Project Initiation Form (PIF) Overview

What is a Project Initiation Form (PIF)?

Units, departments, colleges, divisions and individuals have ideas about improving Ohio University. The Project intake and approval process helps campus leadership prioritize improvements and manage the entire campus comprehensively.

Guidelines for Initiating a Project

  • Each project has a sponsor. The sponsor is usually the dean/vice president or CFAO responsible for the college or department associated with the project submitter. Support from the project sponsor will be required for the project to be reviewed by campus executive leadership. If you have questions about a request in advance of receiving your sponsor's approval, please contact University Planning.
  • Requests for funding for emergencies will be considered year-round with project sponsor approval.
  • The University will evaluate the financial feasibility, timing, and priority of the project requests that do not have identified funding in conjunction with the institution's overall capital project priorities.
  • Each project has an owner, this is typically the individual who initiates the project.

Capital Project Initiation and Approval Process

PIF Process Overview and Workflow
PIF Process Overview and Workflow

Project Initiation Form (PIF) Submission

  • User will submit a Project Initiation Form electronically. The project sponsor will be the dean/vice president and CFAO of the planning unit submitting the PIF. The sponsor will approve the PIF before it is reviewed by campus leadership. Please be advised if your project budget is anticipated to be under $100,000 and funding information is indicated on the PIF, this form will serve as authorization for a funding transaction to occur once appropriate approvals are received from campus leadership. The submitter will receive notification that their PIF has been submitted.

Project Initiation Form (PIF) Review

  • Once a PIF is approved by the CFAO, dean/vice president, and provost/vice president, it is routed to the facilities programmer for review to help expedite the assignment of the PIF. The facilities programmer will provide a preliminary approval if the PIF is understood well enough to be assigned for development.

Project Initiation Form (PIF) Assignment

  • The Work Coordination Committee formally approves the PIF, which includes representative from University Planning, Real Estate, Design and Construction, and Facilities Management and Safety. This committee will communicate once a week to discuss PIFs and one of the included departments will be assigned to the PIF. If Work Coordination does not approve the PIF, the submitter will receive an email communicating why the PIF was not approved. A representative of the assigned department will be in contact with the PIF submitter regarding the steps needed to proceed with project development within two weeks of the PIF submission. 

Project Development

  • The department assigned to the project will work with the identified project owners to develop the project. No formal approvals are needed at this step.

Project Authorization Requests (PAR)

  • Project approvals generally depend on the size of the project budget; however, some approvals may be needed from various committees and groups across campus regardless of the project budget. These additional approvals are addressed on a project-by-project basis. All PARs will be approved by the following roles:
    • Facilities Management and Safety
    • Design and Construction
    • Capital Projects Finance
    • University Planning
    • Treasury and Foundation (if applicable)
    • Owner Point of Contact
    • CFAO of owner's planning unit
    • Dean or Vice President of owner's planning unit
    • Chief of Staff
  • If the project budget is $500,000 or greater, approval is required from the Capital Funding & Priorities Committee (CFPC) and Board of Trustees (BoT)

Project Implementation

  • After proper approvals are received, the project will be implemented and completed. No approvals are needed during this time unless the PAR that was previously approved changes or is modified.