Presented by Tonya Foster

“Keep Calm, C&I RAS is Here to Support You”Navigating Research Administration Shared Services

IntroductionTonya Foster

Interim Director, Research Administration Services, Cancer and Imaging

20+ years in Finance Field, Accountant with over 16 years experience in the Higher Education Industry• The University of North Carolina System - 11 years Accounting Clerk, Grants Accountant, Asst. Director, Sr. Grants Admin.• Emory University - 5 years Post-Award III, Assistant Director, Post Award Manager

National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) Member

Hobbies:• Spending Time

with Family• Cooking• Baking

OverviewShare My Vision for and Approach to Three Core Areas of

Responsibilities:

• Providing quality faculty service that meets or exceeds expectations

• Developing and nurturing partnerships with key stakeholders (including the departments served by the C&I RAS, the School of Medicine, the Winship Cancer Institute, and Emory’s Office of Research Administration units)

• Leading and coaching a high performance team (RAS unit) comprised of pre-award, post-award, and clinical trials administrators.

Providing Quality Faculty Service that Meets or Exceeds Expectations

• RAS is a Faculty AdvocateNew PI Onboarding. RAS can provide individual or departmental grants process overview. Discuss keys to success of the pre-award and clinical trials pre-award processes. Setup proposal kick-off meeting with the pre-award administrator assigned to your proposal.

RAS is the Primary Interface for Faculty with Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), Office of Technology Transfer (OTT), Office of Clinical Research (OCR) and Research, Grants and Contracts (RGC)

Providing Quality Faculty Service• CommunicationCommunicate, Communicate, Communicate!Provide timely updates and follow up

• Financial Management Introductory meeting with post award administrator, award reconciliations (standard is every 60 days), industry clinical trials are monthly, FSR submission and award closeout.

RAS Director will solicit faculty concerns via P.I. finance or departmental meetings. My goal is to resolve conflicts in a prompt and satisfactory manner.

Developing and Nurturing Partnerships with Key Stakeholders

+ =Partnership and collaboration are key factors in creating a “win-win” situation for all stakeholders.

Collaboration between departments is more than simply “cooperating” with other teams. It involves a shared vision, mutual respect, an in-depth understanding of each other’s role in a

project with the goal of achieving excellent business outcomes and outstanding customer

experience. ~Author Unknown

Leveraging Resources

www.effectivepartnering.org

Partnerships – Departments and WCIRAS is committed to providing high quality research

administration support to our faculty in partnership with their respective Departments and Winship Cancer Institute.

Currently RAS participates in bi-weekly, monthly and quarterly finance meetings; monthly and quarterly leadership meetings

and will re-establish the annual leadership (RAS/Dept/WCI/SOM) meeting. The focus of the leadership meetings are to discuss

items of concerns for the department/institute, provide financial updates on grant spending and RAS sharing team updates. As

always meetings can be setup on an “as needed” basis.

Partnerships – School of MedicineRAS is an integral part of the SOM research

enterprise. In partnership with the SOM, we provide financial and compliance oversight of

sponsored research funds. RAS is committed to adhering to costing rules and regulations

established by OMB Uniform Guidance. RAS ensures those dollars are spent within

university and sponsored guidelines thereby minimizing financial risk exposure to the

university and faculty.

RAS partners with ORA offices to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, ensure all financial activities are processed appropriately

and are audit ready.

RAS will invite OSP/OTT/OCR to attend monthly staff meetings, work with RGC to re-establish monthly meetings and seek opportunities for

“meet and greet” sessions.

Partnerships – ORA Offices

Leading and Coaching a High Performance Team (RAS Unit)

Top Areas of Development

• Restate the Goal of C&I RAS

• Stabilize Team: Fill Leadership and Staff Openings

• Team Building

• Cross Training to Support the Navigation Culture

“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by

a team of people.” — Steve Jobs

Goal of C&I RAS The RAS Unit provides Faculty with high-level pre-award

and post-award support services. Faculty members receive services based on clearly defined and well-

documented roles and responsibilities, which demonstrates our commitment to faculty satisfaction.

Staff is knowledgeable and competent with a particular focus on research administration. Their ability to provide high quality service is based on training and the guidance

of standardized operating procedures. Therefore, they are prepared to effectively address the needs of faculty.

Stabilize Team: Fill Leadership and Staff Openings

Filling open positions is necessary and a key component in stabilizing the team dynamic.

• Interim Post Award Manager• Pre-Award III Opening• Post Award II Opening

Team BuildingWhy We Need Team Building Activities• Facilitates collaborative and motivated work culture as

these activities are seen as a move towards bringing individuals together

• Helps in problem solving and decision making as many heads/hands contribute in the process

• Fosters responsive and meaningful communication as employees come to know personality, desires, strengths and weaknesses of their co-workers

• Aids use of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking by moving employees away from the usual job set up that recharges and refreshes them

Team Building• Creates atmosphere to enhance productivity by

identifying and eliminating obstacles or by improving existing ways of working

• Boosts employee morale as they feel the company and colleagues are interested in knowing and developing them, a valid reason for employee retention

• Finally, the learning and insights from team-building games can be transferred to the actual work environment resulting in better work equations and organizational performance

Erts, Norberts. “Top 50 Team-Building Games that Your Employees Would Love to Play.” 10 Aug. 2016, Blog.cake.hr.

Cross-Training to Support the RAS Navigation Culture

Crossing-training on all functional support areas is vital in supporting research

administration services in C&I RAS. When we have unexpected staff shortages (FMLA,

transfers or retirement) we will have the ability to continue providing high level customer service to our stakeholders. Also, aides in development and growth of employees

wishing to gain additional skills.

Unit Training Plan1. Identify employees who have requested cross-training

and employees who are willing to train colleagues.2. Establish training plan (subject areas, subject matter

experts, frequency of training)3. Design and develop training plan (job aides, templates,

checklist, tips and tricks, etc.)4. Implement training (pair employee with SME)5. Evaluate training effectiveness

Currently I have identified staff wanting cross training.

Cross-Training

Tonya Foster404-778-5856

tlfoste@emory.edu

Questions?