Grant coordinator helps faculty collaborate with researchers at other institutions

Michelle Curttright | Grant Coordinator | Office of Research

Faculty and staff sometimes collaborate with colleagues at other institutions on major research projects, which can present challenges with tracking expenses to comply with grant requirements. Michelle Curttright helps faculty resolve these issues so they can focus on expanding our knowledge of the world.

Curttright has been a grant coordinator in Award Management Services (AMS), a division of the KU Office of Research, since December 2024. In this position, Curttright helps researchers use external grant funding to accomplish their goals.

“Michelle has a good sense of her workload and capacity, allowing her to manage her own work while also helping others,” said Amy Zeigler, grant manager for the AMS Natural Sciences & Technology Team and Curttright’s supervisor.

Colleagues note that Curttright excels at collaboration and is a quick learner. Within six months of becoming a grant coordinator, she joined a pilot group testing a new project closeout process for completed grants. She also regularly helps other grant coordinators troubleshoot issues that arise in their portfolios.  

“Michelle is always willing to assist her teammates when they have questions,” Zeigler said. “She is one of the names I hear as a regular resource team members turn to if they’re stuck, before escalating a question up to me.”

Last fall, a KU faculty member was working on a multi-institution project. Due to challenges with grant administration at the lead institution (not KU), this faculty member had to do several rounds of rebudgeting and budget projections for the subaward. Curttright was integral in helping resolve these issues.

“It has been difficult and tedious work, but she has been wonderfully responsive and capable throughout the entire effort, which has been going on since August,” the researcher said. “I am very grateful to Michelle for helping me navigate this.”