Georgia Tech’s research enterprise continues to grow in scale, complexity, and impact. To ensure our Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) is best positioned to serve the Institute effectively, Georgia Tech engaged Huron, a nationally recognized consulting firm specializing in research administration. This collaboration evaluated OSP’s structure, workflows, performance, systems, and service model to enhance effectiveness and support the research community. 

Project Updates

October 1, 2026 — Project Compass is currently in Phase 4: Implementation

Project Scope
CURRENT PHASE
 
Phase 1: Visioning and Planning
  • Lead project kickoff activities, establish project governance, and request key documents and data for analysis.
Phase 2: Discovery and Design
  • Develop current state overview of OSP based on interviews, focus group sessions, and data and document analysis.
  • Draft gap analysis and recommendations for a future state.
Phase 3: Solution Development
  • Develop future state lifecycle maps and SOPs, with staff and faculty working groups.
  • Finalize future state recommendations and implementation roadmap.
Phase 4: Implementation
  • Implement prioritized quick wins
  • Optimize organizational advancements

As part of the Discovery phase of the project, more than 50+ interviews and focus groups with ~200 attendees across eight units.” 

The following highlights upcoming communication and outreach activities:

  •    What's the Buzz in Research Administration Meeting - October 29, 2026  
  •    Research Administration Mini-What's the Buzz – Date TBD (1st week of December) 

OSP Quick Wins

OSP Quick Wins includes more than 100 focused process and organizational improvement projects addressing priority opportunities identified through COMPASS. These projects support practical improvements to processes, policies, technology and data, sub-award administration, and customer service, with implementation continuing through March 2027. 

  • Process and Policy
  • Technology and Data
  • Sub-award  
  • Customer Service
  • Change Management

Key Points of Contact:  

Steering Committee

View PDF for additional details about the Steering Committee.

Steering Committee Representation
Chair: Brandon Strickland | Support: Huron

Office of the Chief Research Operations Officer

OSP Directors (Sophia Herbert-Peterson, Vannessa Daniels, Roberta Burke), Research Operations (Susan Burns), Research Integrity Assurance (Tanta Myles)

Academic and Research Units

Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts (Aaron Levine), College of Engineering (Adam Steinberg), College of Design (Alexander Lerch), College of Sciences (Jake Soper), Rob Kadel (IRI), Steven Ferguson & Thomas Kurfess (GTMI)

Office of Information Technology

Greg Philips, Courtney Hill*

GTRI

Bo Rotoloni, Raj Vuchatu, Ira Bragg*

Finance & OGC

Joshua Rosenberg, Macy Fennell