1. What I learned: Establishing a New UTC at the University of Florida Presented by: Ines Aviles-Spadoni, M.S. Research Programs/Services Coordinator STRIDE Center CUTC Summer Meeting June 3, 2014 Lincoln, NE

2. BackgroundBackground 1. In 2007, UF was awarded a Tier 1 UTC. 29 projects awarded to UF researchers. Project successfully closed-out in 2011. 2. In 2012, UF was awarded the Region 4 UTC, a consortium of eight universities in the Southeastern U.S. Currently, 29 projects have been selected, collaborative in nature (multiple researchers and universities participating in more than 50 percent of projects).

3. 1. Tier-1 (CMS) a)Familiarized myself with strategic plan, USDOT/RITA deliverables general provisions document, referred to it ALWAYS!! b)Used above documents to set up website, started working on newsletter, drafted call for proposal document and, created spreadsheets for incoming proposals and peer review, quarterly and final reports QRs, assembled contact list, etc. c)Reached out to seasoned grantees at other institutions for advice. d)Borrowed ideas from grantee websites for creation of forms, call for proposals, tracking quarterly reports, etc. e)Reach out to them. Many are willing to share information. What Did I Do to Get Started?

5. 1. Regional (STRIDE) a)Followed proposal, USDOT/RITA deliverables and general provisions documents as a guide to set up website, tracking spreadsheets b)Used documents and forms from previous UTC and modified for use in consortium-type center. Also, borrowed ideas from grantees with Regional Centers. c)A regional center with multiple institutions as partners gets tricky when: gathering performance indicators, setting up task orders, tracking financials, etc. Meet with your Grants Specialist and Sponsored Research office. And then we got a regional…

8. Main Challenges Issues EncounteredManner Resolved Getting people to commit to reviewing proposals and draft final reports Offered an honorarium for reviewing Getting quarterly reports on timeMonitor, monitor, monitor! If institution invoices, reject Gathering performance indicators when multiple institutions are involved; Making sure data collected and not double- counted Institutional representatives responsible for collecting info and sending STRIDE, and advising against double-counting Invoicing, tracking cost share projectsNeed to have an excellent relationship with at least your Grants Specialist

9. My Advice to You 1.Use your approved proposal, including the USDOT/RITA deliverables and general provisions to guide you. 2.Establish a good, working relationship with the grants specialist assigned to monitor your UTC project. 3.Don’t be shy to reach out to other UTCs for ideas. 4.Why reinvent the wheel? By sharing expertise and knowledge with each other, it will benefit the ENTIRE UTC program. 5.Remember: We do the nitty-gritty, day- to-day work, don’t worry, they appreciate us. Fin …