Umar Safdar

Key Responsibilities: Manage and enhance the university's research activities, develop research policies and priorities, work for fund raising for research, mobilize faculty, the business community and industry for research commercialization, and serve as an effective advocate for research with the university and its broader community stakeholders and supporters. • Develop, maintain, and communicate pre-and post-award administrative procedures for externally sponsored projects. • Support faculty with grant proposal submissions in conjunction with Sponsored Projects Administration (budget development; award documentation; administrative portions of proposals; internal approvals; monitor issues around effort, cost-share, space needs, and tuition remission). • Support faculty regarding contracts, progress reports, NCEs, and other sponsor-related grant actions. • Support faculty regarding post-award grant management, including projections, effort allocations and reporting, human resources, consultants, and close-outs. • Establishment of Business Incubation Center (BIC) and Business Acceleration Center (BAC).

 Designed and launched new undergraduate and graduate-level programs in Innovation, Technology Management and Entrepreneurship (EMBITE). • Strengthened the PhD program by hiring new faculty members. • Assisted Dean's office in strategic planning, KPI monitoring and control systems. • Assisted Dean's office with faculty recruitment and faculty development program • Departmental budgeting and control. • General supervision of the department's teaching, research, and service and related scholarly activities.