Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Meet the ORSP staff

Beth Koenig, Director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP), was charged with establishing an office that provided a "comprehensive system for obtaining and monitoring academic grants" in June of 2002. For the ten years prior to the creation of ORSP, Beth served the College of St. Catherine (now St. Catherine University) in a number of capacities, working within Enrollment Management, Human Resources, the LEAP program and the Alumnae Office. She has often taught The Reflective Woman, the University's course for first year students, and served as a student advisor. Beth is an alumna of the College of St. Catherine, where she studied Speech Communication and Music - Opera Performance. She has a Juris Doctor from Hamline University and studied the intersections of religion, ethics and law and their influence on current issues in the areas of family law and bio-medical ethics at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She has worked as a mediator in Washington County and supervised law student mediators. She remains passionate about public policy and legislative affairs.

Kirsten Walters has worked in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs since June of 2006 and has been employed at St. Catherine University in a variety of capacities since September of 2005. She has taught The Reflective Woman, advised first year students and is a member of the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Kirsten received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Gustavus Adolphus College, where she majored in History and English and competed in track and field. In 2008 she completed her Ph.D. in American Studies at the University of Iowa. Her dissertation, Ultimate Spin: Contesting the Countercultural Ethos, Rhetoric, and Commodification of the "Ultimate" frisbee sport, 1968-2008, centers on the sport of Ultimate. Kirsten plays Ultimate on a team that travels throughout the midwest and has twice completed the Chicago Marathon.

Glenna Whitmill, the newest member of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, joined the staff in August 2009.  A native of New Mexico, Glenna has worked as library director in schools and public libraries in New Mexico, Texas, Michigan and Indiana.  She has also taught math, English and computer science, managed a bookstore and served as an executive assistant for a small family entrepreneurial business.  Glenna received her Bachelor of Arts degree from New Mexico State University with a major in English and minor in math.  She has a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science from the University of North Texas.  Glenna’s skills include successful grant writing in several areas including library programming, materials, and construction as well as recent grants in the arts.  In her free time, Glenna enjoys volunteering at her church, gardening, cooking, knitting and reading.