Case Study: University of Michigan Library achieves $6K+ annual staff-time savings and streamlined fellowship management with Submittable

Finding a solution that helps a library research fellowship prosper

The University of Michigan Library, home to the Joseph A. Labadie Collection, launched the William P. Heidrich Research Fellowship but initially managed applications via email and Google Drive, a process that proved chaotic, time-consuming, and prone to spam. To address this, the library moved the fellowship to Submittable, using its fellowship management platform to collect and standardize submissions.

Submittable centralized applications, enforced required fields, limited file types and word counts, and added review and filtering tools that made correspondence, organization, and funding decisions much faster. Curator Julie Herrada reports the change saved an estimated $6,000–$10,000 in staff time per year, improved application quality and consistency, and contributed to wider adoption—over 20 University of Michigan programs now use Submittable.

University of Michigan Library

Julie Herrada

Curator