Dr. Pamela Peralta (center), Interim Vice Provost of Research and Sponsored Programs and Director of Grants and Contracts was recently recognized with the Cayuse Productivity Award. She is shown here with the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs Team. Front from left to right: Karlyn Borja, Grant Assistant III; Peralta; Zenaida Valencia, Accountant I; Back row from left to right: Tracy Williams, Project Coordinator; Alicia Rosa Borja, PIPCHE Program Manager; Jed C. Henson, Extension Associate I; Denielle Anne Batac, CESU Accounting Analyst I; and Gigi Snively, CESU Project Coordinator.

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Cayuse presents its Productivity Award to individuals and organizations that have driven significant efficiencies to manage research processes and reduce the administrative burden, or overhead, on their research staff.

Peralta, who first joined UOG’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) in 2020, was tasked with finding and facilitating the implementation of a grant management system that could better serve the University’s needs as a growing force in research. In 2022, UOG began using Cayuse.

Peralta acknowledged that the award is the result of a team effort. Staff from ORSP, the Office of Information Technology, the Human Resources Office, and the Research Corporation of the University of Guam, along with UOG accountants, worked with Cayuse consultants to ensure the smooth rollout and adoption of the Cayuse system.

“The Cayuse suite of programs allows us to be transparent in our research processes, from proposals to awards, human ethics, conflict of interest and disclosures, and soon, financial administration with built-in accountability at every step,” Peralta explained.

The system has been effective in organizing and streamlining the research grant process. Last year, according to ORSP data, Cayuse helped UOG faculty, researchers, and Principal Investigators reach an 87% proposal-to-award success rate and earn over $64 million in research grant funding.

“We leverage 21st-century technology and innovations to capitalize on the growth of grant and contract opportunities coming to the University and to raise the bar in our research performance,” Peralta said.

UOG ranked in the top 31% of U.S. universities in research performance based on a 2023 National Science Foundation report on research and development expenditures of academic institutions. Almost half of UOG’s 190 full-time faculty members are engaged in research across various fields of study, including agriculture, marine biology, economics, and Micronesian culture and history.