Pre-Award Administration

The College of Natural Mathematical Sciences (CNMS) offers Pre-award grants administration services to support all grant applications from the proposal development phase to final grant submission.  The pre-award team works closely with the PIs, Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR), Office of Research and Creative Achievement(ORCA),  CNMS business office, Office of Contract Grant Accounting (OCGA), and all federal and non-federal grant sponsors.

Meet the Dean’s Office Administrator for Grant Development & Support:

J. Abarro is the primary CNMS liaison to the Office of Research and Creative Achievement (ORCA, previously OVPR), Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR), Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery, and other grant support services available on campus internally or externally.  Grant support consultations are available by appointment via email at jabarro1@umbc.edu.

Responsibilities include:

  • Identify funding opportunities to support research, equipment, conferences, travel, etc.
  • Develop strategic funding plans to identify the most appropriate funding opportunities to increase proposal submission and yield.
  • Coordinate grant training and development workshops and seminars
  • Provide proposal development support for large scale proposals involving CNMS teams.
    • Provide sponsor specific guidance
    • Provide successful sample proposals upon request
    • Collect and compile large institutional data sets
    • Review large-scale proposals for consistency with sponsor guidelines.

Meet the Pre-Award Proposal Team:

To request assistance, please submit an RT Ticket at  CNMS BC Request
(First time submitting an RT ticket to CNMS BC? Click here for detailed instructions)
Sarah Jackson

Sarah Jackson

Specialist Grants and Contracts

Natural and Mathematical Sciences

University Center 116

sjackson@umbc.edu

+1 410 455 2247

Ghina Arif

Ghina Arif

Specialist Grants & Contracts

Natural and Mathematical Sciences
Sponsored Programs

University Center 116

garif@umbc.edu

+1 410 455 5748

Sarah Jackson (Biology, Mathematics, and Marine Biotechnology, Dean’s office) and Ghina Arif (Physics, Chemistry, Quantum Science Institute) are the departmental specialists who provide expertise and guidance throughout the proposal submission process as the primary liaisons to OSP.  They are primarily responsible for administering and coordinating all grant applications and contract agreements with OSP in preparation for final submission to the sponsor.

Responsibilities include:

Review and interpret sponsor policies and guidelines

Coordinate new PI accounts set up to meet UMBC OSP system requirements and sponsor account registrations Click Here for PI Registration and Trainings Info

Administer the proposal preparation process

    • schedule and facilitate grant planning meetings with the PI
    • provide templates for proposal preparation
    • assist with budget and budget justification preparation
    • review all proposal documents to ensure compliance with sponsor and university policies and guidelines
    • upload and route all proposals in Kuali and sponsor application platforms

Support non-financial post-award grants administration activities, including rebudgeting requests, submitting sub-award invoices, submitting sub-award modifications, submitting pre-award account requests, and submitting no cost extension (NCE) requests to OSP

Note: To request pre-award assistance use the above “CNMS BC Request” button and instruction link.