(a) Only the chancellor or president of an eligible public or independent institution which retains a declined applicant for funds under any of the research funding programs may appeal a decision of declination to the Coordinating Board. Such an appeal must be made within 30 days after the date that the declination, including reviews, is made available to the applicant.     
      (b) The appealing claim should be in writing and should explain the specific reasons why the institution believes that the declination is unwarranted.     
      (c) The Chair of the Advisory Committee shall designate a panel consisting of at least three members to review appeals. The appeal panel will select its own chair. The appeal panel, in consultation with the original reviewers or members of the original peer review panel, shall determine whether the declination of the application was fair and reasonable, taking into account availability of funds, the rankings of other applications that have been recommended for continuation or funding in that research area, and the policies and priorities of the research funding programs and the Coordinating Board in addition to the reasons provided in the appealing claim.     
      (d) Within 30 days after the date of the appeal, the chair of the appeal panel shall provide in writing either the results of the determination as to the appeal claim or an explanation of the need for more time indicating the date when the results can be expected if results cannot be furnished within 30 days.     
      (e) The appeal panel shall make a recommendation to the Commissioner regarding the declination. The Commissioner shall inform the institution of the determination. If the appeal panel's decision overturns the declination, the Commissioner shall inform the institution of any deadlines regarding full proposal submission and review in the case of overturned pre-proposal declinations or the award amount and effective grant term in the case of overturned award declinations for full proposals.     
      (f) The decision made under this section is final.     
     Source Note:        The provisions of this §14.75 adopted to be effective March 2, 2003, 28 TexReg 1859