Celebrating the first forty years of the Society of Research Administrators International.

Introduction: Important Developments, 1967-2007

Four business managers in science departments at Yale University founded what would become the Society of Research Administrators International because they discovered the need to discuss how to resolve mutual problems. Letters of inquiry to expand the group poured in as research administration became more complicated. In response, in 1966 Ken Hartford, president from 1967-70; Jack Stacey of the Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City; David Meyer, Business Manager of the Botany Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Richard Nicholsen, Research Center Business Manager at Archer Daniels Midland, met to discuss a research administration professional organization. These founders represented a diverse group of institutions in higher education and industry, and a for-profit research laboratory. Their collaboration marked the first society with membership from all four quarters of research administration (Beasley, 1988).

One hundred people attended the first meeting of the Society at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on June 23 and 24, 1967, and, under the leadership of Ken Hartford and Dick Nicholsen, charter documents were created. The latter created the bylaws and debated the purposes, the name, the membership requirements, and dues. The 100 attendees closed the meeting with the unanimous vote that, "We, the research administrators present, hereby constitute ourselves into an organization." These decisions were formally ratified at the second annual meeting in Houston in March, 1968 (Beasley, 1988).

Led by the formation of the West Coast and Northeastern Sections in 1968, the central organization was strengthened and membership began to grow. Other sections were created within a couple of years. At the third annual meeting in San Francisco in July 1969, the leaders of the West Coast, Treasurer Paul Davis of the University of California-Berkeley and Rod Rose of Irvine, proposed a national office at Irvine under Rose's direction. The proposal was accepted by the Board and the office was established on August 1, 1969 as a distribution point for communications, the official mailing office for SRA and the sections, to publish a journal, newsletter, and directory, and to maintain the archives (Beasley, 1988).

The networking and the growing membership wanted professional development in two broad areas. First, they wanted lectures on how to do their jobs, and second, they wanted to increase the status of research administrators. Thus, early sessions reflected the vision of the founders and the membership. Sessions included personnel management, facilities planning, purchasing, organization and structure of research administration offices, project management, and accounting (Beasley, 1988). These were historic sessions, and many of our sessions and certification programs today reflect the foresight of the early membership about the concerns and professional advancement needs of research administrators.

To provide outlets for the centrality of the networking function, publications quickly ensued. The SRA Newsletter was published with the inception of the Society in August 1968. It included information about the formation of sections, plans for the next annual meeting and a request for members to pay their dues of $15. For a formal exchange of ideas, the Journal of the Society of Research Administrators was first published in July 1969. The lead article, "Profile of a Research Administrator," reflected the need of members for professional recognition. With this launch, the SRA Journal became the first broad-based scholarly periodical for research administrators (Beasley, 1988).

As one would suppose, the 1970s brought many challenges that new organizations face. Dr. Ken Beasley, one of the founders and president during 1971-72, recalled the issues. First, after four years of development the Society had not established a strong administrative core. Second, there was a shortage of administrative information on membership and services. Third, there was a persistent need for money to carry out services for the nearly 550 members. And, it was difficult to tell who the true members were because members joined and left after a year or two so the real number of paying members was not accurate.

There were other pressures. At the end of the annual meeting preceding Dr. Beasley's presidency, the business/industry division called to say more sessions were needed to comprehend that interest group. Second, only about 60 people attended Dr. Beasley's annual meeting in Minneapolis in July 1972. Third, the Placement Committee submitted a budget request that was more than the Society's annual income. President Beasley rightfully decided that "SRA needed a shove and I would be the change agent."

He decided to develop programs, to provide better administrative support, and to build pride in SRA as a professional organization. Out of these three ideas came a number of objectives. First, it was important for someone representing the Society to attend all section meetings during the year. There were no travel funds available from SRA, but Dr. Beasley was fortunate because his institution, Northern Illinois University, covered the costs of travel. Second, he started a series of articles named "A Dialogue for Research Administrators" in the Newsletter to discuss professionalism in research administration. For example, Dialogue number 3 related to the importance of communication both within and outside of research institutions. Third, the improvement of SRA's own management to evoke a professional image to the membership brought about the Long Range Planning Committee to look at the future and the needs of the Society and then make recommendations to the Board. Fourth, during Dr. Beasley's visits to section meetings, many new members expressed the need for information to help them in their work. Consequently, President Beasley started the SRA Research Administrators Notebook to provide information, such as the administrative structure of the National Science Foundation (NSF) or how to obtain a research application form from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Fifth, he tried to solve the Society's financial problems by increasing annual membership dues to $20, creating an Institutional Membership category (which survives still), under which institutions could pay a fee to cover several research administrators' dues. This move increased both members and income.

He rounded out his program by developing a central office. Rod Rose was the original Executive Director of SRA. He, along with two other administrators at the University of California at Irvine ably managed the Society from 1968 to 1972; but by then the Society had grown too large for a volunteer administration. Mr. Rose decided to step down in the latter part of President Beasley's term and Jack Balderston, the incoming president, was appointed to oversee the central office and to hire a full-time staff person. This was the beginning of a professional staff for SRA.

But SRA did not stop there. Two grant applications were started during Dr. Beasley's presidency and completed after he left office. The first application resulted in a grant from the NSF of $18,400 to help improve the SRA Journal. The second was a grant of $99,221 from what was then the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) to set up an advisory service to assist HEW grantees in completing programs and submitting final reports. This award was made, but later rescinded by the Nixon administration.

All of these objectives were accomplished and changed SRA, President Beasley's final report at Seattle in 1972 summarized the changes and encouraged the membership to participate in an improved organization. The title of the report was YOU'RE OK SRA. It was an upbeat message to celebrate the changes and encourage improvement. The increase in SRA activities and communications started a period of new directions for SRA as it rose to the forefront of professional organizations. From 1972-76, membership increased from 537 to 1,007. In addition to the program and management changes, there was an attitudinal change that research administration was a profession, and that SRA was critical to perpetuating professionalism.

Membership continued to increase. Ruth Poole, who was president in 1993-94, saw the membership jump to 2,700. The Canadian Section remained a robust part of SRA, which began to attract members from countries in Europe and elsewhere.

That spirit continued. Under Dr. James Pyle's presidency in 1994-95, membership increases continued, the organization's headquarters moved from Chicago to Washington, D.C., and programs were begun in response to electronic administration of the society's business. The concept that providing professional opportunities for the membership was the principal reason for the existence of the society continued to emerge as the society offered diverse services to research administrators in many different settings. By the mid-1990s SRA was poised to emphasize international research administration.