About Office of Research Business & Operations
The Office of Research Business & Operations (ORBO) unit provides support to units within OR, guidance for campus-wide research activities, and technical and analytical expertise for the campus research community.
Budget and finance
ORBO oversees and manages divisional and departmental budgets. ORBO staff serve as Tier 1 and Tier 2 approvers and Event Expense Approver (EEC) for divisional accounts. ORBO staff support recharge administration for the campus vivarium. ORBO also manages the VCR seed funding, matching fund distribution, and VCR cost share.
Primary contact for seed and matching funds: Kris Godley
Primary contact for OR budgets and recharge administration: Selene Faire
Administration and operations
ORBO provides administrative expertise and support including purchasing, management of complex contracts, facilities management, travel processing and reimbursements.
Primary contact: Fernando Espinoza
Human resources
ORBO manages all human resources activities on behalf of the division including recruitments, reclassifications, equity reviews, personnel actions, and student employment.
Primary contact: Kris Godley
Data analysis and reporting
ORBO manages all reporting on sponsored projects data, including quarterly UCOP reports, monthly divisional reports and any ad hoc reports needed by the campus. ORBO also manages some of the compliance reporting for the Office of Research Compliance Administration.
For all sponsored projects reporting requests, email Katy Wisuri at kwisuri@ucsc.edu with the following information:
- Date needed
- Purpose of report
- Information required. Please be specific.
- Time period of information needed.
Allow 10 business days for the preparation of your report. If you need a report that you will use frequently and merely need to refresh the data for future use, we can discuss creating a report for you that you can access with an InfoView account. Note you will need to complete an InfoView Account Application form requesting ‘Read Only’ access to the Sponsored Projects Universe, sign it, and have your supervisor sign. Katy can provide authorization for the Sponsored Projects Universe.
Primary contact: Katy Wisuri
Research IT systems
ORBO manages implementation, administration and support of research administration systems like Cayuse, Pivot, Mosaic, and InfoReady. ORBO also manages OR’s websites and OR internal systems like Slack, and works with OR units on finding technical solutions that improve processes and build efficiencies.
Primary contact: Jennie Kulczyk
Policy analysis and special projects
ORBO manages policies and special projects that impact the research administration community. This has included a campus-wide external review of the research administration process by the National Council of University Research Administrators, analysis of federal agency and UC-systemwide policies and implementation guidance for new policies. Special projects can include ad hoc reports, searches for improved research administration software and strategic initiatives at the VCR’s request.
Primary contact: Mykell Discipulo