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 ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ====================================================================== ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ====================================================================== ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ======================================================================