NDOLA Q. CARLEST

Grants and Contracts Consultant:

Currently reviewing, scoring, and recommending grant proposal applications for funding on $60M+ federal ARPA award to the State of Arizona AHCCCS program. Served as the faculty's single point of contact for post-award financial management for research/public service grants and contracts and ensures UCSF faculty are provided with a high quality, efficient, responsive, and reliable service. Post-award financial management of a variety of sponsored extramural funds (federal, state, industry), and in facilitating the integration, communication and coordination of all information and activities related to each sponsored project in a significant, proactive, and creative manner to the faculty member to lay the groundwork for sound and timely decisions. Responsible for the entire scope of post-award management services for a variety of award mechanisms, including federal government, and non-profit grants, and state and industry sponsored contracts. Responsible for the financial management of each research, clinical trial or public service project, preparation of monthly financial reports, forecasting funding needs for staff and other costs, preparation of online journals, payroll transfers, and authorizing transactions for purchases and travel expenditures.

• Rectified inaccuracies in the comingled funds, ensuring proper alignment with the Oracle Financial system.
• Identified discrepancies amounting to millions of dollars, previously unavailable for university utilization due to disarray in legacy balance books.
• Completed the analysis two weeks ahead of schedule, enabling the assumption of 19 additional projects to support the team's completion goal. Complete month-end closing procedures, journal entry review, balance sheet analysis, and financial report preparation.
• Monitor cost standard performance to confirm that costs meets budget cost parameters.
• Perform financial reporting, trend analysis, and process improvement support.
• Clinical Trial Payment Reconciliation: Research, General Ledger Administration, Budget Allocation, and Financial Reporting.
• Demonstrate understanding of various funding models including letter of credit, federal drawdown, cost reimbursable, fixed price, payable by milestone or project period
• Highly proficient with Excel and Peoplesoft
• Knowledge and application of applicable federal, state, local, sponsor and institutional regulations, policies, and guidelines.
• Knowledge of grant funding processes, procedures and techniques.

Category: Sales Support and Customer Service

Pay Plan: Hourly

Hours per week: 16-40

Support the leasing office as a concierge and leasing professional with a wide range of responsibilities of several multi-family residential properties, playing a critical role in maintaining high occupancy rates and ensuring a positive living experience for tenants.

• Use business administration, interpersonal skills, and attention to detail to ensure successful leasing, tenant relations, and customer service.
• Invite prospects to fill out application upon completion of property tour.
• Tour property with prospective tenants and provided wealth of information in regards to its key features.
• Greet incoming visitors and customers professionally and provided friendly, knowledgeable assistance.
• Handle rent transactions and maintained sales and payments records accurately.

Responsible for the full lifecycle of federal grants management including pre- and post- award activities. Reviewed applications, monitor progress, issue amendments, and close grants. Applied knowledge of federal regulations, interpret and apply Institute's policies and procedures related to management of grants. Worked closely with SPORES program team members. Ensured all requests are thoroughly reviewed and monitored according to the Uniform Guidance and NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Duties, Accomplishments and Related Skills:

• Process a full range of grant/agreement applications used to determine the selection of grant/agreement awards.
• Negotiation of budgets, award period, and terms and conditions for grant awards.
• Advise applicants and grantees on financial and management issues relevant to their applications.
• Ensure that awardee is in compliance with established administrative and financial policies, procedures, and sound business practices.
• Provide advice, interpretation, and guidance on statutes, regulations, policies, and procedures relative to the award program.
• Provide guidance and/or training to new hires to the grants management team.
• Accomplishments:
• Identified and corrected errors in previous awards
• Presented as a subject matter expert for new employee training.
• Distributed grant requests for proposals, reviewed responses and recommended acceptance.
• Monitored and analyzed changing laws, regulations and policies pertaining to grants.
• Attended events to develop professional network of potential donors.
• Quickly learned new skills and applied them to daily tasks, improving efficiency and productivity.
• Carried out day-day-day duties accurately and efficiently.
• Demonstrated respect, friendliness and willingness to help wherever needed.
• Worked flexible hours; night, weekend, and holiday shifts.
• Monitored and analyzed changing laws, regulations and policies pertaining to grants.
• Reviewed and approved grant proposals, responses and made recommendations for acceptance or denial of awards.
• Interpreted and administered grants policy as related to grant proposal applications to determine approval for grant awards.

Responsible for various research initiatives and projects of the department, managing the administrative aspects, ensuring compliance, and contributing to the successful financial management of multiple research programs.

• Oversee the administrative aspects of research projects, including budget management, grant proposals, and funding compliance.
• Assist researchers in preparing grant applications and ensure they meet institutional and sponsor guidelines.
• Manage research accounts and track expenses.
• Coordinate and monitor the progress of research projects, ensuring they stay on schedule and within budget.
• Collaborate with principal investigators and researchers to identify and address project needs.
• Ensure research activities adhere to university, federal, and other regulatory guidelines.
• Develop and manage research project budgets, including forecasting, expenditure tracking, and financial reporting.
• Work with research teams to secure and allocate resources effectively.
• Ensure compliance with contractual obligations of grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements.
• Provide guidance and training to junior research staff and researchers on best practices in research administration and compliance.

Financial manager for a portfolio of faculty, administrators, and department research staff, serving as point of contact and primary resource for all pre-and post-award grant activities

• Provided on-going post-award financial oversight of grants and contracts including tracking of funds, evaluating expenditures, forecasting, preparation and submission of progress and final reports., Ensured timely submission of federal, foundation, and industry-sponsored grant applications and contracts, oversaw organization and preparation of all components of grant applications
• Prepared standard and ad-hoc financial reports, provided analysis and reasons for variances, forecasted expenditures, and made recommendations to correct projected deficits
• Worked with investigators to develop and manage budgets for grants and contracts, managed purchasing and reimbursements of expenses and monitored expenses for correct allocation of funds.
• Proposed fundraising opportunities to potential donors to increase sources of funding

Responsible for initiation of new shared service team responsible for cradle to grave grants and contracts administration for the Office of the Vice Deans for Research and Administration, including hiring and training new staff, creating operational budget and training plan, and working with multiple departmental administrators to establish periodic reports and regular meetings with research faculty and their teams.

• Managed sponsored research and administrative functions of post-award activities for multiple departments with total sponsored research budget of $35M and $6.5M unrestricted funds
• Developed and implemented monthly reports to assist faculty with financial decision-making, reconciled and monitored awards for compliance with sponsor requirements, and provided onboarding and coaching support for junior grants managers
• Coordinated with departmental staff to ensure all post-award finance functions operate smoothly and within budget and deliverable restraints, collaborated daily with central offices, pre-award, and human resources shared services to ensure continuity of award process.

Primary liaison between sponsor and faculty to ensure that sponsored program funds are utilized in a manner consistent with federal, state, and organizational policies. Deliver knowledgeable, responsive, and innovative solution-oriented service. Provide guidance and assistance to faculty and staff on the utilization of sponsored programs.

• Oversaw management of sponsored programs, special purpose funds, and center operational budget, partnered with Office of Grants and Contracts to execute incoming and outgoing awards, financial reporting, projections, and managing deliverables
• Monitored grant awards for compliance with federal, sponsor, and institutional policies, managed pre-and post-award processes of sponsored funding, including review and approval of expenses and effort certifications.
• Reconciled payroll and expenses for more than 200 employees and monitored compliance with applicable federal, state, and institutional laws and policies.

Serve as first point of contact and resource guide for department faculty, staff, and analysts, planning and developing budgets for submission with grant packages to various federal agencies, private agencies, foundations
and commercial contract proposals. Provide instruction for protocol, regulations and guidelines pertinent to sponsoring agencies and the university. This role also management of a staff of two full time staff and one part-time student positions.

• Responsible for all activities related to the sponsored
  non-sponsored projects and service centers within the center. Oversight and administration of pre-award, post-award and closeout activities for grants and contacts of varying levels of complexity.
• Managed pre-and post-award activities for specialized research group with $3.5M annual budget for the Epidemiology and Research Group in Organ Transplantation (ERGOT)
• Created and established standard operating procedures/internal controls to ensure compliance with university, sponsors, federal government, and Uniform Guidance policies
• Facilitated resolution of human resource issues, including hiring, merit reviews, VISA applications and renewals, served as final point of contact for divisional faculty and staff to plan and develop of budgets for sponsored project submissions to federal, private, and commercial organizations
• Provided instruction to new faculty investigators on protocol, regulations, and guidelines pertinent to university and sponsor organizations.

Lead Research Service Analyst responsible for a team of five senior and junior analysts supporting multiple departments in the School of Medicine, coordinated proposal applications, budgeting, and finance activities related to sponsored projects in a shared research services environment

• Monitored pre-and post-award activities to ensure compliance with sponsor and university guidelines.
• Provided recommendations to multi-level committee providing action plan to reduce departmental inefficiencies
• Provided introductory systems training for new and existing departmental staff responsible for clinical trial proposals.

Primary contact for departmental faculty and staff at the Chemical Propulsion and information Analysis Center (CPIAC). Responsible for analytical, technical, and administrative duties with regard to contract administration, the budgetary process, and applicable laws and policies. Provide guidance and recommendation of best practices to faculty, technical, and support personnel relative to use of funds on federal awards.

• Identified key errors in revenue recognition process, resulting in recovery of approximately $1.5M.
• Reviewed monthly operations to assess compliance with budgets and determine necessary adjustments for future plans.
• Directed staff and managed annual capital budget.
• Compiled statistical data after each month-end closing.
• Created and updated expenditure reports in SAP, CUFS, UNANET, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, and other enterprise Software.
• Led cost reduction efforts for conference travel and employee overtime expenses.
• Generated annual budget proposal and forecasting information for management and federal financial reports.
• Monitored and reported budgetary discrepancies to senior management to maximize reporting efficiency.
• Evaluated procurement needs and projected expenditures.
• Identified and monitored budget expenses for accuracy and signs of fraud.
• Implemented budgetary monitoring techniques to improve program staff spending habits.
• Audited, balanced and reconciled payroll for approximately 25 personnel.
• Recommended financial solutions to corporate management based on detailed financial analysis.
• Developed, analyzed and modified budgets to allocate current resources and estimate future financial requirements.
• Submitted recommendations to budgets and forecasts for approval or disapproval.
• Monitored contracts and analyzed expenses to facilitate financial objectives.
• Identified and implemented process changes resulting in improved performance and accuracy.

Point of contact for budget and administrative support services to department through Budget estimate preparation and analysis. examination of budget estimates for completeness, accuracy, and conformance with procedures and regulations. Preparation and analysis of budgeting and accounting reports. Providing database and spreadsheet tools to create efficiency in business reporting and practices. Coordinate travel and calendars for faculty and staff.

• Johns Hopkins University; Budget Analyst/Administrative Coordinator/Word Processing Specialist
• Circuit Court for Baltimore City; Court Secretary I/Clerical Assistant II
• Turf Equipment and Supply, Inc.; Receptionist
• Family and Children’s Services of Central Maryland; Receptionist
• Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center; Arrest Booking Officer
• St. Aloysius Education Clinic (Volunteer); Bookkeeper
• Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (Volunteer); Event Support Staff