Our teams

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Who we are

Team: 90+ employees and students

Vision

Provide best-in-class service in support of ASU’s rapidly growing Knowledge Enterprise.

Get in touch

Location:

Centerpoint Building at 660 S. Mill Ave., Tempe, AZ 85281

Departments:

Research Administration
Research Integrity and Assurance

Organization structure

Research Operations

Heather Clark – Assistant Vice President
Heather.Christina.Clark@asu.edu
480-965-1427

Sponsored Projects and Research Admin System

Nick Petersen – Director, Post-Award Services
Jessica Robins – Director, Pre-Award Services

Research Compliance

Kristy Macdonald – Associate Director, Office of Research Integrity and Assurance
Nancy Henderson – Associate Director, Institutional Compliance and Regulatory Affairs

Strategic Cross-Functional Support

Deb Murphy – Director, Research Integrity
Jenny Dunaway – Content and Knowledge Strategist
Valerie Keim – Research Operations Manager
Deirdre Egan Executive Admin

Contracting Services

Bob Weidenbaum, Contracts Manager

How we can help

Our services include:

  • Proposal preparation and processing.
  • Award negotiation and acceptance.
  • Award setup and project accounting.
  • Post-award administration.
  • Cash management.
  • Cost analysis and compliance.
  • Compliance with all applicable university, sponsor, ABOR, state and federal requirements, standards and regulations.
  • Regulatory compliance and risk management.

Research Operations Team services

Pre-award Services

Jessica Robins, Director – Pre-Award Services

Email for proposals not assigned in ERA: proposalandnegotiation@asu.edu.

The Sponsored Proposals team’s purpose is to meet the request of sponsors with management of the administrative aspects of proposed projects to award, while minimizing risks, administrative delays and ensuring compliance with federal, state, ASU terms and conditions.

  • Provides advice and assistance on pre-award issues
  • Supports RA staff in proposal precision
  • Reviews critical proposal items
  • Authorizes proposals on behalf of institution

Email for:

  • Assistance with the Enterprise Research Administration system (ERA): Review the ERA Systems page
  • General questions from Research Advancement Administrators: rahelp@asu.edu 
  • Proposals and questions from PIs and proposal teams in assigned RAS-supported units: ras@asu.edu 

The primary role of the Research Advancement Services (RAS) team is to provide pre-award research administration leadership in an environment of ambitious research growth, innovative process improvement, and gold-standard customer service.

  • Develops proposals and provides guidance on award change requests for assigned units (ras@asu.edu) 
  • Supports units with RA vacancies, leaves, and those experiencing a surge in proposals for a given deadline, as capacity permits (rahelp@asu.edu, fees may apply)
  • Creates materials for dissemination one-on-one and in seminar/workshop-type environments for the benefit of assigned RAS-support units (faculty, unit staff), and research advancement administrators.
  • Provides guidance on “how to” questions from unit RA staff (rahelp@asu.edu)
  • Supports the ERA by providing assistance to units with questions and technical issues regarding ERA Proposals

RAS Team Supervisors

  • Elise Miller and Colleen Trompeter
  • Biodesign Institute Research Advancement and Development.

Contacting Services

Bob Weidenbaum – Contracts Manager

  • Contracts and subcontracts.
  • Industry Agreements Group (IAG).

Email for proposal/agreements not assigned in ERA: Industryagreements@asu.edu 

The Industry Agreements Group’s purpose is to process proposals and contracts with Industry partners and serves a liaison with ASU’s Technology Transfer Office to provide recommendations and help in the decision-making process on intellectual property-related matters. The office helps mitigate risks and aims to increase the revenues for the organization while ensuring compliance with ASU’s obligation to the state and federal laws.

  • Provides advice and assistance on pre-award issues for Industry proposals
  • Supports RA staff in proposal development for Industry proposals
  • Reviews and submits proposals to industry sponsors
  • Reviews, negotiates and executes incoming industry research agreements, non-disclosure agreements and material transfer agreements

Research Compliance

Nancy Henderson – Associate Director, Institutional Compliance and Regulatory Affairs

For general questions and assistance, email research.integrity@asu.edu or call 480-965-6788. 

ORIA provides resources to researchers to ensure research is performed with the highest ethical standards, safely, and in compliance with all applicable regulations and policies.

  • Provides education and outreach on compliance areas
  • Utilizes efficient processes to make compliance as easy as possible for the regulated community
  • Supports institutional compliance committees for
    • Human Subjects (IRB)
    • Animals (IACUC)
    • Biosafety (IBC)
    • Conflict of Interests
    • Export Controls and Security
    • Responsible Conduct of Research
    • Scientific Diving

Post-award Services

Nick Petersen – Associate Director, Award Management

Email for questions and inquiries on post-award items or processes: Contact the AMT Customer Service Liaison.

The Award Management Team provides post-award administrative support and guidance to ASU unit faculty and staff, while minimizing risks and administrative delays; ensuring compliance with federal, state, and ASU terms and conditions; and serving as a liaison to sponsors.

  • Sets up awards and award modifications
  • Prepares financial invoicing and reporting to sponsors
  • Submits non-fiscal reporting such IP and equipment
  • Determines allowability of expenses, requesting approval from sponsor where needed
  • Reviews and approves cost transfers including accounting adjustments and journals
  • Processes subaward invoices and perform closeouts
  • Provides post-award support to RA staff and Business Operations Managers
  • Supports the ERA (era@asu.edu) by providing assistance to units with questions and technical issues regarding ERA Awards

For additional information about working with the Award Management Team, see the FAQ.

The Fiscal Oversight Team obtains economies of scale by aggregating post-award functions that are not award specific. FOT acts as the institutional official for the following areas:

  • Audit and monitoring – Facilitates complete, precise and appropriate responses with the least amount of disruption to ongoing operations.
  • Costing analysis – Oversees federal rate negotiation, recharge center support, salary cap monitoring and additional pay reviews.
  • Sponsored payroll review – Reviews sponsored payroll and after-the-fact interim compensation charges based on budget estimates.
  • Cash management – Facilitates timely, accurate and complete payments through collections, electronic invoicing, draws and related activities.
  • Risk management – Reviews focused expenditure support and monitors subrecipients
  • Closeouts – Performs award and financial account closeouts

Team structure contacts:

Metrics

Research Operation Metrics

Calendar Year20222023Metric
Proposals submitted3,5633,864NA
Agreements processed3,3963,598NA
Financial reporting97%95%>95%
Activations8 days9 days<10 days
Modifications15 days20 days<35 days