DAWG program grads hone sponsored-project administration skills

MSU’s newest Departmental Administrator Working Group graduates are Natalie Smith (front, l-r), Holly Coker, DAWG program director LeLe Newell, Ellen Harpole and Janet Petty; and Andrew Fox (back, l-r), Madison Poole, Casey Moss, Mary Thomas and Carl Smith. Not pictured: Judy Norwood and Jeremiah Elliott. (Photo by Russ Houston)

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Eleven Mississippi State staff members are graduates of the fourth-annual professional development program offered by the university’s Office of Sponsored Projects.

A unit of the Office of Research and Economic Development, OSP oversees externally-sponsored programs — the grants, contracts and similar agreements that help fund research at the land-grant institution.

This year’s edition of the Departmental Administrator Working Group — also known as DAWG — involved a nine-month curriculum designed to develop participants’ sponsored-project administration skills and foster networking opportunities with campus peers, according to OSP Director Jennifer Easley.

“DAWG provides a resource to help departmental administrators grow professionally, and it also creates additional connections between departments across campus,” she said.

Honored at a recent campus reception, the 2016 graduates are Holly Coker, Mississippi State Chemical Laboratory; Jeremiah Elliott, School of Human Sciences; Andrew Fox, Institute for Clean Energy Technology; Ellen Harpole, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Casey Moss, Pontotoc Ridge-Flatwoods Branch Experiment Station; Judy Norwood, Delta Research and Extension Center; Janet Petty, Center for Environmental Health Sciences; Madison Poole, International Institute; Carl Smith, High Performance Computing Collaboratory; Natalie Smith, Bagley College of Engineering; and Mary Thomas, Institute for Systems Engineering Research.

Applications for the 2017 class will be made available later this summer, Easley said, explaining that participants are chosen through a competitive nomination and selection process.

During classes meeting for two hours each month, DAWG members are taken through the grant administration process to gain a better understanding of both pre- and post-award functions. Topics include how the different offices work together to prepare budgets, administrate research proposals and conduct post-award management, among other key areas.

Easley said this year’s graduates also gave presentations about themselves and their departments.

“The presentations gave everyone a chance to see the depth of Mississippi State’s work around the state and the world,” she said.

For more about the Office of Sponsored Projects, visit .

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