Staff develop research support skills, graduate from university’s DAWG program

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State’s Office of Research Development is announcing 24 graduates from the 2023-2024 DAWG program.

The Departmental Administrators Working Group (DAWG) is a professional development program offered to ��Ƶ staff who work with research grants and contracts. Program graduates have learned the fundamentals of sponsored projects such as reading a Request for Proposals to grant close-outs.

Recent DAWG graduate Lyla Garner of the College of Professional and Continuing Studies said the program provides both social and professional resources.

“I really enjoyed making connections with others across campus that I typically would not have much interaction with along with learning more about the grants and contracts process,” Garner said.

Classes are taught by high-level ��Ƶ staff members, with course topics including proposal preparation, budgeting and regulations.

“The DAWG program did a great job of bringing in directors and high-level staff members to present to our group. These individuals shared great information on sponsor specific requirements, best practices in handling restricted funding, and how administrators in our positions can best support our faculty,” said Kyle Baggerly, a 2024 DAWG graduate from the College of Education.

The 2024 DAWG graduates include:

—Kyle Baggerly, College of Education, Dean’s Office

—Jamie Brooks, School of Human Sciences

—Teresa Bryan-Watts, Bagley College of Engineering

—Ashley Byars, Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture

—Megan Campbell, Center for Continuing Education

—Tammy Carroll, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems

—Christina Childers, MS State Chemical Lab

—Tina Clark, NRTC on Blindness and Low Vision

—Kylee Jade Eubank, Sponsored Programs Accounting

—Scarlett Fyke, Office of Sponsored Projects

—Lyla Garner, College of Professional and Continuing Studies

—Theresa Hall-Brown, Department of Counseling, Higher Ed, Ed Psych, and Foundations

—Hannah Harvison, High Performance Computing Collaboratory

—Sarah Hollingsworth, Center for Cyber Education

—Courtney Jethroe, Raspet Flight Research Laboratory

—Nikita Logan, Advanced Composites Institute

—Leanne McGarr, Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion

—Samantha Nall, Receiving and Property Control

—Kristen Odom, Sponsored Programs Accounting

—Julie Snow, Department of Agricultural Economics

—Carrie Stroud, Department of Forestry

—Ashley Sumner, Bagley College of Engineering

—Rooban Venkatesh, Institute of Imaging and Analytical Technologies

—Adam Well, Office of Research and Economic Development

Applications for the 2024-2025 year will be announced this July. Applicants will be notified by email of their acceptance status.

For more information or questions, email LeLe Kirkpatrick at lele@ord.msstate.edu

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