While the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research (OSPR) was not established until 2014, the work done by the office to aid faculty and staff in acquiring scholarship funding began after World War II when the school began its transformation from a state teachers college to a liberal arts institution. At that time the Dean of Instruction, and then later members of the Dean's office were in charge of organizing records related to sabbaticals and grants. In 1978, Dean Esslinger, a faculty member in the History Department, became the Director of Faculty Development, an office within Academic Affairs. Upon Esslinger's retirement in 2007, there is no clear indication of who was in charge of faculty development until the creation of OSPR in 2014.