As WSU works to expand research opportunities, Susan Pfeifer is behind the scenes at WSU Spokane helping faculty and researchers acquire and manage external project funding.
Pfeifer, associate director of finance and budget for WSU Spokane, has been at WSU for 4 1/2 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Lewis-Clark State College in 1999 and a master’s of business administration from Gonzaga University in 2002.
She oversees budget, planning, business affairs, position control, grants and contracts administration, leases and contracts for WSU Spokane. Her office is responsible for management of the campus’ overall financial support functions.
Among their many tasks, Pfeifer and her small team work with the Office of Grant and Research Development to help Spokane faculty apply for research money and follow through when they get it. She helps them navigate the complex details and ponderous paperwork often involved in grant application and management.
“As soon as we know they are going after a grant, we look at the proposal with them,” she said.
Each funding agency has different requirements, so Pfeifer carefully reads through the grant announcement to make sure the researcher sends in a proposal that won’t be rejected — and that will arrive before the deadline.
“Researchers have enough on their plates — their research — and that’s what they do well,” she said. “If we can help them pass through the system more smoothly, then they don’t have to worry about the business side so much.”
When a researcher’s project gets funding, Pfeifer handles the details of setting up the award review, negotiating contracts and establishing a management account with Sponsored Program Services.
She helps researchers with personnel matters and sets up their financial accounts so they can utilize their funding.
Lisa Shaffer, a research professor in molecular biosciences on the Spokane campus, has worked with Pfeifer on many occasions.
“Susan knows the National Institutes of Health submission process in and out. She helped to make sure that my budgets were reasonable and that we provided all the necessary documentation to the NIH,” Shaffer said. “She definitely makes the grant submission process much, much easier.”
Pfeifer does not get involved with the specifics of the researcher’s work, but she said it helps to have a basic understanding of the research because there are certain laws that have to be followed. For example, researchers must adhere to certain laws of humane treatment if they use animals in their work.
“We are the watchdogs for making sure we keep WSU within its scope of responsibilities and abide by all laws,” she said.
Ultimately, her work can be very rewarding.
“When it’s seamless for the researchers, it means we are doing our job,” she said.
