New Name—Same Service
The Office of Grants & Contracts (OGAC) has officially changed its name to the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs (ORSP) in an effort to provide even more support for the Monmouth University Grant Community. Our Grant Services range from pre-award, post-award administration, technology transfer, research compliance oversight, and project management. It’s our primary function is to support faculty researchers in securing and managing externally funded projects. No project is too small or too big. We are always here to help.
Grant Services Provided
All provided supportive services aspire to be uncomplicated, efficient, and meant for your benefit. They include but are not limited to the following:
- Researching potential funding opportunities;
- Attending Grant and Technical Assistance Meetings as needed;
- Acting as the University’s liaison to Funders and other Universities;
- Writing/Editing Grant Proposals;
- Budget Creation;
- Completing Proposal Checklists – obtaining supporting documentation;
- Managing the University’s Internal Approval Process;
- Technical Assistance with Internal and External Submission Platforms;
- Project Implementation Set-up of Awarded Research/Grant Project; and
- Reporting Requirements, both financial and programmatic, of Awarded Research/Grant Project.
More Specifically, the OGAC Will:
- Develop, maintain, and update a current database and calendar of funding sources and opportunities that are applicable to the needs and interests of Monmouth University faculty, administrators, and other professional staff.
- Disseminate the database and calendar of funding sources and opportunities to all faculty and staff on a regular monthly basis.
- Meet with faculty/staff members either individually or in groups to ascertain interests and to discuss opportunities that may be of interest.
- Conduct focused research identifying specific funding sources for specific faculty initiatives.
- Serve as a conduit for communication and liaison with other University offices.
- Provide assistance in proposal development and preparation, to include the development of a common boilerplate, assistance in development of program narratives, edit and analyze content within the context of compliance with RFP requirements and evaluation criteria, and assist in budget preparation.
- Assistance in submitting the final proposal package to the funding source. All electronic submissions must be sent by OGAC, and all paper proposals should include a cover letter signed by the Associate Vice President of Institutional Research & Effectiveness, Christine Benol.
- To the extent possible and appropriate, attend workshops and technical assistance sessions required by the funding source.
- Provide assistance to the extent possible with the management and evaluation of funded projects and programs, as well as preparation and submission of required reports.
- Provide periodic workshops to faculty and staff in areas such as grant writing and the grant development process, budget development, and the identification of potential funding sources.
Monmouth University & the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs
We are half way through the 24/25 school year and are heading towards our goal of coming in 25% higher than the previous fiscal year. From July 1 to Jan. 31, Monmouth University has submitted 32 grant applications in the amount of $12,407,219.87. We had 53% awarded in the amount of $4,794,720.00. To date we have 1 denial, 1withdrawal, and 13 pending award notification. Our funded projects are diverse and extremely interesting as seen below.
| Funding Agency | Project Name |
|---|---|
| IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society (3) | Transform Educational Materials & Assets in Systems |
| Nature Conservancy | Evaluate Spatial Temporal Use of Salt Marshes |
| New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium | Coastal Community Resilience Specialist |
| National Science Foundation | Precise Formal Verification of General Relational Quantitative Properties with Mutable Arrays |
| Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh | Spectrophotometry Equipment |
| United States Tennis Association | USTA Collegiate Tennis Hub- Monmouth University |
| CAA Academic Alliance | Visualizing Mental Health and Wellness in a Time of Cascading Disasters |
| Edna W. Andrade Fund Grant 2024 | Activating Democracy for 20 Years: Sheryl Oring’s “I Wish to Say” |
| Office of Management and Budgets | New Jersey Coastal Consortium for Resilient Communities |
| Office of Naval Research | Development of a Coastal Adaptation |
Let’s hear it for the PI’s and give then all a hand! The Monmouth University Grant Community would be nowhere without your creative thinking and inspiration. You are change makers whose work connect both students and collaborators alike. We should look towards them for wisdom and guidance always. The PIs are as follows: Keith Dunton, Corey Dzenko, Tom Herrington (3), Chris Leicht, Dorothy Lobo, Weihao Qu, and Jay Wang (3).
Special Shout-Out to Weihao Qu
Weihao Qu wrote his first grant ever to The National Science Foundation (NSF) and was awarded $175,000. What a way to knock it out of the park. Your future is bright.
Tip #1: Understanding Evaluating Standards
Evaluation standards are an acceptable way to measure various components of your program/project. The American National Standards Institute approved the following (4) national used standards in 1990. They are as follows:
- Accuracy Standards are how you plan to show that your evaluation will reveal and convey technically adequate or sufficient information about your project.
- Feasibility Standards are how you plan to ensure that your evaluation procedures will be realistic, wise, diplomatic, and frugal.
- Propriety Standards are how you plan to show that your evaluation will be conducted legally, ethnically, and with due regard for the welfare of those involved in the evaluation as well as those affected by its results.
- Utility Standards are how you plan to evaluate the information needs of the participant or end-users of the program/project.
Evaluation Plans
An evaluation is the process that determines the effectiveness and efficiency of your program/project and must be decided before implementation. The process of thinking through an evaluation design can strengthen your programs/projects and effectively demonstrates success. Evaluations are a strong tool and a thinking exercise of what is important, why it’s important, what we plan on measuring, how we measure, and when we would measure. You can use qualitative methods and data or quantitative methods and data. Qualitative methods are rooted in direct contact with the people involved in the program and usually involves interviews, direct or field observations, and certain document reviews. Quantitative methods turn experiences into units that can be counted, compared, measured, and manipulated statistically. Often a mix of both qualitative and quantitative methods offer the best results. Below are examples of different evaluation plans.
- Context Evaluation determines how a program/project functions within the community by looking at economic, social, or political factors. It identifies the projects strengths and weaknesses and its community impact.
- Formative Evaluation is conducted for the purpose of program improvement and examines the program’s conduct.
- Implementation Evaluation focuses on what actually happened and why. It identifies successes, barriers, effectiveness, and if your goals met your needs.
- Outcome Evaluation assesses the short- and long-term project results and the project’s impact.
- Participatory Evaluation actively engages all relevant stakeholders in the evaluation process to be empowering for said stakeholders.
- Process Evaluation documents and analyzes the program outputs and is similar to a formative evaluation.
- Product Evaluation analyzes if the program achieved its objectives or results. It is similar to a summative evaluation.
- Project Level Evaluation is a consistent, ongoing collection of analysis of information produced for decision making purposes.
- Summative Evaluation asks if the program accomplished what it set out to do and examines results using quantitative measurements.
- Theory Based Evaluation examines a theory of an initiative to see the effected outcomes.
The Importance of Etrieve
What is Etrieve? Etrieve is our internal approval process. It is an electronic document solution that combines an electronic form with workflow automation. Materials submitted through Etrieve will allow users to complete, submit, review, and process grant applications effortlessly through one platform. Part of our job is to track all grant submissions and analyze them against those Monmouth University was awarded. If you are writing a proposal without the help of ORSP resources, you must remember to always use the eForm in the Etrieve System on the myMU Portal. The eForm is found under the Provost Group and is titled the “Internal Approvals for Grants and Contracts Proposals”.
Please Remember: Proposals that are submitted without University approval and result in an award maybe be rejected, withdrawn, or otherwise not supported by the University. If a grant proposal or award is not signed by the correct person, the contract, grant, agreement, proposal or application is void and unenforceable.
Tip #2: Pay Attention to Guidelines
Winning a coveted grant means you must understand the importance of reading and following directions with no deviations from the funder’s guidelines. You must read and reread every sentence of a Notice of Funding Opportunity/Announcement (NOFO/A) before you start researching your topic and writing a grant application. You also need to read the grant application guidelines, including the peer review and evaluation criteria. Sometimes you even need to refer to the existing laws behind the grant. When you are reading, you should look for eligibility definitions, deadlines, grant award ranges, formatting requirements, and peer review criteria.
Targeted Research
The Office of Research & Sponsored Programs have met with many Deans, Chairs, and Faculty concerning your particular area of educational expertise. The OSRP is sending out Future Funding Opportunities in an attempt to continually spark interests in new ideas. For those who have reached out to the ORSP, the next step is to obtain Targeted Research. Thanks to all those who reached out and received their own Targeted Research.
What is targeted research? Targeted research is a method used to focus on specific issues derived from a broader research base. In education there are major themes or subject matters and then there are sub-themes or subject matters within them. For example, one can do broad research on the arts in general, but do targeted research on just dance, music, painting, etc. Other areas that can be a focus in targeted research are certain types of communities or geographies or demographic subsets of that community or geographical region.
Targeted research also includes specific grant opportunities that delve into the details of each grant. Important factors include deadlines, eligibility requirements, and funding award amounts. It is essential to ensure that the Monmouth University Grant Community meets all grant criteria before investing time in preparing an application. To that goal, the ORSP has done all that work above for you already.
What to do with your target research? Now that you received your specific subject matter targeted research, you have a personalized list of potential funding sources in hand. The very first thing you do is check the due dates. Do the funder’s deadlines coincide with your time schedule? Most grants take at least three months to prepare. Can you adequately prepare this grant application? Do you have the time and resources? Next you review the grant award amounts given. You don’t apply for a large sum grant to a funder who only funds small grants each year and the opposite is also true. You start to develop an action plan or a funding plan.
An important point to remember is some funders fund multiple times a year while others only fund once a year. I would create an action plan that allows me to meet as many of these due dates as possible. When awarded, having multiple funders at different times, helps you create a sustainability plan and ensures success for your program.
If you have any questions regarding your targeted research and what to do next, please reach out to the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs. We would love to be of assistance.