Staff and Agency Responsibilities:

David Schmidt, Assistant Vice President for Research & Economic Development, Grants & Contracts Administration
    Room 100  Twamley Hall      701-777-2505
    (davidschmidt@mail.und.nodak.edu)  

Katrina Landman, Account Tech
     Room 100 Twamley Hall      701-777-4198
     (katrinalandman@mail.und.nodak.edu)

Matching funds reside with the Grants & Contracts Officer that has the primary Federal/Non Federal funding. Federal Flow Through grants and cooperative agreements reside with the Grants and Contracts Officer that handles the prime Federal agency named in the flow through award with the exception of Deapartment of Health and Human Services.

Wayde Anderson, Grants & Contracts Officer
    Room 100  Twamley Hall      701-777-6739
    (waydeanderson@mail.und.nodak.edu) 
Agency Responsibilities:
• Department of Energy EERC Base and EERC JV and JV Matching
• Private Industry - For Profit Business sponsors
• All North Dakota Department of Human Services 

Tina Azure , Grants & Contracts Officer
    Room 100  Twamley Hall      701-777-4154
    (tinaazure@mail.und.nodak.edu) 
Agency Responsibilities:
• Department of Education
• Department of Homeland Security, North Dakota Dept. of Emergency Management
• Foundations
• North Dakota Water Research Institute
• All other cost reimbursable Federal Grants/Cooperative Agreements such as General Service Administration, Department of Labor, Corp. for National and Community Service, Department of Housing and Urban Dev., Department of State, Social Security Adm., US Agency for International Dev., etc.

Chassi Herman , Grants & Contracts Officer
    Room 100  Twamley Hall      701-777-0771
    (chassiherman@mail.und.nodak.edu)
Agency Responsibilities:
• National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Non-Federal funding from ND State Agencies for example ND Dept. of Commerce, North Dakota Dept. of Ag., North Dakota Game and Fish, etc.
• Private Other - Non-Profit Organizations - Non Federal Fixed Price Awards
• Voluntary Health Organizations
• Department of Energy EPSCoR
• National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and Arts (NEA) and North Dakota National Endowment for the Humanities and Arts 

Sally Horner, Grants & Contracts Officer
    Room 100  Twamley Hall      701-777-4152
    (sallyhorner@mail.und.nodak.edu)
Agency Responsibilities:
• Department of Health and Human Services, (including the National Institues of Health (NIH), Health Resources & Services Adm. (HRSA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Administration on Aging (AoA) ...) excluding DHHS Flow Through for which you can contact Christin Nelson
• EPSCoR including NSF, NIH, EPA, and related EPSCoR match 

Kim Keeley , Grants & Contracts Officer
    Room 100  Twamley Hall      701-777-4146
    (kimkeeley@mail.und.nodak.edu)
Agency Responsibilities:
• Department of Energy excluding EERC Base and JV
• Federal and Federal Flow through Fixed Price Contracts

Tom Miller , Grants & Contracts Officer
   Room 100  Twamley Hall      701-777-0770
    (tommiller@mail.und.nodak.edu)
Agency Responsibilities:
• Department of Defense (Army, Navy, Air Force, ...) and Department of Defense, DEPSCoR
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Federal and Federal Flow through Cost Reimbursable Contracts
• Private Other - Non-Private Organizations - Non Federal Cost Reimbursable Awards (including Cities such as the City of Grand Forks, Non ND State Agencies such as the State of Minnesota, American Chemical Society, Northharvest Bean Associations, United Negro College Fund, International, etc.)

Christin Nelson, Grants & Contracts Officer
    Room 100  Twamley Hall      701-777-6738
    (christinnelson@mail.und.nodak.edu)"
Agency Responsibilities:
• Department of Transportation (Fed. Aviation Adm., Fed. Hwy. Adm., ...) 
• Department of Health and Human Services Flow Through (excluding ND Human Services)
• Small Business Administrations (SBA)
• NASA (Goddard, Ames, Glenn, Johnson, Kennedy, Langley, Marshall, Dryden, Stennis, etc.), NASA EPSCoR
• Department of Commerce (EDA, NOAA, ...)

Marsha Tonder, Grants & Contracts Officer
    Room 100  Twamley Hall      701-777-4822
    (marshatonder@mail.und.nodak.edu)
Agency Responsibilities:
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Department of Justice
• United States Department of Agriculture
• Department of Interior (including the US Fish and Wildlife, US Geological Survey, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Parks, ...)

Back to Top

Roles & Responsibilities:

The mission of Grants & Contracts Administration is to assist faculty and staff with proposal budget preparation, proposal review, award negotiation and financial administration of extramural support according to sponsor regulations and guidelines. Grants & Contracts Administration (GCA) facilitates the proposal preparation/review process and award negotiation to ensure that all aspects of the proposal are structured to meet the needs of the Principal Investigator, are compliant with University policy, and meet the requirements of the sponsor. Upon award, GCA performs project monitoring, financial reporting, invoicing, collections, equipment reporting and close out. Training, providing advice/guidance and interpretation of award terms and conditions to internal and external contacts are also part of the department's function.

Grants and Contracts Administration
As early as possible in the grant/contract cycle, a specific grants officer from the GCA staff is assigned to be involved in all aspects of the funding cycle for a particular award.  The assignment of a grants officer is made based on the identity of the potential sponsor, i.e., federal, commercial, foundation, and the type of agreement cost reimburseable or fixed price, etc.

Proposal Preparation
Once a faculty member has made the decision to submit a proposal to an identified sponsor and initiates discussion with Research Development and Compliance (RDC)/Grants and Contracts Administration, a grants officer is assigned to assist in the financial aspects of the submission.  This includes providing consultation on preparing the budget, identifying potential problems in the financial administration of the proposed project (and options for addressing these problems), identifying appropriate sources of cost share (all cost share is mandatory), and interpreting sponsor guidelines.

Proposal Review
All proposals for extramural support must have a financial review by a grants officer before they are signed by an authorized official of the University.  A checklist is attached to the reviewed proposal informing the authorized official that the financial review has been accomplished.  The proposal is then walked to RDC for completion of the administrative review process.

Award Negotiation
A financial officer of the University (grants officer) should be consulted and/or participate when a grant or contract is negotiated.  The negotiation process is usually initiated by the potential sponsor.  Items to be negotiated might include, but are not limited to, scope of work, cost, timing, or other financial considerations.  Only an authorized official of the University has the authority to make commitments on behalf of the institution.  RDC maintains a current list of those authorized to sign on behalf of the institution.

Approved Awards
Upon notification of a funded award (usually from the sponsor), the grants officer will assign a university fund and project number for use on all transactions for this award.  The Principal Investigator (PI) is responsible for ensuring that the costs incurred on the fund are, in fact, relevant project costs.  All grant and contract expenditures must be made according to University policy and/or the terms and conditions of the award.  The more restrictive policy/condition shall govern. In addition to assisting the PI in financial monitoring, the grants officer is responsible for preparing the official financial reports including billings/expenditure reports.  This is usually coordinated with the technical report, which is prepared by the PI. 

Project Changes and/or Rebudgeting
The approvals required for changes to existing awards are determined by the terms and conditions of the award.  All PIs are furnished with a copy of the award document; however, assistance in both interpretation of the terms and conditions of the award and contact with the sponsor is available by contacting the GCA office.  Project changes and/or rebudgeting may require prior approvals from either the sponsor or the institution.

Once the appropriate level of approval has been determined, the grants officer will assist in obtaining the approval. Please note that additional lead time may be necessary if sponsor approval is required.  Planning should include enough time for the sponsor to respond to the request.

Monitoring Existing Awards
The GCA office is responsible for maintaining the Grants Management Modules in PeopleSoft. The modules utilize data from the University accounting system and enable the PI and departmental staff to review information on a daily basis. A PI report, which is a summary of budget and expenditures by project or award number, is available to the PI's on a daily basis. PI's should review their awards at a minumum on a monthly basis. Any questions regarding the content or format of this report should be directed to the GCA office. In addition, faculty and staff have online capability to access information and additional General Ledger reports daily.

Back to Top