Coincidentally, I just read through a dissertation (shared with me by a
fellow RESADM member) titled "Principal investigator and department
administrator perceptions of services provided by offices of research
administration at research universities" that dealt with quantifying
metrics to use as benchmarks. It could be useful in your quest, Larry!

Here's the link:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CEAQFjA
A&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscholarcommons.usf.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle
%3D2601%26context%3Detd&ei=DFwlULqYIMLY0QHfh4HYDA&usg=AFQjCNGz_T2orXL-ayx_K
0oQv3wSVXZ8lA

Scott Niles, MA, CRA
Grants and Contracts Administrator
Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
Morehead State University
901 Ginger Hall
Morehead, KY 40351
Phone: 606-783-2278
Fax: 606-783-2130
Web site: http://www.moreheadstate.edu/research

On 8/10/12 1:55 PM, "Chris Thompson" <xxxxxx@MODERAS.ORG> wrote:

>That's a GREAT idea Rochelle!   What kinds of factors are you thinking
>might go into it?  I'd think number of documents, number of special
>reviews, size of the budget, number of sub recipients, reporting
>requirements (federal, state, etc.), number of personnel might be some
>good ones to start with.
>
>-Chris
>
>On 8/10/2012 12:37 PM, Athey, Rochelle R [VPRED] wrote:
>> We're trying to come up with a measure of complexity.  I have a draft
>>document that splits up our award types into complexity groups from 1
>>the least complex to  5 most complex.  Let me know if you want a copy.
>>I want to add the 1-5 complexity rating to our award database and run
>>reports from time to time on complex awards.  It's a very vague measure
>>but it's better than what we have now (nothing).
>>
>> Rochelle R. Athey, CRA
>> Director
>> Office of Sponsored Programs Administration
>> Iowa State University
>> 1138 Pearson Hall
>> Ames Iowa 50011-2207
>> Phone:  515-294-7723
>> Fax:  515-294-8000
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Research Administration List
>>[mailto:xxxxxx@lists.healthresearch.org] On Behalf Of Lawrence Waxler
>> Sent: Friday, August 10, 2012 10:13 AM
>> To: xxxxxx@lists.healthresearch.org
>> Subject: [RESADM-L] Sponsored Programs Performance Metrics
>>
>> Greetings
>>
>> Like all of you, our lives have become much more complex over the past
>>few years, a trend that I do not see easing up.
>>
>> Looking back even five years, we didn¹t have ARRA reporting, FFATA
>>reporting, increased FCOI requirements, RCR was a smaller issue, and g.g
>>was just cranking up, etc, etc., etc.
>>
>> I even remember when summer was catch-up time!
>>
>> However, when measuring what we do, we still rely heavily on how many
>>proposals we process and how many awards we receive as the primary means
>>of determining effectiveness and efficiency despite the fact that these
>>measures do not capture life as we know it today.
>>
>> SoŠŠ.does anyone out in grantland have any insight or perspective on
>>how to convey that by way of performance metrics?
>>
>> Larry
>>
>>
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> Larry Waxler, Director
>> Office of Sponsored Programs
>> University of Southern Maine
>> 15 Baxter Boulevard
>> P.O. Box 9300
>> Portland, ME  04104-9300
>> Telephone: 207-780-4413
>> Telefax: 207-780-4927
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ======================================================================
>>   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.healthresearch.org (click on the
>>"LISTSERV" link in the upper right corner)
>>
>>   A link directly to helpful tips:  http://tinyurl.com/resadm-l-help
>>======================================================================
>>
>>
>> ======================================================================
>>   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.healthresearch.org (click on the
>>   "LISTSERV" link in the upper right corner)
>>
>>   A link directly to helpful tips:  http://tinyurl.com/resadm-l-help
>> ======================================================================
>>
>
>
>======================================================================
> 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.healthresearch.org (click on the
> "LISTSERV" link in the upper right corner)
>
> A link directly to helpful tips:  http://tinyurl.com/resadm-l-help
>======================================================================
>
>

======================================================================
 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.healthresearch.org (click on the
 "LISTSERV" link in the upper right corner)

 A link directly to helpful tips:  http://tinyurl.com/resadm-l-help
======================================================================