The Grants Business Management (GBM) team strives to provide administrative support specifically tailored to address the unique requirements of each Notre Dame researcher. Whether you are a faculty member with an existing support system already in place, or an individual researcher with limited administrative support, the GBM team’s goal is to be a resource for you to reduce the mundane administrative tasks you are often faced with as a researcher, so you can focus your efforts on your research initiatives.
The team is also available as a resource for Department, Center, Institute and Central Office (e.g. Accounts Payable) staff who interact with Notre Dame researchers. Staff members from these various groups no longer have to get transferred to multiple offices to get a question answered. The GBM team can find the answers for you to the things that do not come up everyday, the one-offs, or the odd.
For your convenience, GBM staff are located in the Colleges for ease of access and quick response time.
Services Provided
- Assist with purchasing/payments (buyND, Procard, check requisitions, etc.)
Examples:
- Worked with faculty to “clean up” encumbrances on their fund
- Provided information to departments on how to use multiple and different approvers on buyND orders
- Provide support for travel arrangements and expense reimbursements (travelND).
Examples:
- Assisted a faculty member with obtaining a large cash advance for foreign travel/research
- Received receipts from faculty member for upload onto travelND for reimbursement
- Serve as liaison to central offices for unique, unusual, or odd questions/needs/concerns
Examples:
- Worked with Risk Management and Safety to provide insurance information on a piece of rental/loaned equipment
- Worked with Risk Management and Safety on providing insurance for motorcycle purchased/used in foreign country
- Worked with Procurement Services and Accounts Payable to take down old/bad encumbrances on a faculty member’s fund
- Create position descriptions, and assist a department with appointment needs
Examples:
- Discuss position with faculty member and write position description for their approval
- Work with faculty member and departmental staff to gather all appropriate documents for appointments
- Work with Office of General Counsel to get visa questions answered for foreign candidates
Testimonials
Chair, Department of Electrical Engineering
“I have been genuinely impressed by how the Grants Business Management consultants have been willing to expend the time and energy necessary to really understand (and MEET) the needs of the faculty in the College of Engineering. They have a deep understanding of the university’s business processes, and they bring that knowledge to bear on solving faculty problems with a minimal investment of faculty time. They have excelled in a variety of roles – as administrative facilitators, as trouble-shooters, and as project managers.”
Assistant Chair, Department Chemistry and Biochemistry
“I have used Kara’s help on numerous occasions for preparing, formatting, and proofing the many documents required for multi-PI/interdisciplinary grant proposal submissions and for investigating grant opportunities for our faculty. She has carried out every request in a highly efficient and professional manner. The perspective that Kara, as a scientist, brings to the GBM team cannot be underestimated. I commend the OVPR for their commitment to advancing the research enterprise here at ND through the formation of the GBM team, and I urge PI’s to make use of the unique skill sets that Kara brings to that team.”
Professor Gretchen Reydams-Schils
Chair, Program of Liberal Studies
“The assistance of a Grants Business Manager is indispensable for faculty affiliated with smaller departments, which have limited administrative support. This service saves an individual faculty member countless hours and communications, first to figure out the lay of the land and then to set the necessary processes in motion, with all the laborious paperwork this involves. As a result I can fully concentrate on actual research, mentoring a visiting graduate student or post-doc, or collaboration with colleagues. The A&L Grants Business Coordinator is making a very significant difference in my time-management.”
Belinda Thompson
Program Coordinator in Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics (AD&T)
“I utilized the Grants Business Management service for a couple of complex issues recently and it was so helpful. The coordinator I worked with was very efficient and worked tirelessly to get the issues solved. She had resources and contacts that would have taken me much longer to establish and secure. Not only did the resolution happen quickly, but I was kept informed of the details throughout the process so I always knew where things stood.”
Meet the Grants Business Management Team
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Director, Grants Business Management
Melanie DeFord
Address: 940 Grace Hall (mail); 905 Grace Hall (office)
Phone: (574) 631-8805
Email: mdeford@nd.edu
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Assistant Director, Grants Business Management
Cindi Fuja
Address: 940 Grace Hall (mail); 914 Grace Hall (office)
Phone: (574) 631-3061
Email: cfuja@nd.edu
College of Arts and Letters, Mendoza College of Business, Law School, and Other
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Consultant, Grants Business Management
Angie Tompkins
Address: 940 Grace Hall (mail); 101 O'Shaughnessy Hall (office)
Phone: (574) 631-6229
Email: atompkin@nd.edu
College of Engineering and School of Architecture
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Consultant, Grants Business Management
Beata Nabrzyska
Address: 940 Grace Hall (mail); 214d Cushing Hall (office)
Phone: (574) 631-1327
Email: bnabrzys@nd.edu
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Consultant, Grants Business Management
Megan Sheraton
Address: 940 Grace Hall (mail); 205c Cushing Hall (office)
Phone: (574) 631-6939
Email: mujdak@nd.edu
College of Science
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Consultant, Grants Business Management
Kara Primmer
Address: 940 Grace Hall (mail); 280 Stepan Center (office)
Phone: (574) 631-2178
Email: khuegel1@nd.edu
