2019 Western/Southern Section Meeting

Time: 9:00am to 5:00pm

Content level: Basic

 This workshop, intended for individuals with fewer than three years' experience, is designed to give newcomers to research administration a big picture of the profession. Topics covered will include finding funding opportunities; orienting new faculty to the research environment; pre- and post-award administration; proposal development, submission, review and award negotiation; administrative and fiscal regulations; accountability and risk management; and research, fiscal, and professional ethics.

Learning objectives:

1. Identify pre- and post-award activities for sponsored research activity.
2. Understand the components of and prepare a proposal and manage the post-award process.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Jennie Amison, Director, Sponsored Research Development, San Diego State University Research Foundation; Kimberly Page, Manager, Pre-Award Services, Boise State University; Janet Stoeckert, Director, Research Administration, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

Time: 9:00am to 12:30pm

Content level: Basic

This is a required workshop for the new certificate in Research Development, intended for individuals with three years or fewer in research administration or for more experienced research administrators transitioning to roles in research development. Research development provides strategic, proactive, catalytic and capacity-building activities that serve the research enterprise at large by supporting individual investigators, teams of researchers, and central research administration in attracting extramural research funding. Research development also fosters relationships and develops and implements strategies that increase institutional competitiveness and innovation. To give a big and broad picture of research development, topics will include the role of the research development professional, how research development complements and differs from research administration, developing individual and institutional grant capacity, understanding and applying institutional strategies to enhance the overall research portfolio, orienting investigators to the research environment and research development, an overview of proposal components and the agency review process and providing leadership and support for large-scale, collaborative proposals.

Learning objectives:

1. Identify the emerging role of research development and research development professionals in building institutional and individual capacity and growing the research portfolio.
2. Apply these strategies in the participant's home institution to increase grant capacity and proposal success.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Marjorie Piechowski, PhD, Emerita Director, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Time: 9:30am to 10:45am

Content level: Basic

This session will cover the components of grants and contracts, distinguish between gifts and awards, reveal various funding sources and explain the implications of "strings attached or unattached."   

Learning objectives:

1. Participants will be able to determine if funding is a gift or a grant.
2. Participants will be able to identify various parts of a grant or contract.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Nancy Cruikshank, CRA, Director of Grants, Research & Sponsored Programs, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania; Yvonne Brewster, MPM, Director of Research Administration and Finance, Departments of Anesthesiology and Surgery, University of Pittsburgh

Time: 11:00am to 12:15pm

Content level: Basic

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (US Department of Commerce) implemented the Special Publication 800-171, entitled "Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations," which required implementation by December 31, 2017. This presentation will will discuss practical approaches to developing and implementing policies and procedures related to the challenges of implementing an unfunded mandate with limited resources and guidance.

Learning objectives:

1. Obtain an overview of the requirements contained in NIST 800-171.
2. Gain strategies for implementation of NIST 800-171.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Sandra Nordahl, Director, SR Contracting and Compliance and Facility Security Officer, San Diego State University Research Foundation

Time: 2:15pm to 3:30pm

Content level: Basic

Grants Training 101 presents the overall basics for new grant or research administrators.  It focuses on grant and research definitions, the grant life-cycle to include pre-award, award and post-award phases.  The training will also identify various types of funding agencies and various funding opportunity sites.  A budget will also be created with various scenarios to show affect on the  F&A. Lastly, the session will review federal sponsored agencies and funding opportunities supported. 

Learning objectives:

1. Understand the Grant LifeCycle process.
2. Develop a budget from beginning to end.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Tracy Jones, CRA, Grants Administrator, Georgia Institute of Technology

Time: 3:45pm to 5:00pm

Content level: Basic

Reviewing proposal guidelines is a fundamental part of our job and one of the first things we do on being notified of a proposal. But with programs and sponsors becoming more complex, this is an area that can trip us all up. Join us for a "basic" or "back to basics" primer for one of our fundamental duties.

Learning objectives:

1. Develop a feel for how to thoroughly, but quickly review guidelines and catch all the important information that hides.
2. Increase your comfort level for interpreting and applying guidelines.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Shayne Sims, Assistant Director, Texas Tech University

Time: 9:30am to 10:45am

Content level: Intermediate

As the complexity of today's most pressing research requires collaboration and team science, grant proposals have become more complex to plan and coordinate. This session will present strategies to manage the proposal process and help investigators prepare competitive large-scale, collaborative grant proposals, which differ in many ways from individual research grants. The speaker will describe typical proposal components, provide examples of complex, large-scale proposals from many funding agencies, and consider the organizational challenges of these proposals. Other topics will include advice on organizing research teams, assigning responsibilities for developing the proposal narrative and budget, reviewing and editing proposal narratives, and submitting the final proposal package. Audience participation and questions are highly encouraged.

Learning objectives:

1. Describe challenges and list strategies that will enhance the development of complex, large-scale, multi-disciplinary grant proposals.
2. Define interdisciplinary research, team science and collaboration and understand the increased emphasis on team science and collaboration in grant programs.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Marjorie Piechowski, PhD, Emerita Director, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Time: 11:00am to 12:15pm

Content level:Advanced

The session will examine a business process review and improvement case study at a primarily undergraduate institution. We will discuss the basic approach to process improvement, challenges, and expectations, along with the importance of communication during the process.   The session will look at one organization's "As Is" state and the road map for improvement and the "To Be" state.

Learning objectives:

1. Apply classic organizational change strategies to improve performance.
2. Expand an individual’s toolkit of resources and operational approaches for managing a sponsored program office.

Prerequisites:None

Speaker(s):

Kris Rhodes, MS, Managing Director, ATM Grants | About the Money

Time: 11:00am to 12:15pm

Content level:Basic

Industry sponsored subcontracts present a myriad of difficulties and potential roadblocks for research administrators and contract negotiators.  This presentation will provide proactive steps that begin with the prime contract between the institution and industry sponsor. Specific language and general principles to be applied to negotiating a prime agreement will be discussed and analyzed by topic.  Identification of potential areas of conflict will be discussed, and solutions to those areas of conflict will be described and evaluated.  The presentation will then shift to drafting and negotiating the subcontract with the participating sites.   Differing drafting approaches will be compared and analyzed by their ease of implementation and maintaining compliance with the prime agreement.  The presentation will conclude with tips and strategies research administrators can use in managing their subcontracts from drafting to execution. 

Learning objectives:

1. Identify potential areas of conflict in prime agreements and address those issues before they become problematic in a subcontract.
2. Proactively plan, draft and negotiate their industry sponsored subcontracts efficiently and in compliance with their prime agreement.

Prerequisites:None

Speaker(s):

Richard McGuire, JD, Grants and Contracts Officer, The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Time: 9:15am to 10:30am

Content level:Intermediate

Many investigators are well prepared to conduct research but not as prepared or skilled in planning strategic support for their research career. This session will present an array of strategies and tools to work with investigators at all career levels to enhance their approach to successful research support. Included will be individual strategic plans for research, facilitating contact with program officers, the role of the agency review process and how to become a reviewer, examples of workshops to build investigator capacity, and challenges to researchers at different career levels. Tools will include a template for an individual strategic funding plan and several assessments of grant readiness and research capacity. Audience discussion and sharing will be encouraged.

Learning objectives:

Time: 10:45am to 12:00pm

Content level:Basic

Many of us review and approve contracts as part of our daily work. Learn how to review with challenging contract terms and conditions. Personal tips for reviewing and negotiating contracts and alternative language will be discussed, along with ideas for streamlining the process.

Learning objectives:

1. Tips for reviewing/negotiation of agreements and streamlining for efficiency
2. Review of sample language/rationale for revision requests

Prerequisites:None

Speaker(s):

Sandra Nordahl, Director, SR Contracting and Compliance and Facility Security Officer, San Diego State University Research Foundation