Schedule
Sessions will be organized around two primary themes: 1) Training and professionalization of the research administration workforce and 2) Scalability of research administration infrastructure.
Based on preliminary survey results confirmed breakout sessions include:
- Research Administration and/or Research Development onboarding and training
- Building a community of Research Administration and Research Development Professionals
- Research Development and/or Research Administration hiring issues
Additional session topics will be identified based on input collected from a community survey (https://niu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_00x386eGjuNUkUC), but are expected to include issues such as:
- How to deploy F&A to support efficient administrative infrastructure
- Non-financial compliance matters
- Adapting the FDP standard subaward agreement to comply with Illinois requirements for use among IIN Hubs
- Leveraging resources such as the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) Expanded Clearinghouse for institutions that do not participate in FDP
- Creating or sharing career ladders that would encourage career growth, including how to structure individual roles to optimize performance
- Potential for interinstitutional sharing of resources related to training or professional development
- Discussing which administrative functions are most necessary and valuable
- Exploring how the implementation of regulations differ across the scale of the research enterprise.
Help us make the conference the most useful for our attendees! Please complete our pre-conference survey by June 15: https://niu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_00x386eGjuNUkUC
Confirmed Keynote Speakers
- Anna M. Quider – The Quider Group – https://www.thequidergroup.com/about-us/ Dr. Anna Quider is Founder and CEO of The Quider Group, a consulting firm that accelerates the people and organizations that are working toward a more equitable, prosperous society through STEM and higher education. Her 15 years of experience include serving as Assistant Vice President for Federal Relations at Northern Illinois University, where she led the national effort to create and prioritize ’emerging research institutions’ in federal law, as well as policy roles at the U.S. Department of State and U.S. House of Representatives. Dr. Quider’s awards include Top 100 Lobbyist from the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics, Outstanding Achievement Award from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and two Superior Honor Awards from the U.S. Department of State. She chairs the American Physical Society’s Forum on Physics and Society and serves on the Boards of the Association of Marshall Scholars and Frederick Honors College (University of Pittsburgh). Dr. Quider earned a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Cambridge as well as a B.S. in Physics and Astronomy and a B.A. with dual majors in Religious Studies and the History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a UK Marshall Scholar.
- Josh Roney – Florida Research Development Alliance (FL-RDA) – https://fl-rda.org/ Dr. Joshua Roney is the Director for Research Development at the University of Central Florida (UCF) with more than 14 years working in the field of Research Development (RD). In addition to leading UCF’s central office RD team, he helped develop and launch a large, complex grant proposal support program, a grant seeking and preparation fundamentals training, and several partner-based initiatives. He is an active volunteer, having served as President of FL-RDA and Professional Development Committee Co-Chair for the National Organization of Research Development (NORDP). Joshua has contributed articles to NORDP and the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA), and he is conducting research through NSF-supported projects related to interdisciplinary teaming and early career faculty support. He is a 3-time alumnus of UCF, having earned his Ph.D. in Texts and Technology, M.A. in Technical Communication, and B.A. in English.
- Jay Walsh – Illinois Innovation Network – https://iin.uillinois.edu/ Dr. Jay Walsh became the University of Illinois’ Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation in May 2020. He is a professor of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Dr. Walsh oversees the Illinois Innovation Network, a collaboration among the state’s 12 public universities that drives inclusive and integrated research, innovation, and economic development across Illinois; he also serves on the executive committee of the Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium, a collaboration among 6 universities in the US and Canada that promotes academic excellence, innovation, research, and education to inclusively enhance the public good for all people and areas of the Great Lakes. Dr. Walsh currently serves on the Board of Directors at MxD, the Board of Governors at Argonne National Laboratory, the Board of Directors for Current, the Board of Visitors for Vanderbilt’s Engineering School, and he chairs the Board of the Chicago Council on Science and Technology. Previously, Dr. Walsh was chair of the University Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP) Board and he served on the Board of Directors at Fermi National Laboratory, the Illinois Governor’s Innovation Council, the Naval Research Advisory Committee, and the U.S. Secretary of Navy Advisory Panel. He was the Northwestern University Vice President for Research from 2007 to 2019. During his tenure, the University’s external sponsored awards grew 91% from $417M in 2007 to $798M in 2019, one of the largest increases of any university in the US during that time period. Dr. Walsh joined Northwestern, in 1988. He was a Professor of Biomedical Engineering. In 1997, he was recognized as the Engineering School’s Teacher of the Year, and in 2005, he was selected as the Advisor of the Year. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and his Ph.D. in medical engineering from a joint Harvard Medical School – MIT program.
Agenda
A final Conference schedule was emailed to you in the Know Before You Go email on July 22nd. For an electronic version of this agenda click here: INTEGRaL Agenda.
Monday, July 29
| 10:30 am – 4:00 pm | Registration | |
| 11:00 am – 5:00 pm | Optional quiet room for work | Spotlight room |
| 11:00 am – 11:30 am | Welcome and workshop charge INTEGRaL PI Team | Ballroom III |
| 11:30 am – 1:00 pm | Keynote presentation and lunch Josh Roney, Ph.D., Florida Research Development Alliance (FL-RDA) | Ballroom III |
| 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm | Concurrent breakout sessions Recruiting and hiring in RA/RD Staff retention in RA/RD Staff Training and professional development Managing compliance requirements | Ballroom I Ballroom II Circus Old Main |
| 2:30 pm – 3:00 pm | Networking break | |
| 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm | Plenary: GRANTED Program Dina Stroud, NSF | Ballroom III |
| 4:00 pm – 4:15 pm | Networking break | |
| 4:15 pm – 5:45 pm | Concurrent breakout sessions Recruiting and hiring in RA/RD Staff retention in RA/RD PI engagement Managing compliance requirements | Ballroom I Ballroom II Old Main Circus |
| Dinner on your own |
Tuesday, July 30
| 8:00 am – 2:00 pm | Optional quiet room for work | Spotlight |
| 8:00 am – 9:30 am | Keynote presentation and breakfast Anna Quider, Ph.D., The Quider Group | Ballroom III |
| 9:30 am – 9:45 am | Break | |
| 9:45 am – 11:15 am | Concurrent breakout sessions Working with State agencies and GATA Staff training and professional development PI engagement | Ballroom I Ballroom II Old Main |
| 11:15 am – 11:30 am | Break | |
| 11:30 am – 12:30 pm | Keynote presentation and lunch Jay Walsh, Ph.D., Illinois Innovation Network | Ballroom III |
| 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm | Shaping next steps: Leveraging relationships across Illinois | Ballroom III |
| 1:30 pm | Adjourn |
Definitions
- RA: Research Administration
- RD: Research Development
- GATA: Grant Accountability and Transparency Act
- IIN: Illinois Innovation Network
- MRGAF: Midwest Research and Graduate Administrators Forum
Breakout Session Descriptions
Recruiting and hiring in RA/RD (Research Administration and Development)
Research administration (RA) and development (RD) professionals with specialized skill sets and substantial institutional knowledge are critical for building and maintaining an extramurally funded research portfolio and reducing institutional risk associated with research and external funding. Yet, many departments are understaffed relative to the work required to build and effectively maintain the institution’s research enterprise. It can be challenging to hire enough staff who have the appropriate skills for research administration and development jobs. This session will explore barriers to research administration and development staff recruitment that might be addressed locally at the institution, regionally by entities such as IIN or MRGAF, or as part of national efforts.
Staff Retention in RA/RD (Research Administration and Development)
Research administration (RA) and development (RD) professionals develop specialized skill sets and substantial institutional knowledge and institutions rely on trained professionals to effectively manage the research enterprise. Yet, many people leave or change jobs for many reasons, which can be highly disruptive for their colleagues and the investigators they support. This session will explore reasons for staff attrition that might be addressed locally at the institution, regionally by entities IIN or MRGAF, or as part of national efforts.
Staff training and professional development
Research administration and development professionals must develop specialized skill sets and substantial institutional knowledge to manage extramurally funded research portfolios of any size. Yet, few formal education programs are available for individuals to train prior to starting their careers or for building skills once they are employed. Rather, most research administrators learn on the job from colleagues or are self-taught, leading to inconsistent skills and performance or other issues. This session will explore barriers to training and professional development that might be addressed locally at the institution, regionally by entities such as IIN or MRGAF, or as part of national efforts.
Managing compliance requirements
Research administration involves protecting the institution by adhering to compliance guidelines issued by the state and federal governments and other sponsors. These guidelines continually change in response to laws and external threats and can become exceedingly complex. Such compliance complexity can feel burdensome and make it challenging for administrators and investigators to confidently implement compliance protocols. This session will explore challenges in research compliance that might be addressed locally at the institution, regionally by entities such as IIN or MRGAF, or as part of national efforts.
Principal Investigator Engagement
Research administration and development professionals must work in tandem with the principal investigators (PIs) they support. This relationship requires both parties to understand various aspects of proposal development and research compliance, manage their time effectively, and communicate well to work toward a shared goal. Often, though, there is friction in the PI/research administrator relationship that can make it a challenge to prepare competitive proposals or manage awards for compliance. This session will explore challenges to PI engagement that might be addressed locally at the institution, regionally by entities such as IIN or MRGAF, or as part of national efforts.
Working with State agencies and GATA
Many institutions receive essential funding from State of Illinois agencies, which must comply with regulations under the Illinois Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA). The GATA framework provides an important opportunity for institutions and state agencies to explore ways to better harmonize state and federal requirements to relieve administrative burden while maintaining accountability. This session will explore challenges and solutions for working with state agencies that might be addressed directly with the State, regionally, through the Illinois Innovation Network, or other national efforts. Two GATA representatives will attend this session to engage directly with conference attendees.
The INTEGRaL conference is funded by the National Science Foundation GRANTED program under award number 2324594.