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Qualifications James R. Brett 10 May 1999 11:07 EST

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
> > >
> > >
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--
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

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