SPA Contact Us

Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) handles sponsored grants and contracts, outgoing subawards, unfunded agreements, and other pre-award functions. This page will help you contact the right team.

Use the team email addresses for your questions about a proposal, agreement, or action. Or, if you received communication from SPA that your action has been assigned to a SPA reviewer, then get in touch with that individual directly. Review the information below which includes team emails and helpful links.

SPA Staff

Kuali Research technical issues:  Contact DLKualiResearchHelp@umaryland.edu and identify the Proposal number or document number when reporting a technical issue.

SPA Virtual Office Hours

During these times, the SPA management team and senior administrators will be available to answer your questions about Kuali Build, Kuali Research, general questions regarding sponsor guidelines, and much more.  For status updates, please contact the person working on your proposal or agreement - SPA Office Hours are not for status updates, but for more general questions.

Mondays, 10:00 - 11:30 am 

Wednesdays, 2:00 - 3:30 pm

Agreements and contracts (funded or to-be-funded) 

SPA has two teams that review and negotiate funded or to-be-funded agreements. 

Contracts Team (email SPA-Contracts@umaryland.edu):  

Stacey Boyd (Manager)
Angela Estevez
Nicolette Glewwe
Roman Kovalets
Moriah Nkosi

Negotiates incoming agreements to UMB from non-profit organizations EXCEPT those listed below. Negotiates incoming agreements from other universities. Reviews and negotiates federal RFPs and federal contracts. Reviews and negotiates pass-through corporate agreements with prime government funding.

Team State (email SPA-TeamState@umaryland.edu):

Richard Ingrao (Manager)

Contact this team with questions about proposals or agreements with the following sponsors:

Agreements and MOUs with State, City, or County agencies, and with City and County public schools/school systems.

IPAs and JPAs (VA and BREF)

Agreements and proposals for these specific sponsors:

  • American Cancer Society (ACS)
  • American Dental Association (ADA)
  • American Diabetes Association
  • American Heart Association (AHA)
  • Behavioral Health Administration
  • Community Health Resource Commission 
  • Connections thru Life, Inc
  • Family League Maryland 
  • Maryland Center for School Safety 
  • Maryland Emergency Management Agency
  • Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS)
  • Maryland Longitudinal Data System Center
  • Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO)

Information and procedures related to Agreements and Contracts

Corporate-funded and clinical trial agreements:  Submit questions about corporate agreements (for-profit entities) to the Center for Clinical Trials and Corporate Contracts.

General information about the negotiation of awards and agreements

IPAs and JPAs (VA)

Award set-up, post-award, and reporting 

When you have questions about faculty transfers, final reports, no-cost extensions, prior approvals, other post-award topics, or award set-up in Kuali Research:

Contact spa@umaryland.edu to get started, or, if the funding is a federal grant, cooperative agreement, fellowship, or career development award, contact Team Grants at SPA-Grants@umaryland.edu.

Information and procedures:

Award set-up in Kuali Research.

Changes to the project and budget

Federal RPPR

Faculty transfers

Federal Post-award Issues 

Team Grants (email SPA-Grants@umaryland.edu):  SPA Team Grants handles post-award issues related to federal awards. 

Amanda Knott, Assistant Director

This team handles post-award approvals for federal grants, cooperative agreements, fellowships, and career development awards. Post-award approvals include such actions as change of PI and no-cost extensions. This team also assists (as backup) with RPPR review and submission.

Changes to the project and budget

Federal RPPR

Faculty transfers

Outgoing Subawards 

Subaward Team (email SPA-Subteam@umaryland.edu):  This team processes outgoing subawards, issued by UMB to a collaborating organization. 

Kelly Lehner (Assistant Director)
Andrew Cromwell
Venzula Harris
Stephanie Portee
Jonathan Tissue

The Subaward Request is used to request a new subaward or modifications to an existing subaward.  Review the Subaward Request Instructions and User Aids

SPA's Subrecipient Agreements pages

Proposal preparation and submission, just-in-time, and pre-award 

Proposals Team (email SPA-Proposals@umaryland.edu): 

Greg Sorensen (Assistant Director)
Assadullah Ahmadzai
Andra Davis
Urmil Dhru
Zineb Kirchner
Kimberly Moore
Michael Starace
Christine Toalepai

This team reviews proposal submissions for grants, fellowships, and cooperative agreements EXCEPT for proposals for the sponsors listed below. This team also processes just-in-time requests.

Contracts Team (email SPA-Contracts@umaryland.edu):

Stacey Boyd (Manager)
Angela Estevez
Nicolette Glewwe
Roman Kovalets
Moriah Nkosi

This team reviews modifications to existing contracts and related contract actions.

Team State (email SPA-TeamState@umaryland.edu):

Richard Ingrao (Manager)

Contact this team with questions about proposals with the following sponsors:

Proposed agreements and MOUs with State, City, or County agencies, and with City and County public schools/school systems.

Proposed agreements with the VA (IPAs, service agreements).

Proposals for these specific sponsors:

  • American Cancer Society (ACS)
  • American Dental Association (ADA)
  • American Diabetes Association
  • American Heart Association (AHA)
  • Behavioral Health Administration
  • Community Health Resource Commission 
  • Connections thru Life, Inc
  • Family League Maryland 
  • Maryland Center for School Safety 
  • Maryland Emergency Management Agency
  • Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS)
  • Maryland Longitudinal Data System Center
  • Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO)

Team Black supports specific, pre-designated departments that have acquired these services. Team Black requires several weeks before any deadline to assist with proposal development. Please verify with your Dean's office that Team Black supports your department. If you are interested in working with Team Black, please contact Jill Frankenfield.

Information and procedures related to pre-award actions

Developing Proposals

Proposals in Kuali Research

eCommons and NSF registration

Budget development

IPAs and JPAs

Just-in-time (post-submission/pre-award transactions)

Letters of Intent and Pre-proposals

Unfunded agreements (DUAs, CDAs and others) 

Contracts Team (email:  SPA-Contracts@umaryland.edu)

Stacey Boyd (Manager)
Angela Estevez
Nicolette Glewwe
Roman Kovalets
Moriah Nkosi

This team reviews unfunded agreements when the other party is an educational institution or a non-profit. An unfunded agreement addresses specific needs related to sponsored projects but is not a funding instrument.

Instructions for routing an unfunded agreement in Kuali Research.

Unfunded agreements reviewed by SPA.

Unfunded agreements handled by other offices

Material transfer agreements: contact the Center for Clinical Trials and Corporate Contracts.

Unfunded agreements with corporations (for-profit entities):  contact the Center for Clinical Trials and Corporate Contracts. (The SPA Contracts Team reviews all Teaming Agreements.)

International MOUs (unfunded MOUs with international organizations), International Affiliation Agreements, International Exchange Agreements:  contact the Global Hub.

If you have a more general question or one that just doesn't fit any of the above categories, you may send your question to spa@umaryland.edu

SPA Business Practices - communications