The Grass is Always Greener: Consulting in Research Administration
Consultants in the field of Research Administration (RA) are not a new concept. They have been around almost as long as the profession itself. But what it means to be an RA consultant has changed dramatically since the pandemic. Prior to the lockdown, to be an RA consultant meant you had to be a “road warrior” spending two or three days a week traveling. While many looked at the positions with envy due to the higher level of pay, higher level of work, and higher level of influence, the travel requirement kept the RA consultant ranks lean. During the lockdown, our profession demonstrated without question that the work could be done effectively and efficiently while being completely remote. And while many others have returned to more traditional models, the RA profession has been permanently changed to a remote-friendly culture. This change in attitude was reflected in RA consulting as well, and being a “road warrior” is no longer a necessary component to being a successful consultant. Thus, what was considered by many as the biggest impediment to an RA consulting career was removed, resulting in unparalleled interest by individuals across the profession.
The biggest challenge to our profession today is a sheer lack of numbers. Listservs that once offered information and guidance have become de facto job boards as everyone struggles to fill open positions. Competition has become cutthroat, with poaching existing employees becoming commonplace. This environment seemed to some to be ripe for consulting opportunities and, combined with the unprecedented interest in becoming a consultant, resulted in a hiring boom. Starting in 2022, small consulting firms were popping up everywhere and larger firms were hiring RA consultants at a rate never seen before, many of them with little experience. This put a strain on the profession in a couple of ways: by reducing the number of applicants in the already too thin pool for institutions, and a lot of institutional knowledge was lost as the more experienced RAs were the ones often most valued by firms. The RA consultancy was suddenly the goal and the pinnacle of where your career could go. However, it would not last long.
Institutions have always been willing to utilize RA consulting firms for a variety of functions. With the overall shortage of RAs across the country, and the ability to provide consulting services remotely, many RAs and consultants thought the forces would conspire to increase institutional usage. But the reality was that while institutions did indeed have a greater need for consultant services due to the universal shortage of staffing and constant increases in administrative responsibilities from sponsors, people overestimated organizations’ willingness or ability to increase consultant utilization. Even though usage did increase some, many who became consultants were finding themselves with little to do as the institutions who most needed their services were the ones least able to afford the costs. In addition, institutional employees have a greater stake when it comes to compliance and the overall success of the research program and, therefore, are more committed to the goals. By the end of 2023, many of the smaller firms had gone under and the larger firms had laid off hundreds of consultants from their RA divisions.
Today, the balance between traditional RAs and consultants continues to fluctuate. Consultants will always provide a valuable and irreplaceable service to institutions, and I believe there will be more opportunities than there have been in the past, but the trend of hiring booms in the RA consultant’s field is over. Hopefully, the profession is righting itself by injecting some much-needed human resources into applicant pools, which would benefit all the stakeholders in the research enterprise.
Sean Scott has served as a research administrator for the last twenty years, and retired from the University of Kentucky in January of 2022. He then founded 720 Consulting to stay active in the profession and currently holds the position of Contracting Manager at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Authored by Sean Scott, Founder
720 Consulting
SRAI Distinguished Faculty
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