'Dizzying' Research Administration Pace Pauses During Symposium

While Duke's scientists earn headlines for ground-breaking research such as the gigapixel camera and bioengineered blood vessels, the research would not be possible without 1,200 staff members who work  behind the scenes to ensure compliance, manage grant funding and process required paperwork for ever-expanding regulations. 

Nearly 400 of these grant managers and business managers gathered Nov. 7 for the fourth annual Symposium for Research Administrators to learn how to navigate  the constant change and stress of their profession. 

In recognition of the unsettling nature of rapid change, keynote speaker Dr. Jennifer Shambrook, of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, shared her research on stress and the profession of research administration. Her recent study shows that 90 percent of research administrators agree that their job has grown  more demanding in the past three years, but that exercising, work-life balance and  a network of social support among peers buffers the stress of the job. 

Kae Greenleaf, a grants manager in the Division of Rheumatology who has 34 years of experience in research administration, agreed that peer support is key to keeping an even keel at work.

"That's why having a professional development day like this is so cool," Greenleaf said. "It gives us the opportunity to network and create workgroups and share our knowledge."

This full day of professional development also included a review of the changes in research administration during recent decades, highlights of upcoming changes in the federal funding landscape, and  sessions on issues such as handling international grants and the fundamentals of financial management for clinical trials.  

Jim Luther, assistant vice president for Financial Services at Duke, shared a light-hearted video that looked at how the role of research administrators has changed. Grant managers today must understand complex computerized systems and abide by regulations from a host of different federal agencies that monitor grants, which account for $1 billion annually or about 46 percent of Duke's operating revenue. 

The rate of change has been "dizzying," said Luther, but it will continue to increase. For example, regulatory changes recently announced by the National Institutes of Health about the timing of payments from grants could alter as many as 21 daily business processes at Duke for research administrators. 

"This could be a game changer for everyone," Luther said. 

The symposium was sponsored by Duke's Research Administration Continuous Improvement (RACI) initiative, an effort led by senior leadership to create an infrastructure of administrative support for faculty researchers. The symposium is offered each year at no cost to grants administrators and business managers at Duke to help foster the ongoing professionalism of research administration at Duke.