PANEL: Staff Development at PUIs, Training for Department Research Support

Beryline TemplesSenior Sponsored Programs Administrator

University of Central ArkansasNovember 5, 2012

Research Support

Training for Department Research Support

Research Support

Pro-active versus Reactive: Why is it so important to have department research support?

How can we know if the training is beneficial to the support personnel?

Thinking about doing some surveys?

Training sessions, where to begin?

How do you assess the needs of faculty for research administration support?

What kind of training does your support personnel need to assist their faculty with grant activities?

How do we get the support personnel to come to the training sessions?

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Pro-active versus Reactive: Why is it so important to have department research support?

Research Support

•Last minute submissions

•Budget Errors

•Missing or incorrectly filled out forms

•Missing proposal components

•Missing information

•Incorrect salary

•Incorrect effort

•Over committed faculty

•Ineligible faculty

•Faculty uninformed of involvement

•Ineligible or inappropriate opportunity for the institution

•No IRB or IACUC approval (if required at submission time)

•Missing approvals

Reactive Research Support – Central

•Manage deadlines

•Follow guidelines

•Appropriate student pay in specific disciplines

•Appropriate tuition costs for students

•Available and appropriate effort

•Appropriate salaries

•Available facilities

•Available equipment

•Appropriate forms

•Follow institutional and department policies and procedures

•Consortium Agreements

•Cost Sharing Forms

•Follow compliance policies and procedures

Pro-active Research Support – Department

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How do you assess the needs of faculty for research administration support?

Research Support

Distribute surveys to faculty active in grants

Surveys

Take time to talk to the faculty in person and show you are interested in them and their research

Interviews

3Review files in central office for prior issues with submissions

Reviews

“Of great importance for research administrators, DRAs, and/or support personnel is stretching to understand the researcher’s point-of-view regarding what their needs are, what assists them with their administrative grants activities, and the impact of having these needs met for the researcher “ (Evans, 2011).

”It is also crucial to realize that research and grants activities are one element in faculty activities – not just how many submissions and/or awards they bring in” (Temples, Simons & Atkinson, 2012).

”Understanding the makeup of faculty can help research administrators to influence change” (Evans, 2011).

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What kind of training does your support personnel need to assist their faculty with grant activities?

Research Support

•Institutional Base Salaries for faculty and staff•New hires, part-time, extra-help, classified versus non-classified•Student pay•Scholarships, fellowships, internships, and grants for faculty, staff and students•Stacking limits for students•Fringe rate breakdowns•Faculty and staff hiring policies and procedures•Undergraduate student hiring packets•Graduate assistantships requirements, procedures and hiring packets•Personnel Action Forms (PAFs)•Tuition scholarship procedures•Undergraduate federal and state aid eligibility•Faculty, student, staff and participant travel procedures•Travel requisitions and travel reimbursement procedures

Personnel/Financial Aid/TravelBudget Development & Maintenance

•Program guidelines can vary widely at a PUI (Fine Arts, Music, History, World Languages, Biology, Physics, Computer Science)•Reading and comprehending the guidlines is very important•General understanding of OMB regulations•General understanding of state regulations•Adherence to university policies and procedures•Adherence to departmental and college policies and procedures•Protection of human subjects (IRB) policies and procedures•Protection of animal subjects (IACUC) policies and procedures•Radiation safety policies and procedures•Responsible conduct of research (RCR) policies and procedures

Guidelines/Policies/Compliance

Pre-award:•Salaries, fringe rates, effort as % and year(s), student salaries, salaries versus stipends•Travel and conference expenses•Equipment (capital and non-capital)•M&O, supplies, other expenses•Contract Services•Participant costs•Tuition•Facilities & Administrative (Indirect Cost) calculations•Cost sharing, cash match versus in-kind

Post-award:•Grant and matching accounts, budget access and maintenance•Requisitions•Budget Adjustments•Allowable cost transfers•Subcontracts and sub-recipient monitoring•Invoices and financial reports

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• SurveyMonkey http://www.surveymonkey.com/ (10 questions 100 responses free)

• Zoomerang http://www.zoomerang.com/ (now partnered with SurveyMonkey) (10 questions 100 responses free)

• Kwik Surveys http://kwiksurveys.com/ (unlimited questions and responses free)

• SurveyGizmo http://www.surveygizmo.com/ (unlimited questions and responses free)

• eSurveyspro http://www.esurveyspro.com/ (unlimited questions and responses free)

• LimeSurvey http://www.limesurvey.org/ (free, however donations are accepted)

• Survey Expression http://www.surveyexpression.com/ (unlimited questions and responses free)

Research Support

Thinking about doing some surveys?

•Areas where faculty need the most support•Types and degree of support that vary depending on discipline•Management of institutional requirements•Faculty in sciences are more accustomed to the grants process than those in the arts and soft sciences

•Feelings about the extra burden research support activities add to their “normal” activities•Training that would help support staff do these additional tasks quickly and efficiently.

•Directors, chairs, deans and other administrators about research support needs for their faculty•Opinions about weaknesses in research support•Suggestions for research support training

Who do you survey and why?

Research Support

Faculty

Administrators

Support Staff

Training sessions, where to begin?Research Support

Tips: Share the work. By enlisting help from the other offices, you can tap into their expertise, and when they work directly with the support staff it gives a name and face staff need to contact when they have questions or problems.

•Experts on campusContact every office on campus that approves proposals

-Meet with representatives from each office Ask for participation in Grants 101 Support Staff Training

•Coordinate Grants 101 SessionsSchedule compatibale dates, times, and places for sessions

-Design format of sessions Organize time frame for each expert’s sessionWork with representatives on materials for sessions

Who are the experts?

Research Support

Approval of pre-award budgets, post-award grant financial account management, reporting, and close-out

Grants Accounting

Using Graduate Assistants and Graduate Students on grants, qualifications, standing, coursework, and full-time status

Graduate School

Personnel Action Forms (PAFs), who needs one, when is one used, appointments, new-hires. faculty, administrators, non-classified, classified, graduate assistants, extra-help employees, full time, part time, changes in status, and terminations

Human Resources

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experts continued…

Research Support

Approves awarding of grant and/or scholarship funds to undergraduate students, federal and state aid eligibility, institutional and private aid, monitoring over-awards and stacking, coordination with appropriate institutional offices, and student accounts

Financial Aid

Adherence to state and institutional travel policies and procedures, requisition requirements, advance requirements, reimbursement requirements, and forms.

Travel Office

Federal regulations governing the ethical conduct of research in the protection of human subjects (IRB), the protection of animal subjects (IACUC), radiation safety, responsible conduct of research (RCR), and the required education/training for these areas.

Compliance

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Research Support

• E-mails to individual support staff inviting them to the session and follow-up with reminders

• E-mails to active grants faculty to enlist encouragement for their support staff to attend

• E-mails to directors, chairs and deans to enlist their encouragement for staff to attend

• Have a nice lunch right before or after the session• Give them free materials like flash drives, motivation buttons,

notebooks, Grants 101 certificates of completion, etc.

How do we get the support personnel to come to the training sessions?

Many good ideas for better service come from our support staff. Here are a few ideas from support staff at UCA:

•Checklists for each area with contact information

•Proposal and award reports shared with support staff

•Support staff notified of new or revised institutional policies & procedures affecting grants

How can we know if the training is beneficial to the support personnel?

Research Support

Follow up training

sessions with surveys

Send out more surveys six

months after the initial session

Call individual support staff

about a month after the session

Research SupportComments from attendees at Grants 101 Session

•“This is a good program with lots of helpful information. There is a need to add something regarding the role of the support staff. We are glad to be included in future communications regarding grant awards and appreciate knowing the closing dates and when we need to have things submitted.”

•“This training should be only for new employees.”

•“This training should be mandatory for everyone submitting, receiving, and working on grants.”

•“Please provide more in-depth information, especially more about the actual process of a grant…from beginning to end.”

•“Offering the training 2 or 3 times throughout the year would allow for flexibility with department schedules and busy times.”

•“We need a detailed checklist for the hiring process of GA’s being paid by a grant, more information on do’s and don’ts, or a checklist of requirements when traveling on a grant.”

(Attendance rate 51%)(Temples, Simons & Atkinson, 2012)

•Helpful information

•Included in communications about closing dates and grant awards

•Novice level sessions separate from experienced level training

•More training sessions throughout the year

•Detailed checklists

1. Participants agreed by 93.8% that this training program is necessary.

2. When participants were asked if the program would eventually benefit faculty, professional staff, students involved with grant activities, and the university as a whole, 81.3% agreed that it would.

3. When asked if this training should be mandatory, 75% agreed.

(Temples, Simons & Atkinson, 2012)

Necessary93.8%

Beneficial

81.3%

Mandatory

75%

Research SupportPost-Workshop Questions of Support Staff Participants

Survey of NCURA Research Administrators:Department Research Administration Neighborhood

Predominantly Undergraduate Institution Neighborhood

Research Support

77.6% responses from PUIs with a central research administration

office only

69.6% support staff serve as

research support in departments

85.4% have no trained research administrators in the departments

10.3% supported mandatory training

79.2% do not have formal

training programs for research support staff

53.8% reported support staff

attended training voluntarily

(Temples, Simons & Atkinson, 2012)

Training-focused workshops

Detailed checklists

Address needs of diverse departments

Research SupportWhat do we need?

TOGETHER!

We’re all on the same team to help our

faculty be successful in all their grants

activities!

Faculty

Sponsored Programs

Department Support Staff, Chairs & Deans

Funding Agency

University Administration

Research SupportWhere do we all stand?

Literature Cited

Evans, L. (2011). What research administrators need to know about researcher development: Towards a new conceptual model. Journal of Research Administration, 42(1), 15-37.

Temples, B., Simons, P., & Atkinson, T. (2012). Case Study: Research administration training and compliance at the department level for a predominantly undergraduate institution. Research Management Review, 19(1).

THANK YOU!Beryline Temples

Senior Sponsored Programs AdministratorUniversity of Central Arkansas

201 Donaghey AvenueTorreyson West 324

Conway, AR 72035-0001Phone: (501) 450-3451

Email: beyrline@uca.edu