As an old timer, I recognize that Ray Woodrow had it right:
Management FOR Research!

Woodrow, Raymond J., "Management for Research in U. S. Universities".
NACUBO, Washington, D.C., 1978

Chuck

At 02:20 PM 8/5/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>Jim is right, as usual.  We really don't need a definition of the
>field as much as a reasonable name for what we do, since we do what
>our organizations need for us to do..  That reasonable descriptive
>name has been a stumper for about 50 years.
>
>Spanky
>
>>Date: Mon, 05 Aug 2002 12:20:32 -0700
>>From: "James R. Brett" <xxxxxx@CSULB.EDU>
>>Subject: Re: [RESADM-L]
>>Sender: Research Administration List <xxxxxx@hrinet.org>
>>To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG
>>Reply-to: Research Administration Discussion List <xxxxxx@hrinet.org>
>>Organization: California State University,
>>  Long Beach -- Office of University Research
>>X-Accept-Language: en
>>
>>?Sometimes someone in an institution will get all distraught about the
>>expression Research Administrator. It is obvious to us that Research
>>Administrators do not administer research, but the term sometimes seems
>>like an oxymoron to people with an axe to grind.
>>
>>Research administrators provide services, information, interpretation, and
>>personal and career counseling over a wide range of activities to other
>>concerned people (including students, faculty, other administrators,
>>agency program officers, auditors, the press, and politicians) in the
>>various interfaces between the institutional researcher and the rest of
>>the world. The reason we do not call ourselves Research Service,
>>Information, Interpretation, and Counselling Administrators is because the
>>term is decidedly awkward and would drastically change the names of our
>>two main professional organizations.
>>
>>The reason we have Research Administrators is because researchers (and the
>>people they typically encounter) are often much too involved in their own
>>specialties to become adequate in (enough of) these interface areas to be
>>successful.  Persons in our profession must be competent or knowledgable
>>in accountancy, law, government, politics, and general interpersonal
>>relations, not to mention being able to intelligently discuss what
>>research is actually about over a range of disciplines, sometimes needing
>>to understand thoroughly several cognate disciplines and sometimes to
>>understand the research in layman's terms in over a hundred disciplines.
>>
>>Jim
>>
>>Mike McCallister wrote:
>>
>>>  This thing about research administration being about IP?  That
>>>  completely misses the point (Sorry Charlie).  IP is a small tail
>>>  wagging a big dog right now and is used so much the term has lost
>>>  currency.  IP happens within research, sometimes.  It is almost
>>>  serendipitous.  It certainly is not as big a deal as some want it to
>>>  be, not yet.
>>>
>>>  So what's RA?  What did you tell your Mom you do at work?  That's
>>>  what it is.  It's what needs to be done for our researchers and
>>>  faculty  to create new knowledge, solve problems, grow themselves,
>>>  even save the world, maybe.  But most of all what we do is help those
>>>  who can to do because what they do is, by and large, important to
>>>  society.
>>>
>>>  Spanky
>>>
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>>
>>--
>>James R. Brett, Ph.D., Director,
>>Office of University Research
>>California State University, Long Beach
>>562-985-5314  562-985-8665 fax
>>http://www.csulb.edu/~research/
>>
>>
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>>  subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
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>>======================================================================
>
>
>--
>Mike McCallister, Ph. D.
>  Director, Research and Sponsored Programs
>University of Arkansas at Little Rock
>2801 South University
>Little Rock, AR 72204-1099
>(v) 501-569-8474
>(f) 501-371-7614
>(c) 501-590-5609
>
>"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new
>discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I've found it!), but 'That's funny...'"
>  ~ Isaac Asimov
>
>
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>

Herbert B. Chermside, CRA
Director, Sponsored Programs Administration
Virginia Commonwealth University
PO BOX 980568
Richmond, VA  23298-0568
Express Delivery Only:
 Sanger Hall, Rm. 1-032A
 11th & Marshall Streets
 Richmond, VA  23219
Voice:  804-828-6772
Fax     804-828-2521
OFFICE e-mail   xxxxxx@VCU.EDU
Personal e-mail xxxxxx@vcu.edu
http://views.vcu.edu/ospa/

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