Managing the Research University: ‘You Can Get There From Here'

By Steve Price
You don't become a research institution overnight. Or in a year or two. It requires many years of planning and commitment, supported by expanded resources, unlimited imagination and a fundamental change in the University's culture. For the uninitiated, it also means learning a new language, with terms like "compliance," "infrastructure," "direct and indirect costs," "sponsored programs" and "digital imaging."

Compliance means giving in to a request or demand. In this context, it means complying with the oftentimes multiple layers of rules and regulations dictated by the agencies (federal, state and private) that award research grants. These funding agencies have rules and regulations for getting the money (grant writing) and for spending the money (auditing). Read: tons of paperwork!

It costs a lot of money to support research. According to Nicole Trufant, associate controller, two-thirds of every research dollar not directly allocated to salary or equipment goes to administering the grant. This pays for staff time (Trufant devotes half her time to compliance) and overhead (utilities, maintenance, etc.).

imageBecause funding agencies are increasingly concerned about an institution's ability to successfully execute the research the funders are paying for, notes Trufant, the agencies are looking more closely at the funded institution, and its infrastructure, and not just the principal investigator. "Compliance is coming more and more to the forefront," she says.

The discovery of misappropriation of grant funds by a number of prestigious universities and hospitals in the 1990s has increased compliance rules and regs, and placed award winners under increased scrutiny.

Both the principal investigator and an "authorized organizational representative" (typically the chief financial officer) carry personal liability for the proper and legal use of research grant funds.

Despite all the strings attached to research grants, one reason why universities like them is that they come with money for "indirect costs." Currently at UNE, these dollars are divided equally between the Business Office, to cover overhead and expenses, and the dean in whose college the grant is administered. The three deans use the money in a variety of ways, including seed money to encourage new research projects.

New Jobs, New Divisions
imageBecoming a research university will also require the creation of new job descriptions and possibly even divisions within the institution. This is because the process is so targeted, and the level of expertise required so high. The newly coined term for these coordinated initiatives is "sponsored programs."

Currently, faculty researchers play a lead role in program development and proposal writing, while development (fund-raising) staff can play a supporting role in managing the application process. In the future, the administration of sponsored programs may lie entirely with the academic departments.

Managing and administering research grants—pre- and post-awards—is a study in masterful coordination. A good example is the current effort to fund and build a biomedical research facility on the Biddeford campus, involving faculty researchers, the builder's user's committee, the dean of the medical school, the Business Office, the Facilities Department, development officers (to raise private funds), Board of Trustee committees—and the list goes on.

This work doesn't come cheap or easy. The institution absorbs the cost of all "pre-award" work. If we fail to get the grant, we eat the upfront costs.

And it gets more complicated and expensive as research projects using animals require oversight committees and clinical trials using human subjects require internal review boards.

Information Driven Activity
imageThe people in the University's information business (the library, Media Services and the IT Department) have also felt the impact of moving toward a research model. Key to building a research infrastructure is making information accessible and shareable. This means, to a large degree, "going electronic." Fortunately, according to Andrew Golub, vice president for information resources, his area has been ahead of the curve.

Two things have driven this entrepreneurial enterprise: "My staff has been itching for this change," he relates enthusiastically. "This is what we like to do!" The other driving force was the UNE/Westbrook College merger. It didn't make fiscal sense to duplicate the collections on two campuses. The obvious solution was to go digital.

"We have a remarkable store of research material," Golub says. "The depth and breadth of our electronic collection for such a small school is pretty good." Some 15,000 full-text journals are available online, as opposed to only 1,000 in hard copy. "Access, not ownership, is the watchword," he confides.

UNE's libraries provide access to several electronic interlibrary loan services. The next step, budget permitting, is to continue and to increase buying books and other reference materials offered online.

Another Information Resources area gone electronic is Media Services; the office that provides photographic, audio and video production services to the entire University now utilizes a combination of traditional and digital software and equipment.

"Computer Central," the Information Technology Services Office, now provides a number of web-based products that allow faculty members and students to share information easily and quickly. The IT Office also recycles older computers from the computer labs to run scientific lab equipment.

Although this is all very exciting, it is also very expensive. Golub cites ongoing budget issues with security, networking, band width, data bases and equipment support.

Why Do It?
The question arises: With such great demands on human resources and financial capital, why bother to go the research route? The simple answer is: the potential benefits of getting major research dollars and producing valuable research are inestimable.

On the financial side, these include profitable product development…spin-off companies…patents and other forms of intellectual property. On the humanitarian side, the discovery of new, better and cheaper drugs…new techniques and modalities for improving people's health… ways to better understand and protect of our fragile environment…and the enrichment of human life through increased knowledge in a myriad of disciplines. On the education side, research experience is a valuable learning tool and is an increasingly important learning outcome for all graduates. For the medical school, a high level of faculty research is a requirement for future accreditation.

In addition, the University raises its visibility, gains national and even international prestige, recruits more and better students, hires star faculty members, attracts high-level trustees and major donors. Success begets success. As a research institution, UNE's future is more secure and its contribution to society more significant.
    
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