Learning Objectives

1. Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) Fundamentals:The Ground of Pre-Award – Core Considerations

2. Learning Objectives • The success of the pre-award function is dependent upon the skills and knowledge of the research administrator, the principal investigator and the buy-in and support of the institution as a whole. • This session will discuss the environment, models & practices along the pre-award spectrum that will help guide participants as to how to foster a well-grounded pre-award effort at their institution. All topics are pointed to the purpose of supporting the PI to be successful in seeking funding and furthering her/his professional development.

3. Session Outline: 6 Areas Critical to Pre-Award Success • Critical Structure: Organizational Models • Strategic Planning & Goal Setting • Understanding Your Institutional Profile • Engaging & Invigorating Faculty: Cultivating Relationships • Defining Responsibilities: PI and Pre-Award • Resource Networks & Training

4. The Metaphor of the Mobile

5. Institution Pre-Award & P.I. Animals HR Purchasing Legal IRB Executive Salaries C o n f l i c t s Audit Budgets Bids Admin Postings E f f o r t A-133 Subs F & A MWBC Ethics

6. Three Best Practices • Concretely establish an administrative culture that supports faulty service and support • Build clear expectations among & between parties • Understand responsibilities & commitments Institution Faculty Pre-Award Source: Research Management Review: Vol. 16, No. 2 Spring/Summer 2009: Balancing the Burden of Compliance and Faculty Support Samuel L. Stanley, Jr. and Denise A. McCartney

7. Two Paths, One Goal Organizational Context andGoal Setting

8. Organizational Structures Vary Widely Wildcard! Source: Atlantic Information Services & National Council of University Research Administrators. 2011. Sponsored Research Administration: A Guide to Effective Strategies and Recommended Practices.

9. Unified • Under one division • Still may have other offices distributed (e.g., compliance) Separate • Parallel • Under academic and business divisions • Organizational models depend on: • Tradition and philosophy • Size and mission of institution • Experience • Cooperation and teamwork • Communication is key for success in all models

10. What’s Your Structure? Binghamton University • Pre-Award and Post Award offices report to the Vice President for Research (VPR) Upstate MedicalUniversity • Pre-Award staff report to the Vice President for Research • Post-Award Support and Services and Research Accounting report to the Assistant Vice President for Finance SUNY Oneonta • Pre-Award(Grants Dev. Office) reports to College Advancement • Post-Award (Sponsored Programs Office) reports to Finance & Administration

11. Unified Model Advantages • Shared vision and communication models • May choose to consolidate duties and erase borders between pre-award, post-award, and financial management

12. Unified Model Challenges • Volume and complexity are more difficult to mitigate • Specialization • Pre-award functions may be seen as business practices, rather than academic processes

13. Separate Model –Strengths • Each business area can focus on best practices • Specialization often occurs • Typically offers different perspectives within an organization

14. Separate Model – Weaknesses • Consistency between separate organizations can be a hurdle • Competing visions • Communication becomes more difficult • May be challenging to make a connection with how university stakeholders are intertwined

15. Three Best Practices • Establish a model and communicate it broadly • No matter the model, work within it • Identify the resources at your disposal to complete the tasks

16. Strategic Planning Institutional and Sponsored Programs Goal Setting

17. Why? • Allows (forces) us to look into the future, and assume a proactive posture • Provides better awareness of strengths and of the organization as a whole • Helps define the overall mission of the organization and provide focus on the objectives • Provides a sense of direction, continuity, and effective staffing and leadership • Plugs everyone into the system and provides standards of accountability for people, programs, and allocated resources

18. Institutional Goal Setting • Increase sponsored program activity and publication of results to advance knowledge • Enhance education and training opportunities for students • Expand research and public service activities • Build community connections • Foster entrepreneurism • Streamline and improve the research environment

19. Institutional Planning

20. Pre-Award Goal Setting No Silos! No Islands!

21. Pre-Award Goal Setting Pre-Award goals must be in line with your institutional strategic plan and objectives. Do not let sponsored programs goals be defined by funding agency priorities or the most recently released BAAs/RFPs.

22. Pre-Award Goal Setting • Can we provide the services our faculty need? • How do we effectively communicate the office needs and, in turn, listen to our stakeholders needs? • Do we have a best practices model? • Are we focused on quantity or quality?

23. Three I’s of Planning • It is Important that you develop a plan • That plan should be Integratedin support of institutional mission and vision • Goals and objectives must be Implemented

24. Working Within Your Organizational Structure

25. Layers of Interests • Vice presidents • Colleges and deans • Academic departments • Individual investigators Each will see an issue slightly differently Getting cohesion, or at least agreement,on an issue is essential for success

26. Getting a Global View How do you locate good leads on who currently conducts research? • RF corporate reports (SPAR, etc.) • Investigator/scholar databases (Pivot & Find a SUNY Scholar) • Proposal activity reports (Coeus, campus systems) • Federal websites (NIH Reporter)

27. Identify Campus Strengths • Compliance • Institutes and Centers • Core facilities • Research infrastructure – connect faculty with those who can best help them • Help sponsors understand why your campus deserves funding • “Sell” your campus

28. Working Within Your Organizational Structure • Use your “structure” to your advantage: • If you are a nimble organization, communicate directly with faculty regularly • If you are a complex organization, set up monthly or bi-monthly meetings that allow faculty and departmental administrators to “sound off “ • Keep an open door policy

29. Embody Positivity • If you don’t believe, no one else will! • Proposal success rates higher than 25% are not common It’s a fact almost everyone must come to terms with…

30. Final Thoughts &Best Practices • Know who you are, and what you are good at • This is a people business – get to know your people • Be active – If you aren’t engaged in your career, it’s just a job “Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility” - G. M. Trevelyan

31. Relationship BuildingandFaculty Engagement …We’re All in This Together

33. INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT &Campus Climate

34. Academic / Administrative Structure • Ability to influence/incentivize • Changes in institutional leadership • Size of pre-award staff

35. Promotion and Tenure

36. Promotion and Tenure • Inclusion of pursuit and receipt of external funding in tenure process • May or may not be contractual • Policies/process outlined in contracts, bylaws, etc. • Can influence faculty focus • Requires much advocacy for change to happen

37. PositiveInstitutional Influence • Release from course obligations • Start-up funds • Campus-based grant programs • Return of recovered indirect costs • Other incentives: receptions, events, other recognition

38. PositiveInstitutional InfluenceProposal Level • Matching funds • Project-level course release • Support for facilities and resources

39. What Holds PIs/PDs Back?(And How Can We Help?) • Lack of time to develop proposalsCourse release or extra assistance • (Un)familiarity with grant-seeking processAppropriate training • Need for appropriate funding sourcesCommunication about funding opportunities • Lack of awareness of pre-award servicesGet out there! Events, orientation, etc.

40. COLLABORATE !

41. Faculty Orientation • Allows early review of policies/procedures • Establishes that faculty should work WITH pre-award staff • Makes process accessible

42. One-on-One Meetings • Allow staff to learn about project or program interests……which can lead to better “leads”! • Provide chance to sign faculty up for individualized services, when appropriate • Provide faculty with personal support Consider meeting with candidatesprior to hire, if possible

43. Training Events • Internal grant programs • Search tools • Specific RFPs / funding opportunities • Budgeting • What else? …as with so much else, this may depend on the specific campus

44. Faculty EngagementThree Best Practices • Know your faculty • Communicate early and often • Find a way!

45. Defining ResponsibilitiesPI and Pre-Award

46. Who Can Be a PIon Your Campus? • Certain positions? • Tenure track / tenured • Instructors / adjuncts • Emeriti • Librarians • Visitors? • Visiting faculty • Visiting scholars • Students?

47. Outlining Responsibilities

48. Communicating Responsibilities • New faculty orientation • Campus policies • PI responsibility policy (Univ. at Buffalo) • Internal submission policy (Binghamton Univ.) • Regular one-on-one meetings

49. Continue Communication Responsibilities must be outlined and communicated throughout the life cycle of the award • Award terms and conditions • Hiring practices • Purchasing processes • Technical reporting

50. Best PracticesThe Three D’s • Define the roles and responsibilities • Document / communicate roles • Delineate responsibilities throughout the life-cycle of a sponsored award