Changing the culture of research administrators at a public university.

by Sivrais, Sally E.^Disney, Carrie

Journal of Research Administration • May-Nov, 2006 •

The Toolkit has proven to be a success and is updated on a regular basis. RAN Online has not proved to be as useful. However, succeed or fail, the response of development and implementation provided empowerment. Sharing information and problem solving online is not yet comfortable for many research administrators.

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The Toolkit synthesizes information from the University's main Research website (see Table 3 below) with useful links and information relevant to research administrator's day-to-day work.

3) Cross Departmental Collaboration and Problem Solving

In October 2001, a Sponsored Programs Implementation Team (SPIT) was commissioned for two years to improve the administration of sponsored projects at the University. Specifically, SPIT was charged to validate a list of issues and priorities, to complete a situation analysis, and to deliver solutions. Many of these issues related to making central administration more responsive to the needs of departmental administrators. Others focused on maximizing the value of the new financial system (PeopleSoft). SPIT was a cross-functional representation of research administrators from the University of Michigan's central and departmental level administration.

The SPIT model has created new leadership opportunities for departmental research administrators. After SPIT's commission ended, a "Sponsored Projects Advisory Team" (SPA Team) was formed (http://www. spateam.umich.edu). The SPA Team's basic purpose is to: discuss new issues and facilitate solutions, address specific problems as they arise, continue to clarify the roles and responsibilities of central and academic units, manage communications about research administration, and evaluate solutions and subsequent policy and procedure changes.

These types of team efforts have set the standard for collaboration between departmental research administrators and staff in central offices. The communication and, in some instances, cultural clashes which once hindered problem solving are being overcome with the use of the SPIT model. The existence of this committee has given staff in all departments across campus the sense of collective support and responsibility.

4) Recognition Programs

As part of the cultural change, the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) established the annual Distinguished Research Administrator and OVPR Exceptional Service Awards. Nominations are requested campus-wide. The Distinguished Research Administrator Award honors individual staff members from any department at the University who have demonstrated distinguished service exemplifying the goals of professional research administration over a number of years. The OVPR Exceptional Service Award honors individuals from OVPR or the many units which report to OVPR, who have made outstanding contributions going beyond the ordinary fulfillment of the position's job expectations. In addition to receiving an honorarium and an award plaque, these research administrators are recognized in front of their peers in an awards ceremony a RAN meeting.

Results

The success of the changing culture of research administrators has also impacted other units on the University of Michigan campus. The following are a few examples.

In June 2005, the University of Michigan's Human Resources and Affirmative Action department changed the University-wide career family classification system to assist and enable departments to attract and retain competent and committed staff. 'Research' was added as an independent career family, which can be defined as a meaningful grouping of jobs commonly clustered within a career emphasis (http://careernavigator. umjobs.org).

A second effort was Financial Operations Sponsored Programs Office's reorganization from a production line approach to a team approach, aligning with the departments. In part, this reorganization was in response to issues identified by the SPIT / SPA teams. The reorganization effort provided a service-oriented responsiveness to the operation, as well as bringing significant financial benefits to the institution, through improved tracking, invoicing, collection, reconciliation, and reporting. New staff initiatives included building teams aligned with institutional units, identifying training needs and how to deliver them, encouraging staff to get involved in professional organizations and in institutional activities, and job rotations.

A third example is the impact of the research administration culture on another newly forming campus-wide effort called Business Intelligence (BI) at the University of Michigan. The BI group is concerned with transforming enterprise data into information, and information into knowledge to enhance decision-making and to create actionable plans that drive effective business activity. Similar to the research administrators, Business Intelligence (BI) consists of a multidisciplinary group of individuals from numerous departments across campus. (http://www.businessintelligence.umich.edu). The BI culture model is based on the successful sustainable research administration model.

Conclusions

The University of Michigan has created a recognizable research administration culture, which is being used as a model for other internal functional groups. Research Administrators Instructional Network (RAIN) education is effective in building skills and knowledge. Research Administrative Network (RAN) meetings have provided a gathering place and training for the research community. The emphasis on networking has created an environment where research administrators, holding many different job titles, are comfortable communicating with their peers to share information and to problem solve. The cross-functional problem solving teams (SPIT & SPA) have had a dramatic impact, not only by creating and implementing solutions to issues affecting administrators, but also by serving as a model for the process of crossing boundaries to solve problems. The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) awards have brought University-wide recognition to the many contributions of research administrators.

The University of Michigan continues to refine its vision thus enhancing the culture of professional research administrators. New approaches are being developed for future success. Educational programs are created on an on-going basis. A new leadership development program is being designed collaboratively to prepare the next generation of research administration leaders. The Sponsored Programs Advisory Team has transitioned to new leadership and membership. New sub-teams are being formed to address specific complex issues. There is positive energy in the research community, making collaborative progress sustainable.

The strategy for building a research culture has transformed research administration. It is a model which could bring success to other colleges and universities that are responding to similar internal and external changes.

Authors Note

The impetus for this article was a January 12, 2004 Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship, Positive Link Session presented by Marvin Parnes, Associate Vice President for Research and Executive Director, Division of Research Development and Administration, Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Michigan. This can be viewed at http://www.bus.umich.edu/Positive/POS-Research/pastpositivesessions.htm.

References

Beckhard, R., & Pritchard, W. (1992). Changing the Essence: The Art of Creating and Leading Fundamental Change in Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Cameron, K.S., & Quinn, R. E. (2006). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kotter, J. P. (1995). Leading Change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Lessons in Leadership: It's all about the culture in Leadership Strategies, 9(6), 2006, p 6, Retrieved 8/15/2006 from http://www.briefings.com/leadership

Sally E. Sivrais

University of Michigan

Stephen M. Ross School of Business

701 Tappan Street

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234, USA

(734) 763-9266

(734) 615-8999 fax

sivrais@umich.edu

Carrie Disney

University of Michigan

Geriatrics Center/Institute of Gerontology Table 1. Sample RAIN Training Program Agenda DAY ONE

Introduction