Launching KU's new research award management unit

From: Simon Atkinson, Vice Chancellor for Research; Jason Hornberger, Vice Provost for Finance
Sent: Monday, Nov. 1, 2021, 10:16 a.m.
To: KU Lawrence faculty and staff

KU research community,

Thank you for your feedback, ideas and support as we’ve worked this year to re-envision and transform research award support at KU. Since initiating this project in January, we have collaborated with campus partners to create a single, centralized service unit to provide post-award research administration support for KU-Lawrence. As Award Management Services (AMS) goes live today, we want to remind you of the project’s goals and let you know what to expect in the coming months.
 
This new unit is housed in the Office of Research and has been carefully designed to meet two objectives:

  1. Improve service to campus partners and reduce administrative burden for researchers.
  2. Create an organizational structure to support autonomous work and job satisfaction for research support staff.

We are confident that we have built a strong foundation to meet these objectives. The AMS unit combines 40 staff members from KU’s Shared Service Centers and KU Research’s Post-Award Services unit under the leadership of Associate Director Jessica Johnson Webb. As Jessica mentioned in her message to campus last Friday, relationships will be key to our shared success. Each AMS team member will support a dedicated portfolio of KU researchers, who will enjoy a single point of contact from award start through closeout. The AMS team has invested countless hours preparing for this updated model, including training the entire month of October for new roles while sustaining their current work commitments. We are grateful for their dedication and excited to launch the new unit today. 
 
We ask for grace during the immediate transition and throughout the first year as staff adjust to new roles and processes. Particularly during the November-December stabilization period, adjustments may be required if we determine that something is not working well. We will be responsive to potential problems and keep you informed about solutions along the way.
 
Please let us know if you have questions. We look forward to providing a higher level of post-award support for KU researchers and greater job satisfaction for the staff who help manage their grants. 
 
Respectfully,
 
Simon and Jason
 
Simon Atkinson
Vice Chancellor for Research
 
Jason Hornberger
Vice Provost for Finance