“Huddle Up!”

Last month the Sponsored Projects Administration, along with Dr. Robert Morris, Associate Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, hosted three open forums for faculty members to ask questions regarding President Ferguson’s Academic Excellence Grants Program. There was a lot of useful information relayed at these meetings and they allowed faculty members, as well as SPA staff, to clear up some ambiguities regarding the program (Related: Check out the Q&A document on the Academic Excellence Grant Program webpage). During the course of these forums several faculty members asked, “What happens if my SPA Proposal Manager isn’t available when I need them?” That is a great question!

SPA Staff Review Nascent

Throughout the year there will be times when Proposal Managers, for one reason or another, are unavailable. To keep things running smoothly in the event of absences (planned or unplanned) the Proposal Managers and SPA administrative staff have a weekly meeting called “the Huddle.”

In the Huddle, the staff spends time walking through an office document called “Nascent.” Nascent is a spreadsheet listing of all the known proposals coming through the pipeline at the University. This is a great opportunity for Proposal Managers to discuss where each proposal is in the development process, bring up any issues they have run into while working on specific proposals, and draw on the collective knowledge and experience of the pre-award team.

The Huddle also helps keeps the entire pre-award staff in the loop regarding each individual’s current work load and allows arrangements to be made for another Proposal Manager to take over should there be a planned absence (vacation, conference, etc.) in the near future.

In the case of unplanned absences, Nascent helps the rest of the team quickly assess what proposals need to be covered. Since all upcoming proposals are listed on one document, and have been previously discussed in the Huddle, it is a relatively easy process for one Proposal Manager to hand off proposals to others for assistance.

Of course the preference is to work with one Proposal Manager from start to submission, but that isn’t always possible. The SPA staff is well prepared to keep operations running smoothly and provide faculty with uninterrupted assistance in the case of an absence. If you still have concerns regarding this issue feel free to contact the Sponsored Projects Administration (Email or 285-1600).