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UC BERKELEY. CAMPUS SHARED SERVICES RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION: A Central Office Perspective. The Road to CSS RA. Presented by: Patrick Schlesinger, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Pam Miller, Director of the Sponsored Projects Office University of California Berkeley.
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UC BERKELEY CAMPUS SHARED SERVICES RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION: A Central Office Perspective
The Road to CSS RA Presented by: Patrick Schlesinger, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Pam Miller, Director of the Sponsored Projects Office University of California Berkeley
Stops Along the Road • 2009—diagnosis of the campus operational and financial environment facilitated by Bain & Company • Identified ways to improve effectiveness • Potential $75M in cost savings • 2010—the design phase of the Operational Excellence (OE) initiated to identify administrative efficiencies/improvements • 2011—Governor proposed $500M cut from UC budget • 2013 Campus Shared Services implemented to improve efficiency of administrative services and reduce costs • Included Human Resources (HR), Finance, Research Administration (RA), Information Technology (IT), and Finance
The Case for CSS • Administrative resources varied from department to department, creating an environment of service “haves and have-nots” • No consistent service culture or training across departments • Inconsistency and lack of transparency of current processes • Staff doing the finance, human resources, research administration, and information technology often working in isolation without backup • Administrative burden on faculty, staff and students too high • Higher service delivery costs, lower quality and increased compliance risk http://oe.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/CSSProjectCharter20120621.pdf
In some ways it has been easier due to precedent… • Establishment of Engineering Research Support Organization (ERSO) as a hub for engineering research support (2005) • Budget cut led VCR to expand Research Enterprise Services to support campus organized research units (ORUs) (2009) 7
In some ways it has been harder due to faculty expectations… • Some faculty had good RA support and did not want to lose it • Some faculty had no RA support and were suspicious of not doing things themselves • Most faculty wanted “one” RA to deal with “everything” 8
In some ways it has been harder due to staff experience… • The earlier RES reorganization had resulted in lost RA jobs • Initial OE PR not supportive of staff • Delays in official OE communications prompted rumors • Some respected staff left campus for other jobs or retired creating service gaps/problems 9
CSS RA Implementation • Mapping the Pre and Post RA Processes (23 maps!) • Determining the CSS RA Team Structure • Creating the Organizational Chart/Reporting Lines • Deciding where to Locate CSS RA Staff • Establishing CSS RA job descriptions • Hiring CSS RA staff: director/team leads/staff • Establishing PI Service Expectations • Establishing the CSS cost model • Involving faculty in CSS implementation
Central Office Involvement • Help with process mapping—clarifying where CSS RA and Central Office services interface • Providing feedback on CSS RA job descriptions to avoid overlap with Central Office CGO positions • Active involvement in developing CSS RA training curriculum—providing SMEs • Providing feedback to CSS Leadership on CSS RA product/performance • Adjusting Phoebe capabilities to accommodate CSS RA needs • Providing central office SLA as model for CSS RA SLA
CSS RA Service Level Agreement (SLA) CSS RA Performance Metrics and Quality Review
CSS RA Service Level Agreement (SLA) CSS RA Performance Metrics and Quality Review
Central Office Rear View of Dept. RA Services • Prior to CSS RA • Range of departmental support for PIs • Range of departmental RA understanding/knowledge of pre and post RA • Range department RA training opportunities • Range of conformance/compliance with University/sponsor policy
Central Office Future View of CSS RA Services • Future Service under Campus Shared Services RA • Consistent excellence of product/process • Exceptionally well trained partners • Joint training & career opportunities • Seamless/excellent support for PIs • More robust support for the research enterprise
Benefits to Central Office (to date) Responsibilities of Dept. RAs now more in relationship to Central Office CGOs. CSS RA has helped SPO to identify/remedy “gaps” in proposal processing e.g. Phoebe system glitches CSS RA prompted establishment of SPO service level agreement (SLA) CSS RA has prompted central office involvement in development of RA training curriculum CSS RA now provides the “missing link” between central pre and post award responsibilities
Ongoing Challenges Limited staff resources to fill all available RA job openings—more jobs available than people! Coordination and collaboration between central and CSS RA—an going process Maintaining effective lines of communication Managing expectations/stress on both sides Finding time for necessary meetings Avoiding meeting overload