WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

Office of Sponsored Programs FOURTH QUARTER Report, FY 97

APRIL 1, 1997-JUNE 30, 1997

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

The Fourth Quarter Report covers the activities of the Office of Sponsored Programs at Western Kentucky University from April 1-June 30, 1997. During this period, the University received 58 awards totaling $2,328,645 and submitted 68 proposals totaling an unprecedented quarterly amount of $9,511,391. There were 18 fewer awards than a year ago and the dollar amount of awards decreased by 27%. Included in the awards was $100,510 in indirect costs. A year ago, $240,628 was awarded in indirect costs. There was a decrease of 58% in indirect costs awarded compared to a year ago; but an increase of 13% over two years ago. A quarter of the dollar amount of proposals submitted supported Research, whereas 11% of the dollar amount supported research last year. The dollar amount of research proposals in this FY was $1 million more than last year. There were 3 more Federal proposals for $4,296,274 more than last year. There were 3 more proposals to state agencies for $412,266 more than last year.

Awards

The 27% decrease in award amount was caused principally by 11 fewer awards for research for $1,124,456 fewer dollars. . The dollar amount of awards for instruction increased $309,409, however. Federal and state sponsors, in that order, contributed the most awards.

The average size of awards this year was $40,149, which is a 1% increase over three years ago.

Proposals

The dollar amount of proposals submitted increased by $3,634,396 (62%) compared to a year ago. There were 7 fewer proposals than a year ago, a 9% decline.

Comparisons with Previous Years

Western received the lowest amount of award dollars in the last 3 years. The dollar amount of proposals, however, was unprecedented for any quarter. The following table summarizes the data.

Other Activities in the Sponsored Programs Community

Sponsored Programs continued to rely heavily on the WKUNET to expedite operations through widespread use of e-mail with project directors (consisting of 113 messages to grant developers. Postings of grant opportunities, deadlines, tips, and policies and procedures, were made during the quarter. Internet addresses to provide faculty and staff members with information from the grant community nationwide were posted on the OSP home page. These addresses were mailed directly to faculty and staff members. Issues of local.grants, the OSP newsletter, were placed on the OSP home page and direct mailed.

Summary of Other Activities of the OSP during the Fourth Quarter FY 97

In addition, the OSP Specialist routed for internal signatures 55 proposals, 17 extensions and contracts, and verified 55 budgets. Twelve meetings were held with faculty members about budgets. The Specialist prepared a report for T/TAS.

The Sponsored Programs Development Coordinator, and the Information Coordinator, continued to disseminate announcements from the Office of Federal Programs (OFP) in Washington to faculty and staff through campus mail. The announcements were placed on the OSP Home Page to enable the community to obtain news spontaneously. The OSP Home Page was updated as new information became available. Quarterly reports were placed on the Home Page.

The OSP assists departments with subgrants and non-cash affiliation agreements. Whenever possible, three-year affiliation agreements were made. During the Fourth Quarter FY97, the OSP coordinated 12 subgrants totaling $13,000 and 95 affiliation agreements with regional hospitals, clinics, and medical offices on behalf of internship programs in Allied Health and Human Services, Biology, Consumer and Family Sciences, and Nursing.

Information was collected to prepare an issue of the OSP newsletter, local.grants, for the first quarter FY98.

OSP staff attended professional workshops and served on university committees dealing with patents, conflict of interest, faculty research, human subjects of research, women's issues and records management.

Funding Agencies

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN REPORTS

As you can see by consulting any of the tables in the appendices, brevity is required for entries into the OSP database of awards and proposals. Each database sheet is a record containing one award or proposal. There are a number of fields in each record which require brevity. For this reason, the following abbreviations are used for consistency in creating reports and the data that the reports produce.

Funding Agencies

INTRODUCTION

The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) provides pre- and post-award services for faculty, staff members and students seeking external support for research and proposal development, instruction and public service, scholarships, and fellowships. The OSP helps faculty and staff members develop grants, memorandum of agreements, contracts, subcontracts (subgrants), and affiliation agreements. The OSP is the link between extramural projects and the Offices of Academic Affairs, Graduate College, Accounts and Fiscal Services, and Budget and Information Management. For example, the office works closely with Budget and Management Information in projecting extramural expenditures and revenues.

The OSP coordinates with academic colleges and departments, and all support units of the University. On behalf of these entities, the OSP coordinates proposal and award routing; maintains records of faculty and staff members' interests; identifies potential sponsors; assists with proposal development; presents grant development and compliance workshops; cooperates with grant development initiatives of the deans, the Center for Teaching and Learning, and units across the campus; provides individual consultation; renders contract compliance and institutional assurance; establishes charts of accounts for awards; negotiates post-award modifications; provides liaison with external agencies on behalf of the University, and computes the University indirect cost rates and negotiates the rates with the cognizant Federal agency. The OSP manages intellectual property and copyright matters.

AWARDS RECEIVED, Fourth Quarter FY 97

In this reporting period, Western Kentucky University received 58 awards in the amount of $2,328,645 that included $100,510 in indirect costs awarded. (See Appendix A.) Compared to last year, these data reflect a decrease of 18 awards. The award dollar amount decreased from last year by $866,851, or -27%. The dollar amount of awards was the lowest in the last three years.

Compared to Fourth Quarter last year, there was a decrease of $140,118 in indirect recovery costs (-58%). Indirect costs awarded a year ago equaled $240,628.

Table 1: AWARDS RECEIVED, Fourth Quarters 1995-1997

Table 2: Awards Received by Academic College and Other Units Fourth Quarter FY 97

Comparisons with previous year fourth quarter awards are made with many of the programs in Table 2.

Colleges & Other Units Fourth Quarter FY 97	Awards FY 97	Awards FY 96	Awards FY 95	Indirect Costs FY97	Indirect Costs FY 96	Indirect Costs FY95
1. College of Education & Behavioral Sciences	1,459,068	1,151,916	1,238,182	84,058	76,966	57,525
2. Ogden College of Science, Technology and Health	441,517	1,325,852	605,735	14,292	151,409	16,129
3. Career Services	244,370	240,000	265,000	0	0	0
4. Counseling Center	43,800	43,800	43,800	0	0	0
5. Community College & Continuing Education	50,371	2,000	73,309	0	0	0
6. Admissions	39,000	54,316	0	0	0	0
7. Center for Training & Development	35,560	141,634	119,462	2,160	8,893	5,488
8. College of Business (SBDC)	9,000	0	0	0	0	0
9. Library	5,959	7,287	1,865	0	560	0
10. Potter College	0	120,800	138,714	0	2,800	0
11. Minority Student Support Center	0	3,391	0	0	0	0
12. Educational TV	0	70,000	414,564	0	0	0
13. Institute for Economic Development & Public Service	0	34,500	10,000	0	0	0
Totals:	2,328,645	3,195,496	2,910,631	100,510	240,628	79,142

Awards Received by Academic Departments, Fourth Quarter FY 97

Eleven academic departments, three less than last year, and five less than 1995, and 25 faculty members (7 less than last year) received 43% of the total awards, 39 percent of the award dollars, and 26% of the indirect costs. Last year 14 academic departments received 42% of total awards, 64 of award dollars and 80% of indirect costs. In Table 3b Individuals receiving more than one award are signified with the number of awards in parenthesis.

Table 3a: Fourth Quarter FY 97-Summary of Academic Departments' Contributions to Awards

Table 3b: Fourth Quarter FY 97 Academic Departments' Contribution to Awards

Table 4: Awards Received by Chief Support Units, Fourth Quarter FY 97

Chief support units contributed 61% of the dollar amount of awards. They contributed 74% of the indirect costs derived from awards. In all, 14 project directors in 13 support units received awards. Support units in academic colleges are so designated below.

Fourth Quarter	FY 97 Awards	FY96 Awards	FY 95 Awards	FY 97 Indirect Costs	FY96 Indirect Costs	FY95 Indirect Costs
Admissions	39,000	54,316	0	0	0	0
CC & CE	50,371	2,000	73,309	0	0	0
Career Services	244,370	240,000	265,000	0	0	0
Counseling	43,800	43,800	43,800	0	0	0
CTD	35,560	141,634	119,462	2,160	8,893	5,488
Educational Talent(CEBS)	255,665	245,832	0	18,938	18,210	0
Library	5,959	7,287	1,865	0	560	0
OCSTH Instrument Shop(Ogden)	12,094	0	0	3,613	0	0
SBDC(COBA)	9,000	0	0	0	0	0
Student Support Services(CEBS)	187,021	0	179,828	13,853	0	14,132
T/TAS(CEBS)	38,641	74,331	66,955	1,546	4,939	971
Upward Bound(CEBS)	274,484	0	0	18,006	0	0
Veteran's Upward Bound(CEBS)	231,900	222,981	0	16,607	15,702	0
Total:	1,427,865	1,032,181	750,219	74,723	48,304	20,591

Table 5: Awards Received by Award Type Fourth Quarter FY 97

There were 6 more grants that totaled $198,948 more than last year. There were 11 fewer MOAs for $291,250 fewer dollars than last year. There were 9 fewer subcontracts totaling over $612,669 less than last year. There were 4 fewer contracts totaling $161,880 less than last year.

Table 6: Awards Received by Project Type Fourth Quarter FY 97

Compared to last year, there were 8 fewer awards for instruction. The dollar amount of awards for instruction increased $309,409 however. There were 11 fewer awards for research for $1,124,456 fewer dollars. There were 2 less public service awards but for $287,358 fewer dollars than last year. There was about a $10,000 dollar decrease in the amount of research scholarships awarded. Student Services (Career Services) received one award as noted.

Project Type	# of Awards	% of # of Awards	$ Amount of Awards	% of $ Awarded	$ Amount of Indirect Costs	% of Indirect Costs
Instruction	22	38	1,038,273	45	52,360	52
Research	6	10	63,677	3	0	0
Operations	1	2	10,000	1	0	0
Public Service	25	43	926,825	40	48,150	48
Scholarships	3	5	45,500	2	0	0
Student Services	1	2	244,370	10	0	0
Totals:	58	100	2,328,645	100	100,510	100

Table 7: Awards by Funding Sources Fourth Quarter FY 97

There were 3 fewer federal awards than last year for $570,397 fewer dollars. There were 6 fewer state awards than last year for $44,962 dollars. We received 15 fewer awards from other public institutions (research foundations and regional companies) but for $1,121,761 fewer dollars. We received 3 fewer awards from foundations but for $145,684 more dollars. The large decreases in awards from federal and other public sources explains our decrease in total awards over last year.

Table 8: Top Ten Awarding Agencies Fourth Quarter FY 1997

Thirty-seven sponsors made awards to WKU during this reporting period. The top ten are listed below. These ten sponsors contributed 72% of the dollars awarded and 86% of the indirect costs. Last year the top ten contributed 76% of the funding; and in 1995 the top ten contribution was 72%.

Agency/Type	$ Amount of Awards	# of Awards	% of $Awarded	$ Amount of Indirect Costs	% of Indirect Costs Awarded
1. U.S. Dept. of Ed.-Federal	949,070	4	41	67,404	67
2. KY Higher Ed Assistance Authority-State	244,370	1	2	0	0
3. KY Cabinet for Human Resources-State	203,963	1	2	15,108	15
4. BellSouth Foundation	200,000	1	2	0	0
5. KY Cabinet for Workforce Development-State	182,783	10	17	0	0
6. KY Council for Higher Ed-State	85,905	1	2	0	0
7. HHS-Federal	51,815	2	2	1,546	2
8. NIH Center for Disease Control-Federal	46,106	2	2	1,734	2
9. U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs-Federal	43800	2	2	0	0
10. KY Dept. of Ed-State	39,000	1	0	0	0
Total:	2,046,812	25	72	85,792	86

PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS

Table 9. Number and Amount of Proposals Submitted, Fourth Quarter FY 88-97

The largest dollar amount of proposals in this period were submitted during the fourth quarter FY 97. In this reporting period, 13 academic departments, 2 less than last year, and 8 support units, 3 less than last year, comprising 31 faculty (1 less than last year) and 9 staff (2 more than last year), submitted 68 proposals (7 less than last year) totaling $9,511,391. (See Appendix B.) Compared to last year, there was a -9% decrease in the number of proposals but, more importantly, a 62% increase in the dollar value of proposals.

Fourth Quarter FY 91-FY 97	Number of Proposals Submitted	$ Amount of Proposals Submitted
1991	69	3,683,027
1992	76	7,118,579
1993	72	4,178,857
1994	57	4,074,439
1995	85	6,669,830
1996	75	5,876,995
1997	68	9,511,391

Table 10: Fourth Quarter FY 1997 Proposals by College or Principal Unit

Table 11. Academic Departments Submitting Proposals Fourth Quarter FY 97

Academic departments submitted 48% of the total dollar amount of proposals and accounted for 56% of the total number of proposals that were submitted. Twelve fewer faculty submitted proposals than last year. Two less academic departments submitted proposals than last year. The academic departments accounted for 58% of the indirect costs proposed.

Department	$ Amount of Submissions	$ Indirect Costs	Project Directors/Total Submissions
Agriculture	624,853	68,108	D. Coffey(3), L. Brown, G. Jones
AHHS	20,325	0	R. Meador
Biology	479,617	27,871	K. Balak, R. Hoyt, J. Jack
CFS	18,086	631	L. Fong(2)
Chemistry	655,776	158,113	W. Pan(4), D. Slocum
Educational Leadership	127,900	9,473	D. Nims, J. Fienne
English	69,100	12,906	E. Johnson
Engineering Technology	111,547	7,619	D. George, R. Handy
Geography & Geology	92,398	3,054	M. Prante, M. Lowry
Industrial Technology	3,708	541	M. Tiryakioglu
Physics & Astronomy	1,367,809	63,907	M. Carini, R. Hackney, W. Van Der Meer, G. Vourvopoulos(2)
Psychology	646,886	28,999	J. Craig, E. Jones, L. Layne(3)
Teacher Education	314,658	1,074	J. Martin, B. Stallion, J. Vokurka(2),
Totals: 13 Departments	4,532,663	382,296	28 Faculty; 38 Proposals

Table 11a: Support Units Submitting Proposals Fourth Quarter FY 97

Three support units unaffiliated with academic colleges submitted 14 proposals for $96,757. Of this amount, $5,670 was in indirect costs. Compared to last year, 2 fewer units submitted proposals. However, this year the support units submitted $557,658 less in proposals than last year.

Name of Unit	$ Amount of Proposals	$ Amount of Indirect Costs	Project Directors/Total Submissions
Center for Training & Development	94,257	5,670	P. Rice(13)
Library Special Collections	2,500	0	N. Baird
Totals:-2 Units	96,757	5,670	2 staff submitted 14 proposals

Table 11b: Proposals Submitted by Support Units Affiliated with Academic Colleges

Three support units in academic colleges submitted proposals amounting to $4,549,304 which included $268,498 in indirect costs proposed. These proposals were submitted by 3 project directors and represented 8 projects. Compared to last year the dollar amount of proposals was $3,740,375 more.

Name of Unit	$ Amount of Proposals	$ Amount of Indirect Costs	Project Directors/ Total Submissions
Educational Talent Search	255,666	18,938	T. Ward
Institute for Economic Development and Public Service	38,000	1,306	S. House(2)
Center for Training and Technical Assistance Services	4,255,638	248,254	C. Mendel(5)
3 Units	4,549,304	268,498	3 Project Directors; 8 Projects

Table 12. Proposals Submitted Fourth Quarter FY 97 by Proposal Type

A quarter of the dollar amount of proposals submitted supported Research, whereas 11% of the dollar amount supported research last year. The dollar amount of research proposals in this FY was $1 million more than last year. There were 13 fewer proposals for Instruction than last year, and the dollar amount was $1,434,452 less. There were 2 fewer Public Service proposals than last year but the dollar amount this year was $4,094,144 more.

Proposal Type(By program classification numbers)	# of Proposals	% of Total Proposals	$ Amount of Proposals	% of $ Amount	$ Amount of Indirect Costs
1.0 Instruction	20	29	562,713	6	30,189
2.0 Research	17	25	3,231,592	34	325,893
3.0 Public Service	31	46	5,717,086	60	316,989
8.1 Scholarships	0	0	0	0	0
Total:	68	100	9,511,391	100	673,071

Table 13: Proposals Submitted Fourth Quarter FY 1997 by Agency Type

There were 3 more Federal proposals for $4,296,274 more than last year. There were 3 more proposals to state agencies for $412,266 more than last year. There were 13 fewer proposals to other public agencies for $353,428 less than last year. There was the same number of proposals to foundations but for $210,349 less than last year.

Agency Type	# of Proposals	% of Total Proposals	$ Amount of Proposals	% of $ Amount	$ Amount of Indirect Costs
1. Federal	22	33	8,283,446	87	569,023
2. State	26	38	877,831	9	84,406
3. Other Public	18	26	312,614	3	19,642
4. Foundations	2	3	37,500	1	0
Total:	68	100	9,511,391	100	673,071

Table 14: Top Ten Sponsors In Proposals Submitted Fourth Quarter FY 97

30% of the proposals were submitted to ten sponsors. These top ten sponsors constituted 5% more than the number of proposals to the top 10 last year. Then, the number of submissions to the top ten was 25%. The dollar value of proposals to the top ten sponsors constituted 89% of the total dollars proposed. Last year the dollar value was 76%. Federal sponsors were conspicuous among the top ten. Exactly 91% of the indirect costs proposed were submitted to the top ten sponsors below, which was 40% over last year.

Agency	# of Proposals	% of Total Proposals	$ Amount of Proposals	% of $ Amount	$ of Indirect Costs
1. HHS-Federal	4	6	4,172,307	44	242,689
2. NASA-Federal	2	3	1,042,017	11	11,473
3. U.S. Dept. of Education	3	4	945,399	10	56,126
4. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture	1	1	589,199	6	68,108
5. Dept. of Defense EPSCoR)-Federal	2	3	586,270	6	113,596
6. Environmental Protection Agency-Federal	1	1	384,836	4	16,096
7. Kentucky Dept. of Education-State	5	7	345,536	4	6,738
8. National Institutes of Health-Federal	2	3	215,417	2	39,197
9. Electronic Power Research Institute-State	1	1	113,174	1	29,929
10. Illinois Clean Coal Institute-State	1	1	113,174	1	29,929
Totals:	22	30	8,507,329	89	613,881

Table 15: Indirect Costs in Proposals Submitted Fourth Quarter FY 97

Indirect costs were included in 38 of the 68 proposals submitted (56%).

College or Unit	Amount of Indirect Costs Proposed Fourth Quarter FY97
College of Education and Behavioral Sciences	323,926
Ogden College of Science, Technology, and Health	329,213
Potter College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences	12,906
Other Units	5,670
College of Business Administration	1,306
Total:	673,021

COST SHARING IN GRANTS AWARDED FOURTH QUARTER FY 97

Cost sharing by the university reflects full costing of budgets and enables accurate cost sharing budget projections. During the Fourth Quarter FY 1997, $315,485, or 14% above the $2,328,645 awarded by external sponsors, consisted of WKU cost sharing as Table 16 shows. The OSP Contributions accounts contributed 16% of the total costs WKU shared in awards. Adding the university cost sharing to the awards from external sponsors means that the total amount of cash awards was $2,644,130. The university cash cost shared 45% less than in the previous year's Fourth Quarter.

Table 16: Summary of Cash Cost Sharing Awarded by WKU Fourth Quarters FY 95-97

The table above discloses several points. Of the 58 awards for Fourth Quarter FY 97, 10, or 17%, carried cost sharing obligations. Table 17 depicts the distribution and amounts of cost sharing for the Fourth Quarter compared to other quarters. Much less cost sharing was awarded Fourth Quarter this year in total dollar amount than in FY 96.

Table 17. Cost Sharing in Grants Awarded FY 96 & 97

Table 18: Cost Sharing in Awards from Sponsored Programs Contributions Accounts, Fourth Quarter FY 97

As the Table 16 above shows, $51,367 was awarded out of Sponsored Programs Contributions Accounts in Fourth Quarter FY 97. Four awards drew upon the contributions accounts, which constituted 7% of the 58 total awards.

FY/ Qtr

# Awds

Instruction Account No. 2-11001

Research Account No. 2-11501

Public Service Account No. 2-18001

FY		96	97	98	96	97	98	99&00	96	97	98
96/1	19	1116	0	0	7500	3000	0	0	0	0	0
96/2	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	29450	3606	0
96/3	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1782	10458
96/4	24	6000	66441	0	0	19699	2500	2500	0	0	11844
Tot:	57	7116	66441	0	7500	22699	2500	2500	29450	5388	22302
97/1	14	0	66441	0	0	19699	17500	2500	24028	20000	20000
97/2	6	0	0	0	0	10805	0	0	0	51486	0
97/3	1	0	0	4950	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
97/4	4	0	0	25079	0	0	334	666	0	0	25288
Tot:	25	0	66441	30029	0	30504	17834	3166	24028	71486	45288

Indirect Cost Sharing in Awards Fourth Quarter FY 97

Indirect cost sharing occurs when the current negotiated rate of 54% of salaries is used for cost sharing (22% when over half of a project will occur off campus.) Generally, the amount of indirect money cost shared is the difference between 54% of salaries and the maximum indirect cost rate that sponsors will allow. The University will show $36,782 in indirect cost sharing for Fourth Quarter FY97. Table 19 indicates departments that received awards with indirect cost sharing obligations during Fourth Quarter FY97 and the amounts. For comparisons over the past three years, in Fourth Quarter FY96 eight units indirect cost shared $240,628; and in Fourth Quarter FY95 one support unit cost shared $9,767.

Table 19: Indirect Cost Sharing in Awards in Fourth Quarter FY 97

COST SHARING IN PROPOSALS SUBMITTED FOURTH QUARTER FY 97

In addition to the $9,511,391 external funds requested, $623,081 was proposed as university cost sharing. The sum of these numbers equals the total proposal budgets for Fourth Quarter FY 97--$10,134,472. This amount was proposed in 15 proposals, or 22% of the 68 proposals. This cost sharing amount is $412,764 more than last year. (Last year's Fourth Quarter cost sharing in proposals was $210,317. To date, 5 of the 15 proposals are funded amounting to $34,478 of the $623,081 proposed in cost sharing. Six of the 15 proposals (9% of the 68 total proposals) carried cost sharing obligations from the OSP Contributions accounts. To date 1 has been funded for 1,000 from OSP Contributions. Table 20 includes breakdowns for proposed cost sharing for Fourth Quarter FY97 and comparisons with Fourth Quarters the previous two years.

Table 20: Cost Sharing in Proposals Fourth Quarter 1997

Table 21: Cost Sharing of Proposals from Sponsored Programs Contributions Accounts Fourth Quarter 1997

14 percent, or $89,600 of the total of $623,081 cost shared for proposals came from the three Sponsored Programs Contributions accounts as shown below.

FY/Qtr	Account Type	FY97	FY98	FY99	FY00	Total
971	Instruction	300	0	0	0	300
972	Instruction	0	14730	0	0	14730
973	Instruction	0	1700	0	0	1700
974	Instruction	0	0	0	0	0
Total	Instruction	300	16430	0	0	16730
971	Research	2000	68000	0	0	70000
972	Research	1459	4328	0	0	6087
973	Research	0	66899	0	0	66899
974	Research	0	73934	15333	333	89600
Total	Research	3459	213161	15333	333	232586
971	Public Serv.	15285	11029	0	0	26314
972	Public Serv.	37570	1600	1600	0	40770
973	Public Serv.	0	0	0	0	0
974	Public Serv.	0	0	0	0	0
Total	Public Serv.	52855	12629	1600	0	67084
Grand Total	All Accounts	56614	242220	16933	333	316100

Table 22. Indirect Cost Sharing in Proposals Fourth Quarter FY 97

Indirect costs sharing proposed is broken out in Table 22. The $147,647 proposed in indirect cost share this year is $136,456 above last year.

Quarter/FY	Amount of Indirect Cost Sharing
Fourth Quarter 95	134,258
Fourth Quarter 96	11,191
Fourth Quarter 97	147,647
Totals:	293,096

AFFILIATION AGREEMENTS BETWEEN WESTERN AND EXTERNAL AGENCIES

The Office of Sponsored Programs assisted 5 academic departments with coordinating 95 affiliation agreements. All were with external agencies to initiate and continue student internship programs. These agreements enable faculty members and students to interact with professionals throughout the region to enhance curriculum. A breakdown by department of this activity for the year to date is depicted in Table 23 below. There were 32 more affiliation agreements than in the Fourth Quarter last year and 68 more than two years ago.

Table 23. Affiliation Agreements by Department, Fourth Quarter FY 97

SUBGRANT ACTIVITIES FOURTH QUARTER FY97

WKU awarded or extended twelve subgrants to other universities for $13,000. Three were new subgrants and 9 were extensions. Ten subgrants were awarded or extended to researchers at the University of Kentucky through the University of Kentucky Research Foundation, one subgrant each at Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Louisville were extended.

ACTIVITIES OF THE OFFICE OF SPONSORED PROGRAMS DURING FOURTH QUARTER FY 97

OSP Web Site: The OSP Web site contains information about OSP staff to contact, current announcements of changes in protocols by sponsors, new considerations for preparing and administering grants and contracts, the mission and resources of the OSP, SPIN Online to find sponsors, resources, regulations and links to all Federal agencies and many Foundations. The Home Page links you to the Foundation Center, which, in turn, will link you to many other foundations. Statistics about the Commonwealth of Kentucky to help strengthen need statements in proposals are available through this link. Another vital link from the OSP Home Page is to the Kentucky Department of Education. To access any of these links, merely click on contents of interest. The address is http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Support/SponsPrg/grants/home.htm

Grant Newsletter: The newsletter, local.grants, was initiated during the first quarter of FY 97. Each issue of "local.grants" contains a main theme to help faculty, staff and students with developing and administering their grants. The first issue in September highlighted how the OSP can help the grants community. The second issue in October was headlined "Funding for Undergraduate Institutions." In the Second Quarter, issues focused on "Industry and University Collaboration" and "Funding Sources for Undergraduate Institutions". One newsletter was disseminated during the Third Quarter. It focused on "On-line Resources for Proposals Writers. Each issue contains good-to-know information for grant writers such as new web sites, policies and procedures and program descriptions and deadlines. Faculty and staff may contribute information. Pamela Napier, the Sponsored Programs Information Coordinator, composes local.grants. The next newletter is slated to come out during first quarter FY 98 and it will welcome new faculty and provide agency updates among other items.

Monthly Reports of Proposals and Awards: Beginning in September of 1996, the OSP began to compile and disseminate a list of faculty and staff who submitted proposals to external sponsors and received awards. It is distributed to the grants community just after the tenth of each month and a list of awards is published in On Campus. Copies disseminated this quarter may be found in the Appendices to this report.

1. Pre-Award Activities. Grant Workshops: Two additional faculty members attended the workshop to enhance their knowledge. The OSP staff presented the annual two-week workshop to 4 teams of faculty. Each team was composed of two faculty members from two different colleges. This was the third annual workshop funded by the Academic Deans and hosted by the Center for Teaching and Learning. The workshops covered funding sources on the Internet and the contents and links on and from the OSP Home Page. Participants learned to use the computerized Sponsored Programs Information Network (SPIN), searched for funding sources on the Internet and learned the elements of a grant proposal. In addition to teaching about grant information on the Internet and how to retrieve it, the workshop consisted of submissions of grants and a review and discussion by a panel of experts drawn from various programs. Group reviews of the elements of the proposals proved to be a highlight of the workshop and will be a feature of future workshops. The participants evaluated the workshop at 95% successful.

Grant workshop for Public School Personnel. The OSP presented the Basic Grants Workshop to 36 public school teachers and administrators from over 15 districts in the region on June 23 at the Institute for Economic Development and Public Service. The workshop was hosted and funded by the Green River Regional Education Consortium.

The OSP Development and Information Coordinators presented the OSP web site and SPIN to the Department of Economics on the afternoon of June 24.

SPIN Searches: During Fourth Quarter FY 1997, 50 searches for potential sponsors were conducted for faculty, staff and graduate students by Sponsored Programs staff.

Grant development meetings about grants at different stages occurred with 28 faculty and staff members and students from Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry, Consumer and Family Sciences, Counseling Services Center, Economics, Educational Television Service, Engineering Technology, English, Finance and CIS, Geography and Geology, the Library, Physics and Astronomy, Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies, Psychology, Teacher Education, and TRIO.

Email Network: 113 grant announcements were emailed to faculty and staff on targeted Sponsored Programs mailing lists. These messages contained announcements for new grant competitions, deadlines for submissions, tips on writing to various sponsors, and recent compliance regulations as revised or initially incorporated by agencies. The community was informed when comments were requested by various government agencies during the formulation of new policies

2. Post-Award Activities. About 20 post-award meetings were held with numerous project directors about budgets, modifications, carry over funds, extensions, and final reports. The following table indicates the number of charts of accounts established this quarter.

Table 24. Charts of Accounts

3. New Sources about Grant Writing. Writing Grant Proposals: A Resource Guide, was compiled by OSP staff during the Fourth Quarter of FY96. This 70 page booklet addresses why grants are developed, how one can tell a good proposal from a not-so-good attempt, pre-proposal steps, working with program officers at sponsors, a checklist that grant reviewers use, same proposal letters for foundations, sample budget, and a proposal writing short course. Grants: A Bibliography of Selected Resources Available in the Helm Library Reference Area Grants Information Center, is available to complement SPIN. The Bibliography was made available on the Sponsored Programs Home Page. Moreover, the Reference Section in the Library contains publications of the Foundations Center and manuals about grant writing. Molly Daniel, Sponsored Programs Development Coordinator compiled Selected Kentucky Foundations to complement Grants: A Bibliography . . . mentioned above. Selected Kentucky Foundations is a directory that all Western grants writers will want to review while finding sponsors, since opportunities for funding increases with geographical proximity to Western. Personal copies are available upon request from the Office of Sponsored Programs at extension 4652 or by email to any OSP staff member.

4. Human Subjects of Research (HSRB). Eight projects were approved by the Human Subjects Review Board during Fourth Quarter FY 97. The level of approval is shown in the table below. The Human Subjects Review Board met on the third Friday of each month. Expedited and Exempted level applications are considered in the meantime by the Chair and Coordinator of the HSRB. All human subjects informations, links to federal sources and application forms are available on the OSP Home Page.

Human Subjects Review Board Actions

5. Coordination with the General Representative in Washington, D.C. Workforce development, status of VA/HUD appropriations, and the appropriations report for funding targets are initiatives being pursued.

6. Resources Strategy Group. A meeting was held with the new development officers to explain the OSP mission and exchange ideas of mutual support.

7. The Guide to the Preparation of Grants and Contracts may be found on the OSP Home Page.

8. Policy Formation. The OSP is working with the Director of Budget and Management Information to revise the indirect cost policy. The revision will incorporate changes from the revised A-21 circular of May 8, 1996. Quarterly allocations of indirect costs recovery is another issue under consideration.

9. Searches. None for the OSP. The Director of the OSP served on the search committee for the Director of Continuing Education and Center for Training and Development.

10. Professional Development Activities of the OSP Staff. The OSP staff members attended the State Grant's Officer's Meeting hosted by the University of Kentucky on May 29 and 30 in Lexington. Numerous topics were discussed. A highlight was a presentation by the NSF EPSCoR staff on co-funding procedures. The UK STAIRS program for transmitting grant announcements and maintaining pre-award data was introduced and a later meeting to present the program was discussed. A legislative update was given by Bill Schweri, the governmental relations director at UK. The entire OSP staff registered to attend a team-building workshop, to be held in the fourth quarter, to be sponsored by the Department of Human Resources.

The Director of the OSP attended the National Council of University Research Administrator's Region III Conference in New Orleans from April 19-23 and chaired a session on surveying how faculty find funding sources. He also attended a follow-up reception for new faculty.

The OSP staff attended the afternoon Team Building Workshop hosted by the Office of Human Resources on April 16.

The OSP Development Coordinator attended the one-day state EPSCoR meeting on May 5.

The OSP offices were painted.

The OSP was visited by two prospective faculty members for the Department of Physical Education and Recreation during on campus interviews.

11. Task Forces. University Records.

12. Intellectual Property Committee. A commercialization agreement document was created and approved.

13. Conflict of Interest Review Committee. This committee met to consider one case during the Fourth Quarter.

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