Blogs

Note from the Editor | A Season for Change

By SRAI News
Note from the Editor | A Season for Change This is a bittersweet column for me as it is my last as co-editor of the Catalyst. I’ve been asked to sit on the SRAI Board of Directors in an ad hoc position as Chair of the new Communications Committee. The Committee’s mission is to expand communications and, in some cases, explore new directions, such as podcasts and an amped up social media profile. You’ll see new and familiar faces working on the four areas represented by the Communications Committee. The Journal will still be headed by Nathan Vanderford. Tonya Edvalson will oversee the Social Media group. Our brand-new endeavor, podcasts, falls under the capable ...
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View from the Top | 2020 SRAI Election Results

By SRAI News
View from the Top | 2020 SRAI Election Results Each year, SRA International holds elections for positions on the Board of Directors, a comprehensive group of our members who devote time and effort throughout the year to enhance the organization through the service of governance. In accordance with the Bylaws of the Society Article 5.35, the notification process of the candidates for the position of Secretary and two At-Large members for the Board of Directors has been completed. It is our pleasure to officially announce the election results. Bruce Steinert has been re-elected to the position of Secretary, Gloria Greene and Dara Little were elected as ...
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Research Administration Family Style: How is the Home Office Going?

By SRAI News
Research Administration Family Style: How is the Home Office Going? Research and research administration at universities, colleges, and research institutions continues despite the pandemic. Many people are still working from home. How long will working from home continue? Many companies and institutions are allowing telework indefinitely. How is your home office going? Well, it has now been more than six months since universities, colleges, and research institutions shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Time marches on and institutions across the country are now trying to figure out how to continue their mission in the safest way possible for students, ...
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Communication: How We Have Adapted During a Pandemic

By SRAI News
Communication: How We Have Adapted During a Pandemic Continuing our series of articles related to the research administrator and COVID-19, we found some interesting results specific to the pandemic’s impact on how we communicate. Based on a recent survey we conducted, responses showed that before the outbreak, 44% of research administrators preferred to communicate in person while 56% preferred to communicate via email or phone. Now, in the midst of the pandemic, there has been a seismic shift in how people communicate. During this mandated work from home period, over 70% prefer email while 29% do more phone or video conference calls. As we begin to return ...
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After You Introduce Yourself, Mute Yourself: A Realistic Guide to Virtual Meetings

By SRAI News
After You Introduce Yourself, Mute Yourself: A Realistic Guide to Virtual Meetings Overwhelmed by too many tips for successful virtual meetings? This article provides six simple go-to items to keep handy to be an active, engaged participate at your next meeting. Like me, I’m sure you have noticed the abundance of blog posts, news articles, and even books devoted to the new topic of “virtual communication.” It can be overwhelming. What really works in the day-to-day? Do I have to implement every new “tip” I find on the internet? What are the bare minimum things I can do to be an active, engaged participate? I’ve synthesized a list of six items from the ...
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WFH Tips & Tricks | Outlook Rules

By SRAI News
WFH Tips & Tricks |Outlook Rules In the current COVID-19 world of Work From Home (WFH), Remotely Working offers tips and trick to make WFH easier. If you have an issue you would like discussed or a favorite trick you’d like to share, let us know and we may feature it in an upcoming column. You can submit an article here . If you read the column last month, you’ll recall the focus was on creating templates to make sending emails a little easier. This month I’m shifting my focus to how to handle all the emails being received. One handy trick to manage the volume is to utilize the rules feature in Outlook. For this example, I’ll use the email I received ...
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Kudos Korner | Carson Harrod

By SRAI News
Kudos Korner | Carson Harrod SRA International members rock! As research management and administration professionals, they never stop improving, learning, achieving, or earning new heights of success. We love sharing good news and offering a well-deserved slap on the back for recent personal and/or professional achievement. In keeping with that sentiment, please join us as we congratulate Carson Harrod on his new position! SRA International is a professional networking community of learners. One way to gain knowledge and expertise is to share our stories of successful achievements with our peers and colleagues. Often research managers/administrators ...
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Continue the Conversation with Your Peers Online through SRAI’s NEW Collaboration Hubs!

By SRAI News
Continue the Conversation with Your Peers Online through SRAI’s NEW Collaboration Hubs! SRAI is excited to announce a new space for SRAI members to participate in in-depth discussions, receive feedback, and find resources from top professionals in the field. On SRAI Connect, our Collaboration Hub is a community for SRAI members to pose questions, follow trending conversations, and search for resources – all tailored to a specific research administration area . More than a listserv or open forum, each community hub is moderated by designated experienced leaders who are available to provide insights into discussions. We have five exciting communities ...
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Monthly Poll | Pandemic Wisdom While Working Remotely

By SRAI News
Monthly Poll | Pandemic Wisdom While Working Remotely Last month I asked you to share your pandemic wisdom, to share with the community some of the ways you are using new-to-you tools to excel at adaptability while working remotely.  One very skilled member of our community responded that they are learning to diagnose their own IT issues while working remotely!  That’s amazing! Another respondent shared their joy in changing up their Zoom backgrounds to liven up their meetings.  I think that’s a great way to offset the Zoom Gloom so many of us are starting to feel with hours and hours of video meetings back to back. Yet another respondent shared they ...
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Don’t Miss the iSRA 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting!

By SRAI News
Don’t Miss the iSRA 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting! The iSRA 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting kicked off on October 5 with a slate of workshops and hundreds of members accessing the Annual Meeting Online Platform to begin connecting with their peers. The Annual Meeting will be all month, with workshops, main events, educational tracks and social networking opportunities designed to fit your schedule and needs. Every registrant will have access to the iSRA Main event plus one or more of the 2 day educational Tracks listed below. October 19 – 20: Main Event Don’t miss on October 19, Sandro Galea , Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston University ...
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iMedRIS Offers FREE Keynotes to SRAI Members with a Member Access Pass

By SRAI News
iMedRIS Offers FREE Keynotes to SRAI Members with a Member Access Pass Thanks to our generous sponsors at iMedRIS , full members now have FREE access to our keynote speakers! On Monday, October 19 we will hear from Sandro Galea, MD, MPH, DrPH, on COVID-19 and Wellness: What we have learned and where we are going. On Tuesday, October 20 , Kate Tapper will give us tools to thrive in the current environment in her session: Be Kind to Stay Strong: The Case for Compassionate Resilience. Sign up for the free Member Access Pass today! The Member Access Pass also includes entry to: Virtual Exhibit Hall : Monday, October 19 and Tuesday, October 20 ...
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SRAI Odyssey Program Needs Your Participation

By SRAI News
SRAI Odyssey Program Needs Your Participation “Colleagues are a wonderful thing – but mentors, that’s where the real work gets done.” – Junot Diaz Have you wanted a mentor? Have you wanted to be a mentor? Are you not sure how to arrange a great mentor/mentee partnership? SRAI has a terrific opportunity if you have been asking these questions. Throughout time, the term mentor has become synonymous with someone who is trusted, wise, and able to guide us through a professional and even personal period of growth in our lives. “Mentor” was an actual Greek counsellor in Homer’s poem The Odyssey. Mentor was trusted to oversee and teach Telemachus, son of ...
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Volume LI, Number 2, From the Editor's Desk

By SRAI JRA
Volume LI, Number 2 Author Jennifer E. Taylor, Ph.D., MBA Deputy Editor Tennessee Tech University The Spring 2020 issue was not only the first issue of a new decade but ushered in the second half century (51st year) of the publication of the Journal of Research Administration as the leading scholarly journal for disseminating education, training, and scholarship related to the field of research administration and management. Since our last issue, research administrators have faced the new challenges associated with an unforeseen pandemic—working together to support our investigators and institutions from home or in other socially-distanced ways ...
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Re-thinking Online Meetings During COVID-19 Pandemic and Moving Forward

By SRAI JRA
Volume LI, Number 2 Re-thinking Online Meetings During COVID-19 Pandemic and Moving Forward   Kumutha Krisnan Office of Education Research National Institute of Education Nanyang Technological University Ng Qiu Ting Yvonne Office of Education Research National Institute of Education Nanyang Technological University  Rita Elaine Silver Office of Education Research National Institute of Education Nanyang Technological University   For this Voice of Experience, we draw on the experience of our research grants management unit in harnessing online platforms to hold various types of meetings during the recent local and international ...
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Professional Development for Clinical Research Professionals: Implementation of a Competency-Based Assessment Model

By SRAI JRA
Volume LI, Number 2 Professional Development for Clinical Research Professionals: Implementation of a Competency-Based Assessment Model Christine Deeter Duke University School of Medicine, Duke Office of Clinical Research Deborah Hannah Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Dermatology Camila Reyes Duke University School of Medicine, Duke Office of Clinical Research Michelle E. Mack, PhD Duke University School of Medicine, Duke Office of Clinical Research Marissa Stroo Duke University School of Medicine, Duke Office of Clinical Research Stephanie A. Freel Duke University School of Medicine, Duke Office of Clinical Research ...
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Beyond Boundaries:  Developing Grant Writing Skills across Higher Education Institutions

By SRAI JRA
Volume LI, Number 2 Beyond Boundaries:  Developing Grant Writing Skills across Higher Education Institutions Kay Cunningham, PhD Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, The University of Sheffield Abstract Much of the literature on grant writing does not explicitly identify the skills needed to be an accomplished grant writer, or how these skills are acquired.  This paper reviews literature on grant writing and argues the need to identify key grant writing skills to improve the quality of grant applications.  The ability to persuade, to weave a clear and compelling narrative, to structure and edit text and to be empathic to researchers, are ...
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Determining the Impact of Grant Writing Workshops on Faculty Learning

By SRAI JRA
Volume LI, Number 2 Determining the Impact of Grant Writing Workshops on Faculty Learning Samantha Glowacki Student Staff Member, Faculty Development Center, Eastern Michigan University Julia K. Nims, MA, MLS Scholarly Communications Librarian, Eastern Michigan University Peggy Liggit, PhD Director of the Faculty Development Center, Eastern Michigan University Abstract This paper describes an eight-year study evaluating the effectiveness and impact of grant writing workshops on the ability of faculty attendees to apply learning to secure internal research grants. Longitudinal tracking of all grant awardees (N=485) was conducted four years ...
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Escaping the Drama Triangle: Strategies for Successful Research Administration from the Psychology of Codependence

By SRAI JRA
Volume LI, Number 2 Escaping the Drama Triangle: Strategies for Successful Research Administration from the Psychology of Codependence Deborah J. Clark Central Michigan University Abstract The role of research administrator requires highly efficient and collaborative project management to develop competitive, compliant and properly targeted applications for sponsor support. When problems arise, stress and time pressures may lead to maladaptive forms of manipulation and micromanagement between research administrators and principal investigators that resemble dysfunctional, codependent relationships. Using Karpman’s Drama Triangle (1968), this article ...
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Establishing a Project Management Community of Practice in a Large Academic Health System

By SRAI JRA
Volume LI, Number 2 Establishing a Project Management Community of Practice in a Large Academic Health System Marcus R. Johnson, MPH, MBA, MHA CSP NODES National Program Manager Durham VA Health Care System Jean Bolte, MSN, RN Senior Project Leader Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute Duke University School of Medicine Timothy Veldman, PhD Director, Center Strategy and Operations Duke Center for Applied Genomics and Precision Medicine Duke University School of Medicine Lynn Sutton, MS, MAEd, PMP Assistant Dean of Clinical Research Initiatives and Alliances Duke University School of Medicine Abstract An organization’s ability ...
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Project Management Application in Academic and Research Institutions in Zambia

By SRAI JRA
Volume LI, Number 2 Project Management Application in Academic and Research Institutions in Zambia Authors Innocent Mandona Master of Engineering Student Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Zambia Mundia Muya Professor of Civil Engineering Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Zambia Abstract Research and development needs effective and efficient management as it is the vehicle by which organizations and economies create opportunity, innovation and secure a stream of future products and services. However, research projects face various challenges which may lead to unsatisfactory performance. ...
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