Yeah, I agree...those coffee-making and window-cleaning tasks can really overload facilitators and research administrators not to mention grant writers...but the really challenging issue is trying to serve all those different masters (and demands) across departments and colleges which are often internally competing and conflicting.  Not to mention when budget balancing time comes rolling around!

Still, if institutions want to add to their staff in highly selected areas (presumably target growth areas), and have resources to do it, why not?

BG
>
> From: Charlie Hathaway <xxxxxx@AECOM.YU.EDU>
> Date: 2005/06/29 Wed PM 06:06:45 EDT
> To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG
> Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] Specific Comments on Grant Writer / Research Facilitator
>
> If you need a person who will really get into helping INDIVIDUAL faculty
> members, and take phone calls for dumb questions, and answer emails promptly,
> and be an ear for complaints about the whole research administration
> infrastructure...i.e. really address proximal faculty concerns rather than some
> global strategy for the institution, I suggest you be careful about bringing in
> someone who builds teams and gives speeches and makes policy but doesn't make
> coffee or do windows.
>
> Charlie
>
> Quoting Brian Gladue <xxxxxx@FUSE.NET>:
>
> > Alpha,
> >
> > Since you raise a specific point, I'll address this you alone and not the
> > entire list.
> >
> > I like the term "research therapist" or "research coach", but I worked a lot
> > with psychologists and they are very picky about the term therapist (plus, a
> > lot of non-psychologists might think we were making statements about other
> > issues and not just their granting activity).  So, we went with the generally
> > neutral (bland?) term "Facilitator"...which in many respects is the best
> > descriptor for what such a person does.
> >
> > And your observations and insights are right on the nose, and...well, I guess
> > the tricky part isn't just figuring out how much one should be paid for such
> > work...the tricky part is convincing central administration (or whomever
> > needs this person on staff) to step up and pay, following the dictum, "you
> > get what you pay for".
> >
> > When I was Research Facilitator for an Institute within the University of
> > Cincinnati, that position started out at $70K (1994) and with raises (the
> > usual low-level increases state universities are known for), it got up to
> > $93K by 2004...plus full university benefits package.  Typically, for a
> > doctoral level person with 10 + years experience in senior researchg
> > activitry and management, you should expect to recruit and pay at a level
> > comparable to senior associate professor/starting full professor in that
> > given discipline...especially if you want that person to manage pre-award
> > proposal and IRB application refinement, wide-ranging negotiations with
> > sponsors, facilitation of internal and external collaborations, training of
> > junior faculty, outreach and grant-writing seminars, etc. AND be credible
> > with the faculty and staff.
> >
> > Where institutions falter, is when they try to recruit and hire someone to do
> > all of this "on the cheap" (starting someone at $30-40K), because that's
> > exactly what happens - a lot of low-level guidance, non-credible interactions
> > with researchers, and generally weak or bad advice, much of it pretty obvious
> > and taken off internet websites ("How to Write Winning Grants") and not
> > derived from years of practical real-world experience.  Anyone in that
> > $30-40K salary range in their field post-PhD isn't going to be much help, or
> > have much expertise on what works (wins) and what doesn't in
> > grant-writing/application development, collaborative team building, IRB
> > issues, proposal reviews, future directions in funding, science policy,
> > compliance issues, etc.
> >
> > So, the practical bottom line is...What is the organization willing to invest
> > (and it IS an investment) and how seriously do they want their researchers to
> > be "facilitated"?
> >
> > One other aspect that often gets overlooked is how the faculty/PIs perceive
> > the seriousness of institutional commitment, which is very much based on the
> > sort of person hired to fill such a slot.  If someone entry-level shows up
> > fresh out of post-doc or grad school, that sends a very low message to the
> > "we-need-help" faculty...that their organization isn't really serious about
> > any of this.
> >
> > Conversely, if they get a savvy experienced "been there-done that"
> > doctoral-trained grant-awardee with a wide range of skill sets and who knows
> > the turf, AND knows how to work with a wide range of researchers...well, then
> > the faculty may rightly perceive a stronger  commitment from the powers that
> > be...and this often has a keen impact on researcher retention (especially the
> > good and productive - i.e. funded - ones!) as well as organization morale and
> > reputation.
> >
> > Anyway, hope this helps.  Bottom line?  Where possible hire the best person
> > you can afford and aim high!
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Brian Gladue,PhD
> > Research Facilitator
> > INSTAR Research Associates
> > Maineville, OH
> >
> > Chairperson, IRB-S
> > University of Cincinnati
> >
> > >
> > > From: Alpha Anderson Delap <xxxxxx@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
> > > Date: 2005/06/29 Wed PM 04:12:35 EDT
> > > To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG
> > > Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] Grant Writer? or Research Facilitator?
> > >
> > > I really appreciate the time everyone has taken to respond to my query.
> > > I think *research facilitator* comes closest to what I think would be
> > > most useful to my unit. Unofficially I have used the term *research
> > > therapist* instead, however this position's purview covers pre-award
> > > proposal and irb application refinement, wide-ranging negotiations with
> > > sponsors, facilitation of internal and external collaborations, etc.
> > >
> > > Now comes the even more prickly/complicated question, how much
> > > does/should one get paid (if one holds a doctorate in similar field) for
> > > doing such work?
> > >
> > > Alpha
> > >
> > > ________________________________
> > >
> > > From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG] On
> > > Behalf Of Mike McCallister
> > > Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 12:30 PM
> > > To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG
> > > Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] Grant Writer? or Research Facilitator?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > 	The demand for a institution-funded grant-writer usually comes
> > > up when some senior faculty members are convinced that they are too busy
> > > to be bothered with the "mechanics" of grant-writing and if they only
> > > had someone who could take their "big" ideas and rough out 90% of the
> > > application and proposal, the Great Thinkers could then edit in a few
> > > details, send off the grant (under their name, of course) and reap huge
> > > awards to the institution.  I call this the "Coupon Template" approach
> > > to grant writing.  Almost always, such grant applications fail to be
> > > funded, since reviewers are confounded by two different styles of
> > > writing and a whole lot of critical details and concepts are missing or
> > > confusing.
> > >
> > >
> > > Your name for this lame practice is better than mine, which is
> > > unprintable.  Research offices are for supporting the work of talented,
> > > creative, motivated people.  We are not in the salvage business, we do
> > > not raise the dead.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > 	On the Plus side is the notion of a grant editor or greant
> > > application advisor.  THIS approach is extremely useful and productive.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I try not to be a facilitator, although the word is apt.  It's a
> > > timeworn word that has lost any meaning other than the warm fuzzy it
> > > might give us.  One must remember a crutch is a facilitator, too.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > 	In some institutions, some of this gets handled by "pre-award"
> > > personnel......not every university or college is willing to recruit and
> > > retain such a person.
> > >
> > >
> > > It's because we don't know how to evaluate them and show positive impact
> > > for money spent.  This is a persistent and thorny problem.
> > >
> > > Spanky
> > > Mike McCallister, Ph.D.
> > > Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
> > > University of Arkansas at Little Rock
> > > 2801 South University
> > > Little Rock, AR  72204-1099
> > >
> > > (o) 501-569-8474
> > > (c) 501-590-5609
> > > (f)  501-371-7614
> > > http://www.ualr.edu/orsp/
> > >
> > > :-} Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of
> > > :-} arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather
> > > to
> > > :-} skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, beer in the other, body
> > > :-} thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming... What a
> > > :-} ride!!
> > >
> > > "A sense of humor is a measurement of the extent to which we realize
> > > that we are trapped in a world almost totally devoid of reason. Laughter
> > > is how we express the anxiety we feel at this knowledge."   Dave Barry
> > >
> > >
> > >
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