I n 2020-21, Georgia College received a record-high amount in grants, exceeding $4 million. It marked a 5.9 percent increase from the previous year and a whopping 73 percent since 2018.

“This is very important for two reasons. The first is that we’ve surpassed the 4-million-dollar mark. The second reason is we can observe a progressive increase over time. That is significant,” said Dr. Costas Spirou, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

“Additionally, it is great to see the increased level of grant submissions by faculty,” he said. “Put all of that together, and it is wonderful news. Especially coming through the pandemic. It shows our faculty and staff are continuing to do exceptional work and are very committed.”

The university’s overall grant total nearly doubled in nine years. This windfall aligns with the first director hired for the Office of Grants and Sponsored Projects (OGSP) in 2010.  Interim director since February, Donna Douglas said she couldn’t take credit for this record achievement. Securing grants is a team effort.

The numbers of actual proposals fell during the pandemic year from 54 to 42––a 22 percent drop. Yet, the amount of funding requested rose 9 percent.

“While teleworking, we were actually busier than ever,” Douglas said. “Grant work did not stop during the pandemic. Several large proposals were prepared and submitted during that time away from campus.”

“Furthermore,” she said, “the pandemic impacted our active projects because additional regulations and protocols were issued from each federal sponsor.”

Some quick facts about grant awards:

•    The biggest funding––about 40 percent––went to the School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS). Last year, they received over $1.6 million in grants impacting more than 1,800 children in Baldwin County.
•    Almost half went to the College of Health Sciences (24.5 percent) and the College of Arts and Sciences (23.4 percent).
•    The biggest growth was seen in the College of Health Sciences (COHS), which increased from just over $20,000 in 2013 to more than a million in 2021. COHS’s numbers more than doubled in the past two years alone.
•    The College of Arts and Sciences (COAS) also saw incredible growth––a 172 percent jump since 2016––going from $352,996 to $960,191. That bump was mainly due to a highly-competitive $650,000 National Science Foundation grant to help low-income students get degrees in chemistry and physics.

Reorganizing the IDC rates (indirect costs) a few years ago contributed to the current success, Spirou said. The distribution model was altered so funds spread to include principal investigators and their departments. This new model offers additional incentive for faculty to pursue grants.

A number of new faculty were awarded grants for the first time, which Spirou said shows creative initiative. Successful recipients are more likely to keep applying for grants. Many of these faculty involve students in their research and community outreach, as well, which aligns with the university’s mission as a public liberal arts school, he said.

Mark Pelton, associate vice president for Strategic Initiatives, oversees the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. He has talented grant writers on his staff. With two departments “almost completely supported by grant funds,” he said, “these grant writers are highly motivated and productive.”

In 2004, former University President Dorothy Leland asked Pelton to lead a project pinpointing services that needed increased external funding. He worked closely with Douglas to standardize and simplify internal forms and processes; develop a new intranet website devoted to grant efforts; create an online approval system; share information on available support services; and provide extensive grant-related assistance. This work resulted in the formation of the Office of Grants and Sponsored Projects in 2006 and a director in 2010.

Since then, grant activity has increased significantly, Pelton said. Only five grant proposals were submitted in 2001 with $56,883 received in funding. By 2015, the university had submitted 41 proposals, netting over $2 million.

“Georgia College has been on an upward trend since the mid-2000s,” Pelton said.

“I suspect the university’s grant programs and the services our unit offers are fairly unique. It is my understanding,” he said, “that our ‘Communities In Schools’ is the only partnership of its kind in the country between a university and local board where the CIS office is a university department. So, yes, what we do is fairly unique.”

The School of Continuing and Professional Studies, formerly known as Extended University, has led the way in grant revenue since 2007, Pelton said. It operates six community programs, including “Afterschool Achievement.” The afterschool “YES” and “High Achiever” programs alone reap about $1 million a year in funding.

The “Wraparound Baldwin” grant for Communities In Schools is “pretty innovative and cutting edge,” Pelton said, “in that it provides school-based healthcare in the ‘Bee Well Clinic’ at the Early Learning Center.” This care is available for all Baldwin County public school children and their families. Pelton’s department purchased telehealth equipment with two “Reaching Rural Communities” grants. This will extend the clinic’s health services to every public school in Baldwin County.

“These are win-win programs that benefit the students, university and broader society,” Pelton said. “A rising tide lifts all boats, so the more grant success the university has the more positive impact we can have on campus and in the community.”

In addition to the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, the College of Health Sciences also attracts a large percentage of grant money with its nursing programs in rural areas. Recently, the College of Arts and Sciences “has really been coming on strong in grant writing,” as well, Pelton said. Funding supports faculty research, which enriches the classroom experience.

Dr. Carrie Cook, interim associate dean for Arts and Sciences (A&S) is charged with reviewing and approving grant proposals submitted by A&S faculty. Last year, “there was a tremendous increase in the amount of grant funding sought,” she said. In 2019-20, 11 proposals requested $100,671 in funding. Last year, the same number of proposals asked for more than $1 million––nearly a 1,000 percent increase.

As dean of A&S, Dr. Eric Tenbus considers his role in grant success to be one of encouragement. He makes sure faculty have what they need in terms of incentive and support. He pointed to several A&S grants that raised their tally this year: Dr. Chavonda Mills and the Department of Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy secured $650,000 to diversify recruitment of students majoring in STEM fields, and two professors received grants to study water quality. Dr. Samuel Mutiti in geology and environmental sciences got $165,987 for study abroad research in Zambia; and Dr. Dave Bachoon in biology secured $45,600 for research in Gwinnett County and $20,000 for water quality analysis in Puerto Rico.

This kind of funding is getting harder to obtain. Successful grant writers have to make a persuasive case their university is “a busy, gifted and academically focused campus community,” Tenbus said.

“As state dollars become scarce,” he said, “it’s important that the university and College of Arts and Sciences pursue more federal grants. Doing undergraduate research is an important niche for Georgia College, as it fits into the GC Journeys initiative. It’s the pursuit of grants that ultimately contributed to winning the AURA (Award for Undergraduate Research Accomplishments) from the Council on Undergraduate Research, because the funding helps faculty provide even more exciting research opportunities for our students.”

These components must come together for triumph, along with assistance from the Office of Grants and Sponsored Projects––what Spirou called “a vital component to the university’s success this year.” Without support, ideas don’t always move to completion. The grant office gives faculty the tools and confidence to succeed.

Proposals are submitted to Douglas’ office, and her staff reviews guidelines with submitters. They identify all elements and required forms. This gives faculty and staff more time to devote to writing narrative- and discipline-specific sections. The team approach ensures everyone knows what they’re responsible for by the completion date.

Applying for a grant is “a labor-intensive process with significant planning,” Douglas said. It involves the development of partnerships, writing drafts, budgeting and multiple revisions. Some federal proposals can exceed 100 pages.

“While working with a person preparing a grant application,” she said, “you get to see how invested they are in their project and all the effort they put in to making it the best proposal possible. When it’s funded, not only is it seen as a victory but a validation of that individual’s hard work.”

Even with support, however, federal funding remains elusive. It helps that Georgia College is a “well-known, respected university with excellent fiscal management,” Pelton said. Despite selectiveness by grant agencies, he said, Georgia College is “earning a reputation for successfully and faithfully implementing grant programs and also for strict adherence to agency funding rules and guidelines.”

All these elements are essential for grant success. But, in the end, it all boils down to people. Spirou points to "entrepreneurial" faculty and staff as the main architects of this year’s achievement.