ORD Staff

Beth Hodges
Director

2021 Westcott North Annex
(850) 644-2257  |  bhodges@fsu.edu

As Director of the Florida State University Office of Research Development, Beth is responsible for the overall activities conducted by the office. Beth joined the FSU Office of Research in 1997, after serving for several years as a US Congressional staff member. Beth was brought on to assist with federal activities, and, as priorities changed, became increasingly more involved in faculty services.  Meeting and working with faculty to aid them with funding identification and bringing groups together to discuss research interests, she laid the groundwork for what was soon to be a research development effort by the Vice President for Research.  In 2013, Beth was tapped to become the director of the new Office of Research Development (ORD).  Since its inception until now, ORD has worked with hundreds of faculty to support their efforts to secure extramural research funding and initiate and nurture critical partnerships throughout the institutional research enterprise.

Rachel Goff-Albritton
Assistant Director

2020 Westcott North Annex
(850) 644-3044  |  r.goffalbritton@fsu.edu

Dr. Rachel Goff-Albritton serves as the Assistant Director in the Florida State University Office of Research Development. She works primarily with early-career faculty, providing valuable resources to help faculty with individualized grantsmanship goals. During one-on-one meetings, she provides faculty at all career levels with grant proposal development support.  Rachel helps faculty navigate the contacts within the research offices and research procedures across campus.  Rachel also leads the FSU Research Mentor Academy.  She works with colleagues from state-wide and national research development associations to develop resources and best practices to assist FSU researchers. Rachel earned a doctoral degree from the University of South Florida, a master’s degree at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and her Bachelors of Arts at Florida State University, in Communication Sciences and Disorders.  Rachel has also worked clinically as a speech-language pathologist for ten years, providing rehabilitation and educational resources to individuals with aphasia, a language disorder acquired after a stroke or brain injury.  Rachel has a passion for laying a foundation for sustainable research growth at FSU. 

Grace Adkison
Program Manager: FSU Council on Research and Creativity

2023 Westcott North Annex
(850) 645-5751  |  gadkison@fsu.edu

Grace Adkison serves as the Council on Research and Creativity Program Manager, and has been with ORD since July 2016. As the CRC Program Manager, Grace is responsible for facilitating meetings of the Council, and assists them by educating faculty and staff on the research funding programs provided by the CRC. She also provides administrative oversight to awardees of these programs. Grace is your “go-to” person for all things CRC, be it submissions, revisions, no cost extensions, or any other issue or question you may have.  

Mike Mitchell
Strategic Initiatives Manager

2020 Westcott North Annex
(850) 644-9511  |  mike.mitchell@fsu.edu

As Strategic Initiatives Manager, Mike specializes in leading programs that leverage the research strengths of a top-20 public university to promote societal impact. His focus areas include building new interdisciplinary teams, identifying opportunities for strategic growth, and connecting researchers and resources to advance creativity and innovation. 

Mike joined FSU in 2015 after serving as a Program Manager with the Florida Office of Energy where he led project teams working on alternative fuel vehicle and agricultural energy initiatives, and successfully pursued over $16 million in federal funding from the Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture. Mike earned his M.S. in Public Interest Communication and B.S. in Economics, both from FSU.

Evangeline Ciupek
Professional Development and Resource Specialist

2025 Westcott North Annex
850-645-9306  |  eciupek@fsu.edu

Professional Development and Resource Specialist in the Office of Research Development, Evangeline prepares and coordinates ORD’s events, including workshops, trainings, and research networking events. She develops and disseminates grant writing and grant proposal development resources. She hosts and produces ORD's podcast Journeys in Research.

Evangeline earned her MA in Theatre Studies at Florida State University, where she taught theatre courses as a teaching assistant. Since then, she has taught theatre at Tallahassee Community College and has been an active member of the local theatre scene. She has directed, acted in, and sound engineered multiple productions for local companies including Theatre TCC!, Theatre Tallahassee, Tallahassee Hispanic Theatre, Quincy Music Theatre, and the Monticello Opera House. During her undergraduate degree, she was a reporter and page designer for her campus newspaper The Bells. 

Carolyn Bradley
Proposal Development and Funding Specialist

2025 Westcott North Annex
850-644-7730  |  cbradley@fsu.edu

Carolyn Bradley serves as the Proposal Development and Funding Specialist at Florida State University’s Office of Research Development. Her responsibilities include helping FSU researchers in the Arts and Humanities to identify promising funding opportunities and prepare competitive proposals. She also facilitates limited submissions, coordinates mock review panels, and develops proposal budgets. She is passionate about research, and is driven to help FSU faculty members make their research dreams a reality.

Prior to coming to FSU, Carolyn worked as a staff member for the University of Florida’s Southern HIV and Alcohol Research Consortium (SHARC) Center. She earned a PhD and Master’s degree in English literature from the University of Florida, and a BA in English from Vassar College. She loves to travel, and spent two years teaching English in southern Spain after college, and also studied abroad in Florence, Italy as an undergraduate. In her free time, she can be found reading fiction and poetry, taking long walks, and playing with her family’s cuddly puppy, Layla.

Laurie O'Brien
Program Assistant: Council on Research and Creativity

2023 Westcott North Annex
lsobrien@fsu.edu

Laurie O’Brien serves as the Council on Research and Creativity Program Assistant under the leadership of Grace Adkison. Since joining the ORD team in January 2021, Laurie plays an active administrative role in the CRC grant submission and review process by ensuring applicants meet program pre-approval qualifications. Following grant funding final approval by the CRC, Laurie then ensures all award information is accurately uploaded to FSU’s OMNI system.

Before joining the CRC, Laurie served as Executive Assistant to former Florida Secretary of Commerce Gray Swoope at Enterprise Florida, Inc. (2012-2015) and most recently, Executive Assistant to the Chief Marketing Officer Martin Gray at Georgia Aquarium, Inc. in Atlanta (2015-2018). She stepped back from full-time C-Level administrative work when her son was born in 2018 and her family moved back to Tallahassee, Florida. Laurie and her husband John enjoy spending time as a family with their little guy and standard poodle pup. When Laurie has time, she enjoys gardening, traveling, and attempting to play guitar.