As we enter the new academic year, CARAT is looking forward to providing dedicated research development and award management for CAHSS, and to do so with a responsiveness to the shifting needs and challenges facing our departments, centers, and faculty. We take pride in helping to support the work that you’ve done, the work you continue to do, and the no-doubt vital work you will do in the future.
CARAT has some exciting things happening this year that will bolster this assistance, with new programming, services, and tools to help CAHSS faculty and centers to more successfully navigate the current funding landscape and its demands.
To that end, alongside some much-needed vacation time, CARAT spent the summer forming two internal task forces to create and modify our processes and resources for better pre- and post-award services. The first task force is focused on enhancing our pre-award activities, and the second on bolstering our post-award resources and support.
Here’s some of what we’re working on:
Pre-Award Plans:
- Increased CARAT office hours (online and in-person) for consultations about funding streams, grant program fit and feasibility, and strategies for advancing projects and research;
- Targeted funder/opportunity lists for specific faculty research and disciplines;
- Training sessions for grant writing, award management, and navigating the shifting funding landscape;
- CARAT Orientations for faculty;
- Outreach to Departments and Centers to provide both CARAT overviews as well as information related to the specific needs of the fields involved;
- Webinars dealing responsively with new funding streams and field developments, compliance and award management, and case studies of funded projects;
- New resources and timelines for submitting a proposal.
Post-Award Plans:
- The creation of a new toolkit for awardees that includes a checklist for action items, submission timelines, and detailed instructions for managing your award;
- Pre-award kickoff meetings that address important dates for reporting, budgeting, and compliance, as well as walkthroughs of grant management procedures, timelines, and instructions on how to use Kuali and the ticketing system;
- Targeted, subject-specific tutorial videos for FAQs pertaining to award management, budgets, reporting, and other related items.
The team at CARAT is eager to share the products of this work with the CAHSS community, and we plan to launch several of these efforts this Fall.
We’re also here to listen, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to us directly with any questions, comments, suggestions, or consultation requests:
Request a Consultation (must be logged in to myUMBC)
Hope to see (or speak to) you soon,
Dr. Marc Ruppel
Director, Creative Achievement and Research Administration Team (CARAT)