Monday Sessions
Tuesday, October 2
Wednesday, October 3
M1: Creating a Strategic Plan and the Vision to Make It Happen
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Content Level: All Levels
Leadership development is not a rite of passage based on one's length of service to an organization, as it once might have been perceived. It is an organizational necessity that enhances the productivity and potential of all those around us. This session will provide the attendees with strategies for developing their personal capacity for leadership positions. It will provide essential competencies for leadership and explain how one can identify activities in the workplace that can be used to hone leadership skills and improve one's leadership potential.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Jennifer Shambrook, PhD, Director, Grant & Contract Management Office, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Certificate: Leadership - Required Session
M2: Steer Your Career: A Research Administrator's Manual for Mapping Success
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Content Level: Basic
By defining and pursuing excellence early in your career, you will ensure great opportunities to have a professional impact throughout your professional life. Consider what excellence in your role would look like to you, your supervisor, your organization and your clients. Then set specific and measurable goals to achieve that excellence. Presenters will outline 10 areas on which to focus including networking on a daily basis -- not just at conferences, finding a mentor, raising your profile by speaking, publishing and using social media. Attendees will also learn of valuable resources for further learning.
Learning Objectives:
1. Develop a plan for accelerated career advancement.
2. Set measurable goals to ensure on-going growth in the profession.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Sarah Lampson, Research Administrator, and Katie Porter, Clinical Research Agreements and Contracts Specialist, Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation, Canada
M3: The Small Grants Office: Priorities, Resources and Preparing for Growth
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Content Level: Intermediate
Although we may work at institutions with modest levels of sponsored program funding, the extent that sponsored programs support and extend the institution's central missions of research, training and service, and as such, can never be the responsibility of a single person or office. This session will focus on three major areas: 1) prioritizing responsibilities and effective time management, including the effective use of technology 2) developing workload and output metrics to show the office’s value and impact and to track workload growth 3) establishing or revamping a grants management process at your institution that houses key grant related functions within current administrative resources and structures in order to devote maximum time and effort to the pre-award office's prime functions related to proposal development and submission.
Learning Objectives:
1. Develop a client-oriented approach to sponsored program services-create a shared sense of ownership over compliance and grant administration across departments and divisions.
2. Develop business systems and practices that can grow with external funding levels.-identify clear benchmarks showing the offices impact beyond total funding and IDC figures.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Paul Kran, Director, Office of Sponsored Programs, Teachers College Columbia University
M4: Just a Little Better... Helping Investigators Improve Their Grant Proposals
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Content Level: All Levels
In this session, the presenter will open your eyes to different ways of looking at the grant proposals that cross your desk – not simply a question of ‘Are all the parts there?’ – But can you make it look better? Are the words spelled correctly (seriously…)? Do the sentences make sense? What’s not there? Getting to know your Principal Investigators and communicating that you’re interested, enthusiastic, and willing to help will ease their burden a little, knowing that someone is concerned enough to share their pre-award expertise in an effort to submit a winning proposal.
Learning Objectives:
1. Look at grant proposals with a broader visual and content view.
2. Offer suggestions to investigators to improve proposals.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Nancy Cook, Research Administrator, University of Maryland, Baltimore; Jo Ann Smith, PhD, CRA, Coordinator, Master of Research Administration, University of Central Florida
M5: Research Strategic Planning: The 'Way' to Institutional Research Growth
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Content Level: All Levels
In the past when resources were plentiful from federal, state and fundraising sources, institutions had the opportunity to launch multiple research initiatives knowing that some programs will develop and prosper while other programs might cease due to lack of funding. Through proper planning and execution, the institution's research program can grow and prosper. There are different approaches to research planning and various analyses performed to support the planning process. Further, the strategy can be at various levels -- spanning the entire institution, a school plan or a group of organizations such as an academic medical center. This session will familiarize research administrators with the research strategic planning process, review the data collected as background information and describe methods institutions adopt to develop a consensus around a research strategy.
Learning Objectives:
1. Be familiar with the importance of research strategic planning, options currently being utilized, data collected and strategies to reach consensus for research growth.
2. Be able to support institutional leadership to launch a research strategy including the data collection and to understand the dynamics of developing consensus.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: John Deeley, Senior Manager-Higher Education and Academic Medical Centerss, Attain LLC
M6: Broadening Scope in Post-Award Management: HR Essentials for Research Administrators
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Content Level: Intermediate
Have you ever struggled to understand how best to assist research leaders in recruiting, hiring, and managing staff on a newly-awarded project? How do you handle ended employment relationships when a project is ongoing and needs support? What regulatory requirements may impact who can be selected to work on a project? This session will familiarize research administrators with common HR topics and issues including salary caps and salary rate changes on awarded budgets, effort certification, FAR clauses, export controls and ITAR, staff effort planning, employee exception time and leaves, eVerify and more. Strategies will be shared which will assist administrators in managing these issues on sponsored projects and how to avoid common pitfalls in these two administrative fields. This information will also help research administrators guide researchers in effective staffing for projects while also providing excellent administrative stewardship support.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify and resolve common HR issues in a sponsored research context, including those related to recruitment, hiring, maintenance and termination of appointments.
2. Cultivate a solid understanding of HR best practices in sponsored research administration and enable administrators to guide researchers with project HR planning and stewardship.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Catherine Seay-Ostrowski, Business Administrator Lead, University of Michigan, Transportation Research Institute
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M7: Making the Case for Clinical Trials Management System (CTMS)
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Content Level: Intermediate
The complexity of clinical trials management, especially billing compliance, increasingly requires close coordination and exchange of detailed information among many parties across clinical, research, legal and financial areas. Funding a project to implement a Clinical Trial Management System (CTMS) to help deal with trials complexity requires making the business case for the necessary resources to launch and maintain the system. Since finance leaders will typically employ a Return on Investment (ROI) model to compare the relative value of competing IT projects, this session is designed to provide you with concrete examples of CTMS benefits as well as an ROI calculation model that can be adapted to your institution’s own context. While no ROI model can perfectly capture the complexities of clinical trials, real world examples at your institutions and discussion of financial benefit projection can be very useful in helping highlight the value of a CTMS project.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify and articulate key benefits of CTMS implementations and develop a business case for such projects.
2. Calculate ROI for CTMS implementation projects based on institutional data.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Matthew Staman, Managing Director, Huron Consulting Group
Certificate: CTRA201 - Elective; Financial Management - Elective
M8: Financial Management of Sponsored Awards: Confessions from a Department Administrator
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Content Level: Intermediate
Financial research administration responsibilities can be overwhelming. The process of managing a grant once funded and properly closing it out when it ends are the day-to-day activities that department administrators struggle with. This session will introduce best practices that will assist department administrators with post award administration. Topics will include award reconciliation, allowable, allocable and reasonable costs, effort reporting, financial status reports, cost transfers, closeout of awards, and much more.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify what are the key important financial components in managing research awards.
2. Provide financial tools and techniques to assist with award reconciliation.
Prerequisites: Participants will have significant experience in research administration, a general understanding of the A-21 circular, and a working knowledge base of issues related to financial compliance.
Speakers: Tolise Miles, Senior Administrator, Biomedical Graduate Research Organization, Georgetown University; Muftiat Fahm, CPA, CRA, Director of Decision Support, Georgetown University Medical Center; Fannie Dela Cruz, Senior Administrative Director, Center for Clinical and Translational Science
Certificate: Financial Management - Elective
M9: Export Controls: What You Need to Know in Changing Times
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Content Level: All Levels
This session is designed to introduce participants to the fundamentals of export controls, so that participants are able to identify key issues and prevent compliance concerns from developing. In times of export control reform and regulatory change, this session will identify what research administrators need to know and provide the framework for how to analyze an export control issue.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify export control issues and develop a framework to evaluate whether a compliance concern is present.
2. Analyze the pertinent issues relating to regulatory exemptions impacting the research administrator role.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Michael Mellen, JD, Associate, International Trade Group, Bryan Cave LLP
Certificate: Research Law - Required Session
M10: Negotiating Clinical Trial Agreements with For-Profit Companies
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Content Level: All Levels
Tips, traps and tricks of negotiating clinical trial agreements with the industry including a discussion of conducting negotiations via email versus teleconference discussions. Presenters will role play to illustrate tactics and strategies.
Learning Objectives:
1. Analyze negotiation strategies, identify their individual strengths and weakness and list common mistakes made by negotiators on each side of the table.
2. Describe the benefits of compromise and tools to help finding it.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Rosemary Farr, JD, Counsel, Reed Smith LLP
Certificate: CTRA101 - Required Session; Research Law - Required Session
M11: Compliance Issues in the Social and Behavioral Sciences
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Content Level: Intermediate
This session focuses on two compliance issues as they affect faculty in the Social Science and Humanities disciplines. Social Science research methodologies can be vastly different than bio-medical research. When research involves human subjects, the research administrator needs to be able to advise faculty correctly regarding protocol submission, informed consent, and other factors based upon the research methodologies they plan to use. The second compliance area is export controls. With the increased emphasis on international collaborations, faculty face export control concerns in the conduct of disseminating scholarship and mentoring and advising students. Research administrators should be able to spot potential concerns to promote a more proactive approach to their management.
Learning Objectives:
1. Explain to their faculty the differences between exempt, expedited and full IRB review and direct faculty to appropriate sources for assistance.
2. Recognize potential export control issues and suggest ways to modify activities to address the concern.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: TBA
Certificate: Research Integrity - Required Session; Research Law - Required Session
M12: Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) for Research Administrators
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Content Level: All Levels
Research administrators and research staff members (i.e., coordinators, data management specialists, assistants, etc.) play an important part in promoting the integrity of the research enterprise. Frequently, those in a nonscientific, supporting role encounter ethical decisions in an environment of competing obligations and responsibilities. In order to function effectively and make appropriate ethical decisions, administrators need to be aware of the prevailing rules, regulations and guidelines. It is not enough to just know where a certain policy is posted on the web or sitting in a binder on the shelf. All of those involved in research must abide by a core of ethical principles in order to do their jobs properly and to contribute to the overarching culture of responsibility.
Learning Objectives:
1. Raise awareness, in order to be able identify when situations present ethical dilemmas or conflicts.
2. Reason among possible courses of action and effectively implement the best solution to the problem.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Debra Schaller-Demers, Director, Research Outreach and Compliance, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Certificate: CTRA101 - Elective; CTRA201 - Elective; Research Integrity - Required Session
M13: Government Contracts: A Contracting Officer Perspective vs. the Recipient
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Content Level: Basic
Attend this session to hear from an expert speaker who has experience administering NASA prime contracts, while simultaneously issuing and administering major subcontracts under the prime. Learn from her experience of 'playing both sides of the coin,' and learn how prime contractors vs. subcontractors operate.
Learning Objectives:
1. Learn what exactly U.S.C 1001 entails and the consequences for not complying.
2. Provide an explanation and interpretation of mandatory requirements/clauses in contracts that are not required by grants.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Midge Breslof, Project Support, Staff Specialist, Southwest Research Institute
M14: DARPA Funding Opportunities
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Content Level: All Levels
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was established in 1958 to prevent strategic surprise from negatively impacting U.S. national security and to create strategic surprise for U.S. adversaries by maintaining the technological superiority of the U.S. military. As the DOD’s primary innovation engine, DARPA undertakes projects that are finite in duration but that create lasting revolutionary change. This session is designed to provide an overview of DARPA, the types of funding appropriated for DARPA’s research activities, how to submit proposals for DARPA funding, the proposal review process, and award instrumentalities.
Learning Objectives:
1. Gain an understanding of the type research and funding opportunities available at DARPA
2. Develop the knowledge of how to submit proposals for DARPA Funding
3. Understand the process DARPA uses to evaluate proposals
4. Be exposed to the type of contractual instrumentalities employed by DARPA
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Michael Mutty, Director, Technology Division/Contracts Management Office, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
M15: Succession Planning: Leadership Experience in Administration Program Model (LEAP)
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Content Level: All Levels
Succession planning is the process of identifying and developing internal people with the potential to fill key leadership positions in the organization. The Leadership Experience in Administration Program Model (LEAP) at UC Berkeley is a new program designed to prepare our Gen X and Gen Y research administrators to become future leaders in our office as well as the field of research administration. The LEAP model provides participants with the opportunity to take on leadership responsibilities and engage in job shadowing and mentor-ship activities within the Sponsored Projects Office, as well as participate in formal training opportunities within and outside the university. This session will provide an overview of the model and report on implementation progress to date.
Learning Objectives:
1. Understand how the LEAP program is organized to achieve succession planning objectives and how it can be implemented in other settings.
2. Understand how the program is working from both management and LEAP participant perspectives.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Pam Miller, PhD, Director, Noam Pines, Senior Research Analyst, and Wendi Hayes, Senior Research Analyst, Sponsored Projects Office, University of California, Berkeley
Certificate: Leadership - Elective
M16: Winning The Stress Challenge
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Content Level: All Levels
Stress is a stimulus for growth, and without it you'll experience boredom and tedium. However, it's during periods of recovery when that growth actually occurs. Most of us suffer from too little recovery, not from too much stress. You need recovery to serve as the equal but opposite action of stress. At the end of this session, you will have a clear understanding of the things you can do to balance the two. For example, you can learn a simple technique to effectively and automatically deal with adversity no matter how or when it happens. In addition, there are readily available, inexpensive foods that will preserve your working-memory and immune system when your world is falling apart. You'll learn these as well as a host of other scientifically grounded yet easy remedies for dealing with stress. For example, the three question Belief Challenge Test, which can prevent self-destructive emotions from derailing your health. And the game winning acting-technique used by elite athletes to stay focused when they are about to lose. Best of all, most of these techniques can be easily taught to friends and family.
Learning Objectives:
1. Describe how stress-induced memory loss can be offset usng a dietary approach.
2. Describe three behaviors capable of countering the impact of stress upon sleep and immunity.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Nick Hall, PhD, Director of Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of South Florida College of Nursing, and Saddlebrook Resort Wellness Center
M17: Five Strategies to Engage Faculty in Proposal Writing in a Non-Research Environment
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Content Level: Intermediate
Is it challenging to engage faculty in proposal writing at your university? If so, come and learn about five exciting initiatives implemented at a predominantly undergraduate institution that are generating a buzz on campus and significantly increasing submissions and awards! The central, pre-award grants office at Barry University has successfully generated excitement about writing grant proposals and rewarded faculty members for their efforts in the process through these five initiatives: (1) the implementation of a $20,000 internal Faculty Incentive Grants Competition; (2) the annual Grants Recognition Luncheon; (3) a quarterly news bulletin showcasing a specific faculty member’s grant achievements; (4) the development and implementation of specialized workshops and a new system of advertising grant opportunities; and (5) the dissemination of a highly-visible quarterly report that generates healthy competition on campus and transparency in grant activity.
Learning Objectives:
1. Be able to implement new strategies to engage faculty in proposal writing at their institutions.
2. Be able to develop the guidelines and eligibility criteria for an internal grant program and a review process to evaluate proposals.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Patrick Lynch, Director, Office of Grant Programs, Barry University
M18: Creating Time-Saving Modular Templates for Research Proposals
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Content Level: Intermediate
Research administrators are often tasked with creating and editing ancillary research proposal documents, such as Facilities and Resources, Biographical Sketches, Budget Justifications, and other sections. Development of templates that are specific to one's institution can save time, aid in training of junior faculty, and ensure uniformity among grant proposal submissions. This session will include a review of commonly used proposal sections in both federal and foundation applications, and provide tips to help research administrators determine whether templates may be appropriate for particular proposal sections. During this session, a mock template will be created. Participants will also receive tips for working with templates once created, and learn techniques that will aid in creation of generic templates to be used by subcontractors.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify proposal sections used commonly by researchers for which modifiable, modular templates can be created.
2. Recognize common information supplied in previous proposal submissions and create modular templates that are unique to their organization and its researchers.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Gina Della Porta, Grants Specialist, WakeMed Health and Hospitals
M19: Using an Institutional Overhaul to Let the Research Support Office Become a Strategic Partner
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Content Level: All Levels
The offices of research management and administration work in a highly competitive field, and in order to stay competitive, these offices must develop constantly. Development is driven by both internal and external factors and very often reflects the overall vision and strategy of the institution. At Aarhus University, the academic and administrative structure changed completely in 2011. It was like building a university from scratch. The research support office was chosen to play a central role in the future, combining both strategy, pre- and post-award and talent development and recruitment. This session will focus on the development of the institutional structure and how the research support office worked in a highly strategic and analytical way in order to define and develop its areas of business. The lessons learned and pointes will be presented.
Learning Objectives:
1. Assess how a strategy leads to choices and then to an implementation plan.
2. Understand how a strategy is created and evolves.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: John Westensee, Director of Research Support, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark
M20: Setting Up a New Research Office: Do's and Don'ts
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Content Level: Intermediate
Using the creation of the Office of Research Services at the newly founded King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, as a case study, this session focuses on three main areas important for a research office: policy, staffing and infrastructure. This session will explore the key policies required to establish sound processes, the importance of staffing and how this might differ from offices in well-established organizations as well as the impact of infrastructure. This session will outline the interdependencies between the research office and other administrative offices. It will outline key priorities when starting an office from scratch and highlight what one can and cannot do without. This session will also give some insight into research infrastructure in a Middle Eastern context and hurdles to overcome when engaging on an international level.
Learning Objectives:
1. Get a fresh view on policy requirements - which ones are important and how can you operate without them.
2. Gain some insight into research management in a Middle Eastern context and how this might impact on structural requirements for a research office.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Silke Blohm, Manager, Office of Research Services, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia
M21: Award Close-Out
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Content Level: All Levels
This session addresses award closeout obligations and best practices. Central processes include expenditure review and expense scrubbing. Department processes include project staff transition.
Learning Objectives:
1. Address near project and expenses on awards, and inventory of Government property.
2. Comply with award reporting requirements and implement processes to manage award end.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Midge Breslof, Project Support, Staff Specialist, Southwest Research Institute; Kris Rhodes, Director, Educational Services, MAXIMUS
Certificate: Financial Management - Required Session
M22: Regulatory Research for the Research Administration Professional
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Content Level: Basic
You can't be a research administration professional without reading various types of law. There are many ways to tackle any research problem. When a person is new to legal terms and the types of books and materials in a law library, the research process may seem almost too difficult. The law may even seem like a foreign language to you. This session is a mini-legal research class to show students how to evaluate legal research sources and use them effectively, with particular emphasis on cost-effective research.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify useful sources for legal research and understand the difference between primary versus secondary sources.
2. Review who produces legal authority and material is organized, published, indexed and kept current. Learn how OHRP/FDA determination letters can be used to solve issues.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Rebecca Ballard, JD, Director, Office of Research Integrity, Children's Mercy Hospitals
Certificate: Research Law - Required Session
M23: Clinical Trials: Rules and More Rules
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Content Level: Intermediate
Clinical trials must comply with the Good Clinical Practice guidelines (GCP). Unfortunately, the GCP is not well defined. This session will review Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, and major international regulations and guidelines, as well as other institutions governing clinical research. Participants will learn how the actions of regulatory agencies affect budget development, contract negotiations and the way studies are conducted. Topics will include the ethical origins of the GCP, historic milestones and their regulatory significance, and discussion of best practices to enhance regulatory compliance.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify three important documents that form the core ethical basis for the regulatory environment.
2. Identify three best practices for improving regulatory compliance in clinical trials.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Bruce Steinert, PhD, Administrative Director, Clinical Trials Center Research Institute, NorthShore University HealthSystem Research Institute; Belinda Vandersluis, Executive Director, Gilda’s Club Southeastern Ontario
Certificate: CTRA201 - Required Session; Research Law - Required Session
M24: Henrietta Lacks: A Discussion about Research Ethics and Social Responsibility
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Content Level: Intermediate
Rebecca Skloot recently wrote about Henrietta Lacks in her book entitled, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Mrs. Lacks was a poor black woman in the 1950s whose cells were used to further the research enterprise. Her family was unaware of this important contribution until more than 20 years after she passed away. This book describes the Lacks family's realization of the importance their mother had in the name of science. Using her biospecimens, the medical community was able to create new medical advancements that many of us take for granted every day. This session will review the ethics and social responsibility associated with research, particularly in the case of Mrs. Lacks and her family. This session will begin with an overview of the book and move to an interactive discussion with the audience. Such issues as discrimination, social responsibility, and current ethical principles will be discussed.
Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the book 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' and the various social elements highlighted by the book, such as discrimination and responsibility of researchers.
2. Understand the use of biosamples in this situation and how the basic principles of the Belmont Report would be applied today.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Paula Bistak, Executive Director, Human Subject Protection Program, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Tonya Edvalson, Research Regulatory Coordinator, Women and Newborn Clinical Trials, Intermountain Healthcare
Certificate: Research Integrity - Required Session
M25: Is it Worth the Risk?
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Content Level: Intermediate
Regulatory non-compliance poses a significant risk to an organization’s overall research enterprise. These risks include inspection and sanctions by regulatory agencies, loss of federal funding for research, legal liability, and damage to the organization’s public image.
Learning Objectives:
1. Explore the risks of regulatory non-compliance.
2. Learn what organizations need to do to reduce their vulnerability.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Jeffrey Cohen, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, HRP Consulting Group, Inc.; Cindy Kiel, JD, CRA, Executive Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, University of California, Davis; Hal Jenson, Founding Dean, School of Medicine, Western Michigan University
Certificate: Research Integrity - Elective; Research Law - Required Session
M26: Funding Opportunities Search and Match to Investigators' Interests
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Content Level: All Levels
Pro-active search for funding opportunities becomes an essential task for a research office today. This session will review main funding search mechanisms and guide participants through effective search query creation. Participants will receive tips on subscribing for federal, industry and foundation announcements and creating automated specialty announcements. This session also reviews tools that facilitate the opportunity to search based on individual investigator’s interests and increase probability of a successful proposal.
Learning Objectives:
1. Perform a targeted opportunity search using multiple electronic sources and create automated searches.
2. Effectively analyze investigators' interests, focus opportunity searches and increase the number of search results that lead to proposals.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Yulia Strekalova, Associate Director of Research, University of Florida, Pediatrics
M27: Animal Research
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Content Level: All Levels
To protect the interest and well-being of research animals, the Animal Welfare Act imposes restrictions on any experiment calculated to cause pain and specifies rigorous guidelines for their care and housing. To receive NIH support, an institution must submit an animal welfare assurance documenting its procedures for complying with federal regulations and appoint an institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) to oversee compliance. This session will provide a thorough understanding of the animal welfare regulations and the animal rights movement, explaining and emphasizing the underlying ethics fueling both.
Learning Objectives:
1. Recognize the underlying ethical considerations when using animals in research
2. Identify best practices for regulating and monitoring animal research at your institution
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Dean Smith, PhD, Interim Vice President for Research, University of Alabama Huntsville
M28: The Leadership Mirror: What Kind of Leader Am I?
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Content Level: Advanced
This interactive session will focus on discovering what types of leadership traits participants may have. The presenters will evaluate how these traits or styles may have an effect on their decision-making, personal communications, supervision and personnel management. This session will identify working and leadership styles in themselves and co-workers for reinforcing positive relationships getting results both individually and in a team. Using these new acquired perceptions, participants will work through a few real life examples to solve leadership issues. Focus is on middle to senior management participants. This is an interactive session - participation required.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify working and leadership styles in themselves and co-workers for reinforcing positive relationships and getting results both individually and in a team.
2. Use this knowledge to create a positive effect on their future decisions, personal communications, supervision and personnel management.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Karen Wilson, CRA, Administrative Management Consultant, DRAMS; Dorothy Yates, Associate Vice President for Research and Economic Development, University of Wyoming
Certificate: Leadership - Required Session
M29: The Path to Research Administration – Our Stories
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Content Level: All Levels
In this interactive session participants examine the paths they took to become a research administrator. How did we each become involved in research administration? Did we grow-up always wanting to be an RA? Did we go to school to become one? What were the circumstances that guided us to the field of research administration? Each of us wants to feel significant, competent and likeable. To what degree did we feel these characteristics as we moved through our life choices? Through small group sharing, guided imagery and the use of story boards, participants will be able to reflect on the past, understand the choices that they made and thus be better able to envision the future. As part of this exploratory process, participants will create visual ‘life-lines’ to illustrate their own individual path.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify the life choices one makes that determine who we become as professionals in the workplace.
2. Understand and appreciate how those choices can affect feelings about self and how those feelings can shape career choices and satisfaction.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Debra Schaller-Demers, Director, Research Outreach and Compliance, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
M30: Clinical Trials: Budgeting NIH Style
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Content Level: Intermediate
How do you build a budget for a clinical trial when the protocol hasn’t been finalized? Who are the information holders within your institution for Medicare rates, converting a schedule of assessments to CPT codes or determining how much coordinator time is needed per visit? How can institutions accept studies where they are not being paid but will receive recruitment ‘credits’? What options are available to a program officer when carry forward is not automatic? These are a few of the questions raised when building budgets for clinical trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal agencies. This session will explore the mechanistic options available to program officers- FTE or milestone-based budgets, cooperative agreement or contract, participating site v. coordinating center from the perspective of a former NIDDK program officer. In counterpoint, a central office administrator will address how these funding strategies are implemented by institutions.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify the primary mechanisms used by the NIH to fund clinical trials.
2. Explore the information needed to address all possible contingencies of the trial and how to identify information holders within your organization.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Michelle Bird, CRA, Contracts Specialist, Office of Sponsored Research, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Certificate: CTRA201 - Elective
M31: Building Collaborative Research Capacity
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Content Level: All Levels
With the increased focus on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research, it is important to know how to reduce problems during the process and implementation of the project. This session will examine the common issues that need to be addressed during the development of collaborative proposals. These issues include activities that take place during the initial stages, developing the proposals, best-practices for a communication plan, and how institutions approach disbursement of indirect costs.
Learning Objectives:
1. Distinguish between the different types of disciplinary projects (interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, etc).
2. Common problems and how to avoid them with collaborative research projects using best practices.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Jo Ann Smith, PhD, CRA, Program Coordinator, Master of Research Administration, University of Central Florida; Laurianne Torres, CRA, Director, Pre-Award Services, University of Central Florida
M32: Crisis Communication for the Research Administrator
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Content Level: Advanced
Geraldo Rivera is in the reception area asking for YOU! Is this about research misconduct, misappropriated funds, the sudden and unexpected death of someone in your area, a fire in the lab, results from the last audit, the scandal of the week or a scandal you are not aware of yet? This session will better prepare both administrators and researchers to deal with a variety of crisis communications situations. You can’t rely solely on your institution’s marketing and communications department. Your preparation, in conjunction with your institution’s communications staff, can make a significant difference in the outcome of a crisis. You will leave with specific tools to assist in making you better prepared to respond to a crisis. This is 'For Those Who Are Crisis Managers, Whether They Want to be or Not' because it could be you or your boss or ….
Learning Objectives:
1. Provide research administrators with tools, techniques and a process for planning for and possibly dealing with crisis communications.
2. Learn from case studies and possible scenarios on how to plan, prepare and respond to crises.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Kevin Titus, Business Director, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; Judy Bristow, Director, Office of Sponsored Programs Grants Administration, University of Louisville
Certificate: Leadership - Elective
M33: Building an Organizational Grants Culture
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Content Level: Advanced
The University of Missouri began to build its Grant Writer Network in 1998. By 2009, the group was recognized by the Education Advisory Board as one of 16 best practices nationally for supporting interdisciplinary research. Most recently, the Network's handbook for supporting grantsmanship in academia will be published this fall by Jossey-Bass. In this conference session, the Network's founding director will share advice and lessons learned during her 14-year tenure with this very successful model. Topics to be addressed will include 1) the organizational chart: the oxymoron of 'professional staff'; 2) hiring: issues of culture and competence; and 3) training programs: don't count on osmosis.
Learning Objectives:
1. Create hiring processes and place grant writing professionals on the organizational chart to maximize the chances of success and minimize turnover.
2. Create appropriate grantsmanship training opportunities for faculty members and grant writing professionals.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Mary Licklider, PhD, Director, Grant Writing and Publications, University of Missouri
M34: Indirect Cost Rate: 2CFR Part 230 (OMB A-122) A Nonprofit Perspective
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Content Level: All Levels
Almost every research organization must engage in the process of negotiating federal indirect cost rates. Nonprofit organizations subject to 2 CFR part 230 (OMB Circular A-122) face unique challenges in preparing, submitting and negotiating indirect cost rates. As we go through this process, many of us often wonder if we’ve done everything we can do within the constraints of federal regulations in order to maximize our institution’s negotiated overhead rate and resulting indirect cost reimbursement. In this session, the presenter will discuss strategies that may be employed to maximize indirect cost recovery, both in the preparation of your indirect cost rate filing as well as during the subsequent rate negotiation and budgeting of indirect rates on grants and contracts. Participants will be encouraged to share their experiences concerning the F&A cost rate process.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify what an indirect cost rate is and its importance and what types of costs are recovered through the F&A rate.
2. Explore different types of rates and how they impact recovery and understand the process for preparing, submitting and negotiating the rate proposal.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Alex Weekes, CPA, Principal, ML Weekes & Company, PC
Certificate: Financial Management - Required Session
M35: Budget Management for the Department Administrator
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Content Level: Basic
This session will discuss budget management for the department administrator. Budget management is more than developing or building a budget. It begins before a proposal is submitted and continues through the end of the project. The presenters will discuss the process and knowledge necessary to ensure that the institution is protected. Examples will present issues and discussion of how they were resolved. The tips and techniques detailed in this session are derived from the presenters' experiences at a major medical research institution, a public hospital, PUIs and mid-sized institutions. The speakers will highlight the knowledge necessary to efficiently and effectively manage your portfolio's finances.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify 3 key administrative issues when managing budgets.
2. Be able to defend a decision not to process a payment request without further information or adjustments.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Rene Hearns, CRA, Director, Grants & Sponsored Programs, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania; Kate McCormick, CRA, Senior Grants Administrator, Harvard Medical School
Certificate: Financial Management - Elective
M36: Research Compliance Part 1
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Content Level: Basic-Intermediate
This is the first of two sessions that will provide an overview of compliance issues related to sponsored research. This session will focus on human subject research, the use and care of animals in research and responsible conduct of research education.
Learning Objecives:
1. Be able to identify compliance issues related to sponsored research.
2. Identify the applicable federal regulations and describe how these regulations apply to research compliance.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Ann Mathias, JD, Assistant Vice President, Research Compliance, Carnegie Mellon University
Certificate: Research Law - Required Session
M37: International Developments in RCR: Codes or Compliance?
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Content Level: All Levels
In the last five years, peak agencies in several countries including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdome and the European Science Agency have released codes of conduct relating to responsible research practice. Being Codes of practice these differ from the US where Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) is established within a legislative framework. Implementing a Code requires more carrots than sticks - this session will briefly highlight RCR requirements in some recent international Codes and will examine the experience of implementing RCR Codes in institutions in Canada and Australia. These will be compared with an institutional example in the US context to examine differing approaches to implementing an RCR regime.
Learning Objectives:
1. Understand recent international developments in RCR and practices implementing RCR requirements in other countries.
2. Reflect on practices at their institutions by building on experiences from other institutions nationally and internationally.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Mark Hochman, PhD, Senior Advisor: Research Policy and Strategy, University of Tasmania, Australia; Susan Marlin, Associate Principal, Queen’s University, Canada; Ada Sue Selwitz, Director, University of Kentucky
Certificate: Research Integrity - Elective
M38: Human Subjects Research and Non-Compliance
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Content Level: Basic
This session will provide attendees with an overview of non-compliance with respect to human subjects research, with emphasis on issues of particular interest to institutional review boards (IRBs). An overview of non-compliance and examples will be provided along with a discussion of how grant professionals may assist IRB professionals and the IRB in the area of non-compliance. This session will also include an interactive piece where attendees will be asked to provide examples from their own experiences.
Learning Objectives:
1. List examples of non-compliance in human subjects research.
2. Describe the role of grant professionals in assisting IRBs in the management of non-compliance.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Jaime Arango, Assistant Director of Education for Human Subjects Protection, CITI Program/University of Miami; Ana Fins, PhD, Associate Professor, Nova Southeastern University
Certificate: CTRA101 - Elective; Research Integrity - Elective
M39: Negotiating with National Labs: Why are They So Different?
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Content Level: All Levels
National Laboratories are specialized resources, rather than competition to Universities, readily available to the research community if you can get through the heartache of negotiating an agreement with them. This session will provide a basic overview of the nature of these institutions and why they are required to operate differently than universities. This session will also provide an overview into the surprising issues that arise in working with Department of Energy National Laboratories, and other federally-funded research and development centers (FFDRCs), as subcontractors or collaborators on sponsored research projects. Areas that will be covered are pre-award confusion to be avoided, contract negotiation, and contract closeout.
Learning Objectives:
1. Understand what a National Laboratory and Federally Funded Research and Development Center is as opposed to a University.
2. Understand why the subcontracting mechanism is different than that of a University, and have strategies to improve this process.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Jennifer Carpenter, Sponsored Research Manager, Technology Transfer Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Certificate: Research Law - Required Session
M40: How to Make NIH Peer Review Work For You
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Content Level: All Levels
This session provides attendees with an opportunity to see the peer review process in action. This session consists of an overview by a NIH Scientific Review Administrator, a simulation of a peer review meeting followed by a question and answer session.
Learning Objectives:
1. To understand the basics of the peer review process at the NIH.
2. Based on this knowledge, identify tools and tips that may improve application submission and funding.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Mary Daley-Greenwood, Chief Grants Management Officer, and D. Jonathan Horsford, PhD, Scientific Review Officer, National Institutes of Health
M41: MS OneNote: The Research Administrator's Electronic Trapper Keeper
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Content Level: All Levels
Remember the Trapper Keeper? Information could be organized in color coded tabs, with sections for each subject. The research administrator's virtual Trapper Keeper is already available to most of us, at no additional cost, through Microsoft OneNote. This session will give attendees the tools to immediately open and start using OneNote and get organized! OneNote can help us manage the daily bombardment of new and detailed information to be stored/shared/recalled at a moment's notice; document and track internal procedures to ensure accuracy and consistency; provide useful and updated training manuals to staff; store the important information gleaned from weblink after weblink; save ever-expanding 'to do' lists and link them from Outlook. OneNote is a hidden gem no research administrator should be without!
Learning Objectives:
1. Utilize OneNote to create new notebooks for tracking personal and work records and resources within a single program.
2. Share OneNote notebook with a group of users, as well as pull information from Internet Explorer quickly and easily into a section within the notebook.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Suzan Lund, CRA, Associate Director, Sponsored Programs, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
M42: Understanding Personality Can Improve Your Effectiveness in the Workplace
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Content Level: All Levels
Research administrators face many pressures including deadlines and anxious, sometimes distraught, faculty members. In this environment it is useful to understand that personality plays a role in every interaction. Much of the comfort or discomfort we feel when interacting with someone arises from the agreement or disagreement among personality types. For example, there are times when the perception of conflict actually arises from personality differences. An understanding of personality differences can smooth the way to effective interactions with the people we work with on a daily basis. This session will use information from the tool known as “Insights Discovery” that works to promote individual and organizational effectiveness. By understanding personality preferences, individuals gain insight into themselves that, in turn, enables them to better understand others. The influence of personality will be demonstrated by a case study that includes university-wide data to illustrate the role of personality in organizational behavior.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify different personality types.
2. Analyze personal interactions at work to clarify what people need or expect from the situation at hand.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Paul Meyers, PhD, Executive Director, University of Houston, Clear Lake
Certificate: Leadership - Elective
M43: Writing Goals, Hypotheses and Specific Aims (Objectives, too!)
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Content Level: All Levels
The correct statement of the goals, hypotheses, and specific aims sets the stage for the development of a successful grant application. Past surveys by a federal funding agency indicate that nearly 50% of all grant applications are rejected because the statements of the aims (objectives) do not transfer to or enhance the proposal work plan. After completing this session, the participant should be able to provide guidance related to appropriate terminology for this section of the grant application to peers, new investigators, and those investigators writing revised applications. Participants can also use this information to construct applications to supervisors for improving office operations and resources.
Learning Objectives:
1. Classify the four types of scientific method terminology related to the statement of goals, hypotheses, specific aims, and objectives.
2. Determine the appropriate wording and caveats for use of each of the four types in an application.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Nancy Bell, PhD, Principal, Research Image
M44: Them vs. Us: Building a Bridge From Central Administration to the Department
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Content Level: Intermediate
In the research administration arena, even though department and central offices have different positions, we are all on the same team. This session brings together the department and central offices to discuss pre- and post-award and to explore new strategies and ideas to smooth out the process. We will focus on what is needed in each area and where cooperation between the offices tends to break down.
Learning Objectives:
1. Explore proposal submissions and the breakdown between central and department interactions, and review the processes of post award management.
2. Learn effective techniques that central administration can use when engaging department administrators.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Tolise Miles, Senior Administrator, Biomedical Graduate Research Organization, and Mary Schmiedel, JD, Associate Dean for Research Administration and Director, Office of Sponsored Programs, Georgetown University; Mary Glasscock, Assistant Vice President and Chief Business Officer, Medical Center Finance Office, Georgetown University Medical Center
Certificate: Leadership - Elective
M45: Prioritizing Clinical Research Resources: Development of a Centralized Research Support Core
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Content Level: Intermediate
There are many challenges that impact clinical research infrastructure in Academic Medical Centers (AMCs), including regulatory burden on the investigators; protected time for investigators to conduct research; recruitment and retention of research participants; and retention of qualified clinical research personnel who serve as the critical factor in ensuring the responsible conduct of research. Given the trends in the economics of conducting clinical research, AMCs are less likely to be able to support interludes between contracts with operational funding for clinical research personnel. This may result in insufficient clinical research personnel allocation in the budget to support a full-time Research Nurse/Coordinator for the designated clinical trial. There have been calls for centralized clinical research support to ensure that essential infrastructure exists in AMCs to conduct clinical and translational research. This session will provide a historical case study and metrics of the research personnel model piloted at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify alternative models for effectively managing clinical research personnel resources.
2. Analyze the benefits of a centralized clinical research pool to the overall operations and management in a research administration program.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: Philip Cola, PhD (cand), Vice President, Research and Technology, and Carol Fedor, Clinical Research Manager, University Hospitals Case Medical Center
Certificates: CTRA201 - Elective
M46: The Challenges of Organizational Leadership
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Content Level: Advanced
A cathartic session for fellow directors, and an insight for those aspiring to the role. This session will discuss the challenges and sometimes loneliness of leadership, and will include experience from organizational restructuring, office restructuring, introducing new systems, people management (downwards, upwards and sideways), and influencing policymakers and other important people.
Learning Objectives:
1. Understand the nature of the role of a Director, and the range of skills required.
2. Consider their aptitude for the role of Director.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Ian Carter, PhD, Director of Research and Enterprise, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Certificate: Leadership - Elective
M47: 2 CFR Part 230 (OMB A-122) - An Overview
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Content Level: Basic
This part of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) establishes the cost principles for nonprofit organizations related to grants, contracts and other agreements. Part 230 discusses subject of cost determinations. Areas discussed are an overview of basic considerations including, composition of total cost, direct costs (allowability, reasonableness and allocability), indirect costs and types of methods for determining indirect costs.
Learning Objectives:
1. Become familiar with cost principles applicable to nonprofit institutions.
2. Develop a basic working knowledge of the principles and how they apply to sponsored projects.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Karen Wilson, CRA, Administrative Management Consultant, DRAMS
Certificate: Financial Management - Required Session
M48: Understanding Sub-recipient Monitoring
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Content Level: Basic
This session will provide the background associated with sub-recipient monitoring and the regulations governing this activity. The presenter will share the basis of sub-recipient monitoring, assessment tools used for assessing risk and share strategies for addressing the various degrees of risk inherent with collaborative research projects. This session will touch on roles and responsibilities of the PI, department administrator and central office(s) along with covering the terminology associated with sub-recipient monitoring.
Learning Objectives:
1. Have a basic understanding of what sub-recipient monitoring means and sub-recipient monitoring entails.
2. Be presented with actual methodologies employed for assessing risk and strategies for managing risk.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Laurie Henry, CRA, Director, Office of Research Administration, Duke University School of Medicine
Certificate: Financial Management - Required Session
M49: Faculty Consulting, Intellectual Property and Living with Stanford v Roche
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Content Level: Intermediate
This session will focus on how various institutions address faculty consulting agreements. Existing policies at several institutions will be examined, including how the agreements are monitored or reviewed. Some institutions have private practice plans (e.g., medical schools) that address outside work of faculty while other colleges permit “one-day-a-week” outside activities. What if a faculty member signs an agreement that is contrary to the institution’s intellectual property policy or work assignments with the institution? Now that we have passed the one-year anniversary of the Stanford vs. Roche Supreme Court decision, how are you dealing with consulting agreements and requests from sponsors who want assurances that you have rights to license or assign the intellectual property that they request?
Learning Objectives:
1. Increased understanding of the role of faculty consulting and IP ownership.
2. Review how other institutions are dealing with review of faculty consulting agreements and the impact of Stanford vs. Roche.
Prerequisites: None
Speakers: David King, JD, Director, Office of Industry Contracts and Assistant University Counsel, University of Louisville; Robert Hardy, JD, Director, Contracts and Intellectual Property Management, COGR
Certificate: Research Law - Required Session
M50: Research Compliance Part 2
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Content Level: Basic-Intermediate
This is the second of two sessions that will provide an overview of compliance issues related to sponsored research. This session will focus on financial conflicts of interest, export controls and research misconduct.
Learning Objecives:
1. Be able to identify compliance issues related to sponsored research.
2. Identify the applicable federal regulations and describe how these regulations apply to research compliance.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Ann Mathias, JD, Assistance Vice President, Research Compliance, Carnegie Mellon University
Certificate: Research Law - Required Session
M51: The NEW National Online Ethics Resource Center at nationalethicscenter.org
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Content Level: All Levels
Are you looking for best practices for meeting the NSF requirement for instruction in research integrity? Are you looking for materials for teaching research ethics, the latest scholarly research or breaking news on an ethics topic? Have you developed some great learning materials or white papers that you want to share with others? Or, as a research administrator, do you face ethical dilemmas that are not well addressed in other settings? The new national online ethics resource center, Ethics CORE, supported by the National Science Foundation, offers scholarly, instructional and practical resource materials to support education in responsible conduct of research (RCR). Come hear about the Ethics CORE library and how to use it and learn about opportunities to participate in the continuing development of this resource, including its Perspectives on Teaching Research Ethics series, development of instructional resources, and online discussion communities.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify NSF requirements for RCR instruction for those performing NSF-supported research.
2. Learn about how other institutions are addressing these requirements.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: C. K. Gunsalus, JD, Director, National Center for Professional and Research Ethics
Certificate: Research Integrity - Elective
M52: Research at the Movies
CANCELLED
M53: Research.gov - Powering Knowledge and Innovation
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Content Level: All Levels
Come to the Research.gov session to learn about what Research.gov can offer you and how it can benefit your work! This session features a high-level overview of Research.gov, the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) grants management system that provides easy access to research-related information and grants management services in one location. Research.gov is the modernization of FastLane, providing the next generation of grants management capabilities for the research community. Learn about current and upcoming services and tools for the research community.
Learning Objectives:
1. What Research.gov is, how it began, its current status, and where it’s going. How to use Research.gov's reporting and application services to help manage their grants.
2. How to complete reporting and financial requirements, apply for grant opportunities, and check the status of grant applications.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Katie Simon, IT Communications Manager, National Science Foundation
M54: Analyzing the Interesting Relationship Between Research Grants and Research Space Utilization
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Content Level: All Levels
Increasingly, schools of medicine are turning to space charging policies as a mechanism for getting better use of their research labs space by shifting the financial risk to the budgets of departments that (presumably) are in a better position to manage the allocation and use of their labs. Space charging policies are predicated on the belief that a well-used laboratory can at least break even on its space costs. However, in the current shrinking-research-funding scenario, will institutions be able to afford the space they have and what alternatives do they have to rebalance? How will rising construction and operational costs work with the smaller grants to still enable the research effort to continue? We will present an analysis that questions the economic feasibility of space charging under current facilities models. We will also discuss what must be done in order to rebalance the capital costs of our laboratories and the economic activity within them.
Learning Objectives:
1. Correlation between research grants and research space.
2. Critical thinking about limited resources can produce surprising results.
Prerequisites: None
Speaker: Niraj Dangoria, Associate Dean, Facilities Planning and Management, Stanford University School of Medicine
Latest News
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Meeting Chairs
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Mark Hochman Senior Advisor, Research Policy and Strategy University of Tasmania, Australia -
Debra Schaller-Demers Director, Research Outreach and Compliance Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center -
Judy Bristow Director, Office of Sponsored Programs Grants Administration University of Louisville
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