Shannon Sutton

Number of Years in Research Administration: 17

Institutions: Western Illinois University

Shannon Sutton, CPA and MBA, currently serves as the Director of Sponsored Projects at Western Illinois University, a predominantly undergraduate institution located in Macomb, IL. She is responsible for the oversight of the office which includes pre-award, all post-award activities including financial reporting, and human & animal compliance. Shannon was instrumental in combining the pre-award Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) and post-award accounting into one office, easing the burden on the faculty as now OSP is a cradle-to-grave operation. Joining the offices also meant revising current University and office policies and procedures. Shannon was responsible for the implementation of the new Uniform Guidance policy for the institution.

Shannon began her research administration career at WIU as a Grant & Contract Administrator and was responsible for all post-award accounting functions including, but not limited to, monitoring expenditures, financial billing and reports, as well as acting as serving as a liaison between the University and the external auditors. Shannon was responsible for the Facilities & Administration (F&A) rate proposal and negotiations. She also served on the University-wide GASB 34/35 implementation team. Prior to WIU, Shannon was a staff auditor with Clifton Gunderson, a regional accounting firm.

Shannon has been a very active member of NCURA for over 10 years. Shannon recently served as treasurer for the national board of directors and prior to that served as treasurer on the regional board of directors for 5 years. Shannon received the Region IV Distinguished Service award in 2017. She has attended numerous regional and national meetings and has given several presentations at the Annual Meeting, Financial Research Administration (FRA) and Pre-Award Administration (PRA) conferences, and regional meetings. Shannon is currently traveling faculty for both NCURA and Region IV. She has served on many committees and volunteered at both the regional and national level and is a current member of the Financial Management Committee.

NCURA Peer Program engagements are priced as a flat fee, scaled to the sponsored programs total active award dollars in the last fiscal year, regardless of type of Peer Program engagement.