Blog Viewer

Your Questions Answered | Advancing Your Career

Each month, the Catalyst will feature a question posed to our panel of SRAI Distinguished Faculty members to get their take on all sorts of topics encompassing research administration. Do you have a research administration question for our experts? Send your questions to catalyst@srainternational.org!

What activities or strategies have you undertaken that has helped you advance in your career?

Domenica G. Pappas, CRA, Associate Vice Provost for Research, Office of Research, Illinois Tech, SRAI Distinguished Faculty

• Education through professional development is essential. It’s easy to say “stay abreast of the changing regulations” but that’s not always easy. There is so much information coming in that it can be overwhelming. I chose those that I think would provide me with the most value for my time. I then prioritize those areas that I want to study and create my own personalized learning which helps me plan for the future. 

Jason Guilbeault, MBA, CRA, Associate Vice President for Sponsored Programs Administration, Executive Director for Augusta Research Institute, SRAI Distinguished Faculty

• My strategy has been to focus a lot of energy on business process improvement, which includes crossing departmental lines to synchronize processes where appropriate. The universities that I’ve worked for and had as clients when I consulted have a lot of inefficiencies in their processes that make it difficult for both administrators and researchers to perform basic tasks. There are many people who can cite regulations off the top of their head, but being able to operationalize those regulations in the most efficient way while maintaining compliance is what got me recognized by my employers and former clients. 

Dara Little, Associate VP for Research/Executive Director Sponsored Programs, Northern Illinois University, SRAI Distinguished Faculty

• Always accept assignments that expose you to something that you don’t already know. And even if it’s not a formal assignment, take time on your own to learn a little about areas you don’t directly work with. The higher up you go the more of a generalist you need to be, and management wants to see that you have the big picture. Be willing to work across organizational lines even when other units aren’t willing to do so. Just keep preserving and showing up. Follow through on your word to build trust across your institution. Trust goes a long way when things go wrong or your have to ask people to do things they don’t want to do. And the last one is from President Barak Obama, “Just learn how to get stuff done.” 

Authored by SRAI