Announcing the Office of Post Award Financial Services and New Strategic Structure

Written by Justo Torres.

We are excited to announce two significant updates designed to enhance our support for the university’s research community. Effective January 2026, the Office of Contracts and Grants will be known as the Office of Post Award Financial Services (OPAFS). This new name more accurately reflects our core mission: providing dedicated financial administration and financial compliance oversight for sponsored projects after an award has been received.

Already in place, we implemented a strategic organizational restructuring to better serve our faculty and sponsors. We have consolidated our previous four teams of fiscal managers into two new, specialized teams. These teams will be co-led by two senior fiscal managers each.

This new structure is aligned by funding source:

• Team One will focus primarily on federal awards.
• Team Two will focus on non-federal awards, including state, foundation and industry-sponsored projects.

This change is being made to foster deeper knowledge among our staff regarding the specific and complex regulations associated with different funding streams. This specialization will provide more comprehensive coverage and resilience, ensuring we can offer expert support for our most critical research sponsors.

Our commitment to providing timely, accurate and professional financial management remains our highest priority. We appreciate your partnership as we implement these positive changes.

This post was originally published in Finance Division News.