• National Endowment for the Arts

Funding arts projects in the following disciplines: Arts Education, Challenge America, Dance, Design & Our Town, Folk & Traditional Arts, Literary Arts, Local Arts Agencies, Museums, Music, Opera, Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works, Theater & Musical Theater, and Visual & Media Arts.

• NC Collaboratory

Investigating the prevalence and toxicity of PFAS from the environmental to the biological level.

• EPA Environmental Education Grant Program

This grant program supports projects that design, demonstrate, and/or disseminate environmental education practices, methods, or techniques that increase public awareness and knowledge about local environmental issues.

More Funding Opportunities Linked Here

Here is a friendly reminder that the ORA Post-Award team sends biweekly fund review emails to Principal Investigators (PIs) around the 1st and 15th of each month. 

However, these emails are not the only way PIs can access the financial details of their sponsored projects. During the fund setup process, PIs and their designees are granted access to view their sponsored funds in Banner Admin at any time. 

Key Banner Admin Screens for Fund Visibility 

FRIGITD – Displays inception-to-date for 5XXXXX grant funds. Users can adjust the start and end dates as needed. 
FGIBDST – Provides fiscal year-to-date reporting for all grant funds, showing one fiscal year at a time. 

Additional Banner Support and Training 

• For hands-on guidance with Banner, Morgan Burnnett and Linda Davis host Banner Banter, a biweekly informal training session that covers commonly used Banner screens and helpful Microsoft Excel tips. 

• To join, please reach out to your college’s Budget Officer or Executive Assistant for the calendar invitation.  

• You can also explore resources on the Banner Banter section of WCU’s myResources page. 

As always, the ORA Post-Award team is here to support you. Please reach out to the Post Award Team with any questions about the financial status of your sponsored grant projects 

The Post Award team is beginning the annual process of preparing summer extra compensation for faculty supported by sponsored projects. Our first step is a comprehensive review of all budgets that include summer effort for Summer 2026. During this stage, we verify that each faculty or staff member’s budgeted effort is fully captured to prevent discrepancies later in the process. This proactive review helps ensure both compliance and a smooth workflow in the months ahead. 

Starting in February, members of the Post Award team will begin emailing Principal Investigators (PIs) to confirm faculty and effort. If you receive an email from a Post Award team member, please respond promptly. Timely responses help us keep the process on schedule and avoid delays in compensation. 

Once PI confirmations are collected, Post Award will meet with departmental budget officers to ensure all proposed summer salary aligns with WCU’s Policy 22. These meetings provide an opportunity to review any adjustments, confirm compliance, and address questions before documents move forward for approval. 

After information is gathered from all departments, our office will prepare the necessary Adobe Sign packets to route for approval. These forms are required for payroll processing and serve as the official record of summer compensation. 

Throughout the process, the Post Award team will provide reminders, timelines, and updates to keep all parties informed. Our goal is to ensure that Summer 2026 extra compensation is processed efficiently, accurately, and well ahead of payroll deadlines. 

Questions? 

Contact: Ben Peters (bpeters@wcu.edu) or Cameron Lopez (clopez@wcu.edu) 

• WHO – All faculty, staff, and students supported on sponsored projects 
• WHY – University Policy 54 and Federal Uniform Guidance requires that all Sponsored Project Hires complete COI attestation and COI Training along with any other additional required training. 
• WHEN – These requirements, already established in University policy, are now formally integrated into the post-award hiring and onboarding workflow and are required before beginning work on the project.  
• Additional guidance for PIs and project teams on roles, responsibilities, and process steps will be provided as part of the post-award process. 
• Check back next month for additional updates! 

For questions, contact:
Mallory Ball mball@wcu.edu  

• Certain federal awards (including specific NSF-funded projects) require structured mentor/mentee training and development for students and trainees as a condition of the award. 

• • This requirement is separate from and in addition to standard online Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training and cannot be satisfied by CITI or other online RCR modules alone. 

• Principal Investigators are responsible for ensuring that required mentor/mentee training plans are: 

• • Developed 

• • Implemented 

• • Documented in accordance with sponsor requirements 

• Guidance on mentor/mentee training expectations, documentation, and compliance integration will be provided soon as part of the compliance and post-award process. 

For questions, contact: 
Mallory Ball mball@wcu.edu  

Please be aware that the CITI Program and InfoEd are separate systems and do not communicate with one another. 

As a result: 

• CITI requires a separate, independent login and account setup by each user 

• InfoEd uses University single sign-on (SSO) for access 

• Users are responsible for ensuring that required CITI training is completed and properly associated with their university affiliation 

Please see our Human Subjects Research Page for more information about CITI training completion. 

For questions, contact: 
Mallory Ball mball@wcu.edu

The Graduate School would like to recognize the following students who successfully defended culminating projects for their programs during the Fall 2025 term.

Doctoral Dissertation

• Taylor Gamble, Psychology Psy.D.
  “Detecting Suicide Risk in Community Mental Health Center Adolescent Sample”

Master’s Thesis

• Peace Avanrenren, Biology M.S.
  “Whole Genome Sequencing and Functional Characterization of Strains of Proteus vulgaris Isolated from Freshwater Streams in Western North Carolina”
• Heidi Buchanan, History M.A.
  “The “Championettes”: Women’s Labor at an Appalachian Paper Mill During World War II”
• Remon Das, Engineering Technology M.S.E.T.
  “Artificial Intelligence Based Fault Detection and Predictive Analysis for Smart Power Systems”
• Payne Murray, History M.A.
  “EBCI Environmental Sovereignty”
• Tyler Shaw, Chemistry M.S.
  “The Effects of Microplastic on Hurricane Cyclogenesis Energetics Through Measurement of Evaporation of Sea Water”
• Renjie Yuwen, Fine Arts M.F.A.
  “Between Permanence and Decay: Material, Memory, and Temporality in Lacquer and Ceramic Installation”

To meet growing interest, the ORA has scheduled more workshop sessions for the spring! Don’t miss these opportunities to build your grants knowledge and connect with peers.

• Grants 101, 2/12/2026, 3:30-4:30 pm, Apodaca 115: designed for the entry-level knowledge-based faculty who want exposure to the world of grants. It covers the who, what, and how…a great place to start!
• Grant Seeking, 2/19/2026, 3:00-4:00 pm, Apodaca 115: designed to help faculty search and locate funding opportunities using the SPIN database and other grant-seeking resources.
• Financial Management, 3/03/2026, 3:00-4:00 pm, virtually: designed for our more experienced faculty who want to learn more about shadow budgets, personnel costs, and purchasing rules and guidelines to help manage their grant.
• Grants 101, 3/31/2026, 3:30-4:30 pm, Apodaca 115: designed for the entry-level knowledge-based faculty who want exposure to the world of grants. It covers the who, what, and how…a great place to start!

Register Now. Seats are limited.

The Office of Research Administration (ORA) is accepting proposals this spring for two key funding opportunities: the Provost’s Scholarship Development Awards (PSDA) and the Faculty Research Mentoring (FaRM) Program. Proposals will be accepted until February 9, 2026, 11:59pm.

Learn more about the guidelines and application process.

We are excited to announce a new addition to the site: Special Programs & More. This page is your go-to for upcoming events, workshops, presentations, and special programming opportunities. Explore what’s new and stay connected.

We are excited to share that the Office of Research Administration has launched an official LinkedIn page. Follow us to stay informed about new funding opportunities, important announcements, and the latest updates from our office. Join our growing community and stay connected with everything happening at the ORA.