Changing the culture of research administrators at a public university.

Introduction

The University of Michigan has a fairly decentralized operating environment for research administration. At the department level, over 800 staff are involved in the day-to-day administration of research. According to Jim Randolph, the Senior Associate Director of the Division for Research Development and Administration (DRDA), the University's philosophy for research administration is "to surround the principal investigators with well-trained department level administrators who manage the administrative details and allow the investigator to focus on the science." The central offices of the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR), Division for Research Development and Administration (DRDA), and Financial Operations Sponsored Programs Office (SPO) are the focal points for sponsored research administration.

Where vision, strategy, and other tactics can set an organization on the right path, senior leaders in OVPR, DRDA, SPO, and several departments across campus realized that to succeed over time, the research culture needed to change and become both positive and vibrant. The goal was to get research administrators, who had an uncertain status as a group, to believe they have the ability to respond to the changing environment by thinking and acting collaboratively (Lessons in Leadership, June 2006).

Inside an organization, functional units often develop their own unique cultures. This was the case at the University where culture clashes often occurred between the central sponsored projects office, departmental research offices, financial operations sponsored projects office, human resources, payroll, accounts payable, contract administration, and purchasing. Each different unit had developed its own perspective, set of values, and culture. Difficulties arose in coordinating and integrating the processes and organizational activities of research administration.

The newly envisioned research administration culture encompassed individuals working with any aspect of research administration within the multiple departments across campus. The characteristics of the culture included 1) minimal management levels, 2) informality and self-management, 3) employee ownership, 4) work teams, 5) participation, and 6) job rotation. Instead of hierarchical rules and procedures, what makes the research administration culture unique is teamwork, employee involvement programs, University commitment to employees, semiautonomous work teams, rewards on the basis of team (not individual) accomplishments, processes that encourage workers to voice suggestions, and an empowering environment for employees. Research administration leaders are viewed as mentors, team builders, and facilitators. (Cameron & Quinn, 2006).

Catalyst for Change

1) Dramatic Growth in Research Volume

The University of Michigan's research expenditures have more than doubled from $386 million in 1994 to $778 million in 2005. The increased research volume led to doubling of departmental level research administration staff.

2) Technological Changes

The University has seen significant changes in the use of technology and software and the need for data security in managing research and other institutional administrative functions. The Internet, a multi-tier remote computing application database (PeopleSoft), and electronic grant submissions all have affected day-to-day research management. These changes have necessitated the distribution of many central research administration functions to the department level. Decentralization has created a significant need for training and communication among department level administrators, as well as with financial coordinators and IT administrators.

3) Regulatory and Compliance Environment

From OMB Circular A-21 to human subjects policies, export controls, and the effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the sponsored research regulation environment has changed dramatically over the last decade. The government's improved ability to track compliance (enhanced by its own use of improved technology) and the addition of new regulatory/compliance requirements has greatly impacted research administration. Research administrators at all levels need to be more educated about a wider variety of regulations and perform as educators and enforcers of those requirements closer to where the research is being conducted. Regulation and compliance are complex areas and lack of compliance comes with some potentially costly consequences.

Methods

The University of Michigan's Response A group of about ten senior leaders from across campus recognized the impact the changes would make on the University and decided to be proactive instead of reactive. They embarked on an integrated strategy to improve the research administration culture at the University of Michigan. This strategy was comprised of four components: 1) determining educational needs and creating training programs; 2) building a sense of community among research administrators; 3) creating cross-functional problem solving teams to encourage a collaborative environment; and 4) developing programs to recognize and reward individual and group research leadership.

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1) Education and Training

A guiding coalition from central and department level administration was formed in 1997 to build a new culture around research administration. One of their earlier findings was that the University needed a comprehensive training program for research administrators. Since this was a culture change, research administrators were chosen to be the ones to develop their own programs and be the experts. The research administrators determined the curriculum and designed and developed the program. Senior leadership realized there would be a trade off between the time it would take the group to develop the programs versus the quality and sustainability of the training program. Experts could have been brought in from the outside and training could have been done in a few months. Instead, the decision was made to take time to build a sense of ownership and participation and address the areas of concern for the research community.

After two years refining the curriculum, a process which involved more than 100 colleagues, the Research Administrators Instructional Network (RAIN) was piloted. Nine years later, RAIN training continues to be offered three times a year. Participants are required to make a four week commitment--a full day of training each week. While nearly 75 applications are received for each session, only 24 research administrators are selected for attendance. Since its inception in 1999, more than 500 research administrators have completed the RAIN program. It is increasingly common for research administration job postings at the University to list RAIN training as a desired qualification.

During the four day program, up to thirty central and departmental administrators present topics. In addition to the benefits of the comprehensive agenda, a sense of community and collaboration is encouraged by scheduled group lunches with the presenters and others in central administration. The current RAIN program agenda follows.

In 2001 DRDA allocated funds to create a dedicated staff position to manage education and training programs. This training staff member identifies ongoing training needs, oversees the development of new programs, and coordinates program delivery for the research administration community. The existence of this position has been instrumental in creating an open environment for the flow of ideas and in implementing programs in direct response to both central and departmental administrator's concerns.

DRDA and SPO have also collaborated to create additional training programs for new and experienced research administrators. Currently, fifteen programs, nine of which are listed below, are offered regularly. Enrollment in these programs has totaled over 2,500.

2) Creating a Sense of Community

The University of Michigan established the Research Administrators Network (RAN) in 2001. The Network is meant to provide continuing education in the area of research administration and enable departmental administrators to interact with each other and leaders in central administration. A planning committee, made up of mostly departmental administrators, sets the agendas for the quarterly meetings. Any research administrator is welcome to recommend or suggest new directions or agenda items for future RAN meetings. The meetings include an educational topic, as well as updates critical to the University research community. RAN meetings have an average attendance of 250. The meetings have become an effective and enjoyable tool for sustaining the research administration culture at the University.

As the new research culture grew stronger, employees made suggestions to improve their work and the work of other research administrators. Senior leaders empowered the research administrators by designating staff time to implement their ideas. Examples of suggestions from research administrators included creating a web-based research administrators' Toolkit' to assist research administrators to quickly locate information related to their jobs (http://www. research.umich.edu/ralinks/index.html) and developing a website, RAN Online, to provide a place where research administrators can share documents, templates and ideas that may be of use to their colleagues.