Managing Grant Program | Medical Univ of South Carolina

The Challenge

At the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute runs several pilot grant programs designed to support innovative research.

These grants help faculty and researchers explore new ideas, generate preliminary data, and move promising discoveries toward real-world impact.

But managing these programs required coordinating multiple competitions, deadlines, reviewers, and administrators across the institution.

“We have three different grant opportunities,” says Bollinger. “We have a rolling grant and then two others that run in the spring and fall.”

Each program required collecting applications, routing them to reviewers, and communicating with applicants throughout the process. Because multiple departments also wanted to run their own funding programs, the system needed to support collaboration across campus while maintaining consistency.

Without the right infrastructure, managing several active competitions at once could quickly become overwhelming.

The Solution

To streamline the process, MUSC adopted InfoReady as its centralized platform for managing grant applications and internal funding programs.

Bollinger serves as the primary administrator for the system, helping different departments across campus set up and run their own competitions.

“I serve as an administrator for all of our InfoReady application portals,” she explains.

With InfoReady, the institute created structured application portals for each program. Researchers submit proposals directly through the system, while administrators can track submissions, assign reviewers, and manage communications in one place.

The platform also supports collaboration across departments. Groups such as psychology, global health, community engagement, and research development now use InfoReady to manage their own funding opportunities and training programs.

By creating reusable templates for application forms, Bollinger can quickly help new groups launch their programs without having to build everything from scratch.

These templates ensure that important information is collected consistently across competitions while still allowing each program to customize its forms and requirements.

InfoReady also provides administrators with visibility into the status of competitions and applications—making it easier to manage multiple programs at the same time.

The Results

Since implementing InfoReady, MUSC has significantly improved how it manages grant competitions and supports campus partners.

Running multiple competitions simultaneously is now far easier, with a single system providing structure and visibility for administrators.

“It’s been a lot easier to manage these competitions,” Bollinger says.

The platform has also helped expand participation in pilot funding opportunities.

Through better communication and streamlined application processes, the institute has seen a significant increase in applicants.

“When I first started with the program we had maybe six applicants,” Bollinger explains. “In the last cycle we had almost 20.”

By removing administrative barriers and making the application process easier, InfoReady has helped MUSC reach more researchers and encourage broader participation in its programs.

At the same time, the system supports the institute’s long-term goal of building a collaborative research environment across departments.

Today, InfoReady serves as the backbone of MUSC’s pilot grant programs helping administrators manage complex processes while allowing researchers to focus on advancing innovative ideas.