MSCHE Annual Report March/April 2014
Administrative and Academic Support Units
Assessment Report Form
Name of the Unit: Grants and Sponsored Projects (GSP)
Department Mission Statement:
The Mission of the Office of Grants and Sponsored Projects (GSP) is to encourage the integration
of research and education, and acquire government sponsorship in support of research,
education, training and service programs at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU). Our goal is to
demonstrate that the integration of research and education contributes to quality teaching and
learning that will provide students with the multi-disciplinary, intercultural and ethical
understandings to participate in the global marketplace.
The GSP serves as the principal liaison with all government sponsoring agencies and as an
advisor for matters relating to federal policies and regulations. It identifies funding opportunities,
collaborates with faculty to facilitate proposal development, electronic submission, and ensure
that grants are responsibly managed. It must assure compliance with federal, state, university and
sponsor policies and regulations for pre- and post-award administration of grants. It supports the
adoption of federally-mandated and university-imposed research policies, procedures and
practices that address compliance and impact the conduct of research at FDU. The GSP also
provides operational support for related research programs of compliance (e.g., Institutional
Review Board).
As the designated central administrative office for government sponsorship, it reports directly to
and is evaluated by the University Provost, works collaboratively with FDU’s four college deans,
directors, faculty and staff, and serves on designated committees (e.g., the Bio-safety Committee
and Pharmacy School Board). The formal and informal assessment by FDU leadership, faculty
and staff, and the provision of interim and fiscal year reporting of grant activities is paired with a
rigorous and ongoing self-assessment of services and performance by the University Director of
GSP.
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Departmental
Objective (s)
Means of
Assessment
Stimulate
faculty interests
in research
Document
participation in
the FDU Provost
Seed Grant
competition.
FDU’s Provost Seed Grant
Committee evaluates proposals,
prepares critiques and determines
funding allocations. The Grants
Office tracks expenditures
activities of final reports and
expenditures records, collects final
reports and prepares a postconduct review.
Successful completion of
awarded pilot investigations are
tracked and final reports
reviewed. Uses data to track
success of faculty in the pursuit
of extramural sponsorship. Uses
data to justify allocation of
University funds for the Seed
Program on an annual basis.
Determine the #
of grant proposals
and funding
successes each
year. Assess the
quality of peerreview comments.
Government Grant Submissions:
Retains and tracks peer-review
results and success of all
government grant submissions.
Documents all successful and
funded proposals. Reviews
official proposal critiques from
sponsors to determine the
strength/weaknesses of a
proposal to consider options for
res-submission. Many proposals
now better ranked.
Hosted
Professional
Development
Days (Teaneck &
Madison) to
stimulate Faculty
interest in
research.
National Security
Administration
(NSA) recognition
Trained 28 new FDU faculty
members and received survey
results from 8 who attended.
Determined value of attendance
by the number of government
proposals that were and are
expected to be generated.
Prepared/submitted application
for NSA Designation in
Cybersecurity & Information
Assurance in January 2013.
Preparation for re-designation is
underway.
Successfully secured an NSA
designation as a National Center
of Excellence in Information
Assurance Education for
Academic Years 2013 – 2015. The
NSA Designation advances the
academic status of FDU for this
specialization.
Faculty
membership,
participation and
contributions
The Cybersecurity Committee has
been reconstituted to include
fourteen faculty members offering
cybersecurity and interdisciplinary representation.
Member services on the
Academic and Outreach
Taskforces include building new
academic programs, contributing
to an FDU annual symposium,
develop outreach opportunities,
etc.
Established
Center for
Cybersecurity &
Information
Assurance
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Summary of data collected
Use of data (closing the loop)
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Ongoing
implementation
of InfoEd EASE
System
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Cybersecurity
Symposium
FDU hosted its Inaugural
Cybersecurity Symposium on May
1, 2013; the 2nd Annual
Cybersecurity Symposium is
planned for April 30, 2014.
Attendees in 2013 included 125
members of academia, industry,
government, community and
students.
Website for the
Center for
Cybersecurity & IA
This is a dynamic website that
offers information on faculty
professional development
opportunities, student
competitions, faculty bios &
publications, events, etc.
Use of InfoEd to
create faculty
profiles and
disseminate
electronic funding
opportunity
alerts.
A comprehensive roster of faculty
profiles has been implemented;
new faculty members are added
to the system upon request.
The website and data therein
promote participation from
faculty students; and provide a
window to external cyber
professionals and prospective
students. Facebook and Twitter
accounts are under development
to broaden our audience.
376 faculty & staff profiles have
been added, and 105 members
are receiving automatic funding
desktop alerts. The profiles
constitute an inventory of faculty
disciplinary expertise that
stimulates research and
collaborations.
Use of InfoEd as a
grants tracking
system.
The GSP captures data and
uploads documents on grant
proposals, awards and IRB
proposals in the InfoEd System
(e.g., project title, sponsor, budget
details, uploaded documents, etc)
as a centralized and single
repository.
All new proposals are added to
the system when submitted,
providing GSP staff members
access to any associated record,
data and documents and
reporting capabilities. Proposal
data is used for reporting Grants
Tracking data to FDU leadership,
faculty, etc.
Use of InfoEd as a
post-award
repository of
financial and
narrative reports.
The GSP captures data and
uploads documents relating to
required post-award deliverables
per agency award terms and
condition in the InfoEd System
(e.g., type of report, date of
submission, etc.) as part of the
aforementioned centralized and
single repository.
All financial and narrative reports
are uploaded into the system
along with submission date and
other identifying information.
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Federal
Compliance:
Institutional
Review Board
(IRB)
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Improve
Research
Compliance and
Training
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a) Maintain an
updated
Assurance of
Compliance
with the
Department
of Health and
Human
Services, the
Office of
Human
Research
Protections
(OHRP) that
abides by the
Code of
Federal
Regulations
45 CFRT 46.
b) Review
methods of
consultation,
education and
guidance to
faculty and
students
c) Establishment
of FDU
policies,
practices,
procedures
and
application
forms to
facilitate the
program
d) & e) Review
programs at
other
institutions as
a means of
comparison.
f) IRB Chair(s)
and
Membership
The review and
development of
University policies
and guidelines
The Assurance of Compliance is
currently filed with DHHS/OHRP
and updated as needed.
a) Data collected includes - type
of proposal, IRB classifications,
dates of approval and followup reporting, standard
project-specific data, e.g.,
title. Proposals for IRB are
currently tracked using Excel
but will begin to be captured
in the InfoEd System.
b) Documents (e.g., full proposal,
consent documents, etc.) will
be uploaded given InfoEd’s
data repository capabilities.
c) Proposals are recorded and
reviewed to ensure
compliance and within a
reasonable period of time.
d) Feedback from the IRB
Committee members and
members of the community
are discussed at the meetings.
e) Identified a new IRB
Chairman, incorporated a Vice
Chair position, some new
members and alternate
member strategies.
f) Developed the Social and
Behavioral IRB Administrative
Coalition with Montclair State,
William Paterson, Princeton,
Stevens, Seton Hall and
Ramapo.
a) Approximately 70 IRB
proposals were submitted in
the past year. Data on IRB
proposals is required as per
federal regulations and will
be used to report to
DHHS/Office of Human
Research Protections, as well
as support any federal audits.
b) Approximately 75 faculty and
students completed the NIH
Tutorial on Human Subject
Protections over the past
year. The turnaround time
for
c) IRB application revisions have
been completed for
approximately 8 types of IRB
forms required, including
initial and continuing review,
final reporting, consent
documents, waiver of
informed consent, etc. This
allows investigators and
students conducting research
to submit proposals for
review/consideration.
d) Monthly IRB meetings are
convened to discuss
proposals. IRB agendas,
minutes, calendar of events
and website updates provide
documentation/data
required as part of our
federal Assurance.
e) Expanded oversight and
membership allows for more
timely and comprehensive
reviews.
f) Provides professional
development and
collaborative opportunities
with other academic
colleagues.
The GSP will document the rules
and practices for faculty involved
in research.
Policies required for federal
compliance will be disseminated
and posted for faculty access.
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Post-Award
Administration
for Grants
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governing the
Responsible
Conduct in
Research.
The GSP will document all
attendees at ad-hoc training
sessions conducted by GSP staff,
e.g., Nursing, Honors Students,
School of Pharmacy faculty.
The data is used to document the
# of faculty and students trained
each year, i.e., typically in the
#50 range.
Faculty and
students in
attendance at
ad hoc training
sessions for
grantsmanship
and human
subject
protections.
Two courses are available for
Grants 101 and IRB Human
Subject Protections.
Data obtained as part of the
electronic training modules will
be used to generate faculty
certificates of completion for
each training module specific to
each faculty member undergoing
that training.
All of the above will demonstrate
that FDU is in compliance with
federal regulations.
Implement new
licensed training
modules, i.e.,
Collaborative
Institutional
Training Initiative
(CITI) covering:
Human Subject
Protections;
Responsible
Conduct in
Research; Conflict
of Interest in
Research;
Laboratory Safety,
etc.
Authorization
Process
The GSP will have access to data
and information on the results of
CITI electronic training/testing
instruments for each module
identified under column B.
Data obtained as part of the
electronic modules will ensure
certificates (generated from the
system) are up to date and
completed before research
commences.
Conferred with Departments of
Finance and Human Resources
Revised authorization and
signatory process specific to
grant expenditures.
Graduate
Students and
Research
Conferred with Departments of
Finance and Human Resources
Received approvals for a new
Graduate Student Position
description to encourage and
standardize the position
description and salary range.
Grants Reporting
procedures
Conferred with the Finance
Department
Finance has agreed to be the
official office that disseminates
Reports of Expenditure to
sponsoring agencies.
CITI will continue to be
implemented for educational and
compliance purposes.
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Special Projects
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National
Endowment for
the Arts (NEA)
funding of
WAMFEST 2013
NEA reviewed, positively critiqued
and funded the proposal for
WAMFEST 2013.
The funding enabled all
artists/performances over a 3day period engaging, faculty
students and a large community
representation.
Administrative
oversight of
WAMFEST 2013
performances and
programming.
The Grants Office staff provided
oversight for several events held
over a 3-day period, documented
the audience response and
collected data on attendees
The results of this event have
significant impact for prospective
students. The project’s success
enabled a subsequent proposal
for WAMFEST 2015 which is
under NEA review.