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Money makes the world go round How a CASRAI standard can put $$ into PI pockets faster with fewer admin $$ - all before love flies out the door!
| Date post: | 21-Mar-2017 |
| Category: |
Government & Nonprofit |
| Upload: | casrai |
| View: | 189 times |
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Money makes the world go round
How a CASRAI standard can put $$ into PI pockets faster with fewer admin $$ - all before love flies out the door!
ABC: the University Perspective
Financial constraints make business
process optimization essential, not just fun
to do
Only so much can be achieved
independently; active tri-agency partners
required
An opportunity for CASRAI to demonstrate
concrete ROI
Background - U of T Context
In 2010 U of T embarked on the Research
Administration Improvement & System
Enhancement (RAISE) project
– A systematic approach to the improvement of research administration through the use of information technology
RAISE Process
Under the RAISE rubric a number of
discrete projects/development objects
were identified
Individual project execution was broken
into 3 phases
1. Analysis of existing practices & tools
2. Design of optimized practice & support tools
3. Programming of the new/improved tool
Automated Upload of Tri-Council
Research Competition Results
Analysis
– Number of applications to be processed
– Different result formats
– Number of APIs needed to process the results
– Longevity of any particular solution
Resulting Return on Investment
Application to Award Pathway
PI Proposal Development
Sign-off by University
(Record in University Database)
Submission to Sponsor
Adjudication by Sponsor
Communication of Results to University
Set-up of restricted Research
Funds
Communication to PIs, Chairs, et
al.
PI spending & analysis of
results
U of T path starts with MRA
Pothole on the information highway
SSHRC Insight Results
NSERC Discovery Results
CIHR Foundation Results
Communication of Results
No Yes
Yes
U of T Yes Process - FReD
What’s in the proposed standard
First pass for the pilot
– Funder identification
– Recipient identification
• Institution, Person, Award ID
– Award amounts
• By Period
What’s the end goal?
Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2016
Apr 1, 2016-Mar 31, 2107
Apr 1, 2017-Mar 31, 2108
Apr 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018
Open $50,000
Personnel $50,000 $200,000 $200,000 $175,000
Equipment $100,000
Travel $50,000 $50,000 $50,000
Total $100,000 $350,000 $250,000 $225,000
The standard will need to accommodate scenarios where the sponsor requires control of the budget at a detailed level.
For the pilot, the standard will focus on a single line budget with multiple periods (Tri-Council standard practice).
Return on Investment
Directly related to the number of
applications which could be processed
Inversely related to the number of different
result formats
Inversely related to the # of APIs
Directly related to the longevity of the
solution
Return on Investment - Dollars
U of T Context– Approximately 4000 applications submitted to
approximately 650 unique sponsors annually – Of those sponsors, only 7 receive in excess of 100
applications annually– 25% - 50% of account set-up could automated– 6 – 12 weeks of staff time could be saved– With a widely adopted standard potentially 80%
of award set-up could be automated– Increases the number of institutions for which
automation provides an ROI
Return on Investment - Speed
Account set-up - hours versus weeks
Automation of notification
– PI
– Chair
– Dean
– VP
Improved data quality
Why it can work
The RAISE projects demonstrate that IT
projects can produce real savings
– Of particular relevance to the Results Standard
• Two implemented projects saving U of T in excess of $0.5 million annually
• Ability to provide instantaneous notifications
• Huge improvement in data quality and reusability
What’s needed to make a CASRAI
Standard on Research Results work?
– Focus
– Partners to implement
money money money money
Judith ChadwickAssistant Vice-President, Research Services & Chief
Administrative Officer, University of Toronto
Robert DirsteinPresident, Dirstein Consulting Inc.
