About Us

Mission

The Office for Sponsored Programs (OSP) partners with Harvard's research and scholarly community in the support and advancement of Harvard's educational, research and public service missions through the provision of superior grants management expertise and customer service.

Vision

The Office for Sponsored Programs will meet its objectives through strong internal collaboration, continuous professional development for its employees, provision of superior customer service to our clients, the application of strong expertise in the effective administration of University awards and in providing tools and analytical services to support and facilitate the stewardship of sponsored funding.

Responsibilities

The Office for Sponsored Programs has responsibility for sponsored programs across the entire lifecycle of the award. These responsibilities are broadly broken down into three main categories: pre-award, post-award and cash management. Specific responsibilities for each of these areas is as follows:

Pre-Award
On each team, the pre-award staff works closely with faculty members and their research staff to:

• identify opportunities for research funding
• review and assist in the preparation of proposals
• negotiate terms and conditions of awards with sponsors
• identify and resolve issues that arise throughout the lifecycle of the award.

A primary responsibility of these staff members is to protect the University and its researchers in the areas of intellectual freedom and ownership of intellectual property. Pre-award staff includes:

• Sponsored Programs Coordinators
• Sponsored Programs Administrators
• Grants & Contracts Specialists
• Grants & Contracts Officers

Post-Award

The post-award staff on each team works with school research administration and grants management staff to:

• ensure accurate and compliant accounting of income and expenditures on sponsored project accounts
• complete and submit financial reporting required by sponsors
• complete, submit, and collect on periodic invoices
• assist with account reconciliation and closeout

Post-Award staff includes:

• Sr. Financial Analysts
• Financial Analysts

Cash Management

The Cash Office has primary responsibility for managing cash receipts, including the management of approximately $600 million in letters of credit and accounts receivable. Receipts include checks, wire transfers as well as draw down of funds on letters of credit. There are fourteen federal agencies that pay funds through letter of credit. The three larger agencies, Department of Health and Human Services, National Science Foundation and NASA, allow draw down of funds in aggregate; others require draw down on a fund by fund basis. Most of the agencies require the filing of a quarterly report which includes fund by fund information including quarterly spending, total spending, and account classification such as active, inactive and closed. The Cash Office is responsible for filing the required reports. The Cash Team is also responsible for oversight of the university's accounts receivable. Cash Management staff includes the Cash Manager and Financial Analysts.

Organizational Structure

The Office for Sponsored Programs is structured as seven teams, organized by client group. You can view the OSP Organizational Chart here. The seven teams in OSP and services they provide are listed below:

Additionally, we share a strong affiliation with the central Cost Analysis and Compliance function, under the direction of Amy Gustavsson for the University area, Kristie Froman for the School of Public Health, and Sarah Axelrod for the Harvard Medical School. This group is supported by Judy McSweeney and Amy Gustavsson in the Office for Sponsored Programs.

Primary Points of Contact for Clients

OSP has assigned to each department a primary pre-award contact (for University area only) and a primary post-award contact (for all University clients, including Longwood). For more information on the point of contact for your department please see the OSP Directory page.

For any additional questions you may have regarding the Office for Sponsored Programs, please call  617-495-5501.

1 Please note that the two Longwood Medical Area schools, HMS and SPH, have their own pre-award offices. The HMS Sponsored Programs Administration office is directed by Barbara Cevallos ( 617-432-0050 ).

2 The SPH Office of Research Administration is directed by Frank Urso ( 617-521-3339 ).