College grants team grows to meet increasing needs

The designation of East Carolina University as a R1 institution confirms the significance and major impact of research performed by faculty, staff and students at the university. Along with this designation comes the importance of continued grant funding and additional research support. Harriot College’s grants team, under the leadership of Dr. Keith Keene, associate dean for research, is helping to meet those increasing needs.

Over the past decade, the college’s grants team has grown significantly. Grants management started with one staff member and an associate dean, and it then gradually added another staff member or two. Today, under Keene’s guidance, the team consists of five members: two pre-award support and three post-award support.

“Grants management and administration is truly a team effort. It involves the interplay of both the PI and the department, as well as the college and the university leadership under REDE,” Keene said. “Also, to maintain compliance, we need to be knowledgeable of all of the rules and regulations. and without a staff like this, it would be much more cumbersome for the faculty to complete their work.”

The newest staff, who have joined the group in the past couple of months, include pre-award grants support personnel Dr. Ming Trammel and two post-award grants support personnel, Jamilah “Jami” Johnson and Arnajhia Fant.

Trammel assists with the identification of funding opportunities and with proposal development, including document preparation, collection and review before submission. Johnson and Fant assist with making sure expenditures and people are paid appropriately and that grant activities are in compliance with federal and sponsored guidelines.

“I am learning something new every day,” said Johnson, who began working at ECU in 2018 and has held positions with health sciences and Harriot College’s Department of Psychology. “It is a great opportunity to learn and grow.”

Fant began working at ECU in November 2024 and held a post-award grants role for the Department of Biology before joining the college’s grants team.

“Education and research run on grants, and I have a big part in helping people perform research,” she said.

From the post-award side of grants management, Keene said, “The opportunity to help facilitate faculty, staff and student success in research — to assist in their abilities to complete research more easily — is the most satisfying part of this job.”

However, Keene said that this doesn’t happen without the support of personnel who assist in pre-award work and proposal submission, which ultimately results in the award.

“Pre-award work is equally important,” he said.

“To maintain R1 status, we have to make sure we increase our research awards, and the only way we can do that for a large college like Thomas Harriot is if we have the appropriate, well-trained and knowledgeable staff that can facilitate proposal submissions,” he said. “Without this team growing, we wouldn’t be able to manage the increase in research that we have seen as a university.”

Overall, the Harriot College grants team is performing essential work for the college and the university. Each person plays a vital role, and their support is critical to the research of faculty, staff and students who are working to advance the university’s mission of student success, public service and regional transformation.