Re: Reporting Grant/Contract Activity to your Board Stuart Watson 28 Aug 2003 13:27 EST

Brian,

One way that we here at Penn used to report was what we called "Dollars
Available"

This was achieved by taking as award amount, dividing it by the number
of months that award was active and putting the dollars per month of
each award into the appropriate fiscal year.  This method smoothes out
the "peaks and valleys" of the award cycle and we found it to very
closely track actually expenditures.

Stuart

W. Stuart Watson
Assistant Director
Office of Research Services
University of Pennsylvania
3451 Walnut Street, P-221 Franklin Bldg.
Philadelphia, PA   19104-6205
ph: 215-573-6707
fx:  215 898-9708
email:  xxxxxx@pobox.upenn.edu
url:  http://www.upenn.edu/researchservices/

-----Original Message-----
From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG] On
Behalf Of Betty Farbman
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2003 11:49 AM
To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG
Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] Reporting Grant/Contract Activity to your Board

Brian:
Thanks for raising this.  I'd love to know how folks deal with this.  So
many things affect not only the submission of proposals, but also the
funding cycles.

For instance - this year, we were expecting a multi-million dollar award
prior to the end of our fiscal year, which would have made this year
look great.  Because of the delays with fed. funding, the award came  in
the next FY.  Only a verbal explanation can begin to clarify the
"trough" that this can create on a graph.

I look forward to responses.

Betty Farbman

-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Anderson [mailto:xxxxxx@EMICH.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2003 11:33 AM
To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG
Subject: [RESADM-L] Reporting Grant/Contract Activity to your Board

I have been invited by our Board of Regents to propose a revised format
for
my regularly scheduled reports to the Board on grant/contract activity.
I
have come up with a format that I feel comfortable with and that tells
them
what they really need to know. I'm ready to go with it.

Previously, our report provided raw data for proposal numbers, and grant
numbers & dollars year-to-date.  Comparisons were reported against the
previous year and against an "annual plan" (which was developed within
my
office).  I have proposed to eliminate the "plan" and provide some
detailed
but MEANINGFUL comparative data against the two previous years, instead.
I
do not feel that holding my office accountable to a plan makes much
sense,
since I have no managerial control over those who write proposals and
because there is no way to get buy-in from those who do have managerial
control.

This recommendation will be a tough sell to the Board, because reported
progress toward its achievement has always given them something to get
excited about.

My questions:  Of those of you who are required to provide progress
reporting to your Board, what type of information do you report?  Do you
report information on numerical goals and goal achievement?

Thanks!

------------------------
Brian Anderson, Director
Office of Research Development
Eastern Michigan University
Starkweather Hall, 2nd Floor
Ypsilanti, MI  48197
Office: (734) 487-3090
Fax: (734) 481-0650
Email: xxxxxx@emich.edu

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 Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
 subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
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