Supports Offered Through the Center

 

Affiliates of the Center have access to a wide array of supports that contribute to development and submission of competitive grants. Five CYFS Center Support Units offer services and resources to Faculty Affiliates who are interested in developing and submitting federal, state, University and foundation grants. Funded grants are housed in the Center and are managed by the Faculty Affiliate(s) with Center post-award support.

Supports and Benefits for Faculty Affiliates

• Proposal Development Support
  • Assistance with grant scouting for small and large grants
  • Support during proposal writing, including:
    • Initial project conceptualization
    • Substantive content development, revision, and editing
    • Conceptualization of research design and data analytic plan
    • Coordination with the University Research Office, including Sponsored Programs
    • Promotion of capacity building
      • Recruitment of professional partners (e.g., co-investigators and senior personnel with complementary skills; implementation evaluators)
      • Recruitment of staff (e.g., graduate assistants, technical support)
• Pre-Award Support
  • Budget development
  • Biosketch construction
  • Reference compilation
  • Proposal formatting
  • Application submission
• Post-Award Support
  • Statistical and methodological support
  • Technical assistance
  • Budget management
  • Web-based project dissemination
• Ongoing Benefits
  • Affiliation with a UNL Program of Excellence
  • Increased visibility of research and scholarship
  • Opportunities for collaboration with affiliates on interdisciplinary research
  • Opportunities for interaction with nationally recognized researchers
  • Opportunities for collaboration with local school personnel
  • Access to a "library" of successful grant applications and materials
  • Access to periodic professional development activities or events that support grant-writing and/or grant submissions (e.g., workshops, seminars, symposiums)
  • Use of web-based Center resources

CYFS Center Support Units

Proposal Development and Coordination

Statistics and Research Methodology

Grant Management and Post-Award

Office Management and Support

Web and Technology Support

 

Proposal Development and Coordination

Research Faculty in the Center are available to fulfill several roles in supporting grant development, submission, and management. As grant development coordinators, Research Faculty work with the principal investigator(s) in managing every aspect of grant proposal development and submission.

Center Research Faculty share the following common functions:

• Coordinate Faculty Affiliate interactions with personnel from Center support units (i.e., Statistics and Research Methodology; Grant Management and Post Award; Office Management and Support; Web and Technology Support)
• Assist with project conceptualization, content writing, formatting, and budget development
• Coordinate interactions with other campus support entities (e.g., Sponsored Programs, University Research Office) during proposal development
• Promote and organize interdisciplinary research teams that foster new basic and applied research
• Participate in and on Center-supported research projects and teams
• Monitor grant funding opportunities (requests for proposals, program announcements, etc.) as they are released by agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Education, and the National Science Foundation
• Conduct grant-funded Center research
• Teach a summer grant proposal writing course for graduate students

The following are additional areas of interest for Research Faculty:

Todd A. Glover, PhD, Research Assistant Professor
tglover2@unl.edu

• Experimental research/randomized trials
• Academic and behavioral intervention research
• Stakeholder collaboration/community involvement

Gina M. Kunz, PhD, Research Assistant Professor
gkunz2@unl.edu

• School psychology
• Training and implementation grants
• Academic and behavioral intervention research
• Foundation grants

Gwen Nugent, PhD, Research Associate Professor
gnugent@unl.edu

• Education research
• Science, technology, and math research and development
• Training and implementation grants
• Contracts and evaluation
• Public television (extensive experience)
• Scholarly Enhancement for CEHS faculty
  

Statistics and Research Methodology

The Statistics and Research Methodology Unit provides proposal development and post-award support in the conceptualization of the research design and methodology and the selection and execution of data analyses. Unit personnel are experienced statisticians who specialize in experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlational design methodology; measurement; and cross-sectional, longitudinal, and correlational data analytic approaches (e.g., regression, basic analyses of variance, structural equation modeling, growth modeling, hierarchical linear modeling). Unit personnel are available to assist Faculty Affiliates throughout grant proposal development and writing and with data analysis after the grant is funded.

CYFS Research Faculty coordinate the provision of statistical or methodological support for Faculty Affiliates. The following are the unit's key personnel:

Jim Bovaird, PhD
Statistics and Research Methodology (SRM) Unit Director
jbovaird2@unl.edu

Greg Welch, PhD
CYFS Research Assistant Professor
gwelch2@unl.edu

Kevin Kupzyk, MA
CYFS Statistics and Measurement Consultant
kkupzyk2@unl.edu

 

Grant Management Pre- and Post-Award

Services offered by the Grant Management Pre- and Post-Award unit focus on direct assistance with budget development and post-award oversight of grant functions. Center support staff are available to assist CYFS Research Faculty and Faculty Affiliates in developing a budget and assisting in required steps prior to submission (e.g., UNL routing form, federal forms). Center staff provide post-award budget management in multiple areas (e.g., Human Resources, purchasing, travel, budget reconciliation and periodic budget reports). Any project requiring the hiring of additional personnel, including all steps from requesting and advertising for new positions through the final paperwork required to add a new employee to the UNL payroll system, are handled by Center support staff. Additional services offered by Center staff include processing employee expense vouchers for travel reimbursement, initiating payments/stipends to non-UNL employees, monitoring budget spending to meet post-award requirements established by Sponsored Programs, and providing periodic budget reports to principal investigators.

Cindy Schuerman
Grants Specialist and Post-Award Support
cschuerman1@unl.edu

Wendy Ross
Center Staff
gross5@unl.edu

Ronda Alexander
Grant Specialist
ralexander3@unl.edu

Office Management and Support

Staff assist with a variety of functions, including scouting and identifying funding opportunities; assisting investigators with their research, including data management, online surveys development, data collection, data entry and data analysis; and maintaining the CYFS web site.

Center support staff assist in the compilation of various forms and documents necessary for grant submission (e.g., biosketches, vitae), and ensure compliance with agency requirements. Additionally, Center staff are available to proofread grant applications, check references, and assure consistent formatting (e.g., APA stylistic requirements). Staff are available to plan and schedule grant meetings and coordinate various grant project efforts. Assistance with travel plans, ordering of equipment and materials, and technological support are also available.

Melissa Money-Beecher
Research Coordinator
mmoneybeecher2@unl.edu

Holly Sexton
Office Management and Supervision
hsexton1@unl.edu

Web and Technology Support

Center web and technology support provides assistance with individual grant needs.

Istiaque Ali
Database Developer and Analyst
iali3@unl.edu