Academy offers insight on grant process
The University of North Georgia's (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) Office of Sponsored Programs held Grants Academy from June 9-11 at Â鶹ÊÓƵ's Gainesville Campus. Within a cohort of four faculty and staff, the group members were able to learn the basics of every step of the grant process and fine-tune their own ideas.
Courtney Hause, campus victim advocate in Â鶹ÊÓƵ's Department of Public Safety, attended the academy with Mavis, Â鶹ÊÓƵ's crisis intervention therapy dog.
"I wanted to see what's out there, specifically to find grant opportunities to fund some of our community engagement events and victim support," Hause said.
Dr. Mariana Stone, associate professor of Spanish, had attended a previous offering of Grants Academy and found the program even more engaging this time.
"They walk you through the entire process with opportunities to put into practice what they presented," Stone said. "This format allows you to tie the information to something practical that you can use as you plan to go after your own grant."
From the seven 2024 Grants Academy cohort members still at Â鶹ÊÓƵ, four have submitted grant proposals, with three of them awarded. The others are working on submissions. From the 2023 cohort of nine attendees, five submitted grant proposals, with four of those being awarded.
Kelly Millsaps, senior grant specialist for pre-award, led this year's academy. Beyond the success that often comes for participants, she finds the collaborative nature of the academy to be rewarding.
"We see people making connections and talking to each other and learning about their projects," Millsaps said. "It’s a great opportunity to workshop ideas and get support."
Dr. Holly Verhasselt, associate provost for institutional effectiveness and chief research officer, said it's important that many of the grants won by Â鶹ÊÓƵ faculty and staff end up supporting research projects that allow undergraduate students to gain experience.
"For a teaching institution, that's the exact kind of research we want to be doing," Verhasselt said. "It provides access to high-impact practices that benefit our students while supporting faculty scholarly activities."
As the academy has wrapped up, the Office of Sponsored Programs staff members said they remain committed to helping any faculty or staff who need guidance on the grant process throughout the year.
Â鶹ÊÓƵ receives grant for character education
Â鶹ÊÓƵ's College of Arts & Letters recently received a Capacity-Building Grant through Wake Forest University's Educating Character Initiative.
Students gain cyber immersion in summer
Two Â鶹ÊÓƵ students further enhanced their skills this summer at Cyber Summer Immersion events funded by the Department of War.
Students achieve basic proficiency in 7 weeks
Students are spending seven weeks this summer to achieve basic language proficiency in Chinese and Russian through Â鶹ÊÓƵ's Summer Language Institutes.
Grants Academy offers support for attendees
Grants Academy, hosted by Â鶹ÊÓƵ's Office of Sponsored Programs, has been supporting staff and faculty with the grant process from start to finish since at least 2014.