SRAI 2026 Collaborative Section Meeting

Attain Partners at the 2026 SRAI Collaborative Section Meeting

Hear from the Attain Partners team during the 2026 SRAI Collaborative Section Meeting, taking place May 3 – 8 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Pre-Award Meeting

M202: Strengthening Pre-Award Operations: Managing Capacity, Risk & Proposal Success
Monday, May 4 | 11a – 12p ET

Pre-award offices are being stretched thinner than ever by proposal volume, late faculty engagement, tight deadlines, and system limitations.  When things break, it is not just stressful, it affects proposal quality, timelines, and staff sustainability.
 
In this candid panel discussion, experienced research administrators will talk honestly about what causes pre-award operations to break down and how their offices are addressing it. Panelists will share real examples, lessons learned, and practical fixes they have tried, what worked, what did not, and what they would do differently.  Attendees will leave with realistic ideas they can adapt to improve workflows, communication, and day-to-day resilience in their own pre-award offices.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize common pressure points in pre-award operations, such as proposal surges, late changes, and coordination challenges, and understand how these issues impact staff capacity and proposal outcomes.
• Identify practical peer-tested strategies that can be adapted to reduce recurring disruptions and strengthen pre-award operations at their own institutions.

Speakers

• John Hedberg, Senior Associate, Attain Partners
• Monica Stinnett, Director, OSP Grants, University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Heather Wainwright, Assistant Director, Sponsored Projects Administration, University of South Alabama
• Cindy Morin, Senior Administrative and Business Manager, Johns Hopkins University

T304: AI Strategy by Design: Making Smart, Sustainable Investments in Research Administration
Tuesday, May 5 | 1:45p – 12:45p ET

As artificial intelligence reshapes the research enterprise, the question facing institutional leaders is no longer whether to adopt AI; it’s where and how to invest for meaningful impact. As new tools and capabilities emerge at a rapid pace, research organizations must take a strategic approach to identifying AI initiatives that align with their mission, compliance obligations, and organizational capacity.

This session equips attendees with a practical framework for building an AI strategic plan for research administration—one that balances innovation, governance, and institutional readiness. We’ll explore how to evaluate potential AI investments based on value, feasibility, and risk, and how to plan for implementation to ensure maximum adoption and long-term success. Grounded in principles of change management and strategic alignment, the session will also address how to engage stakeholders, communicate vision, and create a culture of responsible experimentation.

Participants will leave with tools to move from scattered AI experiments to a coordinated institutional roadmap that drives efficiency, transparency, and transformation.

Learning Objectives

• Apply a Strategic Framework to Evaluate AI Opportunities: Identify and prioritize potential AI initiatives in research administration using criteria such as mission alignment, ROI, compliance risk, and institutional feasibility.
• Assess Institutional Readiness and Governance Needs: Evaluate factors that influence an institution’s capacity to implement and sustain AI initiatives successfully.

Speakers

• Kathleen Halley-Octa, Manager, Attain Partners
• Theresa Couch, Director of Research Administration Operations, Michigan State University

Post-Award Meeting

W201: Audit-Proofing Your Portfolio: Strategies for Research Admin Success
Wednesday, May 6 | 11a – 12p ET

Audits can feel intimidating, but they don’t have to be. In research administration, being “audit-ready” really starts long before an audit is on the horizon. It begins at the proposal stage and continues all the way through closeout. In this session, we’ll walk through how simple, practical internal controls can be built into everyday processes to make compliance easier and more predictable.
 
We’ll also talk about how central and departmental offices can work together more smoothly, strengthening communication and turning hand-offs into true partnerships. Along the way, we’ll look at real case studies (both successes and missteps) to highlight what works, what doesn’t, and what we can learn from each scenario.

Learning Objectives

• Leave with concrete ideas you can put into practice right away to reduce risk.
• Approach audits with much more confidence.

Speakers

• John Hedberg, Senior Associate, Attain Partners
• Amanda Seymour, Director, Sponsored Programs Accounting, Office of the Controller & Treasurer, Mississippi State University

W205: Hot Issues in Federal Grant Management – 2026 Status and 2027 Outlook
Wednesday, May 6 | 11a – 12p ET

On April 22, 2024, OMB made an “extreme makeover” of the Uniform Guidance that results in revisions of 69 out of 191 sections (or 36 percent) from its 2020 edition. The revisions became effective for Federal awards on October 1, 2024. Since then, we have a new Administration that, on day one, rescinded many Executive Orders (E.O.) that the revisions were based on and issued several E.O.s that drastically altered the grant landscape. E.O. 14332 – Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking (August 7, 2025). The E.O.s have resulted in abrupt terminations in thousands of grant awards by the agencies, which would result in a severe loss of reimbursement to research institutes and cripple US research endeavors.

Lawsuits have resulted in a temporary pause for their implementations. In the meantime, the Joint Associations Group (JAG) has worked with the grant community to propose a brand-new model for charging research costs – the FAIR model. Based on E.O. 14332, Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking (August 7, 2025), OMB plans to issue another round of revisions to the Uniform Guidance that will align better with this Administration’s priorities. This session will highlight all the Government activities, including OMB proposed revisions, related to the changes in grant landscapes and their impact on research administration at your institution. It will provide an update on the proposed JAG’s FAIR model. It will provide an outlook for the grant landscape in 2026.

Learning Objectives

• Participants will directly interact with subject matter experts on indirect and direct costing practices
• Participants will gain deep insights into federal costing and regulatory positions

Speakers

• Mike Leonard, Senior Grants Consultant, Attain Partners

WS1: Financial Management, Reporting, and Closeout
Friday, May 8 | 9a – 5p ET

As research administrators responsible for all institutional research and related activities involving externally and internally sponsored projects, it is important to be conversant with a myriad of topics related to managing sponsored projects. Having an understanding of financial management is an important area for those who are in pre-award and post-award, as well as compliance.

As a result, this workshop will highlight the roles and responsibilities of the administrative/scientific staff while identifying the types of funding instruments institutions receive to support their research programs. The workshop will also highlight the administrative requirements specifically outlined within 2CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance), with in-depth discussions surrounding topics such as compensation, prior approval requests from sponsors, re-budgeting, cost transfers, cost sharing, and standards regarding documentation for all expenditures and various ways to manage based on shared experiences.

Learning Objectives

• As research administrators responsible for all institutional research and related activities involving externally and internally sponsored projects, it is important to be conversant with a myriad of topics related to managing sponsored projects.
• Understand ways to assure compliance with award requirements throughout the project’s duration, closeout, and beyond.

Speakers

• Nadia Kikilo, Principal, Attain Partners
• Amanda Seymour, Director, Sponsored Programs Accounting, Office of the Controller & Treasurer, Mississippi State University