SPA Team Updates - Effective July 1, 2026
Dear RAC,
Effective July 1st, Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) will be eliminating Team State and folding Team State processes into the other existing teams. This update is intended to simplify workflows, clarify processing pathways, and improve consistency in how proposals and agreements are handled.
Going forward, Team State work will be triaged through the other existing SPA teams based on the nature of the request:
- Proposals will be routed through the Proposal Team
- Agreements will be routed through the Contracts Team
From the intake points of the existing teams, Richard will continue in his specialized role within SPA, with a primary focus on:
- Proposal review and submission – retaining his expertise with specific portal systems
- A select group of key agreements from State sponsors
- Federal IPAs and JPAs supported through agencies such as the VA and CDC
This approach is designed to provide clearer entry points, improve turnaround consistency, and better align expertise with the type of work being submitted.
Effective July 1st, the Team State email address will be discontinued for all UMB internal use. No emails should be sent by internal UMB personnel to the SPA-TeamState email address and the SPA-TeamState email address should no longer be referenced on any proposal or agreement materials. The email address will remain available for sponsors, and will be monitored by SPA daily with sponsor emails forwarded on to the appropriate team or department as applicable.
We understand certain State agreements and sponsors require more urgent attention to their proposals, agreements, modifications, and budget realignments - SPA will do our best under this realignment to accommodate fully.
A related process workflow change for consistency, is that new federal awards will be reviewed by SPA-Grants and processed as SPA does other awards. These awards will be processed to SPAC and notifications sent to the departments as we do all of our other awards and actions. This quick review will help highlight any unique terms or conditions for the university, PI, department staff.
The core SPA Teams and their functions are now:
| Proposals | Federal Grants | Incoming Contracts | Outgoing Subawards |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Proposal/JIT activities | Takes over when a direct Federal Grant/Cooperative Agreement NOA is received. | Reviews/Negotiates all direct Federal Contracts and Agreements for all other sponsors (contracts, grants, letter agreements, etc.) | Responsible for outgoing subawards (money to another institution) under all awards |
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We appreciate your partnership as we make this adjustment to better support the UMB research enterprise. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to us.
We hope you all have a safe and relaxing 4th of July!
John B. Evermann
Executive Director