Last summer, I posted an inquiry to RESADM-L, asking for information
about annual reports put out by research administration or sponsored
programs offices.  I said I would summarize what people sent me and
repost that information, but for some reason I began to have
problems communicating with the listserv shortly thereafter.  I
think things have finally been worked out.  So here is my very
belated report:

The members of this list were very generous in sending me copies of
their annual reports, but only a few people actually sent me notes
describing how they do their annual reports.  There was little
advice that I can summarize and pass along about starting up
an annual report from scratch.

I'm not complaining.  I know that no one has time to sit around
and write an e-mail "how-to" manual on annual reports.

But I can tell you this:  The annual reports sent to me run the
gamut from an extremely slick, almost hard cover report (with inset
portraits of the present and past VPs of research on the cover),
prepared entirely by an outside public relations firm, to modest,
no-color efforts in spiral binders done by in-house staff with the
assistance of the university copy shop.  The content shows the same
kind of range--from listing every single grant to every single
faculty member to listing summaries for departments.

I did receive special notes from Rudy Ziehl of Western Michigan
University, Pamela Webb of UC, Santa Barbara; Audrey Thurlow of
Montana State; Larry Waxler, University of Southern Maine, and Larry
Hawse, Southern Illinois University, and I thank them.

I'm sorry if I didn't thank everyone who sent me their annual report.
Some of them arrived with no hint of the identity of the sender.
Thank you, anyhow.

And I will pass along this wonderful piece of advice from Larry
Hawse: "I'd leave out the hit rate (success rate).  It will come back
to bite you when the rate drops."

John Finley
Office of Research Administration
University of Louisville
Louisville, Ky. 40292
Tele: 502 852-8363 FAX: 502 852-8361