Information & Communication | Proposal Development | Internal Awards | Review & Approval of Proposals | Administration of Research Policies | Post Award Services | WKURF

 

The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) at Western Kentucky University is a service unit within the Division of Academic Affairs that assists the faculty and staff at Western in obtaining external funds. We offer assistance across the entire spectrum of sponsored programs activities, from identifying a potential source of funding to reviewing the terms and conditions of awards made to the institution.

The responsibilities of the Office of Sponsored Programs fall into seven major categories:

 

Information and communication (Back to Top)

• Serves as point of contact for information regarding the institution's research-related capabilities and the faculty research and scholarly interests
  
• Maintains a library of funding sources and guides for proposal development
  
• Screens various publications for grant opportunities and distributes information to the faculty and staff
  
• Subscribes to automated grants information sources which send grant announcements directly to faculty and staff via e-mail
  
• Interprets the policies and procedures of governmental funding agencies
  
• Maintains membership with the Grants Resource Center (located in Washington, DC) which provides a wide variety of services to support sponsored projects activities
  
• Maintains a grant and contract database and provides regular reports on the institution's sponsored projects activities
  
• Provides legislative updates about programs and trends affecting higher education
  
• Presents workshops for faculty, staff, and students
  
• Sponsors presentations by representatives of external funding agencies

 

Proposal development (Back to Top)

• Identifies potential sources of support for research and scholarly activities
  
• Assists in obtaining appropriate program guidelines and forms for application
  
• Clarifies the potential sponsor's requirements
  
• Assists faculty and staff members with developing proposal texts and budgets
  
• Provides institutional data for inclusion in proposals, as needed
  
• Provides assistance in obtaining reviewers' comments and preparing resubmission of rejected proposals
  

 

Internal awards for facutly and staff (Back to Top)

• Administers fund which supports proposal writers through assistance in traveling to sponsors, purchasing equipment, and hiring Graduate Assistants for help with research
  

 

Review and approval of all grant and contract proposals to outside funding agencies (Back to Top)

• Reviews and approves all proposals submitted to external agencies for compliance with university policy
  
• Develops memoranda of agreement and other contracts
  
• Coordinates the procedure of obtaining the required signatures for approval of all proposals
  
• Reviews all documents submitted and oversees the transmittal of proposals to external agencies
  
• Maintains the official University files of all submitted proposals and all contracts and grants awarded
  

 

Administration of the University's research policies (Back to Top)

• Drafts, interprets and implements University policies related to grants and contracts
  
• Reviews, interprets and disseminates policies of private and governmental funding agencies
  
• Coordinates the administration of University compliance with regulatory issues (misconduct in science, conflict of interest, intellectual property)
  
• Coordinates the institutional review of and compliance with regulations of research involving hazardous materials, biosafety issues, human subjects, or animal subjects
  

 

Post-award services (Back to Top)

• Negotiates and approves grant and contract awards for the University with funding agencies
  
• Informs principal investigators of the terms and conditions of awards
  
• Sets up and authorizes a chart of accounts for accepted awards
  
• Authorizes all budget modifications
  
• Negotiates and prepares subcontracts from University awards to other institutions and organizations
  
• Negotiates extensions or continuations of funding
  
• Coordinates submission of final reports
  

 

Western Kentucky University Research Foundation (Back to Top)

• Provides support to the Western Kentucky University Research Foundation, Inc. (WKURF)