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Grant Operation (GO) Centers

The Saint Louis University Grant Operation (GO) Centers bring together key pre- and post-award staff into a single team to provide hands-on support to SLU faculty applying for and managing their grants.

This infrastructure combines many of the departmental and central research tasks into one cohesive team, and it allows for the submission of applications with fewer steps and better communication while making it faster and easier to receive and manage awards.

The first Grant Operation (GO) Center, commonly referred to as the Academic Affairs GO Center, was launched on Dec. 1, 2017. It supports the research needs of faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences, the Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing, Doisy College of Health Sciences, the College for Public Health and Social Justice, the School of Social Work, the School of Education, the School of Science and Engineering, University Libraries and other divisions that fall under the Academic Affairs unit. On July 1, 2024, the School of Medicine GO Center was launched to align centrally with the research infrastructure across campus. This will further strengthen grants management services for research-active faculty in a more uniform manner and will ensure consistency across the university’s pre- and post-award specialist positions to support a University-wide culture of research compliance and operations.

Located in Fusz Hall, as well as various sites across the School of Medicine campus, the GO Center team members are accessible to meet with research-active faculty members. While a number of team members work off-site, they are available to video call with research-active faculty to understand the needs of their research proposals and projects. Team members strive to respond to emails within two business days and will share if obtaining an answer will take longer than the standard turnaround time.

The GO Centers are teams within the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) and per University policy, OVPR reviews and approves all grant submissions to external sponsors, as well as negotiates and accepts all research awards on behalf of Saint Louis University. Questions about the research infrastructure or GO services can be directed to either Matt Renaud, Academic Affairs GO Center executive director, at matt.renaud@slu.edu or Stephen Schmidt, School of Medicine GO Center executive director, at stephen.schmidt@health.slu.edu.

GO Centers' Services

 The GO Centers offer specific pre- and post-award services for all SLU researchers as noted below. More detailed information about pre- and post-award resource guides, research policies and SOPs, as well as training opportunities can be found on the GO Centers’ SharePoint site.

Pre-Award Services

 Interested in applying for a funding opportunity? Below are pre-award services the GO Centers can provide to research-active faculty and graduate students.

  • Initiates and prepares internal and external grant submissions
    • Assists in setting up proposals in the appropriate university (e.g, Workday) or sponsor (e.g., ASSIST) research administration systems
    • Completes administrative information in grant applications
    • Assembles appropriate application components
    • Drafts project budget and advises on budget justification
    • Obtains appropriate subcontractor paperwork
    • Ensures all applications meet sponsor and university guidelines and deadlines, including management of the just-in-time process
    • Monitors institutional reviews and approvals while obtaining appropriate signatures, as needed
  • Submits proposal for faculty member, where appropriate

Note: The earlier research-active faculty and graduate students contact their assigned GO Center pre-award specialist, the better the GO Centers can assist with their research needs. OVPR requires faculty to submit the required documents to their pre-award specialist at least five business days prior to the sponsor deadline to ensure enough time for a thorough review and to obtain institutional approval in Workday.

Pre-Award Roles and Responsibilities Information

If you need additional information or clarification regarding the GO Center pre-award process, please contact Vicki Moreland, Academic Affairs assistant director of pre-award services at vicki.moreland@slu.edu, Rob Kornosky, School of Medicine assistant director of pre-award services at Robert.kornosky@slu.edu, or Terri Borowiak, School of Medicine authorized organizational representative at terri.borowiak@slu.edu.

Post-Award Services

Below are post-award services the GO Centers can provide to research-active faculty and graduate students who have received an externally sponsored award.

  • Establishes external grant and contract awards
    • Sets up pending and active grants, as well as completes budget requests
    • Ensures awarded grant contract/agreement/subcontract is fully executed
    • Executes grant subcontracts and/or consulting agreements to outside parties
  • Manages post-award operations
    • Reviews budgets and reconciles award expenditures on a regular basis with consultation with PIs
    • Monitors compliance with sponsor and university regulations
    • Notifies and assists with no-cost extensions, progress reports and close-outs
    • Assists faculty in completing effort reports
    • Updates post-award documentation in the appropriate University (e.g., Workday) or sponsor (e.g., research.gov) research administration systems and monitors institutional reviews and approvals, where appropriate
  • Monitors faculty indirect recovery accounts

Questions about how to start on your research once you have been officially notified of your grant award? Please contact your assigned GO Center post-award specialist. To begin spending on a sponsored award, there are specific steps that must be taken to set up the award according to University and sponsor guidelines.

If additional information or clarification is needed regarding the GO Center post-award process, please contact Kellisa Fiala, Academic Affairs assistant director of post-award services, at kellisa.fiala@slu.edu or Jacqueline Roy, School of Medicine assistant director post-award services at jacqueline.roy@health.slu.edu.

Workday

 Workday is a grants management system used for web-based proposal submission and research compliance. With questions related to the system, please contact your assigned GO Center pre- or post-award specialist.