I’m excited to report that it has been a busy year in the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research Administration (OSPRA).  Within OSPRA we have been developing multi-million dollar grant proposals.  Requested funds from grant and contract writing have increased from $4.9 million in FY13 to $13.2 million in the current fiscal year of FY17.  VSU has received over $5.3 million in grant awards in FY17 which has more than doubled the size of our grant and contract portfolio at VSU.  The CAMP (College Assistance Migrant Program) grant award from the Department of Education ($2.1 million) to VSU is one of the largest in the history of VSU.  Our top priority is to support faculty grant writing, whether it is a $1,000 grant or a $1,000,000 grant, but we have a dynamic team in OSPRA that is writing multi-million dollar grant proposals to advance our institution.  Of the more than $13 million in requested funds for grants this year, over $9 million has been written within OSPRA.  We have also worked with the director and faculty fellows of the Center for Applied Social Sciences on half a dozen research projects with local governments and nonprofits this year.

We are launching several crowdfunding pilot projects this summer, and we will be distributing information at the start of the fall semester on how faculty can pursue crowdfunding opportunities for their research as well as research with undergraduate and graduate students.

I wish you a wonderful conclusion to the spring semester and a productive as well as relaxing summer.