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Application Review and Awards

Review Process

The Grants Administration Unit first evaluates applications for eligibility and completeness. Applications will not be sent forward for further review if they do not meet basic eligibility requirements, are not submitted by the deadline, or do not have the appropriate signatures.

A local government is responsible for meeting all eligibility requirements and for submitting a complete application by the deadline. This includes the submission of all required paper forms: FS-10-/Proposed Budget, Institutional Authorization form, Payee Information form, and the Standard Data Capture form. Applications submitted without including any of these forms by the posted deadline will not be forwarded for review and will not be considered for funding.

All applications are reviewed using the following steps:

  • Applications separated by application type
  • Review panels assembled based on application type
  • All New York City applications assigned to one panel, regardless of type
  • Applications assigned randomly to panels
  • Each review panel consists of State Archives staff and outside experts
  • Review period consists of individual at-home review and final panel review

Project Ranking

All applications are evaluated and scored based on established criteria for each of the Narrative sections.

  • The Project Narrative is worth 80%, the Budget Narrative is worth 20%
  • Application must score a minimum average of 60 to be considered for funding
  • Not all applicants scoring over 60 may be funded, depending on the amount of money available in the fund
  • Panels reconcile differences in at-home scoring during final panel review as well as determine final score
  • Panels make final funding recommendations at panel review

Awards

The Local Government Records Advisory Council (LGRAC) recommends which applications to fund based on reviewers’ evaluations. These recommendations are presented to the Commissioner of Education, who makes the final decision on the awarding of grants. The New York State Division of the Budget provides the authority necessary to make grant payments.

Information regarding the status of an application will not be released until the review process has been completed. At that point, the Archives will notify all applicants by email concerning the status of their application.

Note: All award notifications are tentative, pending approval from:

  • Division of Budget
  • Office of State Comptroller
  • Awards over $25,000 are also contingent on approval of M/WBE compliance
  • Grants Finance Unit’s approval of budget

Once SED has received the approvals noted above, and M/WBE compliance has been approved, SED’s Grants Finance Unit will send grantees a Final Approval Notice. You cannot begin work on a project until you receive this notice.

For more information on this process, please consult the current LGRMIF grant application guidelines and Frequently Asked Questions.