Dear USC Research Community,
I am pleased to inform members of the USC community of the appointment of Jeri Muniz as interim Associate Vice President, Research Administration (AV-PRA) in the USC Research and Innovation (R&I), effective July 1, 2022.
Jeri’s new responsibilities include oversight of key areas of research administration, including the Department of Contracts and Grants (DCG), Office of the Protection of Research Subjects (OPRS), Department of Animal Resources (DAR), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), Research Technology Services (RTS), and Office of Research Integrity (ORI). She assumes her new role while maintaining her current responsibilities in DCG.
Jeri is an able and skilled OOR leader. She evolved DCG into a unit where professional staff support the development and comprehensive review of proposals, and skillfully negotiate externally sponsored awards on behalf of USC. She has mentored strong team leaders who serve as primary customer service points of contact for designated units, oversee staff well trained in various types of agreements and sponsor requirements, and ensure equitable distribution of workload. The structural changes that Jeri enabled in DCG have created an efficient and effective unit that supports USC research and has considerably improved customer experience. Hence, with a demonstrated ability to effectively get buy-in from others, she is well positioned to improve research administration across OOR.
Please join me in welcoming Jeri in her new role as interim Associate Vice President, Research Administration. We are all looking forward to working with her in her new and expanded role.
Ishwar K. Puri
Vice President of Research