The Office of Research Programs (ORP)

The Office of Research Programs (ORP) seeks to stimulate, facilitate and highlight research at ESF. The ORP staff at all levels, and the Dean of Research, strive to make research opportunities at the College as broad and achievable as possible. We are the central resource for the initiation, funding and management of all ESF research activity. Our specific roles and responsibilities are listed here.

Office of Research Programs
200 Bray Hall
SUNY-ESF
1 Forestry Drive
Syracuse, NY 13210
315-470-6606
315-470-6779 (fax)

ORP Staff Directory

Dean of Research

• Neil H. Ringler, Dean, Research Programs; Distinguished Teaching Professor, Environmental and Forest Biology Faculty; Director, Council on McIntire-Stennis Forestry Research
  NeilRingler@esf.edu

Staff:

• William J. Nicholson, Coordinator of Sponsored Programs
  wjnichol@esf.edu
• Donald E. Artz, Administrative Staff Assistant IV
  deartz@esf.edu
• Susan E. Benoit, Senior Staff Assistant
  sebenoit@esf.edu
• Theresa G. Baker, Sponsored Programs Assistant I
  tbaker@esf.edu
• Donna B. Follett, Administrative Staff Assistant II
  dbfollet@esf.edu
• MaryAnne Stanton, Administrative Staff Assistant I
  mstanton@esf.edu
• Theresa Kaier-May, Senior Administrative Assistant
  tamay@esf.edu
• Cheryl A. Liptak, Clerk Specialist II
  cliptak@esf.edu
• Anne R. Brown, Clerical Specialist I
  abrown@esf.edu
• Linda Galloway, ORP Funding Specialist
  lmgalloway@esf.edu

ORP Staff Responsibilities

As Dean of Research, Neil H. Ringler provides leadership, coordination and support for College-wide research programs through the initiation, development and implementation of research management, administrative and financial/budgetary strategies. Research-oriented Center, Institutes, Councils and Consortia report to the Dean, who works closely with the Provost in support of these entities. The Dean works synergistically with the ESF administration and with counterparts at Upstate Medical University, Syracuse University, Central New York Biotechnology Research Center, the business community and other college partners to develop research opportunities and new initiatives. The Dean also serves as the Responsible Officer for the College's internal Exchange Visitor Program. See Neil's extended profile.

William J. Nicholson is the Coordinator of Sponsored Programs, who directs and coordinates the activities of the technical staff of the Office of Research Programs. He assists the Dean of Research with all phases of the administration of grants and contracts from sponsors external to the College. This includes general oversight responsibility for pre-award and post-award activities, including liaison with project directors, sponsoring agencies and organizations, and the Research Foundation of State University of New York. This position is central to the development of Memoranda of Understanding as well as finalization of contracts and grants.

Donald E. Artz is an Administrative Staff Assistant IV. He coordinates resolution of sponsored program post-award activities, as well as accounts receivable/collections and award closeout activities. He develops and ensures integrity of research-related data management systems and information, and supervises input, training and preparing research activity metrics and statistical reports for campus management. He administers institutional funds designated for research support and monitors institutional research compliance and risk. He is the college's RF Sponsored Programs Focus Group representative, representing ESF's interests in sponsored program administration, Oracle business system development, and Internal Controls with the Research Foundation of SUNY. He works closely with the Dean, the Provost and the Coordinator of Sponsored Programs in development of annual budget plans for the research activities of the College.

Susan E. Benoit is a Senior Staff Assistant. Her responsibilities include coordinating proposal submissions for a subset of the faculty that includes members of the Departments of Environmental and Forest Biology, Landscape Architecture, Paper and Bioprocess Engineering, and Administration; training on pre- and post-award procedures; preparing expenditure and budget reports; McIntire-Stennis budgets and awards; assisting with post-award activity; award closeouts; project technical report monitoring; and maintaining and disseminating information on potential sponsors.

Theresa Baker is a Sponsored Programs Assistant I.  Her responsibilities include coordinating proposal submissions for a subset of the faculty that includes members of the Departments of Chemistry, Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering, Forest and Natural Resources Management, and Construction Management and Wood Products Engineering; preparing expenditure and budget reports and assisting with post-award activity and award closeouts.  In addition, she also works directly with the Office of Outreach, Instructional Quality and Technology.

Donna B. Follett is an Administrative Staff Assistant II. She maintains data on ORP and Research Foundation information systems and prepares expenditure/budget reports that facilitate the post-award account activities of faculty salary recovery, cost-sharing and certification of salary distribution, as well as ESF's data coordination of the USDA Current Research Information System (CRIS). She assists with campus-wide training in ORP-related systems as needed. She also designs, maintains and implements ORP's web presence.

MaryAnne Stanton is an Administrative Staff Assistant I. She maintains data on ORP and Research Foundation information systems and prepares expenditure/budget reports that facilitate the post-award account activities of faculty salary recovery, cost-sharing and certification of salary distribution. She also coordinates the effort reporting process and assists with the training of new personnel.

Theresa Kaier-May is a Senior Administrative Assistant. She coordinates and supports all activities of the Dean of Research, including the McIntire-Stennis Program, international scholars, visitors (as Alternate Responsible Officer for the College's Internal Exchange Visitor Program), as well as coordination of research-oriented meeting and special events. She also provides support to the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems and NYSTAR programs and to the SUNY Center for Sustainable and Renewable Energy.

Cheryl A. Liptak is a Clerk Specialist II.  Cheryl assists with post-award tasks of reviewing and monitoring the close-outs of awards, and notifying the PI’s of award balances and reports due.  She is also responsible for monitoring the contracts and grants campus approval review process; sub-recipient monitoring; tuition encumbering and charging; and works with the Outreach Office on multiple sponsor award set-up and closeouts.  She monitors technology transfer submissions; submits and processes cash transmittals submitted to the Research Office; and assists with faculty PIAI training. She also plays an important role in special events including the Mentoring Conference, NY State Fair and campus visits of major research figures.

Anne R. Brown is a Clerical Specialist 1.  Anne assists with many functions of the proposal process. This includes preparation and processing of a variety of required proposal forms including transmittal materials for faculty/project directors. Anne also provides assistance with post-award tasks, updating and revising data between ORP and Research Foundation database systems, tracking personnel and purchase order requisitions, forwarding monthly account statements, and assisting with sub-recipient monitoring.

Linda M. Galloway is a Research Library working in conjunction with ORP as our Funding Opportunity Specialist. Linda monitors many funding agencies and databases and uses this information to compile biweekly editions of the Research Times, our funding opportunity newsletter. She also provides individual and group training to faculty and staff on funding databases and targets individual funding opportunities.