Getting to know JMU Sponsored Programs

James Madison University’s academic year kicks off with the University Welcome, an event that highlights institutional priorities and celebrates the hard work of JMU employees through its Purple Star Awards. At this year’s welcome, the teams in Research Development and Pre-Award Services, as well as Sponsored Programs Financial Administration, groups that often work behind the scenes to connect researchers with funding, were honored with the Leading Together Award. From the award’s description: “This individual or team leads purposefully, intentionally, and with integrity to enact needed long-term change with the guidance and voices of all constituents.” When we spoke with Lauren Pearce, Interim Director of Research Development and Pre-Award Services, and Donna Crumpton, Director of Sponsored Programs Financial Administration, they addressed the significant work being done in their areas that earned their teams this singular recognition.

Answers edited for length and clarity.

REDI: You lead three areas within the REDI division – Research Development, Pre-Award Services, and Sponsored Programs Financial Administration. What are some of the services these offices provide? How do you work together to support faculty and staff through the different phases of a sponsored program?

Pearce: The areas I oversee are the Office of Research Development and the Office of Sponsored Programs-Administrative Services. Both of these work closely with members of the JMU community who are interested in and preparing applications for external funding. At a high level, the Office of Research Development focuses more on strategic support to help Principal Investigators (PIs) put together a competitive proposal, while the Office of Sponsored Programs-Administrative Services focuses on ensuring the proposal is compliant with JMU and sponsor regulations.

At a more concrete level, the Office of Research Development helps people identify programs to apply for, builds timelines and checklists to help proposal development go smoothly, and offers a variety of trainings. We also review materials and provide feedback as staffing allows. We have research development associates or managers serving most colleges so that you are being assisted by a peer who has a closer understanding of your field.

The Office of Sponsored Programs-Administrative Services…assist[s] you in building a proposal that follows…sponsor, JMU and state regulations – as soon as you reach out to us, we assign a grants specialist to assist you, especially with developing your budget. However, we do more than that. As the authorized organizational representatives, we review all proposal materials to ensure compliance and are responsible for their actual submission, which is why we ask for final versions at least five business days before the due date. As part of making sure we are following JMU rules, we…help PIs navigate the internal approval process as well as oversee the limited submission process when JMU is only allowed to submit a limited number of applications. Our website also has some of the other services we assist with, like research contracts.

Crumpton: The Office of Sponsored Programs Financial Administration (SPFA)… assists faculty and staff in the financial administration of external funding by providing support with award set-up, invoicing and federal draw requests, financial approval of expenses, budget management, and award closeout, while ensuring compliance with international, federal, state and agency guidelines as well as university policies. SPFA prepares and submits financial reports, handles sponsor approval for budget revisions and no-cost extensions, as well as other necessary sponsor prior approvals. SPFA administers the electronic system, Maximus, for effort reporting. Additionally, SPFA offers training to both PIs and administrative staff to ensure successful project administration and compliance with all regulations.

REDI: How do you partner with academic departments and other JMU divisions to ensure both faculty and staff utilize these resources?

Pearce: We are here to help JMU faculty and staff find the resources they need to accomplish their great ideas, and so we are always looking for ways to partner across campus. As mentioned, the Office of Research Development has college-based research development associates and managers, which we implement in partnership with the deans’ offices. We also frequently come to department, unit or other meetings to discuss funding opportunities or run specialized trainings. These are frequently recorded for our website and are available at: https://www.jmu.edu/research/development/proposal-support/workshops.shtml.

The Office of Sponsored Programs-Administrative Services has built close relationships with many AUHs and deans’ offices to facilitate quick approvals of proposals, and we are continuing to build on that. Additionally, we have transitioned to a new proposal management system (Cayuse at https://jmu.app.cayuse.com/) which we hope will make the internal approval process smoother. We have a user guide as well as a short video guide on our webpage: https://www.jmu.edu/sponsoredprograms/submissions/jmu-internal-process.shtml. We’re also happy to [lead] specialized trainings for departments or units.

REDI: If faculty or staff are unsure if their experience level, discipline or other factors provide them with access to Research Development and Pre-Award Services, what would you tell them?

Pearce: If you are faculty or staff at JMU, then you have access to our services! We assist anyone in the JMU community with finding and applying for external funding for their research, scholarship, creative work or service work. We know that it can be especially intimidating in applying for external funding for the first time, and that’s part of why we’re here to assist. It can also be a challenge finding funding in some disciplines – which is why we have grant calendars on our ORD page: https://www.jmu.edu/research/development/funding.shtml. It never hurts to set up a meeting to talk about your ideas and funding possibilities, so I’d encourage anyone who has an interest in this area to reach out. ORD’s contact form is here: https://forms.office.com/r/miYCzMz87Y. If you’ve identified a program you want to apply to already, you can reach out to OSP-AS via https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Izwz6cfK9EKZiVzuPUp5wNaJs4ValVRInL8P_qS-NGxUM1laMFFXRzNSV1M3RjI3T1pQOE42UklPQSQlQCN0PWcu and we will assign a grants specialist to work with you. 

REDI: Donna, what are some accomplishments from the past year that you’d like to highlight?

Crumpton: During FY25, SPFA staff prepared over 3,000 invoices and, in collaboration with the University Business Office, processed [over] 600…federal draw requests. Together, SPFA invoiced over $26,621,657, while tracking all aspects of accounts receivable. To further support the research enterprise at JMU, SPFA staff approved over 900 travel reimbursements, 1,200-plus procurement transactions and over 1,200 personnel transactions. Finally, in collaboration with the Office of Sponsored Programs – Administrative Services, SPFA set up 156 new sponsored program departments, while financially closing 117 departments. To support compliance services, SPFA prepared 141 financial reports and processed 730 effort forms.

REDI: Lauren, you recently completed your first year at JMU. What observations do you have about the JMU research community?

Pearce: One thing that has really stood out to me is how engaged JMU’s research community is. Whether it’s at the local, state or global level, JMU researchers are building partnerships and doing work that has real-life impact. JMU's sponsored program portfolio also has a…strong service component – as a university, we are very dedicated to benefiting the larger world.

REDI: What can JMU faculty expect from your offices in the coming year? Any programs that folks should pencil into their calendars over the next few weeks?

Pearce: The Office of Sponsored Programs-Administrative Services has recently rolled out the new Cayuse system for managing proposal submission and especially facilitating JMU internal approval. We’ve also completely revamped our website to better serve the JMU community. The Office of Research Development is planning an exciting set of Madison Research Club meetings, and we are also organizing an NSF fall working group following the success of our spring NSF CAREER working group. Also watch for grant-writing intensives, like our NIH grant writing intensive which we held over winter break last year. We are also continually updating our grant calendars, which is important as the federal situation continues to be quite fluid.

As there is a lot of change going on in the funding landscape right now, I want to emphasize that [all] the offices are committed to providing the best service to the JMU community. We know how important the work that everyone does is – and more importantly, we know that so many of you have amazing visions for what your research, scholarship, creative work or service can accomplish. We are here to help you bring that vision to life, even in the challenging and ever-changing circumstances we’re in.