Departures in OSP

April 17 will be a difficult day in the Office of Sponsored Programs because we will be saying goodbye to two members of the OSP team: Gerry Kane and Victoria Carter Poindexter.

Gerry Kane has served in multiple capacities within the university over his 28 year career. He started in Sponsored Programs in 1987 as a Grants Administrator back when OSP consisted of 10 people using “dumb” terminals, dot matrix printers, and paper ledgers. After two years he moved over to the Psychology department, acting as its research administrator. Returning to OSP in 1993, he became a supervisor, then Assistant Director, and then in 2000 he became Director of Sponsored Programs, heading up the pre-award side of the office. Ultimately in 2010 he was chosen to serve as the Assistant Vice President for Research Administration, directing the entire office.

Gerry remembers his old userid (U993) through which he would access the old FAS system and “enjoyed” the implementation of Oracle. Amidst Carruthers’ brown walls and brown carpet held together with duct tape, he helped review and submit grant proposals and negotiated agreements. The VPR’s office used to provide a courier that would drive the required multiple copies of paper proposals up to Washington DC, and Gerry recounted a time when the courier dropped off NSF proposals at NIH accidentally!  Gerry has seen the roof in Carruthers collapse which resulted in two inches of water on the floor. He saw Y2K fears come and go. He navigated multiple new electronic grant proposal submission systems and assisted countless faculty and administrators along the way, earning their respect. Gerry’s final contribution to OSP is more technological innovation in the form of the soon to be released, ResearchUVA, a web-based portal through which faculty and administrators will have easy access to information about their sponsored awards as well as the actual award documents. In his retirement, Gerry looks forward to spending more time with his wife, Susan, and their dog, Kasey Kane, relaxing on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and gardening vegetables and flowers.

Victoria Carter Poindexter began her career at UVA in Procurement in 1998 as a Major Procurements Manager. She negotiated many contracts including the one to decommission the on-Grounds nuclear reactor (yes, we used to have a nuclear reactor!). After 6 years she moved over to Sponsored Programs where she has served as a Senior Contract Negotiator for 11 years. Victoria earned the highest score of her cohort on the exam to be a Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM) and recently earned “lifetime certification” status. Negotiating contracts with federal sponsors, one of her major roles, is a complicated endeavor because there is an incredible amount of regulations about which one needs to be conversant, and she was often more conversant than the folks she was dealing within the federal government! Even so, Victoria performed her duties with style and grace, as well as tenacity. Always willing to share her knowledge, she taught the session on procurement and contracts for those preparing for the Certified Research Administrator (CRA) exam.  In addition, Victoria is a certified “Life Coach” who offered career development counseling through UVA Human Resources, helping people identify ways to stay engaged in their careers and be inspired to reach their professional goals. She and her husband, John, are following the sun to Florida, looking forward to new adventures.

A farewell gathering for Gerry will be held in the Kaleidoscope Room of Newcomb Hall on Wednesday, April 15 from 2-5pm. Victoria’s farewell will be held on Friday, April 10 from 1:30-3pm, in Carruthers Hall, Conference Room E. Stop by to bid them both a heartfelt “adieu.”