Site Visits: Team Assembly and Critical Path
Not finding what you need? Email us at [email protected]
Critical Path
The critical path outlined below is designed with six months of runway time leading up to a site visit; It captures the essential tasks and responsibilities of each office in executing a successful site visit. The timeline should be adjusted to your needs.
Phase
- 6 Months Out
PI/Managing Director
- Confirm the site visit date with the agency. Identify all required participants. Flag what leadership engagement is needed. Estimate budget. Confirm which team members should attend the site visit and provide a list to the Office for Research.
Engineering Office for Research
- Schedule an internal kickoff. Begin hotel and catering scoping (if needed). Secure room block.
Joint
- Align on roles and planning cadence. Reserve all venue spaces immediately for days of the site visit and tech dry run if possible — space is a high-risk dependency at Columbia. Create calendar holds for appropriate campus leadership.
Phase
- ~4–5 Months Out
PI/Managing Director
- Launch kickoff with the full proposing team. Initiate strategy sessions: analyze review feedback.
Engineering Office for Research
- Confirm hotel block. Draft catering order. Begin building a “single source of truth” for planning, including an attendee list and run-of-show. Confirm the points of contact for videos and digital assets from all partner institutions, and provide them with an outline of the process.
Joint
- Confirm institutional leadership participants and provide a high-level initial briefing. Scope poster session and student involvement. Confirm community partner and industry involvement. Hire a graphic designer.
Phase
- ~3 Months Out
PI/Managing Director
- Lock presentation structure: sequence, speakers, thrust assignments. Begin v1 decks. Video production underway, if required.
Engineering Office for Research
- Conduct a dietary/allergy/accommodations survey. Scope lab tour logistics. Create an AV/hybrid plan with CUIT and Engineering IT. Confirm necessary videos and digital assets with the partner institutions.
Joint
- Engage in weekly planning check-ins. Escalation checkpoint review.
Phase
- ~6 Weeks Out
PI/Managing Director
- Engage in a comprehensive v1 deck review and feedback. Schedule the red team review. Draft the leadership briefing doc. Arrange and schedule speaker coaching.
Engineering Office for Research
- Engage in a run-of-show working session (on-site). Finalize all day-of roles: FOH, BOH, timekeeper, AV, catering liaison, VIP liaisons.
Joint
- Draft SVT bios and talking points. Document contingency plans.
Phase
- ~3–4 Weeks Out
PI/Managing Director
- Review v2 presentation decks. Complete practice run 1 (this can be recorded and asynchronous). Remind team: final slides to agency ~1 week out.
Engineering Office for Research
- Submit the final headcount to catering. Create and print name tags/tents. Submit any campus and building access lists. File facilities tickets.
Joint
- Confirm poster session logistics. Send reminder emails to all attendees.
Phase
- ~1–2 Weeks Out
PI/Managing Director
- Submit all slides to the agency. Hold a leadership briefing. Hold a partner briefing.
Engineering Office for Research
- Conduct a full tech/AV dry run through — simulate the full visit, not just a mic check. Distribute the final run-of-show. Print badges.
Joint
- Conduct a staff briefing. Confirm the final catering counts. Lock backup plans.
Phase
- Day 0 (Day Before)
PI/Managing Director
- Final prep and rest. Eat well, get some sleep, and do something relaxing.
Engineering Office for Research
- Complete room setup, electrification, and a full tech test. Engage in a logistics run-through with all staff. Greet early-arriving SVT, if applicable.
Joint
- Brief all staff and confirm roles.
Phase
- Days 1–3 (Execution)
PI/Managing Director
- Present. Engage SVT. Note questions and signals. Handle overnight questions, if applicable.
Engineering Office for Research
- Arrive early each day. FOH/BOH coverage. Liaise with catering, VIPs, SVT, agency, and team. Flip rooms where appropriate. Monitor AV/Zoom. Reset at the end of the day.
Joint
- Coordinated troubleshooting. Real-time escalation as needed.
Phase
- Post-Visit
PI/Managing Director
- Internal debrief. Follow-up actions for NSF. Thank-you notes.
Engineering Office for Research
- Reconcile invoices. Archive all materials and lessons learned. Update this guide.
Joint
- Joint debrief scheduled before visit ends.
Assemble the Admin Core Team
Site visit planning requires substantial administrative support across multiple functions, including:
- Overall project management
- Video production (if videos are required)
- Coordination with the proposal team, agency, university leadership, and other administrative units
- Scheduling
- Coordination of the venue, catering, hotel, and transportation logistics
- Preparation of briefing materials and agenda documentation
- Developmental editing of site visit content.
Several staff members should be engaged at the outset to scope and meet the specific demands of the visit.
Meet with the PI(s)
Upon receiving notice of a site visit date, the core administrative team should meet promptly with the lead PI. The purpose of this meeting is to align on roles, expectations, team availability, timeline, and immediate next steps.
The following topics should be addressed:
Site Visit Strategy & Basics
- Confirm site visit date, time, and format (in-person, virtual, or hybrid), accounting for holidays and team outages.
- Identify essential participants from the proposing team and university leadership, establishing clear points of contact for all units.
- Discuss the reviewer feedback and the evaluation criteria to frame the site visit strategy.
- Select and reserve the venue, determining logistical needs for technical A/V support, catering, and transportation.
- Finalize the rehearsal schedule, identifying the format and number of sessions required for the full team.
- Identify long-lead items early, including video production requirements, architectural renderings, or presentation coaching.
- Confirm the budget and source(s) of payment
- Estimate the funding required for the site visit and determine how to secure those funds.
- Note: The lead institution typically carries the majority share of the planning. Any financial participation from partner institutions should be secured early and in writing. Physical and hybrid site visits can cost up to $50,000 at Columbia, so early budget planning is essential.
- Outline a stakeholder engagement plan for preparation activities, including how and when industry partners, community representatives, and relevant government entities will be involved.
Intro Communications
Once the proposed speakers, support, and administrative team have been identified following the initial meeting with the PI(s), gather the relevant contact information and begin outreach to confirm participation and schedule the kickoff meeting. The first message to the broader team should come from the PI(s), with the admin team CC'd. This helps signal the importance of the site visit, establish the seriousness of the effort, and set expectations early.
This communication should be brief enough that recipients will read it carefully, but comprehensive enough to be forwarded within each participating organization to others involved in preparation, such as university leadership, research administrators, communications staff, and partner-institution colleagues.
At a minimum, the introductory communication should include:
- Notice of the site visit and its timing
- A brief refresher on the funding opportunity
- The kickoff meeting date or forthcoming scheduling information
- A high-level overview of site visit requirements
- The location of shared planning materials
- Confirmation of the recipient's role in preparation and participation
- A request to identify any additional institutional participants who should be included
- A confidentiality statement indicating that the site visit details should only be shared on a need-to-know basis.
Kickoff Meeting
Once participation has been confirmed, schedule the kickoff meeting promptly. This meeting should address the following:
- Officially launch the site visit preparation process and orient the entire team.
- Prepare materials in advance, such as a short slide deck summarizing the proposal, funding opportunity, and major milestones.
- Review the proposal and feedback at a high level, clarify expectations, outline roles, and identify immediate priorities.
A member of the administrative team should be assigned in advance to document key discussion points, decisions, and action items for distribution after the meeting. That follow-up is important, since the kickoff meeting should serve not only as an orientation session but also as the point at which planning shifts to active execution.
Following the kickoff meeting, the administrative team should work with the PI(s) and relevant participants to:
- Collect availability and calendar constraints for major participants
- Finalize the project calendar and begin scheduling against known deadlines and availability
- Develop a detailed project timeline that identifies major deliverables, review points, rehearsal dates, and assigned responsibilities
- Confirm participants and schedule critical preparation sessions, including the Red Team review, speaker coaching, Q&A preparation, rehearsals, and final run-throughs
- Identify and reserve the site visit venue and any spaces needed for in-person rehearsals, recognizing that at least one rehearsal in the actual site visit space is advised
- Confirm any anticipated shared expenses or financial participation in writing, especially where partner institutions are expected to contribute
- Begin any parallel workstreams that require a long lead time, such as leadership engagement, communications support, video production, or travel coordination.