The Growth of Sponsored Research and Programs

In the 30 years since Missouri State began to call itself a University, faculty, staff, and students have mobilized themselves in remarkably creative ways to conduct basic and applied research.  The evidence of faculty research capability, the emergence of research and service centers, and the collaboration of faculty and students in providing technical assistance to area industries and organizations all point to a maturing institution.

Recognition of Missouri State capability can be measured by the extent that outside organizations and agencies contract for services to be rendered, problems to be solved, and investigations to be conducted.  As early as the 1950s, individual grants were awarded to faculty to conduct scientific studies.  By the early 1970s an Office of Grants was established to facilitate the research and service functions of the university. 

Systematic recording of grants and contracts began in the early 1980s.  Dr. William A. Alter III, Director of the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs since 1996, reports that between 1983-2006, the University received more than $148 million in grants and contracts, reaching an all-time high of $18,133,909 in FY 2006.  More than 151 separate grants and contracts were awarded to the university in 2006.  The scale of the grants has continued to rise with over 200 awards over the past 23 years exceeding $100,000.  Six of the 200 awards exceeded $1 million.  The Office of Naval Research awarded the largest single grant of $7,640,00 million in 2005 to Dr. Ryan Giedd, Fred Mary and Rishi Patel for the Advanced Devices Research and Development Laboratory Building.

The growth of Centers and Institutes across campus is clearly related to sponsored projects.  By 2006, 12 centers were receiving external funding for research, education, and service projects.  More than half of all grants, in numbers and dollars awarded, were received by university centers.

A substantial number of grants involve partnerships with other organizations including school districts, state agencies, businesses, and not-for-profit organizations.  For example, an $890,000 grant from the National Science Foundation titled "Opening the Horizon: Strengthening Science Education for Middle School Girls" helped increase the interest of middle school girls in pursuing higher education and careers in mathematics, science, and engineering.   
 
Indicative of the quality of work being done, the University revised its Intellectual Property Policy in FY 2001 to protect the intellectual investment of faculty and staff and the potential for commercial value coming from laboratory creations.  To date, three patents have been awarded for technologies developed by University faculty. 

The Office of Sponsored Research and Programs, has become an important facilitator of the research and service components of the university's mission. 

Source (with updates by OSRP) from: Landon, Donald D.  Daring to Excel:  The First 100 Years of Southwest Missouri State University Marceline, MO: Walsworth Publishing Company, 2004.