Office of Sponsored Programs Detailed Assessment Report 2013-2014 Mission / Purpose The Office of Sponsored Programs assists University of West Alabama faculty and staff through the grant seeking process. The office is the central coordination point for all proposals involving restricted funds, sponsored programs, and research. The role of OSP is to help faculty identify funding sources, assist in the planning and preparation of proposals, assist in budget preparation, facilitate the administrative review and approval process, and support the production and submission of completed proposals. The Office of Sponsored Programs is available to advise faculty and proposal teams throughout the project period and with final reports. Sponsored Programs will provide expertise and guidance to faculty on funded projects including reporting, budgeting, and implementation. Postaward activities and grant implementation are the responsibilities of the researcher or principal investigator. OSP will advise in regards to Federal or State guidelines and general procedures. I. Goals and Outcomes/Objectives, with Any Related Measures, Targets, Findings, and Action Plans A. Goal: Improve financial status of the institution To improve the institution's financial status by increasing its efforts at productivity and by seeking additional funding from public and private sources. 1. Objective: Increase funding To increase the external funding received through federal, state and private sources by 5%. a. Measure: Increase the number of grant applications Increase the number of grant applications and overall involvement of faculty and staff Each College will submit two programmatic OR research grant applications during the year. Three faculty members of each college and two faculty members of each division will seek individual funding opportunities. 2. Findings (2013-2014) - Target: Partially Met All four colleges submitted at least 2 grant applications. Three or more faculty of each college and two or more of each division except Nursing requested assistance in seeking funding opportunities. The breakdown is as follows: COLA - 3 grant submissions, 7 faculty requests; NSM - 10 grant submissions, 6 faculty requests; COB - 6 grant submissions, 4 faculty requests; CoEd - 8 grant submissions, 4 faculty requests; Outreach Services - 4 grant submissions, 5 faculty requests; Educational Outreach - 15 grant submissions, 8 staff requests; Student Support Services - 2 grant submissions; Student Life, Campus Police, Sponsored Programs, Online Programs, Athletics, Administration - 1 grant submission each. The lack of grants or requests from the Division of Nursing makes this target only partially met. 3. Action Plan: Prioritize Division of Nursing external funding OSP will prioritize the Division of Nursing external funding opportunities and work directly with the Chair of nursing and selected faculty. This includes but not limited to: 1- consistent communications with the DON (at least bi-monthly) until proposal opportunity is located 2- assign a dedicated research assistant to focus on looking for Page 1 of 8
nursing grant opportunities strictly for DON priorities 3- provide 1-1 Professional Development to DON Chair and faculty 4- assist in creating new health care network opportunities and re-establishing old ones. Implementation Status: Planned Projected Completion Date: 05/31/2015 Responsible Person/Group: Rodney Granec/ Carmen Giles 2. Objective: Provide professional development opportunities Provide professional development targeted at experienced and new faculty through a series of workshops and webinars and off-site conferences, including teleconferences and one-onone assistance. a. Measure: Provide workshops Workshops will be provided to expand the knowledge of program design and budget development as well as the basics of researching opportunities. 12 faculty members will expand knowledge in program design and budget development. 30 new faculty members will learn the basics of researching opportunities. 2. Findings (2013-2014) - Target: Met 12 Faculty participated in Back to School workshops, a year-long program including program design and budgeting. New faculty orientation included information on budgets and program design for 28 new faculty members. 28 new faculty registered for the SMARTS system, and all new faculty have been instructed in how/where to research grant opportunities. 3. Objective: Increase Capacity of OSP To increase the capacity of OSP by enhancing the technological resources to provide up-todate webinars, video streaming, and interconnectivity with funding agencies. a. Measure: Expand capacity of OSP. Increase capacity of OSP by expanding staff, updating communication networks, increasing technological and computer capacity, and enhancing knowledge and skills of staff. A member of the OSP staff will represent UWA at (at least) one national and one regional conference concerning external funding. 2. Findings (2013-2014) - Target: Met Rodney Granec attended the National Counsel for University Research Administrators (NCURA) regional and national meetings for 2013-2014. Stephanie Hyche attended the Grants Resource Center/American Association of State College and Universities (AASCU) National meeting in 2014. 4. Objective: Continue functioning as the clearing house, facilitator, and oversight office for grant applications Continue providing functions as clearing house, facilitator, and oversight office for the faculty of UWA in writing and submission of external grant applications. a. Measure: Function as the clearing house for grants. Page 2 of 8
Provide procedures, routing systems, and one-on-one assistance to faculty from submission to implementation and close-out. Accurate data management of grant and funding applications, faculty assisted, including team meetings, preliminary request for proposals (RFP) overviews, and regular research information to faculty. 2. Findings (2013-2014) - Target: Met Data management of grant applications is recorded in a MS Access tracking chart, specifically designed to meet the needs of institution's OSP. All awarded grants accounts are managed by Rodney Granec, including draw-downs and time and effort tracking of project directors and key personnel. Preliminary RFP overviews are maintained by Hoda Hassan, Carmen Giles, and Stephanie Hyche and are completed upon receipt of a Notification Form or at faculty/staff request. Regular research information is disseminated in the forms of a monthly newsletter by Hoda Hassan (Research @ OSP), and in biweekly grant opportunity emails sent by Carmen Giles (EFOs). Team meetings for the recycling project (quarterly), Department of Labor project (bimonthly), and Project ENGAGE (weekly) are led and managed by Rodney Granec and Stephanie Hyche, and the NSF BOSS Program is led by Stephanie Hyche. 5. Objective: Provide up-to-date research resources and information Provide up-to-date research resources and information for faculty, administrators, and staff a. Measure: Grant information and electronic application and reporting capacity available An administrative review of research engines and subscriptions will indicate that faculty have grant information available and the capacity for electronic application and reporting. Through on-campus grant workshops held each semester, 10-15 faculty/staff members will be instructed in the use of grant research databases, such as grants.gov and Grants Resource Center. Instructions can be found at any time on the Sponsored Programs website: http://sponsoredprograms.uwa.edu/research%20tools.pdf. 2. Findings (2013-2014) - Target: Met New Faculty Orientation (Aug. 2013) saw 22 new faculty register for the SMARTS system. Seven other faculty/staff have been added to the SMARTS system during the year. Director has retrained the Division of Outreach Services in grant research methods. Further, two on campus workshops have been held on searching for grants and registering for services subscribed to by the University. 6. Objective: Increase number of research applications. Increase the number of research applications submitted by faculty of UWA. a. Measure: Add staff member with research specialty. In order to increase the number of research applications submitted by faculty, OSP will hire an additional staff member with experience in scientific research to help in writing and oversight of research proposals. Add staff member to assist faculty in developing research proposals by Summer of 2013. Page 3 of 8
2. Findings (2013-2014) - Target: Met Hoda Hassan was hired in May of 2013 to assist in finding and developing research applications. II. Other Plans for Improvement A. Increase funding of federal grant applications. Submit a greater number of federal proposals and offer faculty/staff more workshops on federal applications and federal grant writing techniques. Established in Cycle: 2011-2012 Implementation Status: In-Progress Priority: Medium Implementation Description: Submit a greater number of federal proposals and offer faculty/staff more workshops on federal applications and federal grant writing techniques. Budget Amount Requested: $2,000.00 (recurring) 9/18/2014 OSP strives to increase the number of federal grant applications annually. B. Increase number of faculty submitting grant proposals. Promote grant writing to the College of Liberal Arts faculty and College of Business faculty. Established in Cycle: 2011-2012 Implementation Status: In-Progress Priority: Medium Implementation Description: Meet with deans of each college to discuss which faculty members they would like to participate in grant writing. Projected Completion Date: 08/30/2014 9/18/2014 OSP will assist the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Business in research, grant proposal development, and submission of grant applications. C. Renew research subscriptions Renew subscriptions to research engines for grants Established in Cycle: 2011-2012 Implementation Status: In-Progress Budget Amount Requested: $5,000.00 (recurring) 9/18/2014 In order to compile grants from federal/state, foundation, and corporate sources, subscriptions must be renewed yearly. D. OSP Staff Professional Development Professional development allowing OSP staff to attend regional and national workshops/conferences, payment of professional membership dues, continued skill-building, and technical training. Established in Cycle: 2012-2013 Implementation Status: In-Progress Responsible Person/Group: Rodney Granec Additional Resources Requested: Motor Pool Budget Amount Requested: $6,500.00 (recurring) 9/18/2014 Funds will continue to be needed for staff professional development. Page 4 of 8
E. Grant Development Center Sustainability Provide increased technological capacity for faculty/staff training and access to web services including web streaming, virtual conferencing, data resources, and related services/warranties through the creation of the OSP Grant Development Center. Faculty/staff training includes workshops, consultant fees, and increasing opportunities to continue education in grant and professional writing and research during the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Implementation Status: In-Progress Implementation Description: This amount will cover annual maintenance fees for VTC system in the Callaway Schoolhouse. Projected Completion Date: 05/31/2012 Responsible Person/Group: Rodney Granec Budget Amount Requested: $6,500.00 (recurring) 9/18/2014 Funds to cover the annual fee of maintenance and upgrades to Cisco VPN conferencing system are needed. F. Hire Research Coordinator/Grant Writer Hire Research Coordinator/Grant Writer to provide assistance in grant writing and the development of research grant opportunities. This position will work directly with all faculty seeking to obtain research funding. Implementation Status: Finished Responsible Person/Group: Becky Harvard Additional Resources Requested: Fringe benefits are included in below budget figure. Budget Amount Requested: $59,400.00 (recurring) 9/18/2014 Hoda Hassan was hired as a part-time position in 2013. G. OSP Operating Supplies General operating supplies for office. Implementation Status: Finished Priority: Medium Responsible Person/Group: Rodney Granec, Carmen Giles Budget Amount Requested: $7,200.00 (recurring) 9/18/2014 Funds are no longer necessary. H. Prioritize Division of Nursing external funding OSP will prioritize the Division of Nursing external funding opportunities and work directly with the Chair of nursing and selected faculty. This includes but not limited to: 1- consistent communications with the DON (at least bi-monthly) until proposal opportunity is located 2- assign a dedicated research assistant to focus on looking for nursing grant opportunities strictly for DON priorities 3- provide 1-1 Professional Development to DON Chair and faculty 4- assist in creating new health care network opportunities and re-establishing old ones. Implementation Status: Planned Relationships (Measure Outcome/Objective): Measure: Increase the number of grant applications Outcome/Objective: Increase funding Projected Completion Date: 05/31/2015 Page 5 of 8
Responsible Person/Group: Rodney Granec/ Carmen Giles I. Updated Computers Provide updated computer hardware and software for current and additional OSP staff. Implementation Status: Finished Priority: Medium Projected Completion Date: 05/31/2012 Responsible Person/Group: Rebecca Harvard, Rodney Granec Budget Amount Requested: $5,000.00 (one time) 9/18/2014 Updated computers were purchased and installed. III. Analysis Questions and Analysis Answers A. What specific strengths did your assessments show? (Strengths) OSP has improved the financial status of the institution and ability of faculty to secure external funding. For 2013-2014, the University was awarded $2.6 million in external funding. Most noteworthy are the awards from the National Science Foundation (the university's first direct funding from NSF) in the combined amount of $1,150,000 to be distributed over five years, which improves UWA's chances of success in gaining new awards from NSF. This year for the first time, all four OSP staff members attended the prestigious NCURA regional conference in Florida; this was an excellent opportunity for the staff to network with other colleagues from around the nation, gaining many future collaborators and increasing the office's likelihood of future collaborations and pool of partners. B. What specific weaknesses or challenges did your assessments show? (Weaknesses) Poor relations with the Business Office has caused the University to be late on several performance and financial reports and potential audit findings. OSP staff feel that the Business Office may not clearly understand the implications of late and incorrect reporting with the funding agencies the office works with. The staff likes to maintain strong and healthy relationships with external funders because of the potential of gaining future awards and partnerships. OSP hopes to provide some training to Business Office personnel on these issues. Although the OSP made available several professional development opportunities to faculty and staff, most of which included strong incentives in the form of cash or travel funds, the office had very few people complete the programming track. Twelve started the year long program, which provided opportunities for collaborations with outside colleagues, but only four completed, two staff and two faculty. Furthermore, the Division of Nursing for the second consecutive year, was unable to complete any attempt at gaining external funding. The staff realizes that a lack of faculty and staff in that Division hinders their ability to take on outside activities, and the office is working to come up with a plan that works within their time and personnel limitations. C. What plans were implemented? OSP increased the number of existing faculty who participated in grant writing workshops and increased the number of faculty new to sponsored programs who signed up for email alerts of grant opportunities, and the staff of OSP continues to provide group and one-on-one support for grant development. Each OSP staff member has attended two workshops for professional development this year. OSP has surpassed the targeted number of grant submissions for the year, submitting 40 proposals to different agencies (14 federal, 12 foundation, and 13 state and 1 private). OSP will continue to strive to meet the needs of the faculty through professional development and faculty-oriented services. The staff will continue to work diligently to improve the financial status of the University through sponsored programs. Page 6 of 8
D. What plans were not implemented? All plans were implemented, however the goal for the Division of Nursing was not met. This is further explained in the Weakness section. E. How will assessment results be used for continuous improvement? By identifying areas of weakness, OSP is better prepared to plan activities for the coming year. IV. Annual Report Section Responses A. Key Achievements OSP lost its director to retirement in January, yet maintained the level of services to which UWA faculty and staff are accustomed. Awards from new agencies: 2 - National Science Foundation grants, 1 - Department of State grant (International collaboration with GDUF), 1 - Professional Disc Golf Association, 1 - USDA Expanded personnel's knowledge about OSP's capacity via Faculty Leaders. B. Staff Achievements Rodney Granec: Three presentations for the National Council for University Research Administrators; Offices/Positions in the National Council for University Research Administrators: Regional Executive Committee Member, Chair of Southeast Region Technology Committee, Hospitality Committee Chair, Southeast Regional Program Committee Chair, National Conference Volunteer, Chair of the UWA Internal Review Board; Funded grants: Assisted faculty on over 30 grant budgets and financial updates; Workshops Conducted for the National Council for University Research Administrators: Began process of UWA application for Federal Wide Assurance numbers documenting UWA compliance of IRB policies and procedures regarding federal grant funding; Facilitates agreements between UWA faculty and administration for patenting and licensing rights of faculty research and other intellectual properties Stephanie Hyche: Offices/Positions: Student Life Committee, Campus School Steering Committee, Continuing Education Committee, various hiring committees; Funded grants: Developed or assisted with development of 24 proposals, of which 9 are currently funded or pending announcement of awards; Workshops Conducted: Coordinated 3 professional development training tracks including summer and academic year series and individual workshops; Facilitated collaborative opportunities for inter-institutional professional development for 12 faculty/staff members; Conducted a grant writing workshop for Congresswoman Sewell's Congress in your Community; Attended the Grant Resource Center's national meeting in Washington, DC; Region III meeting of the National Council of Undergraduate Research Administrators in Tampa, FL; Council for Opportunity in Education's Annual Conference in DC; Inside Track, Inc., new coach training in Nashville, TN; Public Relations chair for Phi Kappa Phi; UWA 101 instructor; Volunteer for Residence Life's Living Learning Communities; Chapter Advisor for Alpha Sigma Tau sorority Carmen Giles: Offices/Positions: Health and Wellness Committee; Judge on the Homer Award panel; Funded Grants: Assisted faculty in submitting 30 federal and foundation grants and development of 14 foundation or corporation grants; Workshops Conducted: Two workshops to faculty regarding grant updates through InfoEd, Grants Resource Center, and Grants.gov; Forms, Supporting Documentation, and Submission of NIH grants: Applying to a Foundation Region III meeting of the National Council of Undergraduate Research Administrators in Tampa, FL; Acts as UWA Account Administrator of NIH's era Commons grant portal for Principal Investigators; Taught English Composition class to Upward Bound Page 7 of 8
students; Maintains and distributes OSP Newsletter & Tavern Buzz biannually; Maintains OSP social media Hoda Hassan: Member of the UWA Undergraduate Research Symposium; Attended Grantsmanship Center training; Attended SRA International, Alabama Chapter meeting; Maintains and distributes monthly newsletter, Research @ Office of Sponsored Programs C. Public/Community Service The OSP maintains the Callaway School for the faculty, staff, and public of Livingston to use. The Sumter County EMA held five web conferences there over two semesters, and the Bank of York held their board meetings there. Furthermore, as a result of OSP's partnerships with public entities such as business, industry, and public service agencies, external funds awarded benefit the entire Livingston community. Page 8 of 8
I' Department or Division: Sponsored Programs Chair or Director: Mr. Rodney Granec (Interim Director) Dean or Vice Dr. Tim Edwards (Inlteri:m P'ro,rost) Planning and Assessment Approval Goals are broad statements describing what the unit wants to accomplish. Goals relate to both the unit's mission and the University's mission The goal(s) is stated as the University goal(s) a nnit is attempting to meet. Outcomes/Objectives Outcomes and objectives are statements that describe in some detail what the nnit plans to accomplish. Outcomes/objectives are associated with all applicable goals, strategic plans, standards, and institutional priorities. Objectives are active-verb descriptions of specific points or tasks the unit will accomplish or reach. Outcomes are active-verb descriptions of a desired end result related to student learning and the unit's mission. Measures Measures are statements to judge success in achieving the stated outcome or objective. Measures contain information on the type of evidence and assessment tool that a unit will use to verify if stated outcome/objective has been met. Achievement Targets Achievement targets are the thresholds that the measures must meet for the nnit to determine that it has been successful in meeting its specified outcomes/objectives. Achievement targets are measurable statements.
SELF-STUDY Item Approved Remarks Findings Findings are indications whether an outcome/objective was met or not. Findings are put into the system under each achievement target. Findings include an interpretation of results, possible uses of results, reflection on problems encountered, indicated improvements/changes and strengths or weakness. \/ v Action Plans Action plans are detailed plans created by the unit to meet an outcome/objective that was ouly partially met or not met or to make improvement to those outcomes/objectives that were met but still need some strengthening. The plan includes a projected completion date, implementation description, responsible person(s)/group, resources required, and budget amount (if applicable). Action plans created in previous cycles have been updated with implementation notes. Annual Report The Annual Report section contains information on key achievements, faculty and/or staff achievements, and community/public. Analysis Report The unit has reflected on and created narratives for each of the following areas: specific strengths and progress made on outcomes/objectives, specific weaknesses or challenges, plans that were and were not implemented, and how assessment results will be used for continuous improvement. L Date: -~~"-'"'"'~~-~,.,=:..._+-- ~1--"-f~h~t-- Date:------'----/