Sponsored Programs & Research

Saint Anselm College
Office of Sponsored Programs and Research
Institutional Profile

Legal Name and Address

Saint Anselm College
Office of Sponsored Programs and Research
100 Saint Anselm Drive, Box 1738
Manchester, NH 03102-1310
Phone: (603) 641-7174
Fax: (603) 641-7222
Email: SponsoredPrograms@anselm.edu

Congressional District: NH 1
 

Authorized Saint Anselm College Representatives

Office of Sponsored Programs and Research: Mary Mader, Director, (603) 641-7174
Financial Management: Erica Dobler, Controller, Finance, (603) 641-7102
 

Grants Administration

Erin Varsalone, Grants Administrator, Office of Sponsored Programs and Research, (603) 641-7175

Contact Erin if you have questions about or need assistance with: identifying external funders for your research or project; the proposal preparation, grant writing and submission process; budget development; and/or understanding federal, state, and private sponsors requirements and guidelines for your proposed project and/or grant award.

Rachel Lindley, Senior Accountant – Grants, Finance Office, rlindley@anselm.edu

Contact Rachel if you have questions about or need assistance with: setting up an account for your awarded grant and general post-award budget questions and/or concerns.

Fringe Benefits Rate

The following percentages should be used on budgets accompanying proposals:

• 16% for the summer
• 30% for the Academic Year
   

Facilities and Administrative (Indirect) Costs

In accordance with our negotiated agreement with the DHHS, the following predetermined rate should be used until further notice: 53% of Modified Total Direct Costs

Once a faculty/staff member has honed an idea and is ready to begin preparing a proposal, the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research (OSPR) will offer guidance with the following process in preparing a successful proposal for submission:

1. Principal Investigator (PI): Develops Project Concept/Idea

2. PI: Contact the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research for Guidance

3. Prepare Proposal/Scope of Work and Discuss/route Proposal for Dept. Approval (PI, Chair & Dean)

4. Submit Proposal & Grant Review Form to OSPR for Review (see Grant Approval Process below)

5. OSPR provides PI with feedback on proposal and assistance as needed (budget, documentation, support letters, etc.) to prepare for final /complete application

6. OSPR submits Grant Review Form for Approval to submit (Finance and Academic Affairs)

7. OSPR submits proposal or PI receives OSPR’s Approval to Submit

8. Funding decision: Project is funded or not funded.  If funding is declined, OSPR will help with preparing for a resubmission (if applicable) and/or provide assistance with identifying alternative funding sources.

The Grant Proposal Guidelines have been recently updated to require that all grant proposals be approved by the Grant Proposal Review Committee before being submitted to a funding agency (see Faculty Handbook in the Portal).

When faculty and staff members consider applying to sources outside Saint Anselm College for grants or other forms of financial support, they should complete a Grant Review Form (available by contacting mmader@anselm.edu), and submit it to the director of sponsored programs and research. This brief form provides the committee with basic information about the proposal and the extent to which it will involve the college in any form of fiscal obligation, including funds, in-kind contributions or released time. In most cases, the committee will approve the proposal within one week of receiving the form.

Completed forms should be sent via email as an attachment to mmader@anselm.edu. If you have questions about the grant proposal process, please contact Sponsored Programs and Research at (603) 641-7174.

• INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD (IRB) PROTECTION OF HUMAN SUBJECTS TRAINING 
  
  Saint Anselm College’s IRB: This IRB training requirement applies to all faculty, staff, or students conducting activities that meet the definition of human subjects research, regardless of whether those activities are externally funded, internally funded, or unfunded. Individuals needing clarity on whether their activity meets the definition of human subjects research should contact the IRB Chair, Rong Huang, Ph.D., (603) 641-7285, rhuang@anselm.edu
  
  CITI Training: The College has subscribed to the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) to provide online training. All faculty, staff, and student researchers supported under externally sponsored research projects are required to complete the CITI Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) online training course made available through the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research Website. Individuals shall register on the CITI site, affiliate themselves with Saint Anselm College, and choose the appropriate RCR course based on the individual’s discipline (e.g., Humanities, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Physical Sciences etc.). Upon completion of the course, the Director of Sponsored Programs and Research will automatically receive a completion notification for the individual which will be made available to external sponsors by request. Training certifications are valid for a period of three years, after which time it is the individual’s responsibility to complete a “refresher” CITI module.
• INSTITUTIONAL ANIMAL CARE AND USE COMMITTEE (IACUC) TRAINING 
  
  This IACUC training requirement applies to all faculty, staff, or students conducting research with vertebrate animals, regardless of whether those activities are externally funded, internally funded, or unfunded. Please see the IACUC webpage for contact and detail.

Please refer to the Faculty Handbook for complete detail on Sponsored program policies.

Significant Financial Interests 

Any SAC employee responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of research activities funded or proposed for funding by external sources must reveal all current significant financial interests that would reasonably appear to be affected by the research. Significant financial interest is defined as any current financial interest of the investigator and his/her immediate family that could reasonably appear to be affected by the activities proposed for funding; or any interest held by the investigator and his/her immediate family in a business entity (company, corporation, or other enterprise) whose financial interests might reasonably appear to be affected by such activities.

Specifically, significant financial interests might include, but are not limited to, any of the following: 

• Anything of significant monetary value, including salary or other payments for services, such as consulting fees or honoraria; 
• Direct equity interests, such as stock, stock options, or ownership interests; 
• Intellectual property rights owned by the investigator, such as patents, copyrights, and royalties from such rights.

An investigator may choose to disclose any other financial or related interest that might present an actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest. Disclosure can be a key factor in protecting an individual's reputation and career from potentially harmful allegations of misconduct.

FY24 New and Continuing Grant Awards (since July 1, 2023)

New Awards

Catholic Biblical Association (CBA) Grant, Catholic Biblical Association (CBA), PI: Ahida Pilarski, Professor of Theology; $15,000 for FY24 
Project Title: The Oxford Handbook for Latinx and Latin American Biblical Interpretation. 
Dr. Pilarski plans to advance the professional translation (Spanish into English) of about 11 (out of 20) essays for The Oxford Handbook for Latinx and Latin American Biblical Interpretation. Dr. Pilarski plans to deliver a presentation of the results of the research at the CBA Annual General Meeting in the Research Reports Section of the AGM held in the year of the project’s completion.

Congressional Grant, U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, PI: Neil Levesque, Chief of Staff and Executive Director of NHIOP
Project Title: Support for the Nursing and Healthcare Workforce Training
Senator Shaheen supported the inclusion of $2,200,000 for Saint Anselm College to construct a new facility that will house the College’s School of Nursing and Health Professions. The new academic building will include classrooms, faculty and administrator space and high-definition virtual nursing labs. Building the New Hampshire workforce of nurses and health professionals is a key goal of a new nursing facility at Saint Anselm College.

Congressional Grant, U.S. Administration for Children and Families, PIs: Neil Levesque, Chief of Staff and Executive Director of NHIOP and Nicole Lora, Director of the Meelia Center; $600,000 for FY24
Project Title: Support for Ukrainian Refugees and other immigrant families
This grant allows the Meelia Center and Saint Raphael’s Parish, a parish affiliated with the college, to work collaboratively with other community partners to coordinate and connect refugee and immigrant families to programs and services in Manchester. Since families continued to be resettled in Manchester, this grant allows our programs to be prepared to support the families who are already here and the new families that continue to arrive.

LEOP Plan Development grant, NH Department of Safety, PI: Robert Browne, Director of Campus Safety; $6,000 for FY24 
“The Saint Anslem College School Board, in a majority vote, accepted the terms of the Emergency Management Performance Grant as presented in the amount of $6,000.00 to update the school’s Local Emergency Operations Plan (LEOP). Furthermore, the Board acknowledges that the total cost of this project will be $12,000.00, in which the College will be responsible for a 50% match ($6,000.00).”

Louisville Institute grant, Louisville Institute, PI: Gilberto Ruiz, Associate Professor of Theology; $40,000 for FY24
Project Title: Formation and Identity in Contemporary Cuban-AmericanLiterature and the New Testament.
The Louisville Institute’s Sabbatical Grant for Researchers provides sabbatical grants up to $40,000 to support research projects about Christian faith and life, the practice of ministry, religious trends and movements, Christian and other faith-based institutions and religion and social issues.  Funded by the Religion Division of Lilly Endowment, the Louisville Institute’s mission is to bridge Church and academy through awarding grants and fellowships to those who lead and study North American religious institutions, practices, and movements, and thereby promoting scholarship that strengthens Church, academy, and society, and ultimately contributes to the flourishing of the Church.

NEH Subaward, University of Arkansas NEH, PI: Georgia Henley, Assistant Professor, English and Communication; $27,840 for FY24
Project Title: Brut y Brenhinedd: Translating and Editing the Welsh Reception of Geoffrey of Monmouth. 
Prof. Georgia Henley, an Assistant Professor of English at St. Anselm College, will serve as Co-Director and will take the lead on translating Llanstephan 1. Moreover, Prof. Henley will work together with Prof. Smith in proofing the translations and preparing the documents for publication. Abstract: Geoffrey of Monmouth (d. 1155) wrote a book that changed the course of European literature. His De gestis Britonum brought King Arthur, Guinevere, King Lear, and others to an international audience, becoming so popular that it was adapted into many languages. While the medieval French and English translations have received attention, this project will make available an equally important but understudied branch of his work—the Middle Welsh adaptations. These translations, known collectively as Brut y Brenhinedd, survive in 74 manuscripts, representing seven independent translations. Without modern editions or translations into English, they have been sorely neglected by scholars. Our project, by publishing critical editions and translations of three early versions, will make Brut y Brenhinedd accessible to a wide range of scholars and educators, allowing it to take its place in conversations about colonization, historiography, Britain’s place in Europe, and pre-modern race-making.

NetVUE Professional Development Grant, The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), PI: Susan Gabert, Associate Dean of Students for Anselmian Life and Culture; $15,000 for FY24
Funds will support phase 1 of the Anselmian Journeys program.

NH Sea Development Grant, University of New Hampshire, NH Sea Grant, PI: Brian Penney, Professor of Biological Sciences;  $24,322 for FY24 
Project Title: Evaluating the potential threat of the invasive nudibranch Doris pseudoargis to reshape benthic invertebrate communities. 

About NH Sea Grant:  Based at the University of New Hampshire since 1980 (individual college program status since 2003), New Hampshire Sea Grant is one of 34 Sea Grant programs in the U.S. under the umbrella of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s National Sea Grant College Program.

Continuing Awards

Connected Communities Grant, TD Bank Charitable Foundation; PI: Gary Bouchard, Director of Humanities Department; $15,000 for FY24
With funding provided by the TD Bank Foundation as part of their Connected Communities Initiative, Dr. Bouchard plans to inaugurate a program for new Americans in New Hampshire which would help address the problem of social isolation by offering recent immigrants the opportunity to experience hospitality on the Saint Anselm campus.  Participants will gather and share with one another and with wider audiences the voices and visions that spring from their unique cultures.

Homeland Security Grant, New Hampshire Department of Safety, Grants Management Bureau; PI: Robert Browne, Director, Safety and Security; $100,000 for FY24
Project Title: Saint Anselm College 2021 Nonprofit Security Grant Program-S (NSGP)
Saint Anselm College’s Department of Campus Safety and Security has received a $100,000 award through the 2021 Nonprofit Security Grant Program, NH Department of Safety.  FY 2021 NSGP allowable costs are focused on target hardening activities. Funding may be used for the acquisition and installation of security equipment on real property (including buildings and improvements) owned or leased by the nonprofit organization, specifically in prevention of and/or protection against the risk of a terrorist attack.

INBRE-Dartmouth, Two-Year Research Grant, PI: Jennifer Pace, Assistant Professor, Chemistry Department; $149,539 for FY24, a two-year award totaling $238,854
Project Title: Synthesis and Evaluation of Flufenamic Acid Analogues for Hippo Pathway Inhibition
Abstract: The goal of this research is to make use of computational chemistry, organic synthetic chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology to identify a potent and selective small molecule inhibitor of the Hippo pathway. This small molecule inhibitor will be used as a chemical tool to deconvolute the Hippo pathway’s role in cancer. Ultimately, a potent and selective Hippo pathway inhibitor may be used for the treatment and prevention of these Hippo-mediated cancers.

Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH); PI: Gary Bouchard, Professor of English and Director of the Humanities Institute; $500,000 funded in FY22; funds available in FY24
Project Title: Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant
NEH has awarded $500,000 to the college in support of the Gregory J. Grappone ’04 Humanities Institute. This federal grant will advance Saint Anselm’s efforts to create a physical home for the humanities in the current print shop. From this home, Saint Anselm will cultivate a hub for the humanities whose spokes extend across the campus, across the curriculum and across the wider community to enrich lives and foster the kind of community that helps support those lives.  

Travel Grant, Jasper & Marion Whiting; PI: Adam Walton, Lecturer, English; $5,558 for FY24
Project Title: The Life, Work, and Letters of Frank Stanford
Prof. Walton traveled to Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Washington this summer to advance his research on Frank Stanford (1948-1978), a Mississippi-born poet who lived most of his life in Arkansas and formatively studied at Subiaco Academy, a Benedictine preparatory school. The travels will enhance Prof. Walton’s classroom instruction of Stanford’s poetry, and Prof. Walton has also recently signed a contract with the University of Arkansas Press, which will be publishing his edition of Stanford’s letters—so the travels are furthering his research for the book as well.

Travel Grant, Jasper & Marion Whiting; PI: Jordan Burke, Assistant Professor, Criminal Justice; $4,245 for FY24
Project Title: American Race Riots and the Maintenance of White Supremacy
With funding provided by the Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation, Dr. Burke plans to develop a two-course series at Saint Anselm College examining the role of collective racial violence throughout U.S. history, in addition to campus-wide colloquiums featuring undergraduate research on individual race riot events.

TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) Grant, U.S. Department of Education; PI: Stephanie Fernandez; $224,429 for FY24, five-year award totaling $1,122,145.
Saint Anselm College was awarded a new TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) grant in 2022.  The program is aimed at supporting the academic success of first-generation students and students with disabilities through advising resources and collaborative programming. While Saint Anselm College has increased access for disadvantaged students over the last decade, the college lacks sufficient means of comprehensively assessing, supporting, and monitoring these students to support their persistence and success (New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) Self-Study and NECHE committee report, 2019).  As a result, SSS eligible students’ rate of educational attainment has trailed significantly behind the rate of non-eligible students.  Our most recent data demonstrates an 11% deficit in both persistence and graduation rates for SSS eligible students.  The college will now seek to overcome this disparity through a new holistic Regular SSS program to improve performance, increase retention, and promote success for first-generation, low-income students and students with disabilities.  Thirty-six percent of the undergraduate population meets eligibility criteria for TRIO SSS at the college. The SAC SSS project serves 120 SSS eligible students and delivers high-quality services thoughtfully designed to meet the demonstrated needs of the target SSS population.

GEAR UP Manchester, Pass Through/Indirect Funds, U.S. Dept. of Education; PI: Stephanie Lesperance, NH College & University Council; $15,000 for FY24, seven-year award totaling $105,000. (Pass-through indirect cost received for SAC)
GEAR UP Manchester seeks to increase the college-going rate of students in the city of Manchester, NH through the use of formative data in a timely manner and implementation of strategies to avoid summer melt. The following activities and services will be implemented over the performance period of the project: academic tutoring/support; extended learning opportunities, family engagement/outreach programs; financial literacy workshops; college visits; internship and career exploration activities; summer enrichment/credit recovery programs; dual credit coursework; college application support, FAFSA completion and college transition/retention activities.

NSF Convergence Accelerator, Track E Grant, NSF Subaward – Michigan State University; PI: Shannon O’Leary, Assistant Professor, Biology; $58,855 for FY24
Project Title: From ship to store—using genomics to solve fisheriesmanagement challenges in highly migratory marine species
We propose a convergence research program to develop and implement the tools needed to address challenges for shark species of global conservation concern. Genomic data will be leveraged to design CRISPR-Cas9 SHERLOCK assays for ground-breaking genomic species identification tools. Once developed, SHERLOCK assays enable on the spot and inexpensive determination of species identity without the need for specialized expertise or laboratory equipment, making this approach practical for widespread implementation.

Orsted Wind (Offshore Wind Energy), Subaward – Monmouth University; PI: Shannon O’Leary, Assistant Professor, Biology; $47,421 for FY24
Project Title: Orsted Wind Farm Pre-Construction Fisheries Monitoring
Proposed work includes the collection of pre-construction data on the abundance, size structure, distribution, and demographics of marine fishery organisms in the Ocean Wind lease area, along the Export Cable routes, and/or in sensitive nearshore habitats in accordance with the protocols described in the Fisheries monitoring Plan.

OVW Domestic Violence Grant (Renewal), U.S. Department of Justice; PI: Maura Marshall, Director, Health Services; Program Coordinator: Nicole Kipphut; $100,874 for FY24, three-year award totaling $299,900
Health Services received an OVW Campus Program grant renewal in 2021 to continue The Harbor, a campus-based center that draws visibility to issues of sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, and stalking on campus (SA/DV/S).  The Harbor provides a designated place for victims to gain confidential support and advocacy.  The Harbor also serves as a hub for students, faculty, staff, and community partners to increase coordination, make SA/DV/S reports, and ensure effective responses to SA/DV/S.

Research Support and Training Year 4 (Renewal), IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE); PI: Derk Wierda, Professor, Chemistry; $200,753 for FY24, five-year award totaling $1,068,320
New Hampshire INBRE (IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence) is a program funded by the National Institutes of Health to develop a coordinated network of biomedical research and research training in New Hampshire. The NH-INBRE network is comprised of two “lead” research-intensive institutions, the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the University of New Hampshire; and the “Partner” primarily undergraduate institutions, Colby-Sawyer College, Franklin Pierce University, Keene State College, New England College, Plymouth State University and Saint Anselm College, along with the Community College System of New Hampshire.

Continuing Awards - Extended

Investor Ed Program, NH Securities Bureau; PI: Neil Levesque; $107,798 for FY24, awarded FY13
The funds received have been utilized to support the Ethics in Governance and Investor Education programs at Saint Anselm College.

Fighting for the Light, Furthermore Foundation; PI: Katherine Hoffman, Professor Emerita, Fine Arts; $3,000 for FY24, awarded FY16
Furthermore is one of very few philanthropic programs that specifically support printed and illustrated books. Applications are reviewed by a group of scholars, publishers, and individuals; they collectively identify the projects that receive Furthermore grants. Professor Katherine Hoffman was awarded $3,000 that will be used for illustration expenses associated with the book “Fighting for the Light”.