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NIU announces OSP-GFA merger

May 7, 2015

Photo of the word "research" in the dictionaryNorthern Illinois University announced the merger of the Office of Sponsored Projects and Grants Fiscal Administration under the Division of Research and Innovation Partnerships, effective May 1. The name of the new unit will be determined soon.

The merger was a collaborative effort between the Division of Research and Innovation Partnerships and the Division of Finance and Administration to align NIU’s sponsored programs’ infrastructure with the university’s strategic imperative to grow NIU as a leading public research university while also holding down administrative overhead costs.  The long-term goals of the merger are:

  • More convenient support for faculty in planning and managing their sponsored funding;
  • Streamline grants administration processes to reduce administrative burden;
  • Increase administrative efficiencies to help faculty in meeting sponsored program goals; and
  • Enhance compliance throughout the sponsored program lifecycle.

The new unit will report to the vice president for Research and Innovation Partnerships through Dara Little, assistant vice president for Research and Sponsored Programs. Little will work closely with the interim vice president for Research and Innovation Partnerships and with the vice president for Finance and Administration, Alan Philips, to develop this new unit to provide high quality research administration support throughout the funding lifecycle. As part of this transition, Kellie Dyslin will be assuming responsibilities for day-to-day pre-award operations, and Craig Mulligan will manage daily post-award operations.

The leadership team will be working closely over the next year to work towards the goals of the merger while maintaining full grants service to the university.  The new unit will retain staff in their existing pre- and post-award specializations, and at this time, faculty can expect to continue working with their established contacts while preparing, submitting and managing awards.