Office of Sponsored Programs/
Research Administration
The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP)/
Research Administration is responsible for
all pre- and post-award administration of
sponsored programs. OSP is required to
adhere to all sponsored guidelines, Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines,
various federal circulars, as well as state
and local government requirements for the
management of sponsored programs.
Sponsors include federal, state and local
governments, non-profit agencies, corp-
orations, and foundations. OSP administers
Exchange Visitor Program (J1), a program
of the United States Information Agency
which sponsors visits from qualified foreign
research scholars and specialists to promote
the general interest of international educa-
tional and cultural exchange.
The OSP is also home to the Institutional
Review Board (IRB). The IRB’s mission is to
protect human subjects from physical or
psychological harm, which they attempt
to do by reviewing research protocols and
related materials. The protocol review
assesses the ethics of the research and
its methods, promotes fully informed and
voluntary participation by prospective
subjects capable of making such choices (or,
if that is not possible, informed permission
given by a suitable proxy), and seeks to
maximize the safety of subjects.
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