professionalization of the sponsored programs office susan (sedwick) linehan, phd, cra consulting...
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Professionalization of the Sponsored
Programs Office Susan (Sedwick) Linehan, PhD, CRA
Consulting Associate, Attain, LLC
Courtney Frazier Swaney, MPA, CRAAssociate Director, Office of Sponsored
Projects, The University of Texas at Austin
Learning Objectives• Recognize the need that organizational structures
must sometimes evolve to flourish• Consider the criteria that could be used for a
career ladder program and how CRA credentialing can be used for that purpose
• Understand the importance of professional development in the strength of a research administration unit
History of Research Administration
• 1958 – National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) founded
• 1967 – Society of Research Administrators International (SRA) founded
• 1979 – Council on Governmental Relations (COGR ) incorporated
• 1986 – Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) began as the Florida Demonstration Project
• 1993 – First Certified Research Administrator exam conducted
Characteristics of Professions
• Regulated by statute or code• Body of knowledge• Examination • Licensure/Certification overseen by a professional
entity• Requirement for continuing education• Code of ethics/conduct• Service orientation
State of the Profession• Transparency and Accountability: Can we do
both?• Financial constraints • Administrative burdens• Succession planning• Uniform Guidance represents a major change• Recruitment, development and retention of
research administration professionals• Efficiencied to death!
Administrative Requirements
Expanded/Added Since 1991• Uniform Guidance• COGR List
o Over 50 new regulations;o 12 interpretation/implementation changes; ando 12 proposed rules/changes
www.cogr.edu/docs/COGRAAUTroublesomeClausesReport.pdf
Stress Perceptions Study
• Perceived level of stress – 41.3% reported as high and 16.2% reported as extremely high
• 66% reported having inadequate resources to complete their job in a 40 hour week
• 70% reported competing demands between work and home
• Almost 50% reported exercising 20 minutes or more on less than 3 days per week
¹Shambrook, J. & Brawman-Mintzer, O. (2007). Results from the 2007 Research Administrator Stress Perception Survey (RASPerS). Research Management Review. NCURA. Vol. 15. No. 2, pp. 41-52.
2010 Update of RASPerS
• 90% report their jobs have become more demanding over the past few years (extremely high stress ratings increased from 16 to 23 percent)
• 40 hour work week is still elusive• Percentage who were struggling to balance home
and work life increased from 45% to 57%• Percentage who worked while sick increased from
39% to 65%• ²Shambrook, J. & Sharma, B. (2011). Comparison of the 2007 and 2010 Research Administrator
Stress Perception Survey. SRA Annual Meeting. Montreal, CA.
On the positive side…..• Respondents reporting positive feelings of
appreciation and respect in the workplace increased (highly appreciated increased from 3 to 14 percent)²
• Key motivators for remaining in the profession¹o Challengeo Variety of taskso Working with intelligent colleagueso Job securityo Feeling a sense of purpose
How did you learn to be a research administrator?
Experience is a hard teacher because she
gives the test first, the lesson afterward.
Vernon Saunders LawCy Young Award Winner
The basic task of leadership is to increase the standard of living and the
quality of life for all stakeholders.
Stephen R. CoveyThe 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Organizations Must Evolve
What’s Dangerous is not to evolve.
Jeff Bezos
Succession PlanningBest Practices Organizations use succession planning to develop and maintain strong leadership and to ensure that they address all the competencies required for today’s and tomorrow’s work environment.
Ibarra, Patrick (2005), “Succession Planning: An Idea Whose Time has Come”, Public Management, January/February, pp. 18-24.
Benefits of Succession Planning
• Essential business strategy• Decreases recruitment and orientation costs and
minimizing time-to-fil for vacancies• Benefit of providing systematic development of new
emerging leadership competencies called for by technological and cultural changes
• Promotes continual development of the leadership potential in rank and file
• Identifies opportunities for growth and establishes a culture of promoting within
Bolton, Julia, Roy, Wendy: Succession Planning: Securing the Future (2004): JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration: Issue 34(12), December; p. 589-593
Components of a Succession Plan
• Identifies and prepares internal candidates to qualify for anticipated vacancies in key positionso can also include positions that require more
specialized knowledge and experience• Identify key positions and requisite qualifications• Selecting potential internal candidates• Target development and tracking those candidates• Select a successor• Ensuring commitment of resources• Must be formalized and incorporated into HR
management policies and proceduresBolton, Julia, Roy, Wendy: Succession Planning: Securing the Future (2004): JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration: Issue 34(12), December; p. 589-593
Unfortunately, most organizations wait too long to conduct forward thinking
succession planning, waiting until there are obvious problems or important talent
has exited their companies.
Guinn, Stephen L, (2000), “Succession Planning without Job Titles”, Career Development International, Vol 5 Iss 7, pp.390-393
Creating a Career Ladder
• “Growing your own leaders sends a positive message throughout your workforce. Promoting people within is good for morale and essential to a positive organizational culture.”(Ibarra)
• Things to consider:• Money – is there enough to fund every year?• Career paths – Ladder or Lattice?• Performance – don’t let your career ladder run on autopilot. Make
performance count!
Ibarra, Patrick (2005), “Succession Planning: An Idea Whose Time has Come”, Public Management, January/February, pp. 18-24.
Career Ladder Using CRAGrants and Contract Specialist
(Job Code 9159) Proposed Pay Increase (whichever is highest) - Current annual starting pay for or - $3,000/increase to base
Sr. Grants and Contract Specialist(Job Code 9157)
Proposed Pay Increase (whichever is highest) - Current annual starting pay or - $3,000/increase to base
Sr. Grants and Contract Specialist(Job Code 9157)
Proposed Pay Increase - $3,000/increase to base
Criteria for auto advancement consideration: • 3yrs in the job code• overall performance eval
better than satisfactory for prior two evaluation periods
• obtained CRA certification If 5 yrs service are obtained in the job code, all other qualifying requirements above continue to be met and the individual has not received auto advancement in the prior two fiscal years, promote to Sr. Grants and Contracts Specialist at the Proposed Pay Increase listed for that job code.
Criteria for auto advancement consideration: • 3yrs in the job code• overall performance eval better
than satisfactory for prior two evaluation periods
• obtained CRA certification (if not previously held before entering job code)
Criteria for auto advancement consideration: • 6yrs in the job code• overall performance eval better than
satisfactory for prior two evaluation periods
• - have demonstrated over past two yrs an increased responsibility including participation in programming initiatives as a lead or primary business support person, participate in a lead role for parts of the annual financial report production, etc.
• have not received auto advancement in the prior two fiscal years
Professional Development
• Current knowledge an abilities may be insufficient to deal with the changing culture and economic times
• Skills to be prepared in:o Deal with diversity issueso Aging work forceso Large-scale disasterso Ethical dilemmas
• New competencies must be defined and developed
Bolton, Julia, Roy, Wendy: Succession Planning: Securing the Future (2004): JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration: Issue 34(12), December; p. 589-593
Mentoring and Professional Development
• Empower staff to think for themselves• Don’t always solve the problem; foster creative
problem solving by asking, “What do you think you should do?”
• Finding the delicate balance between building confidence/competence and knowing when to seek guidance can be tricky
NCURA Offerings• Fundamentals of Research Administration• Sponsored Projects Administration II• Departmental Research Administration• Specialized workshops• Annual and Regional Meeting• NCURA TV/Webinars/ Podcosts• Publications• NCURA YouTube Tuesdays
Institution-specific Training
• Handbooks• Online modules• Workshops• Critical topics• @UT Austin
o CRA Mentoring Programo Research Administrator Network (RAN)
Strengths Based Leadership¹
• Followers’ Four Basic Needs1. Trust2. Compassion3. Hope4. Stability
¹Rath, T. & Conchie, B (2008). Strengths, Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams and Why People Follow. Gallup Press: New York.
There is no limit to what a group can do if the individuals don't care who gets the credit.
Austin MurphySports Columnist
