SUU’s Sponsored Programs Office Awarded with Two NSF GRANTED Awards
Published: July 22, 2025 | Author: Lawrence Mbaki | Read Time: 3 minutes
As the Executive Director of the Sponsored Programs, Agreements, Research and Contracts (SPARC) office at Southern Utah University (SUU), Sylvia Bradshaw has received two sizeable awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of the NSF Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative Economic Development (GRANTED) initiative.
“NSF is dedicated to broadening participation in the research enterprise, and this award to SUU demonstrates its dedication to reaching talented faculty and students at teaching institutions,” said Sylvia Bradshaw, SPARC Executive Director. Bradshaw serves as the principal investigator on one award and a co-principal investigator on a subaward from the University of Idaho.
The first award was given to a project that aims to help more professors at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) get involved in research, “A Pilot Program to Optimize Sponsored Programs Engagement in Research at PUIs (PROSPER PUIs).” This project will demonstrate the innovative use of sponsored project managers and graduate assistants to provide targeted post-award support and serve as a building block to raise awareness of the field of research administration.
“Teaching institutions, such as SUU, are uniquely positioned to introduce research to a broad spectrum of future leaders; however, with heavy teaching loads, the one thing lacking is time,” said Bradshaw. “This project is aiming to address this issue by reducing administrative burden, allowing faculty to pursue their passion for scholarly endeavors alongside students.”
Katie Gomez Freeman, SPARC assistant director of Education and Special Projects, will serve as the co-PI on the PROSPER PUIs award and Senior Personnel on the second project.
“By engaging in sponsored programs, faculty members can enrich the students’ academic experience as they stay up to date in their field and provide students with research opportunities,” said Gomez Freeman. “The proposed project seeks to increase engagement in sponsored programs, which will then directly benefit our faculty who engage in sponsored programs, which in turn directly benefits the students!”
“Students are always our focus,” said Bradshaw. “When we open doors for faculty and staff, we open doors for students as well. The future grants that will be awarded through this work will always have a student focus, enriching their academic experience.”
The second award is entitled “Open and FAIR: Democratizing Data and AI to Streamline Research Administration (AI4RA)”, in which SUU will serve as a subaward to the University of Idaho. SUU will provide the University of Idaho with the perspective of a Primarily Undergraduate Institution as they create an open-source, transferable, and scalable framework for research administration that will enhance administrative practices and foster a thriving community of data and AI-literate professionals. Nathan Wiggins’ professional expertise as the first-ever SPARC Data Scientist is propelling the exciting work of AI in research administration. The SUU SPARC team is proudly soaring to new heights as we position SUU as a national early adopter of AI in this field.
About the Sponsored Programs, Agreements, Research, and Contracts Office:
The SPARC office at Southern Utah University provides assistance to faculty, staff, administrators, and students seeking external and internal funding for their projects and programs.
Contact Information:
Brooke Heath
435-586-5400
brookeheath1@suu.edu