Conference: Creation of a National Job Classification System for Research Administrators

强大的研究管理人员队伍加强了研究企业，促进了教师的招聘和保留，有助于平衡研究需求和沉重的教学负担，并增加了代表性不足的少数民族在STEM中的参与。这个项目的目的是促进发展一个适用于支持赞助的研究活动的各种行政角色的国家研究行政人员工作分类制度。需要建立一个全国性的工作分类系统，以扩大获得跨学科研究管理支持的机会，并解决所有机构，特别是新兴机构和少数民族服务机构的劳动力挑战。缺乏正式的全国性职位分类制度对保留雇员产生不利影响。这种保留问题导致了重大的财务损失和生产力下降。这个问题在新兴的和少数民族服务的机构中往往更为明显，因为这些机构很难以具有竞争力的市场工资雇佣和留住合格的研究支持人才。这削弱了它们提交竞争性申请以获得外部资助以支持研究的能力。研究行政人员的国家工作分类系统将为所有机构雇用和保留研究行政人员创造公平的竞争环境。这个将与国际科研管理人员协会（SRAI）合作实施的三阶段会议项目，利用焦点小组、调查和小组讨论来探讨围绕科研管理人员的当前问题以及建立国家工作分类系统的必要性。一个由利益相关者组成的指导委员会，包括来自SRAI、学院和大学人力资源专业协会（CUPA-HR）和北伊利诺伊大学的成员，已经成立，以提供战略方向。该项目旨在克服在所有学术机构进行资助研究的障碍，重点是研究管理人员在提案撰写、向外部资助机构提交和奖励管理方面提供的支持；识别招聘、保留和补偿合格研究行政人员的挑战，以提高机构在研究经费方面的竞争力；并强调了为研究管理角色建立正式的工作分类框架的必要性。可交付成果包括会议每个阶段的总结论文和最终报告，总结了关于获得研究资金的挑战的讨论，为制定国家工作分类系统提出了关键建议，并创建了支持研究管理基础设施和融资的组织模式。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A robust research administration workforce strengthens the research enterprise, promotes faculty recruitment and retention, assists with balancing research demands and heavy teaching loads, and increases the participation of underrepresented minorities in STEM. This project aims to contribute to the development of a national research administrator job classification system applicable to the wide array of administrative roles that support sponsored research activities. A national job classification system is needed to extend access to research administration support across disciplines and address workforce challenges at all institutions, especially emerging and minority-serving institutions. The lack of a formal, national job classification system negatively affects employee retention. This retention problem results in significant financial loss and diminished productivity. This problem is often more pronounced in emerging and minority-serving institutions because it can be difficult for these institutions to hire and retain qualified research support talent at competitive market salaries. This diminishes their capacity to submit competitive applications for external funding to support research. A national job classification system for research administrators will level the playing field for hiring and retaining research administration staff across all institutions.The three-phase conference project, to be implemented in collaboration with the Society of Research Administrators International (SRAI), uses focus groups, surveys, and panels to explore current issues surrounding the research administration workforce and the need to create a national job classification system. A steering committee of stakeholders, including members from the SRAI, the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), and Northern Illinois University, has been formed to provide strategic direction. The project seeks to overcome barriers to conducting funded research at all academic institutions by focusing on the support provided by research administrators for proposal writing, submission to external funding agencies, and award management; identifying the challenges of recruiting, retaining, and compensating qualified research administrators to enhance institutional competitiveness for research funding; and highlighting the need for a formal job classification framework for research administration roles. Deliverables include a summary paper for each phase of the conference and a final report summarizing the discussion about challenges in obtaining funding for research, making key recommendations for developing a national job classification system, and creating organizational models to support research administration infrastructure and financing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.