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University of Northern Colorado > OSP > Staff >    

The Office of Sponsored Programs Staff Michele Schwietz Director Phone: 351-2161 Fax: 351-1934 michele.schwietz@unco.edu         As the new Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs, Dr. Michele S. Schwietz comes to the University of Northern Colorado with 27 years of higher education and research administration experience.  At Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) – a public, doctoral granting university – Michele served as Assistant Dean for Research in the School of Graduate Studies and Research.  In that capacity, Michele worked closely with faculty, staff and students to promote research and scholarship.  She co-chaired the Faculty Professional Development Council; served as a University Senator and as a member of the University Senate Research Committee that awards up to $155,000 in internal funds annually; chaired the Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects (IRB); co-chaired the Undergraduate Scholars Forum; and had other responsibilities related to sponsored research and graduate education.  Michele previously served as Interim Associate Dean for Research for five years while IUP restructured their research enterprise.  As Interim Associate Dean she provided leadership for the Office of Grants and Sponsored Research, the Institute for Research and Community Service, and the Applied Research Lab.  During her tenure in that position, external funding to the university increased from $7.9 million to $13 million.  Michele has worked extensively with faculty and staff in the preparation of grant proposals to external funding agencies, and has been involved in numerous successful initiatives. Michele received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in Social and Comparative Analysis of Education with a specialization in International and Development Education; a Master of Arts in Student Affairs in Higher Education, and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  Michele published a book, Internationalization of the Academic Profession: Faculty Attitudes, Beliefs, and Involvement in Public Universities in Pennsylvania in 2008; received the Harold E. Josephson Award for professional promise in international education from the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA) in 2006, and received a grant from the University of Pittsburgh to fund her dissertation research.  Michele is responsible for leadership of the sponsored programs office and in developing initiatives to promote involvement in externally funded projects. Please feel free to contact her with any questions of suggestions you may have about sponsored programs development and administration at UNC.   Arlene Hansen Associate Director Phone: 351-1932 Fax: 351-1934 arlene.hansen@unco.edu Arlene became a member of the UNC community in 1998 when she was hired by the UNC Research Corporation as the Assistant Director for Pre-award, and she now serves as Associate Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs. Arlene came to UNC from Cornell University where she first spent five years in the Office of Sponsored Programs, providing pre-award and post-award non-financial support for faculty from all disciplines of the Agricultural and Life Sciences, as well as Chemical Engineering, Anthropology, English, Mathematics, and Philosophy. She was then recruited by Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Office of Research to promote and expand the grant portfolio of the College. During the six years Arlene spent with the CALS Research Office, the indirect costs recovered from grants increased by nearly 50%.  Prior to her time at Cornell, Arlene worked with the Arkansas Industrial Development Corporation in the State’s Community Development and Block Grant Program, and with the Arkansas Department of Local Services in the State’s Job Training Partnership and Comprehensive Employment and Training Programs. If you stop by Arlene’s office in Kepner Hall, you’ll see a name plate outside her door that reads, “Arlene Hansen – Employee of the Month.”  It was presented to her by, then Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton.   Contact Arlene for assistance with: developing ideas into potentially fundable projects finding grant programs that are appropriate for your projects interpreting Requests for Proposals or other types of proposal guidelines, or to request a summary or outline of a set of guidelines interpreting sponsor policies and regulations governing proposal submission and grant administration running a Quality Review Circle to evaluate your proposal prior to submission learning the "business" of grantsmanship learning to write high quality proposals Also contact Arlene if you have questions about the OSP website reports of UNC grant and proposal activity.    Sherry May OSP Submissions Specialist     & IRB Administrator Phone: 351-1910 Fax 351-1934 sherry.may@unco.edu Sherry joined UNC in 1987 as a member of the Graduate School staff. She became a full time sponsored programs employee a short time later, and has been a big part of the growth and success of the University's externally funded grants enterprise since then.  With over 20 years of experience in sponsored programs, Sherry's current expertise lies in electronic proposal submission, ranging from the National Science Foundation's state-of-the-art Fastlane system to Grants.gov, the portal for proposal submissions for many other federal agencies. Sherry is a member of Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research, a national organization that promotes ethical standards in research including the use of human subjects. She has also been a member of the National Council of University Research Administrators and the Society of Research Administrators. Contact Sherry for assistance with: completing a sponsor's proposal forms (excluding budget forms) and certifications checking proposals for completeness and compliance with the sponsor's requirements submission of proposals to external sponsors, whether through an electronic submission system such as Grants.gov or NSF Fastlane, or through U.S. mail or Fed Ex, or a simple email submission questions about the Annual Scholarly Activity Travel internal grant program questions about the Faculty Research and Publications Board and the Provost Fund grant programs securing IRB approval for conducting research using human subjects at UNC   Mona Castor Senior OSP Budget &      Post-Award Specialist Phone: 351-1912 Fax: 351-1934 mona.castor@unco.edu Contact Mona for assistance with developing proposal budgets coordinating budget development for proposals that include other institutions or organizations negotiating contract terms and conditions with funding organizations developing subcontracts for collaborating organizations that are UNC sub recipients post-award administration of grants and contracts, including getting restricted and matching fund accounts set up for your awards handling business transactions such as hiring personnel or purchasing equipment on a grant tracking project expenditures and monitoring personnel time and effort submitting post-award requests for modifications such as no-cost-extensions, budget revisions, and changes in Principal Investigators closing out your award when the project is completed   April Flores OSP Budget &      Post-Award Specialist Phone: 351-1917 Fax: 351-1934 april.flores@unco.edu April began her position as Budget & Post-Award Specialist in the Office of Sponsored Programs in September, 2009.  She comes to UNC with a background in accounting and in strong customer service.  April’s most recent professional experience was with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Boulder, where she was responsible for accounting in addition to monitoring grants and contracts.  Prior to NOAA, April worked in customer service at New Frontier Bank, coordinating programs and activities of the “Frontier 50 Club” and providing business development services with organizations throughout Northern Colorado.  April’s professional experience includes five years of accounting experience at Morning Fresh Farms in Platteville, and six years in customer support and as a technical support team manager at Sykes Enterprises in Greeley.  April earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Accounting from Aims Community College.  She looks forward to working with UNC faculty and staff and in providing budget and post-award support on externally funded projects.  She is currently receiving training and soon will be assuming greater budget and post-award responsibilities.    Office of Sponsored Programs Front Desk Telephone: 351-1907

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