Smith to go on loan to the National Science Foundation as Program Director

After years of boosting research initiatives, dedicating efforts to social psychology and diversity, leading efforts for obtaining millions in funding and countless other services to the Office of Research and campus community, Jessi L. Smith, Ph.D., is taking her knowledge and experience to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to act as rotating Program Director for the Social Psychology Program.

The Vice Provost & Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, Research Integrity Officer and Professor of Psychology is fulfilling a long-term goal of hers in joining the NSF Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Science for a temporary appointment and taking on the responsibility of leadership and research advancement at the prestigious government level.

“This has always been a dream for me and the timing was never right, whether it was with my family or obligations and responsibilities with my work,” Jessi said. “I was so excited when I learned about the opportunity, then talked with my family and decided this was the time for it. It’s also the right time for UCCS as an emerging high-research institution, as we are growing our commitment to research and making strategic efforts to expand into other creative works and funding areas with a fabulous research team that is ready to lead while I am out on assignment.”

As a rotating Program Director, Jessi will be reviewing and making recommendations on proposals and funding, working with current Principal Investigators (PI) and actively seeking out new ones, helping bring new, diverse and innovative areas of social psychology into focus, connecting with experts in other fields for collaborative opportunities and more.

“I’ll be holding office hours to meet with potential PIs and scholars in various stages of the funding process – the early stages of a proposal, the revision stage, administrative changes that come up, along with proactively searching for the scholars who haven’t pursued funding yet,” Jessi explained. “I’m also excited about the opportunities for cross-directorate work – while the day-to-day is about social psychology, I’m going to be pulled into working groups and other funding directorates, and working with others that are, like me, on loan from universities.”

Jessi also plans to elevate other initiatives within the social psychology realm that she is passionate about, such as DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), STEM education and centering research opportunities from smaller, growing universities like UCCS.

“I study motivation and diversity and I consider myself a scholar-administrator who is highly dedicated to expanding who participates in research,” she said. “I’m connected to other research leaders around the nation, and I am completely dedicated to diversifying who receives funding. I want to see more women, racial minorities, LGBTQ+ community members – those from marginalized populations – be fully able to access sponsored programs.”

This opportunity is also a way for Jessi to learn more about funding and proposals at a nationwide level from the funding agency that most supports UCCS, which she hopes to bring back to UCCS and the CU system after her assignment is concluded to advance and optimize research at the collective institutions.

“It’s really powerful when you are able to help somebody cross that funding threshold,” Jessi noted. “Not only are we changing the scientific enterprise and learning new things and ways to innovate, we’re putting money back into our community, into our campus. I’ll learn all those methods I can bring back to our campus and help grow our research success.”

On a personal level, this experience brings Jessi full circle, in a way. After her path changed from communications to psychology in her undergrad, the faculty that helped guide her along the journey are now her colleagues urging her to apply to the NSF.

“I fell in love with social psychology right here in the halls of UCCS,” said Jessi. “Kelli Klebe, who’s a psychology faculty member, was my honors advisor back when I was earning my bachelor’s. All these years later, she was one of my references. The NSF told us that we now hold the record for longest-known reference at nearly 30 years.”

“I’m looking forward to going back to my roots as a social science scholar for a little while,” she added. “There’s nothing like returning home to your discipline, so I couldn’t be more excited for that opportunity to start reading deeply again in my field. The social behavioral sciences truly make a fundamental impact on the planet, on society, on the human condition – and I can’t wait to be involved in the cutting-edge and boundary-pushing research.”