The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP), was created by the University as a result of the 1987-1988 SACS accreditation visit. ORSP assists faculty and staff in preparing and submitting proposals for both internal and external research funding. ORSP provides a variety of materials and information, including lists of funding sources, grant development assistance, submission guidelines, and compliance information covering governmental and state requirements.

The ORSP office staff consists of:

• An Associate Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs, who coordinates this program.
• A Director
• An Accountant
• An Administrative Assistant
• A Staff Associate
• and four student assistants.

The ORSP has three on-line databases available for faculty use:

• Sponsored Programs Information Network (SPIN), available on-line, allows index-searching by name or research topic;
• SPIN/Matching and Researcher Transferal System (SMARTS), also available on-line, provides a daily update of potential agencies and sources of grants to faculty who request the service.
• Foundation Search is a foundation-only database accessible only in the ORSP office.

A nine-member Faculty Research Council, chaired by the Associate Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs, supervises the disbursement of state research enhancement funds to support research carried out by faculty members within the institution. The Research Council also oversees the formulation of guidelines and the coordination, organization, and active encouragement of faculty research using these state funds.

After faculty members receive research grants or contracts, the Office of Contracts and Grants, controls the budgetary requirements and financial management of the grants or contracts. This office is also responsible for financial compliance with state and sponsor policies and requirements.

Disclaimer: Some of the links on this site lead to information that resides on servers outside of the Office of Research and Special Programs. Thus, ORSP can neither vouch for the accuracy nor the reliability of any of the content that resides on servers that are external to ORSP.