• Proposal-development process improvement
• Research development capability building
• Cross-functional learning
• Team and department cohorts
• Standardization of institutional practices
• Research administration career development
• Enterprise learning initiatives

Organizations seeking deeper institution-specific application may also explore Institutional Labs™, where learning can be connected to institutional systems, processes, capability gaps, and improvement priorities.

Institute Reflection

“Strong proposals are built before they are submitted, when institutional strategy, sponsor alignment, disciplined development, and readiness come together.”

Purple Sheep Institute™

Continue Your Learning Journey

Complete the Full Series

Continue with Modules 7–12 of the Institutional Funding & Proposal Development Series™ to deepen proposal-development capability and complete the Full Series.

The Full Series builds on the foundation established in Modules 1–6 while extending the learner’s development across the complete Institutional Funding & Proposal Development curriculum.

Continue Within the Foundations Pathway

Learners seeking continued development across the sponsored funding lifecycle may continue through the Post-Award Financial Stewardship Series™.

Advance Your Funding Strategy Expertise

Professionals ready for deeper funding strategy and sponsor analysis may continue into Funding Mechanisms & Sponsor Strategy™ within the Research Administration Professional Pathway™.

Ready to Strengthen Your Funding & Proposal Development Capability?

Build the foundational knowledge and institutional perspective needed to identify stronger funding opportunities, support responsible proposal development, and contribute to a more competitive research enterprise.

Enroll in the Institutional Funding & Proposal Development Series™ Half Series

6 Modules | 6 Contact Hours | 90-Day Access | Certificate Awarded