The MCB community is comprised of supportive staff members who share their expertise with faculty, students, and fellow staff in the school and its departments.
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Business & Operations
Jenny Daly is MCB's Associate Director for Administration and Business Affairs. She is the primary contact for general business and finance in the school. She can be reached at jbyrd@illinois.edu or 217-333-5338.
Purchase orders and other requisitions
Online requisition form Contact us
We are happy to advise you on department, campus, and state purchasing policies and procedures. Please send all inquiries to purchasing@mcb.illinois.edu. We are open 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m., 1-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Our department processes regular and standing purchase orders (P.O.) and orders using the University of Illinois credit card system (P-card). Orders may be placed using the MCB online requisition form. Please be clear on the items you wish to order and provide us with a description and explanation of what the item is for coding purposes. We will send the order back or contact you if this is not clear or information is missing. Please do not resubmit the order again with your corrections on the request for requisition as this may cause a duplication of your order.
Our goal is to process your order within 1 to 3 business days. An order may take longer if more information is required for the proper placing of the order or if there are problems with the vendor and their inventory. Most items can be shipped within two days if the merchandise is in stock. Many vendors have a shipment cut-off time for that day's orders, some as early as noon.
Let us know if you have a radioisotope order and if there is a continuous order previously arranged for your use. Also please provide the permit holder name and the permit number. After we process your radioisotope orders we will consider the order received on the date you should receive your order unless you contact us with any problems.
If you receive a final quote from a supplier with whom you are working, you may email it to us at purchasing@mcb.illinois.edu. If we receive a quote for an item we will have to assume it is the final quote and place the order. Orders will be submitted to the vendor via email, fax, online, and/or over the phone on your behalf.
We can help you resolve shipping problems or back orders with the vendors, and arrange for returns and replacements on incorrect or damaged orders.
When orders are picked up personally, you need to provide us with the receipt, invoice, or packing slip so that we can complete the paperwork on your order. If your order is received through our storeroom, they will provide us with the paperwork to complete your order.
Grants and accounts, including proposals and compliance
The School of MCB's Grants and Accounts Administration Department provides the following services:
- Work with faculty members to clarify proposal guidelines for accurate submission of grant proposals.
- Develop budgets for faculty members and send for preapproval by Grants and Contracts (G&C). Please note that G&C will not accept budgets for preapproval if they are not received more than 10 days prior to the actual proposal deadline. Serve as primary contact for questions concerning proposals between G&C and faculty.
- Set up anticipation accounts with the approval of the department head.
- Monitors faculty ledger 2 and ledger 5 (extramural funding) accounts for compliance to federal guidelines and proper budget utilization.
- Generate expenditure scenarios for faculty members for better future planning for utilization of funds, on request.
- Serve as primary liaison for all matters having to do with pre- and post-award and procurement for faculty members.
- Serve as primary contact for faculty for any matters related to grants or expenditures on grants.
Contact Us
Jenny Daly
Associate Director for Administrative and Business Affairs
217-333-5338; jbyrd@illinois.edu
Primary contact for questions concerning all funds for the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology (MCB) and the Center for Biophysics & Quantitative Biology, and all other general business and administrative questions for the school.
Steve Johnson
Coordinator of Research Programs
217-265-5246
Primary contact for questions concerning ICR, grant and gift funds for faculty in the Departments of Biochemistry and Microbiology, new faculty orientation on grant proposal processes, and questions concerning training grant administration in the School of MCB.
If your primary contact is unavailable, please reach out to the secondary contact for help or ask to speak with Jenny Daly.