Although the Faculty Learning Community is not a new structure or initiative in the higher education arena, adapting this model for faculty development focused on grant proposal writing is relatively new. This article describes how the concept developed by Milt Cox of Miami University has been successfully modified and implemented twice on the…

The Certified Research Administrator (CRA) certification has enjoyed success and recognition among research administration professionals. However, this recognition is parochial and does not extend much past the walls of research administration. Results of a recent research study showed that Principal Investigators value and expect certain aspects…

By providing training from the Central Sponsored Programs Office (SPO), departments, and colleges at Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) can increase compliance with grant requirements. PUIs usually do not focus on department- or college-level grants administration and lack monetary resources to support this function. However, at the…

On occasion, colleges and universities are confronted with natural or technological disasters that affect their communities or their constituents throughout the state. While these situations demand a coordinated institutional research response, administration and management of these endeavors are extremely complex. In this paper we discuss the…

Proposes a plan to determine if a cyclical, systems-based analysis can replace detailed activity reporting for voluntary faculty effort in government-supported university research. This analysis could then provide the basis for adjusting entries on billed contract costs. The method would provide quantitative support for analyzing voluntary cost…

To demystify the grant-seeking and proposal-writing process, two administrators at Kutztown University (Pennsylvania) began a standing committee to train, encourage, and help faculty members assist each other. The committee has offered collaboration, social support, and technical expertise; the result has been an increase in grant proposals and…

A study investigated how sustained faculty participation in research fund raising produced substantial increases in external funding while faculty morale eroded. Seven mechanisms based on principles of work motivation had been developed and implemented to help faculty increase external funding. It is suggested this situation resulted from…

University research managers can take the lead role in strategic planning statements. As they relate to the development of capability statements, specific planning issues concerning research personnel and management support services are examined. Examples of how university research managers can use capability statements for marketing are…

Issues in sponsored research are addressed: institutional commitment and targeted budget allocations, administrative and faculty commitment--structure and support services; sponsored research and institutional characteristics; and faculty development programs--research-oriented. (MLW)

Guidelines for dealing openly and directly with potential conflicts of interest in university research administration are offered to help administrators balance the institutional risks and benefits of relationships and interests faculty may have with outside agencies or companies. Advice for developing effective policies and procedures are also…

Origins of the University of California's procedures for systematic review of principal investigators' financial disclosures prior to acceptance of grants, and the manner in which they are working at present, are examined. The disclosure requirements, faculty committee, criteria, and disclosures made during 1988 are described. Two case studies are…

College faculty applying for the National Endowment for the Humanities' Summer Stipend Program for independent study and research are usually nominated by their institutions. Nomination procedures used by institutions that consistently nominate successful applicants are described, and the research administrator's role in the process is discussed.…

As researchers turn to industry over government for research funding, it is proposed that research administrators provide substantial assistance to faculty in the different strategies and skills needed to win grants. Differences between corporate and federal sponsors, basic strategies found effective in winning grants, and elements of effective…

A survey of tenure-track faculty in the Texas A & M University college of education investigated attitudes concerning the environment for grantsmanship. Results indicate the need for a system providing faculty with assigned time for proposal development, provision of start-up money for competitive grant-writing, equal emphasis on grant writing and…

A study of 163 colleges and universities examined 33 variables seen as incentives for faculty to engage in sponsored research. Results suggest a small predictive relationship between released time to write proposals, reduced faculty loads to work on funded projects, availability of graduate and research assistants, return of some direct costs to…