Engineering proposals are solicited in all semesters. These proposals are intended to support maintenance and commissioning activities at the telescope. Science use of new instruments should generally be written as short-term science proposals, not engineering proposals.
Engineering proposals should describe not only the tasks for the current semester but should also describe the plan for future semesters. The TAC recognizes that the latter is subject to change. The proposal should also briefly describe the observational capability that one is seeking to implement (e.g., give a 1 paragraph summary of the instrument's capabilities).
In most cases, engineering requests should not seek long-term status; the TAC wishes to monitor the progress of instrument commissioning.