Outreach works with Office of Sponsored Programs to create unified system for securing grant funding
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.-- The Penn State Outreach Administrative unit has been granted the authority for proposal submission and contract negotiation and signing under the provisions of University financial guideline FNG-02 ( http://guru.psu.edu/policies/FNG02.HTML online.) Outreach is one of only five University units with the authority to process and approve grants and contracts, along with the Office of Sponsored Programs, the Applied Research Laboratory, the Electro-Optics Manufacturing Technology Center for Excellence and the College of Medicine.
This new responsibility will be administered through the office of Jeff Smith, director of Outreach Finance, Facilities and Technology. With this additional responsibility, Smith also will hold the title of associate director of the Office of Sponsored Programs and is authorized to oversee the review and approval process for all Outreach proposals, grants and contracts up to $300,000 in value, as well as handle the distribution of Outreach grant funds.
Robert Killoren, director of Sponsored Programs, explained that Outreach's new responsibilities are the result of its collaboration with the Office of Sponsored Programs to develop a unified system to help Outreach units apply for and secure more grant funding.
"I have been working with Jeff and the Corporate Controller's Office for several years to establish a greater level of responsibility and authority for Outreach grants and contracts," Killoren said. "It took some time to put together a strong infrastructure to support Outreach with the right people and the appropriate systems and procedures, checks and balances. Our goal has been to provide the Outreach community with excellent services from a team that specializes in Outreach activities and is as close as possible to the units needing the help."
Killoren added, "I am confident that everyone will see better custom-designed services meant to help Continuing Education, the World Campus, WPSU and other Outreach units market and execute sponsored programs agreements with external sponsors."
"I share Bob's thoughts on what this means to Outreach contract and grant support," Smith said. "Additionally, this initiative will also serve to educate and disseminate knowledge around proposal, contract and grant issues, as well as provide an Outreach focal point for Outreach employees to bring their issues. Grants and Contracts Community Training and Incubator team initiatives have been set up specifically for this. We also will maintain the strong working relationship and partnership with Sponsored Programs and the Controller's Office, because we are bound to encounter things that we are unfamiliar with and need support and advice in order to ensure the University is positioned appropriately in any external sponsor relationship."
The Outreach support unit is comprised of Smith and:
-- Bob Igo, manager of Financial and Administrative Services for Penn State Outreach, whose responsibilities include managing the grants and contracts process;
--Elaine Stewart, Outreach Grants and Contracts coordinator, who facilitates between Outreach staff members and the University process for submitting proposals, grants and contracts to ensure compliance with University standards and to meet sponsors' requirements;
-- Ellie Hutsky, Grants and Contracts assistant, who assists in the processing of Outreach proposals, grants and contracts and maintains the University Strategic Information Management System for Penn State Outreach; and
-- Chuck Herd, information technology trainer, who assists Outreach Grants and Contracts staff members with information and communications technology issues and provides user training on applications used by the Outreach Grants and Contracts Community (GCC), in addition to serving as steward of the GCC Web page and the Grants and Contracts memo of agreement database.
For more information about Outreach Grants and Contracts, contact Igo at rli2@outreach.psu.edu or visit http://gcc.outreach.psu.edu online.