2023–24 YEAR AT A GLANCE
The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) at the University of San Diego is dedicated to delivering exceptional service and support to the USD community. Our team collaborates with faculty, administrators and graduate students throughout the entire process, from initial proposal development and budget preparation to submitting innovative, high‑quality, competitive proposals. Once an award is received, we work closely with both internal and external partners to manage the non financial aspects of the award, leading to a successful project closeout. We are committed to fostering academic excellence by enhancing and sustaining a vibrant research environment.
USD Community of Scholars Submissions
153 PROPOSALS $50.9M REQUESTED 57.5% RESEARCH
178 AWARD ACTIONS $16.7M AWARDED 45% RESEARCH Award Actions Managed 73% FEDERAL 58.5% FEDERAL
2024 RESEARCH MONTH AWARDEE CELEBRATION
Five Million Dollar Club
Faculty and administrators who have brought in a cumulative of at least five million dollars in external funding through the Office of Sponsored Programs during their tenure at USD.
Scott Anders
Energy Policy Initiatives Center, School of Law
Eric C. Austin Legal Clinics, School of Law
Michel A. Boudrias
Environmental and Ocean Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences
Paula A. Cordeiro
Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies
Octavio Rodriguez Ferreira School of Law
One Million Dollar Club
Katy Roig Finance
David A. Shirk
Political Science and International Relations, College of Arts and Sciences
Michael Shulman
Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences
Nilmini Silva-Send School of Law
Faculty and administrators who have brought in a cumulative of at least one million dollars in external funding through the Office of Sponsored Programs during their tenure at USD.
Wendell J. Callahan
School of Leadership and Education Sciences
Sou Fang
TRIO Upward Bound, Institute of College Initiatives
New Faculty Submitters
Tessa Tinkler
Nonprofit Institute, School of Leadership and Education Sciences
Faculty who submitted a proposal as lead principal investigator through the Office of Sponsored Programs in their first year at USD.
Sophie Taddeo
Environmental and Ocean Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences
Nik Usher
Communication, College of Arts and Sciences
10 YEARS OF CELEBRATING RESEARCH EXCELLENCE AT USD
2014
The Office of Sponsored Programs began celebrating faculty achievements by hosting the inaugural Celebration of Scholarly and Creative Achievements.
The U.S. Department of State awarded a project that spanned five years in the amount of $5.9 million.
Between 2014-2024
▶ USD was awarded more than $172 million in external funding for grants and research projects around campus.
2015
The provost and academic deans actively promoted student faculty research, scholarship and creative works. With heightened awareness across campus, Research Week was born. Five days with more than 19 activities and events hosted by the Office of Sponsored Programs, Foundation Relations and the Office of Undergraduate Research. More than 1,200 participants attended these events.
2017
USD received Carnegie Classification as an R2 institution.
▶ USD submitted proposals totaling more than $390 million.
USD inducted 21 faculty members and administrators into the inaugural Million Dollar Club. These individuals each brought in a cumulative of more than one million dollars in external funding through the Office of Sponsored Programs during their tenure at USD.
2018
Telemundo television station captured a team of Shiley Marcos School of Engineering alumni and students, working with Associate Professor Daniel Codd, on a U.S. Department of Energy funded prototype solar converter. The hybrid system, developed with industry and academic partners, can simultaneously generate high temperature steam and electricity from concentrated sunlight.
▶ 45 faculty members and administrators brought in more than $1 million each in external funding.
Professor John Halaka at his USD art studio, discussing drawings from his series “Mapping Repression” with Visual Arts students.
2019
USD TRIO students and staff affiliated with McNair Scholars, Student Support Services and Upward Bound participated in a research crawl. Students enjoyed intriguing and insightful lab presentations and poster presentations from our TRIO students, and recognized valuable partners.
2020
The world stopped, but USD’s research didn’t. Many externally funded projects simply shifted to virtual spaces.
▶ To date, the National Science Foundation has awarded USD nine prestigious CAREER awards for a total of $3.5 million in support for early career investigators at USD.
2021
Research Week went virtual. Despite the change, the Office of Sponsored Programs presented the largest event to date with 114 video presentations representing all academic units.
The U.S. Department of the Air Force awarded $5.9 million for a project spanning five years.
2022
Research Week became Research Month, as USD celebrated the scholarly achievements of faculty and students, both in‑person and virtually.
2023
USD exceeded $12.9 million in total annual research expenditures, of which more than $5.4 million was from external funding sources overseen by the Office of Sponsored Programs.
2024
In 2024, the Five Million Dollar Club was introduced to recognize seven faculty members and staff who achieved new heights in external funding.
As we look forward to new initiatives and continued growth the Office of Sponsored Programs welcomes you to be part of the next decade of research excellence at USD.
PROPOSAL INTAKE QUESTIONNAIRE
With significant pre award growth in recent years and further growth anticipated, the Office of Sponsored Programs has been working diligently to automate and increase the efficiency of our application and proposal processes.
As a part of this initiative, in the summer of 2024, the Office of Sponsored Programs launched the Proposal Intake Questionnaire which can be found in a few different places on our website including the office’s homepage at https://www.sandiego.edu/osp/.
Using this form will streamline the process of notifying and providing preliminary proposal information to OSP, decreasing the burden on our PIs and research personnel and reducing the disruption of multiple emails. The Proposal Intake Questionnaire will also better allow the entire OSP team to be notified of new proposals and submission deadlines and track where these requests currently stand.
Interested in submitting a proposal for external funding? Complete the Proposal Intake Questionnaire by visiting www.sandiego.edu/osp proposal intake!
MEET THE TEAM
Under the leadership of the Senior Vice President and Provost, Gail F. Baker, PhD, the university’s research enterprise is supported by the following team members:
Truc T. Ngo, PhD
Vice Provost for Research Administration
Former Associate Provost for Research Administration (2022-2024)
Traci Merrill, MEd, CRA Director, Sponsored Programs
Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick, PhD
Associate Provost for Academic Strategy and Growth
Kathleen Dechowitz, JD, MBA Sponsored Programs Administrator
Nadine Umutoni, MA Contract Manager
Brittany Salyers, MA Sponsored Programs Administrator
Marina Goro Research Affairs Coordinator
