The Office of Academic Research and Sponsored Programs has the pre-award research administration responsibility for Ball State University. Broadly speaking, it is responsible for the encouragement and support for research by faculty, students and staff.

Leading and encouraging efforts to secure external support via grants and other funding instruments constitutes the sponsored programs component. The Office is headed by the Interim Associate Provost for Research and Interim Dean of the Graduate School, Dr. Robert Morris.

In meeting its mission, OARSP has been assigned principal responsibility for these major administrative arenas.

• Funding Information Services
• Proposal Development
• Proposal Budgets, Cost-sharing and Clearance
• Research Compliance
• Intellectual Property
• Internal Grants
• Research Recognition and Dissemination
• Research Contacts for Assistance and Policy Issues

Additionally, OARSP supports the work of the Office of  Contracts and Grants, the post-award office for sponsored programs.

RELATED LINKS:

• OARSP History
• OARSP Staff Directory and Proposal Liasions

OARSP STAFF SUPPORT THE FOLLOWING AREAS:

Development of Proposal Concept

A key ingredient to a successful proposal is a good idea, and OARSP staff is available to advise in the formulation of project definition. Central to that process is identification of potential sponsor(s) for projects. Sources available to aid in the search for sponsors include:

• Community of Science (COS):  Ball State University is a member of COS, the most comprehensive source of funding information available on the Web, with more than 23,000 records. 
• EUREKA!:  Faculty may take advantage of being notified of a monthly listing of upcoming deadlines notices from the Grants Resource Center (GRC) .  Those program notices are keyed to the Ball State Eureka database of faculty interests and are routed automatically to individual email accounts.
• Print resources:  Several print directories of private foundations, corporate sponsors, topical or program collections, and state funding sources are present in the information center, as are materials instructive of the grant-writing process.
• The monthly  Research newsletter published by OARSP and circulated to 1,600 faculty and staff.  Research is also available online.

Proposal Preparation

Assistance is available as external proposals are developed, particularly to ensure that the narrative is in keeping with sponsor guidelines and faithful to the intent of the program, foundation priorities, or agency mission.

• Staff can assist in identification of partners and coordination of cross-disciplinary teams when such activity is desirable.
• Resources located at the office can help put together an idea into a more formalized proposal.

Further, OARSP personnel will advise in the development of the proposal budget.

Approval and Submission

University clearance is coordinated by OARSP. All proposals being submitted to an external sponsor must first have internal clearance, which is achieved through the Clearance Sheet.

• Signature approval on the Clearance Sheet includes that of the Project Director(s), the Department Chair(s), the College Dean(s), the Assistant Vice President for Research, and the Director of Contracts and Grants.
• Cost-sharing, assigned time and space, and other BSU contributions are thereby acknowledged and approved.
• The Electronic Clearance sheet is now available to all colleges and departmental units on campus.  Replacing the paper routing form, e-clearance utilizes the Formblaster platform on the web.
• Sufficient time should be allowed for the clearance process.

Prior to submission, OARSP will check the final proposal against the sponsor application guidelines to ensure compliance with font size, number of pages, specialized forms, etc.; staff will duplicate the required number of copies and check to be sure of proper order and quality; finally, mailing will be handled by staff, special care being taken to meet sponsor deadlines.

Regulations, Compliance, and Technology Transfer

Projects which involve the use of human subjects, animals, recombinant DNA molecules, infectious agents, or biohazardous materials need to comply with university and/or federal requirements, and OARSP coordinates these efforts. A research protocol must be submitted to the appropriate compliance committee before the initiation of a project.

• The Institutional Review Board reviews the use of human subjects in research, and IRB approval ensures compliance with federal regulations.
• The Animal Care and Use committee reviews research involving animals.
• The Institutional Biosafety committee reviews protocols in the areas of Recombinant DNA, infectious agents, and biohazardous materials.

Research compliance includes the need to disclose any significant financial conflict of interest an investigator may have pursuant to the funding of an investigator's research or sponsored project.

Finally, the office is responsible for the implementation of the University's Patent and Copyright Policies, receiving disclosures of works of authorship or inventorship and seeing to the transfer of technology to the public.

Internal Grants Programs

A number of programs are funded internally and are administered by OARSP. Intended to provide seed funding for new or pilot projects, the grants serve as an excellent source of funds for initiating projects that will subsequently lead to external funding.

Faculty internal grant programs include:

• New Faculty/Faculty Regular/Faculty Summer Creative Arts
• New Faculty/Faculty Academic Year/Faculty Summer Research
• Faculty Summer Graduate Research Assistantship
• Provost Initiative
• Intellectual Property
• Reprint/Publication Support
• Travel Support for External Funding
• Enhanced Provost Initiative
• Ad Hoc Research
• Ad Hoc Creative Arts

In addition, several student internal grant programs are available, including programs for graduate students, undergraduates, and students at the Indiana Academy and Burris School.

Research Recognition, Events, and Publications

The scholarly, creative, and service-oriented funded projects of members of the academic community are communicated and celebrated in a number of ways by OARSP.

• BeneFacta is the annual publication which highlights the sterling research efforts on the part of representative faculty.
• BeneFacta Day recognizes the accomplishments of all faculty and professional personnel who have been awarded external sponsorship for the previous year.
• Focus on Excellence affords the opportunity for faculty and professional personnel who have been funded internally or externally over the prior three years to present in poster displays the fruits of their efforts to colleagues, students, and the Muncie community.
• The Student Symposium offers a like opportunity to students as does Focus on Excellence to faculty.
• Researcher of the Year holds up a single, superior investigator chosen by campus representatives.
• New Faculty Open House invites new faculty to meet OARSP staff, learn about services offered, and begin to discover funding possibilities for projects.

Workshops and Presentations

Workshops and presentations by OARSP staff may be arranged at any time for research classes and special applied studies.