Maybe it would be good to say what is entailed in a "needs assessment." I would break the idea down into office and context. "Office" would include all the things the institution would like to have in the person, understanding that few, if any, will match up perfectly. "Context" would include those elements in the institution that are missing and, on the otherhand, well covered. The two are dynamic in the sense that one list depends very much on the other; write them at the same time. "Context" would also include something about the strategic planning of the institution, and in this item, I think, the concept of "change agent" is introduced. Some may not want change agents, others may need them. Native candidates versus alien should be decided early on, also. Getting bigger or drawing more money to the campus is probably not a good way to express the bottom line for an all-institution research administrator at the level of dean or director. That outcome should be on the table, but the hiring authority ought to have a reasonably detailed idea of what the local and external environments are. If the institution has not gotten that far (and come to a substantial agreement about it), it is probably not ready to begin a hiring process. Needless to say, perhaps, the hiring process should not be used as a way to get free consultancies about local strategic or administrative issues. The institution should be able to identify down to a reasonable precision what it is looking for and have agreed in advance how the candidate's fit is to be evaluated. Jim "Steven R. Hoagland, Ph.D." wrote: > I agree in part with Bill and Charlie, but find myself wondering about the > implicit assumption that good technicians make good managers. However, that is > probably best left for a management listserv. > > Cheers! > > Steve Hoagland > > Charlie Hathaway wrote: > > > I agree with Bill. > > > > But I would suggest that a long-term view also be considered: > > > > Could a PhD leaving academia/research eventually come to understand > > institutional budgetary concerns and cost accounting standards? Probably. > > > > Could a CPA/CRA without research experience eventually come to understand > > what it is like to start an experiment on Monday, work on it all week, find > > out it was a flop on Friday, and then spend all day Saturday writing a > > grant proposal? Probably not. > > > > Remember: Marv Levy DID play college football! > > > > Charlie Hathaway > > > > At 08:45 AM 5/10/99 -0400, you wrote: > > >Mitchell, I think you should be quite flexible about your requirements. > > Folks > > >wander into research administration through a variety of routes, none of > > which > > >is automatically better than any of the others. There is no prescribed means > > >of preparation for this job. > > > > > >I recommend listing the bare minimum of qualifications (Master's required, > > >doctorate preferred; 3-5 years experience working in higher ed; etc.) but > > >listing the sorts of things you expect this person to do. Will s/he write > > >proposals? Then list proposal-writing experience. Create budgets or oversee > > >post-award accounting? Then mention those tasks, perhaps require some > > >experience. Find funding sources? Experience with funding agencies? > > Mention > > >that. > > > > > >But the most important things may be ability to work with faculty in > > stressful > > >situations; high degree of tolerance for ambiguity; ability to work on many > > >tasks at once; sense of humor; excellent communication skills, both > > written and > > >oral; and--most important of all--willingness to do whatever has to be > > done to > > >get proposals out the door. > > > > > >The trick, I think, is to write a job description which is flexible enough to > > >attract a bunch of highly qualified candidates, select the few most likely > > and > > >interview them; if they don't wash, keep going down the list. > > > > > >Regards and good luck, > > >Bill Campbell (Ph.D.) > > >Director, Grants & Research > > >University of Wisconsin-River Falls > > > > > > > > >====================================================================== > > > 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") > > >====================================================================== > > > > > > > > ************************************** > > Charles B. Hathaway, Ph.D., Director > > Office of Grant Support > > 908A Belfer > > Albert Einstein College of Medicine > > 1300 Morris Park Avenue > > Bronx, NY 10461 > > Phone: 718 430-3642 Fax: 718 430-8822 > > email: xxxxxx@aecom.yu.edu > > http://www.aecom.yu.edu/ogs > > > > ====================================================================== > > 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") > > ====================================================================== -- James R. Brett, Ph.D., Director Office of University Research California State University, Long Beach 562-985-4833 fax 985-8665 http://www.csulb.edu/~research ====================================================================== 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") ======================================================================
