Meet the newest members of Team Attain, and the first to live and work outside of the United States
Attain Partners is constantly expanding, growing both our client roster and our team. We are thrilled to announce that we have opened our first office outside of the continental United States in New Delhi, India, expanding our corporate footprint globally. To kickstart our operations in India, we have brought on board six exceptional new Team Attain members in support of our Salesforce Innovation Services (SIS) practice. Looking ahead, we plan to continue hiring more technology resources to support practices across our business, as well as to building out our India office location.
“I’ve been working as a Salesforce developer for more than five years and have exposure in different industries such as insurance and medical among others. I have been working with Attain Partners as a contractor for over a year and am excited to join full-time—I have experienced the company culture, what sort of work is assigned to the developers, and how the company values the employees. Attain has given me the opportunity to work on different domains and tasks and I am very excited to be a member of Team Attain.”
Anuja Nikam
“I love my work. The Salesforce platform is constantly evolving, and there’s always something new to explore and integrate into our systems.
I see immense potential for us to leverage Salesforce’s capabilities to drive meaningful change and deliver exceptional value to our customers. Additionally, Attain Partners’ collaborative and inclusive culture is something that resonates with me, and I’m eager to contribute my skills and ideas to help the company continue its upward trajectory.
The prospect of working alongside talented professionals who share the same passion for innovation and problem-solving is very appealing to me—I’m excited to contribute to our ongoing pursuit of excellence.”
Chetan Sorte
“I am excited about the prospect of working in an environment where my ideas are valued, and I can contribute to collective problem-solving. I believe that by joining Attain Partners, I can leverage my experience and skills to drive collaborative initiatives and contribute to a positive work culture.
I’m also looking forward to continuing to improve by refining my skills, learning from experienced professionals, and contributing to delivering exceptional experiences to customers.”
Trupti Khedekar
“I love working as a Salesforce Developer because I have the mind of a coder—I’ve worked with the platform for over five years and really enjoy it.
I believe if everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself. I am excited to be part of a team that consistently strives for excellence while maintaining a collaborative working environment. Working with talented and supportive colleagues not only boosts productivity but also makes each day enjoyable.”
Ravi Shukla
“As a seasoned IT professional with a passion for Salesforce, I bring eight years of hands-on expertise to our team. My dedication to mastering the Salesforce ecosystem has led to the achievement of six coveted certifications, affirming my commitment to excellence in this field. Throughout my career, I’ve played a pivotal role in transforming organizations by leveraging the power of Salesforce. My extensive knowledge spans the entire Salesforce platform, from Sales Cloud and Service Cloud to Marketing Cloud and beyond. I’ve successfully executed numerous projects, optimizing processes, and driving growth for businesses of all sizes.
Attain Partners’ exceptional work culture, characterized by a commitment to collaboration and unwavering support from fellow team members, is truly inspiring. What sets Attain Partners apart is its strategic vision and unwavering dedication to making a meaningful impact in specialized industries such as nonprofit and education. By concentrating its expertise in these niche domains, Attain Partners not only differentiates itself but also plays a pivotal role in driving positive change and innovation within these sectors. This focused approach not only showcases the company’s dedication to excellence but also its profound commitment to address critical challenges and creating lasting value in areas that matter most.”
Yash Raghuvanshi
“As an experienced Salesforce Consultant, I bring three years of hands-on expertise in customizing Salesforce solutions to provide operational efficiency and client success. I have enjoyed completing projects to design and implement tailored applications and robust flows, as well as leveraging Apex and Lightning components to craft innovative solutions that elevate businesses to new heights.
When I think of Attain Partners, I think, ‘Invent the Future.’ It’s not just a core value, it’s a personal mission to envision, create, and lead in a world where possibilities are limitless.”
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https://attainpartners.com/wp-content/uploads/Newsletter-Graphics_2023-09_Attain-Partners-India.png42728010Olivia PychaOlivia Pycha2023-09-08 14:33:222023-10-02 12:57:31Attain Partners Opens New Office in India Welcoming Six New Team Members
Attain Partners Experts Discuss the Trials of Clinical Trial Tracking and Share Insights on How to Choose the Best CTMS
Clinical trials (CT) post-award management can be challenging without the support of a robust Clinical Trials Management System (CTMS). A CTMS is a specialized software application designed to streamline the management of all aspects of a clinical trial, from its inception to the final stages.
A Clinical Trials Management System serves as a centralized hub for personnel involved to update and track trial visits, milestones, invoicing, payments, and more.
The CTMS is indispensable to organizations, allowing them to maintain real-time financial records of clinical trials to invoice and receive payments in accordance with the executed agreement, consequently limiting the risk of deficits. Additionally, it aids in ensuring compliance with both internal policies and governmental regulations.
Transitioning from Manual Tracking Processes
Many organizations initially manage post-award clinical trials manually, relying on Excel templates for individual trials via a shared location. This approach can work well when dealing with a limited number of trials and well-established processes.
Key components of a successful manual CT management process include its ability to:
Develop clear and accurate templates to encompass the specifics of each trial (e.g., patient visits, milestones, and pass-through items).
Utilize a shared location, such as SharePoint, to allow real-time tracking and workflow to multiple parties involved in the administration and financial management of the trial (e.g., updating completed items and generating sponsor invoicing).
Upgrading to a Clinical Trials Management System
However, as an organization’s clinical trial portfolio grows, manual processes become unsustainable. At this stage, investing in a CTMS becomes a strategic move to ensure accurate patient activity tracking, billing, and collections.
An effective CTMS should have the flexibility to accommodate a wide range of study types, from traditional clinical trials to summary accrual and registry clinical trials. It should also be adaptable for one-off trials that may require milestone-based invoicing, among other features.
Other crucial factors to consider include the system’s ability to:
Allow multiple departments access to update relative data (e.g., clinical research coordinators, clinical finance team, and central finance office for receivable tracking and collection).
Support multiple budget amendments to accommodate changes in study parameters.
Incorporate visit fee changes, additional visits, or reductions in visit types.
Seamless integration with existing systems (e.g., invoicing/financial systems and patient visit systems that designate clinical trial visits).
Ideally, a CTMS will create the invoice and wait for a post-award manager to submit it, and the invoice will be automatically emailed to the sponsor via the CTMS. The system will also send follow-up emails to sponsors for outstanding invoice payments based on the payment terms. At the very least, the CTMS should email the finance team that the Clinical Research Coordinators add patient visits, pass-through items, or milestone items for invoicing.
Enhancing CTMS Reporting Functionality
In terms of reporting capabilities, an ideal CTMS should offer:
Accurate reporting of patient visits and milestones completed with payments received and outstanding invoices
A report of all studies currently requiring invoicing; the system might even ping the financial contact to submit invoicing or follow up on outstanding invoice payments monthly
Clinical trials post-award management may seem daunting at first because it requires input from various departments within an organization. This offers great opportunities to build valuable relationships between study teams and central offices.
Attain Partners has a team of experts in clinical trial management, each with extensive experience in various types of CTMS applications. Our experts can assist your organization in streamlining its clinical trials portfolio and guide you in selecting the most suitable CTMS to meet your organization’s specific needs. Our consultants excel in system integration and personnel training for a seamless transition to a CTMS solution. Contact us today to learn more.
About the Author
Kedeisha S. Carty is a Senior Associate at Attain Partners with over 15 years of experience in Higher Education focusing on research management. She has extensive experience in clinical trials management, pre- and post-award management, and managing post-award grant research. Kedeisha holds an MBA in Business Administration.
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https://attainpartners.com/wp-content/uploads/Newsletter-Graphics_10-2022_IMPRO.png9671834Olivia PychaOlivia Pycha2023-09-06 17:11:142025-04-15 16:22:42What to Consider Before Implementing a Clinical Trials Management System
Prosci Certified Team Attain Members Serve Our Clients Across Practices
Attain Partners knows change management. Leveraging the industry gold standard Prosci methodology positions us to guide clients through the challenging landscape of change, whether it be developmental, transitional, or transformational. We deliver transformative results that lead to strong returns on investments across our practice areas.
Meet the most recent Prosci Certification graduates at Attain Partners!
Carly Alti Analyst, Research Enterprise Services
Attain Partners (AP): Why are you excited to be Prosci certified?
Carly Alti (CA): I’m excited to use my Prosci training to help clients and colleagues through change initiatives by leveraging what I have learned about achieving desired and lasting outcomes from change.
AP: What was one new nugget of information you learned from the certification process?
CA: Effective change management always begins with a reason. Expressing a compelling “why” for change initiatives involves presenting the rationale for change using facts, figures, features, and data.
AP: How do you plan to use your Prosci certification to better serve your clients?
CA: I plan to improve change management effectiveness and increase the likelihood of change success by applying the Prosci Methodology when working on clients’ change projects and initiatives. Supporting, equipping, and preparing our people to successfully adopt and use the change is key to long-term success!
Attain Partners (AP): Why are you excited to be Prosci certified?
Timothy Hutchinson (TH): I’m excited to be Prosci certified because I just joined Attain, and I believe it was a perfect introduction to change management!
AP: What was one new nugget of information you learned from the certification process?
TH: Change is a personal choice and individuals need to be active to sustain a group effort.
AP: How do you plan to use your Prosci certification to better serve your clients?
TH: I plan to utilize the knowledge I gained, as well as the ADKAR model to effectively tackle all projects in my future.
Kora Rea-Alexander Talent Acquisition Professional
Attain Partners (AP): Why are you excited to be Prosci certified?
Kora Rea-Alexander (KRA): I am excited to gain my Prosci certification because this will allow me to bring an even higher level of organizational effectiveness to Attain Partners. Personally, I have grown in my strategic thinking and critical assessment of new projects and initiatives.
AP: What was one new nugget of information you learned from the certification process?
KRA:My biggest takeaway from the Prosci course is the Prosci Change Triangle and the impact it has on overall project success. This tool is critical in addressing risk and leads to increased awareness across an organization.
AP: How do you plan to use your Prosci certification to better serve your clients?
KRA: I plan to use this certification to continue to empower Attain Partner’s seven core values. Prosci has a collaborative approach to its methodology and deeply acknowledges that nothing gets completed alone. Team for Speed also acknowledges our ability to collaborate and learn from each other, ensuring our clients receive the best product and service possible.
Jess Jones Senior Analyst, Strategic Transformation Services
Attain Partners (AP): Why are you excited to be Prosci certified?
Jess Jones (JJ): I’m excited to be Prosci certified because it shows that Attain Partners believes in me enough to invest in my future and encourages me to grow professionally. Also, I was excited to learn the theory and techniques behind change management, and I look forward to carrying that into my future projects.
AP: What was one new nugget of information you learned from the certification process?
JJ:Something that I didn’t fully realize before the training is how vast change management is. At Attain Partners, it centers around managers and consultants, but many people with different backgrounds can easily benefit from being Prosci Certified and understanding the ideas about change.
AP: How do you plan to use your Prosci certification to better serve your clients?
JJ:Moving forward, I plan to make use of the tools provided through the Prosci certification. More importantly, I will use the theory behind change management to better understand my clients’ reservations with change to meet their individual needs.
Courtney Swaney Senior Manager, Research Enterprise Services
Attain Partners (AP): Why are you excited to be Prosci certified?
Courtney Swaney (CS): I’m excited to be Prosci certified because it’s one more resource for me to utilize when I’m working to serve my clients.
AP: What was one new nugget of information you learned from the certification process?
CS: The Prosci course was excellent, and I highly recommend it. One piece of information that I learned was identifying a person’s or group’s barrier point. By conducting an ADKAR (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement) assessment, you can better understand where the person or the group is lacking and then employ tactics to help that group past that barrier point until there’s a new barrier point or until the group is fully ready for a go-live with the change.
AP: How do you plan to use your Prosci certification to better serve your clients?
CS: My clients are constantly facing changes, both big and small. Understanding more about the people side of change will better equip me to assist them through these changes.
Lindsey Demeritt Manager, Research Enterprise Services
Attain Partners (AP): Why are you excited to be Prosci certified?
Lindsey Demeritt (LD): I think I am most excited to be Prosci certified because it will be just one more service/area of expertise that I can offer to clients. So many of our clients are undergoing any number of various changes that to have some insight into how to help facilitate and promote effective change management I think can only benefit our engagements.
AP: What was one new nugget of information you learned from the certification process?
LD: I learned the definitive influence of the executive sponsor. I think that this is “known” in theory, but to see the numbers and understand the science behind it was illuminating. The executive sponsor is critical to success and yet is often minimally engaged.
AP: How do you plan to use your Prosci certification to better serve your clients?
LD: I plan to use my knowledge to facilitate change, to be able to potentially advise of best practices, and to be of service in the processes of change, understanding how important it is to have a strong change agent network within the organization.
Kathleen Halley-Octa Senior Consultant, Research Enterprise Services
Attain Partners (AP): Why are you excited to be Prosci certified?
Kathleen Halley-Octa (KHO): Becoming Prosci certified in change management has been a goal for a long time and I am excited that Attain helped me through the process! The information I learned through the course will help me better serve our clients.
AP: What was one new nugget of information you learned from the certification process?
KHO: My biggest takeaway was the tie between individual and organizational change– you can’t move an organization through change without getting the people onboard with the change first!
AP: How do you plan to use your Prosci certification to better serve your clients?
KHO: I think change management is something higher education struggles with– there are so many change initiatives happening at once that people can become easily overwhelmed, especially when change management isn’t handled well. I’m excited to use the strategies I learned in our Cayuse implementation and business process redesign projects.
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The Attain Partners team had a wonderful time sponsoring the NCURA 65th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. this year. It featured a lively reconnection of longtime research administration colleagues, an exciting opportunity to usher in a new generation of professionals, and a plethora of engaging conversations around interim staffing, professional development, AI, and so much more.
Our experts had the pleasure of presenting thirteen sessions and workshops in addition to cohosting a Beach Bash reception with our longstanding strategic partner, Cayuse.
At Attain Partners, we have a proven track record of serving over 70 of the top 100 U.S. research institutions and 100% of Ivy League schools and offer a variety of tailored research enterprise services to help address issues any institution may be facing. Please contact us—We’re happy to help!
Themes from the NCURA 65th Annual Meeting
1. Networking and professional development are at an all-time high.
The NCURA Annual Meeting is the event of the year for research administration professionals—and this year was bigger and better than ever before. Our entire team, including Laney McLean, Senior Consultant at Attain Partners, reconnected with old friends and colleagues and forged new connections in the field. The conversations around best practices and trends in research administration left her feeling invigorated and excited to help more organizations make improvements to support their teams and advance their missions. For remote team members, the Meeting was especially exciting, as this was the first time many of them had the opportunity to connect in person.
Professional development opportunities like the NCURA 65th Annual Meeting are great for employee engagement paired with ongoing training, balancing workload, and offering flexibility.
Laney McLean
Senior Consultant, Attain Partners
We also had the honor of extending networking hours by co-hosting over 100 attendees at the NCURA Annual Meeting Beach Bash with our colleagues at Cayuse. We’re not sure where we felt more energy— inside where floral-clad guests enjoyed delicious appetizers and vibrant conversation, or outside where the local weather in D.C. threatened its worst.
2. Research administration is a growing field full of opportunity.
With so many new research administrators entering the field, there were a lot of discussions around how to onboard and get new staff members up to speed as quickly and efficiently as possible. Attain Partners’ research administration experts have decades of experience in the field, direct experience working in education, and a successful track record of serving the nation’s top colleges and universities. We also offer in-depth, sponsor-based research administration training tailored to the needs of any institution.
During the NCURA Annual Meeting, we had the opportunity to connect with education institutions hiring new research administrators and share how we work with teams to develop programs that meet their unique needs and allow their research administration operations to get up to speed quickly. Learn more in our case study.
Lindsey Demeritt, Senior Specialist Leader at Attain Partners, did notice “there was a pretty obvious lack of Gen Z’ers” at this year’s meeting, which she feels is unfortunately in line with how the research administration field is aging.
Research administrators are as active as ever, opening doors for young professionals and forging pathways for new graduates to join the field.
Lindsey Demeritt
Senior Specialist Leader, Attain Partners
Are you interested in advancing your career with Attain Partners? Explore current career opportunities and apply today.
3. Interim staffing helps retain great employees and meet understaffed teams where they are.
Throughout the meeting, our team noticed a recurring theme of overloaded staff desperate for solutions.
It was exciting to share my experiences serving on the Attain Partners staffing augmentation team with those who weren’t familiar with how it works. Seeing the moment individuals realized that there was help for teams that are overloaded was rejuvenating. I was surprised by how many people indicated they didn’t know there were companies that could help them.
Georgetta Dennis
Senior Associate, Attain Partners
Always excited to help our community, our experts explained how we share our on-the-job experience with understaffed organizations to fill gaps, build processes, optimize procedures, and help them meet deadlines through our Interim Staffing services. Doing so retains great employees and keeps them engaged and excited about their jobs. As organization reporting requirements and compliance challenges grow, interim staffing is in demand, and our experts are ready to hit the ground running.
4. The future of research administration includes AI.
Attendees at the NCURA 65th Annual Meeting were energized to discuss AI’s future and use cases in research administration.
There were a few great sessions about how we can harness the power of AI to improve research administration operations. It was fun to brainstorm and see how institutions are using ChatGPT for everything from customer service chatbots to poems about research administration.
Kathleen Halley-Octa
Senior Consultant, Attain Partners
5. The vibrant research administration community is strong and eager to welcome new faces.
Gathering with fellow research administration professionals at the NCURA Annual Meeting is always a treat. The Attain Partners team was thrilled to reconnect with familiar faces and meet so many new ones—thank you all for joining us!
We look forward to continuing the conversations and exploring new ways to support each other in staffing, professional development, and innovation.
Attain Partners – Research Administration Experts
Compliance is critical to your organization’s ability to make an impact. Our team provides world-class expertise in navigating the complex and dynamic regulatory environment, implementing industry best practices, and optimizing performance. Learn more about our services, read an interview with industry expert Mark Davis, and contact us here.
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Strategic planning offers organizations the opportunity to align with a vision for the future, identifying unique and prioritized objectives to guide success. This is true across all industries but is especially so for libraries.
Ideally, a library has an active strategic plan unifying the organization. With short and long-term goals, actionable tasks, and measures for success, a library can create opportunities for continuous reflection and improvement. A strategic plan rooted in community engagement is critical to ensure libraries are equipped to respond to rapidly changing environments and community needs.
Strategic Planning for Libraries
With limited resources, libraries may be challenged to lead a comprehensive and inclusive strategic planning process. Attain Partners has a unique solution to strategic planning for libraries, combining the expertise of both library and strategy consultants to facilitate the development of an actionable plan that connects the current state with a realistic vision for the future.
One of the key benefits of library strategic planning with Attain Partners is our ability to leverage industry expertise, including rigorous benchmarking and facilitation best practices.
Strategic planning doesn’t need to be difficult, and we can tailor our proven approach to meet the needs and cadence of any given library. When collaborating with library staff and leadership, it is critical to incorporate the following questions into the planning efforts:
What is the vision of the university?
What community does this library serve? Who is in this defined community?
What does the community need from a library?
Do the current services and collection materials reflect community needs?
What are the library’s organizational strengths and challenges?
What resources are available and allocated to organizational strategy?
When was the last strategic plan developed?
How readily available is data on library services and collections?
Does the library’s current mission and vision align with recent performance?
Does the planning timeline allow the necessary community engagement to ensure that strategy more closely aligns to the needs of those the library serves?
Library Industry Experts at Attain Partners
Our team of career librarians brings over 40 years of combined experience working in libraries. Attain Partners brings a unique service to clients that is grounded in collaboration, fostering a shared sense of ownership throughout the process. Our distinctive strategic planning partnership aligns long-term strategic objectives with shorter-term priorities so library leadership can efficiently marshal resources and iteratively build organizational success rather than focus on disparate initiatives.
Through collaboration, our team provides complementary support services for our strategic directives, including organizational reviews, continuous improvement models, and process mapping.
While strategic plans encompass a library’s entire organization, our consultants work with libraries to optimize their resources and focus on priority goals to benefit their programs and services. Through collaboration with stakeholders, our consultants learn about the unique needs and culture of each library we work with to help pinpoint specific focus areas and maximize limited time and resources. Every deliverable we provide is relevant and actionable.
Attain Partners – Library and Strategy Experts
At Attain Partners, our consultants leverage over 40 years of experience to provide tailored library planning and strategy services to academic and research libraries. We draw on our extensive professional experience working in libraries to provide strategic planning, assessment, process optimization, change management, staff augmentation, and improve the research and student experience in libraries. Discover how Attain Partners can support your library’s strategic planning process.
Learn more about our Library Planning and Strategy services here.
Our strategic planning services are based on rigorous benchmarking and the latest market research. We focus on bringing your team together to build a shared sense of ownership of vision, mission, and strategic priorities. Discover how we can help you drive your strategic agenda and advance your mission with a clear path forward.
Learn more about our Strategic Planning services here.
About the Authors
Melany Barrett is a Strategy Director at Attain Partners. With over a decade of experience in Higher Education, she has demonstrated knowledge in business process improvement, project management, organizational assessment, and faculty affairs administration. Prior to Attain Partners, Ms. Barrett supported Higher Education administration and strategic initiatives as a member of an internal consulting team. She is a key contributor to the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Allyship (IDEA) Performance Maturity Framework™, leading DEI assessments for institutions. She is a Prosci® Certified Change Management Practitioner who has extensive knowledge and training in the field and holds an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
Ms. Blake Norby is a Senior Library Consultant for the Research Enterprise Services practice of Attain Partners. During her time with Attain Partners, Ms. Norby has been involved in multiple library consulting projects with higher education institutions. She has participated in various stages of Facilities & Administrative Expense (F&A) strategic planning, proposal preparation and submission, and space functional usage studies with a focus on library spaces. Ms. Norby brings over 13 years’ experience working in libraries with extensive knowledge of using patron data to create inclusive, accessible library spaces and programs. She is currently a member of the American Evaluation Association (AEA), the American Library Association (ALA) including the Public Library Association, and several additional roundtables and special interest groups.
Ready to talk to one of our expert librarians? Fill out this form to be connected today!
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https://attainpartners.com/wp-content/uploads/Newsletter-Graphics_2023-08_August_Library-Strategy.png9671834Olivia PychaOlivia Pycha2023-08-24 17:51:282024-02-06 12:03:03Strategic Directives in Libraries – One Step at a Time
Attain Partners Welcomes Experienced Salesforce Digital Engagement Leader Shari Hazlett to Salesforce Innovation Services Practice
Shari Hazlett joined us in August as our new Digital Engagement leader within our Salesforce Innovation Services practice. With over twenty years of experience advising and leading comprehensive marketing campaigns, she has successfully harnessed the power of Salesforce to improve engagement with constituents and help organizations achieve their important missions.
Shari is a powerhouse strategic marketer, and I’m thrilled to welcome her to Team Attain. Her extensive experience working with nonprofits combined with her Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Data Cloud expertise makes her an incredible asset. I cannot wait to see the lasting impact she creates by taking advantage of all that Marketing and Data Cloud have to offer and strategically tailoring solutions for our clients.
alanna Steffens
Managing Director and Salesforce Capability Lead, Attain Partners
Attain Partners is the Salesforce 2022 Consulting Partner of the Year – Education and a Salesforce Summit Partner. Our team of experts is always striving to Invent the Future and Be the Best in everything we do. Please join us in celebrating our newest team member, Shari Hazlett, as she shares her expertise and why she loves working in digital engagement.
Attain Partners (AP): How did you get into digital engagement?
Shari Hazlett (SH): Twenty years ago, I began my career as a public health community organizer (or social marketer) and it was all manual, before social media and digital engagement were the norm. I jumped at every chance I had to adopt digital tools the second they were available to nonprofit organizations. Working digitally was so much easier to communicate, keep track of interactions, measure success, etc. which meant I could spend more time focused on community education.
About 11 years ago, I was the global head of marketing for a product and services company and my first major initiative was to reimplement our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system (Salesforce) and select and integrate an email marketing tool (Marketing Cloud). I loved it and haven’t looked back since.
AP: What did you do before joining Attain Partners?
SH: I began my career as a public health educator and community organizer, eventually specializing in program design and management of civil rights and public health initiatives among at-risk communities for local, community-based organizations and national nonprofit organizations like Tampa AIDS Network, the Human Rights Campaign, and the American Cancer Society.
In 2009, I co-founded a full-service political consultancy that leveraged technology solutions to invigorate local and state political campaigns through digital strategy and engagement. Our campaign teams elected representatives to U.S. Senate, Florida State Legislature, Pinellas and Hillsborough County Commission, and City Councils throughout central Florida. When I relocated to New York City in 2012, I served as the city-wide Digital Director for Reshma Saujani, candidate for NYC Public Advocate and founder of Girls Who Code; following that, I served as the digital strategy consultant for former DNC Vice-Chair Michael Blake in his election (and re-election) to the NY State Assembly, representing the South Bronx.
As a creative producer and digital content strategist, I’ve worked with NBC-Universal; SiriusXM; Comic Relief/Red Nose Day; NYC Big Apps – Civic Technology Competition, among others. My writing and other work have been featured on WNYC and WBUR; The New York Times Live Broadcast of the DNC 2012 (Charlotte) and RNC 2012 (Tampa); The Stranger (Seattle, WA); Courier News – Election 2020 Series; and Creative Loafing, among others.
Most recently, I’ve held marketing leadership roles with nonprofit organizations, media and technology companies, and enterprise professional services companies, specializing in brand strategy and customer experience design, business transformation and innovation, content marketing strategy and production, marketing automation and technology strategy, and design and implementation.
AP: What brought you to Attain Partners?
SH: I am excited to join Attain Partners because of the core values, the opportunity to work with mission-driven organizations, and the chance to collaborate with a team of folks with a similar focus.
SH: Obsess Externally. Social impact is a value that I live, personally and professionally.
AP: What do you like most about the work you do?
SH: I love helping organizations think creatively about the experience they want to provide to constituents, donors, and the public—and translating that to strategy and platform solutions.
AP: What are the biggest ways you’ve seen digital engagement efforts impact organizations?
SH: Digital engagement platforms give organizations the ability to focus on their core mission. When end users aren’t spending as much of their day-to-day on manual activities—downloading and importing and exporting and single send emails—they can manage and launch initiatives that positively impact their constituents and the public.
AP: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
SH: I love a good challenge! Clients are implementing and integrating digital engagement platforms because they’ve been struggling with business problems, or they have a specific engagement strategy and need these tools to bring it all to life. They can see what’s possible, and they want it all right now.
That’s why it’s so important to stay close to and understand clients’ business outcomes and align project timelines and technical strategy with organizational goals—to make sure they experience the impact and see value in the platforms as soon as possible.
AP: What do you read and watch to keep current?
SH: I like to learn about innovation and strategy from forward-thinking leaders in all industries, and I’m always interested in learning from arts and design practitioners and using design-thinking methodologies to develop unique and impactful customer experiences and journeys with digital tools. Some podcasts I listen to: “How I Built This” with Guy Raz, “Design Matters” with Debbie Millman, and “The CMO Show” by Impact Institute.
As for reading, it’s mostly Salesforce Trailhead and ecosystem blogs to stay on top of new features and expand my knowledge in other product areas.
Attain Partners – Salesforce Experts
No matter if your organization is beginning its Salesforce journey or 10+ years into development, Attain Partners is here to help you achieve your goals. Contact our team today to learn how we can help you advance your mission by harnessing the power of Salesforce.
Salesforce Can Transform the Nonprofit Industry Kristi Phillips Utilizes Her Nonprofit and Education Expertise to Help Orgs Realize What is Possible
Attain Partners has worked with hundreds of leading nonprofits across the country to leverage the power of Salesforce. As the world’s leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, the Salesforce platform can help you unlock your organization’s full potential and transform the way people interact with you. We enable our clients to utilize Salesforce to streamline operations, enhance communications, and transform digital experiences.
We are familiar with the unique challenges facing mission-focused organizations and use our extensive experience to help nonprofits leverage Salesforce to accelerate their fundraising efforts, expand engagement with their constituents, manage the entire program lifecycle, and measure their outcomes and impact.
To learn more about our nonprofit Salesforce practice, we sat down with Kristi Phillips, Managing Director and Nonprofit Market Lead at Attain Partners, to learn more about her background, how she has seen Salesforce transform the nonprofit industry, and her heart for mission-focused work.
Attain Partners (AP): How did you get into nonprofit work?
Kristi Phillips (KP): My first job out of college was with Teach For America (TFA) as an elementary special education teacher. I joined TFA after a transformational year abroad living with indigenous communities, which reinforced the idea that education is an investment we can make in people that can never be taken away. I graduated college with a clear belief in and commitment to the power of education as a lever to improve society and our collective community.
After a wonderful experience with TFA, I earned my master’s degree in education and then found my way to a small startup nonprofit that was focused on building a pipeline of leaders in the field of education within schools, districts, and other nonprofits in the space.
As with many organizations in their early days, I found myself doing everything from writing curriculum for our program to taking out the trash. Somewhere in my first year, I was tasked with updating the technology we used to recruit and select that next year of applicants for our program. The organization was using Salesforce. I taught myself the basics and pretty soon I found myself as the “accidental admin” we so often hear about. After a few more years living at the intersection of program and Salesforce inside a nonprofit, I eventually made the leap into the Salesforce Consulting ecosystem. And that’s where I’ve been for the last 10 years. I started out solely supporting education organizations and then expanded my focus to the broader nonprofit space using Salesforce as a tool for digital change—I’ve loved seeing how nonprofit transformations can dramatically impact their internal operations, external constituents, and greater communities.
AP: Do you have any standout nonprofit client stories?
KP: Of course! There are many, but the first one that comes to mind is a large nonprofit serving future college students. Its mission is aligned with a key passion of mine—closing the achievement gap and increasing access to college for students from traditionally underrepresented communities.
This nonprofit is pioneering the idea of using technology to help organizations match students with colleges that have the support services that lead to better outcomes and long-term success. This may include disability services, better academic support systems, and the like. The elements that students really need to ensure they will successfully graduate from college.
I’ve maintained a close connection to this organization and continue to explore how we take this to the broader marketplace to allow other college access and student success organizations to leverage this information. I want to help them grow! For the last five years, I’ve been collaborating with this organization building out a system that we designed for them on Salesforce.
There’s so much potential for this organization to create a real impact. I love being able to support them on growth strategy while also delivering solutions that give them deeper insights into their student population and inform more meaningful conversations.
I think that’s the thing that gets me really excited—the solutions that we’ve built for nonprofits can have nearly immediate impact within the communities that they serve.
KP: It has to be Obsess Externally. Attain Partners’ commitment to our community and the sectors we work within is framed by a fundamental belief in education. I love working with like-minded people who believe in the social sector as a means to improve community and society—it just really resonates with me. The need to give back is part of the DNA of this organization, and I love that. It’s how I spend my time outside of the office as well.
AP: What do you like most about the work you do?
KP: I love that I get to meet lots of different organizations. They each have their own approach to how they are going to change the world. They have their own theory of change and vision for how they are going to make this world better for the community they serve.
I love that I get to meet and have my first conversations with them where anything is possible. We can brainstorm endless solutions to their current challenges and dream up ways to make their organization better in order to accelerate their positive impact.
AP: What is one of the most challenging aspects of your job?
KP: It’s extremely challenging when you know the client is going to struggle. There are two parts to a successful outcome. For a client, there’s obviously one part—the technology solution we design and build. But the other part is ensuring the client organization is ready and that they have the structures, capacity, and time to invest in ensuring the project is successful. Clients also require a strong understanding of what ongoing maintenance and management will require.
At Attain Partners, we want our clients to fully realize their return on investment. When I see a client missing one of those key elements to long-term success, sometimes it’s as simple as rerouting the conversation to address overarching strategy first before forging ahead and building a new fundraising system. Or perhaps it’s having the organization undertake some change management activities to ensure all team members are on board and ready for the upcoming digital transformation.
And above all, I am always honest if we are not the right partner for a client. Although this can be a challenging conversation to have, I always want to ensure we can deliver what the client needs. In some cases, they may not be ready for the technology solutions we can implement, but instead need to address other organizational issues in order to really see their organization thrive.
AP: What are the biggest ways you’ve seen Salesforce efforts impact organizations?
KP: There are lots of CRMs and many tools that can deliver pretty reports out there in the market. Salesforce is an incredibly powerful CRM that can deliver almost any report you can dream up, but I don’t think that is the exciting differentiator of Salesforce.
One of my most exciting observations was an organization that was able to utilize some of Salesforce’s predictive analytics to determine which students were at risk of dropping out of high school. We built a solution that enabled Salesforce to take different indicators, that seemed relatively independent, but when combined could predict the likelihood of student dropout rates before they happened.
For example, it tracked a decline in a student’s test scores as well as a greater frequency of absences. This, coupled with a note that the student’s father had recently lost his job, led the predictive analytics to put an urgent flag in the nonprofit’s system indicating an intervention was needed to support the student.
These are the use cases that I find exciting and just so cool about Salesforce. It’s a gamechanger. Nonprofits can put their data to work for them. They can use these tools to make connections between their segregated segments of data. These connections—like the risk of dropping out of school—can have the most personal impact in a student or a family’s life.
To me, that is really powerful, and I’m proud to be a part of it.
Attain Partners – Salesforce Experts
No matter if your organization is beginning its Salesforce journey or 10+ years into development, Attain Partners is here to help you achieve your goals.
Kristi Phillips leads Attain Partners’ nonprofit practice to help organizations leverage technology for social change. Kristi has been working directly with nonprofits to accelerate their impact and deliver creative solutions on the Salesforce platform since 2013.
Before diving into the world of consulting, Kristi worked at Teach For All (TFA), where she served as its Director of Data Management. There, she supported 30+ international organizations with their design, configuration, and implementation of Salesforce. Prior to TFA, Kristi was at Education Pioneers as its Director of Strategic Site Support and Operations where she led new site development, new program integration, technology development, and program operations. Kristi began her career as a Teach For America Corps Member in Phoenix, Arizona, where she taught elementary special education. Kristi earned her Master’s in Education degree from the Harvard University Graduate School for Education and her undergraduate degree in International Relations from Boston University.
Interested in speaking directly with Kristi? Fill out this form to be connected!
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Attain Partners’ Research Enterprise Services Practice Welcomes Gil Tran as Strategic Grants Management and Compliance Leader
Gilbert (Gil) Tran joined Attain Partners’ Research Enterprise Services practice on August 11, 2023, as a Senior Specialist Leader working directly with Managing Partner and Practice Lead Mark Davis. A distinguished and honored veteran of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), we are thrilled to welcome Gil to the team and look forward to leveraging his decades of grants management expertise to serve our clients.
I am ecstatic to have Gil helping to lead our team of grants management experts. A longtime friend and colleague, I know just how good Gil is and cannot wait to see the tremendous results he creates for our clients.
Mark Davis
Managing Partner, Attain Partners
Having only retired from his federal government role a few short months ago, Gil hit the ground running at Attain Partners jumping into client work on day one and creating immediate impact. We sat down with Gil to learn more about how Attain Partners coaxed him out of (a brief!) retirement and what excites him most about joining our team.
Attain Partners (AP): What propelled you to join Attain Partners and continue your legacy of impact?
Gil Tran (GT): There are three key reasons that I knew joining Attain Partners was my best next move.
They are both visionary and imaginative. They strongly believe in the value provided to the clients they serve. Mark and I joined Greg in his unique consulting group for colleges and universities in grant administration at KPMG in the early 1980s.
Greg always stressed that as consultants we are trusted as experts in our fields and with that privilege and our technical knowledge, we must provide services and solutions to our clients that are valuable to them and a great return on their investment. It is a desirable and noble principle that I value. I am honored to rejoin them to provide services to colleges and universities in grant administration.
2. Rapid growth in grant volume and its compliance requirements.
In the last few years, particularly since 2020 at the start of the COVID pandemic, the federal grant volume has exponentially increased for all grantees, including colleges and universities, as the result of the massive COVID Recovery grants and the Inflation Reduction Act grants.
Along with this extraordinary and sudden growth, more federal regulations (such as requirements for transparency and buy and hire Americans) are being added and implemented to protect the integrity and performance of the grant dollars. These two factors combined create an environment that is extremely difficult for grantees to keep up with and become vulnerable for proper compliance.
3. Education and knowledge are keys to the future.
Colleges and universities as grantees have the fiduciary responsibility for the grant dollars received. Grant administrators are therefore the key to safeguarding the grant moneys and protecting the colleges and universities from potential fraud and damaging audit findings on its grants.
With my experience at Georgetown University, KPMG Consulting Services, the Department of Health and Human Services Division of Cost Allocation, and the Office of Management and Budget, I feel the need and desire to train and educate the next generation of grant administrators so federal grants money are well spent and grantees do not end up in tough and damaging situations for grant non-compliance.
Attain Partners’ Grants Management Support
Managing your grants doesn’t have to be complicated. Our experts (including Gil!) have the firsthand public sector experience needed to support you throughout the entire management lifecycle. We have deep expertise in allowable costs, proposal submissions, financial reporting and closeouts, and research compliance, including export control. Regardless of your needs, we can help you take control of your grants, stay organized, and move your research mission forward. Learn more.
Meet Gil Tran
Gilbert Hai Tran is Senior Specialist Leader, Grants Management at Attain Partners. Previously, he served as a Senior Policy Analyst with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM).
A 27-year veteran of OMB, Gil has often served as a go-to field expert and is a sought-after presenter who has earned a reputation as a source of knowledge and an engaging industry speaker. Among his contributions in shaping the financial assistance landscape for future generations are: helping reduce the audit burden for both auditees and federal government oversight agencies; playing an integral role in the development of the Uniform Grant Guidance (UGG) and consolidating cost principles in the guidance; and, in 2005, leading the development of the first-ever government-wide waiver to provide relief to grantees caused by natural disasters.
Gil’s professional contributions have been recognized with several awards including the OMB Robert Damus Award, the National Grants Management Association (NGMA) Newton Award, and the Association of Government Accountants (AGA) Frank Greathouse Distinguished Leadership Award all in 2022 as well as the National College and University Research Administrators Association (NCURA) Joseph F. Carrabino Award in 2015. He is widely recognized as an outstanding leader in the grants management field.
Gil received a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from George Mason University, Virginia. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Additionally, he chaired the Diversity Committee for the U.S. Tennis Association (Mid–Atlantic Section).
Interested in speaking directly with Gil? Fill out this form to be connected!
https://attainpartners.com/wp-content/uploads/Newsletter-Graphics_2023-08_August_Gil-Tran-Blog.png9671834Olivia PychaOlivia Pycha2023-08-14 15:55:182024-07-08 15:56:29Three Key Reasons Grants Management Expert Gil Tran Joined Attain Partners
From building or implementing software to creating or altering business processes and defining company policy, almost every organization-wide decision-making process will eventually run into “edge cases.”
Edge cases are the uncommon, rare, and unimportant scenarios that, due to their only occasional occurrence, are not part of an organization’s standard business processes, but also cannot be entirely dismissed. They are the, “What do we do when the situation doesn’t fit the norm?” scenarios. Examples of edge cases include how an employee processes a gift type that your nonprofit organization rarely receives or how a certain interface element will be described by a screen reader.
The theory is, the edge case can be dealt with by using a different process, on a case-by-case basis, or by adding additional software features in the future. The ability to exclude edge cases from the scope of a digital transformation project is critical to keeping that scope achievable—but excluding them can have consequences.
Being able to differentiate critical use cases and scenarios from edge cases is, of course, critical to making decisions at your organization. If a group gets bogged down by trying to account for every possible situation, they will never make any decisions. This is especially true when making software configuration decisions, developing business processes, or planning software features.
But every use case that gets removed from the planning process eventually affects someone and the way they do their work. It’s important to know whose work is being impacted and how dealing with those edge cases—possibly in an unnecessarily inefficient way—will affect their work and therefore their ability to impact an organization’s mission work.
Processes should be representative of your team
Consider the gift processor who will have to tediously process contributions manually or the box office staffer who will have to copy and paste information from one system into another. Will the changes to your organization’s processes or tools add to these team members’ workloads or create bottlenecks for other work? Consider the staffer who uses adaptive technology to help them navigate your CRM. Will that adaptive technology still work for them after the upgrade?
Taking the time to consider the people behind the use cases and involving a representative group in the decision-making process can help with adoption and general team buy-in for any project.
All of this is part of an effective change management strategy, which should always be part of the planning and implementation of digital transformation projects. But, in this case, it can also be a critical step in verifying that the case your core group thinks is “edge” doesn’t turn out to be right at the center of the work for someone who isn’t in the room.
Practice inclusion in project planning
Once your organization begins considering the people behind the edge cases as part of your change management strategy, you may realize there are certain roles more likely to find bits of their work excluded from decision-making—gift processors, front-line customer service workers, people who answer calls from the public, coordinators, and so on.
These types of roles are rarely included in the core team of big projects. Tasks that employees in these roles do once a week may seem, from a distance, safe to exclude from the software configuration planning or design of an interface or new workflow. Surely, those few employees can handle one manual task instead of an automated process, right? Surely, they can handle a few extra steps to get approval, right? Surely, the three staff members who use adaptive technology can sort themselves out, right?
Here is where edge cases meet issues of equity and belonging.
What do the roles mentioned above have in common? They are positions that are relatively low on the corporate ladder, and therefore, given the workforce distribution in general, are often staffed by early-career people, people from historically excluded communities, people without college degrees, and people who grew up in poverty.
According to zippia.com, 68.5% of nonprofit managers in 2021 were white and 70% had a bachelor’s or master’s degree. Since family wealth is linked to both college enrollment and completion (according to Inside Higher Ed’s review of federal data) and white families hold significantly more wealth than non-white families, we can infer that a high proportion of nonprofit managers come from economically secure backgrounds. Only 59.5% of full-time nonprofit staff are white—that implies a concentration of people from historically privileged positions at the top of the nonprofit corporate ladder.
While management and leadership may seem like pivotal roles at a nonprofit organization, it is often the “rank and file” who have the most contact with an organization’s constituents. In many cases, those front-line workers are functionally the face of the organization. While the turnover rate among nonprofit executives is low, the overall nonprofit organization turnover rate is 21% with a majority of those leaving nonprofits citing a lack of upward mobility as their main concern. Turnover of front-line employees has a high dollar cost (up to half the employee’s annual salary) and an even higher mission cost. Turnovers erode trust with constituents who see the faces change, but it means losing institutional knowledge and efficiency, which decreases an organization’s ability to achieve its mission.
For example, people using adaptive technology are doing so because technology solutions, in general, are not built for the way their body functions. If you have trouble with fine motor control, a mouse is not terribly useful. If you have impaired vision, a screen on its own won’t tell you much. These are the people who are, or at least are most likely to feel, precarious at work to begin with.
They may feel insecure in their jobs for a host of reasons from simply being further down in the organizational chart and therefore more “expendable” to feeling like they don’t quite fit in because their background is different from most of the rest of the staff. They may also simply be economically insecure, due to low wages (according to the Center on Disability, the median income for households that include people with disabilities is $43,330 as compared to $68,700 for households that don’t include people with disabilities) or other factors, which can create both an intense pressure to keep their job and a generalized sense of insecurity.
Edge cases create inequities when not addressed
Telling people who use adaptive technology time and time again that the scenario that matters to their work is just an edge case decreases the sense of belonging at an organization. Worse still, having excluded their needs from the decision-making process, you’ve now created a policy or piece of software that doesn’t consider their needs.
How is the gift processor going to feel when her colleagues save so much time with new automation that they go home early on Friday, while she must stay late to deal with the in-kind gifts that the new CRM can’t automatically process? How is the box office staffer going to feel when he must have a difficult conversation with his boss about his responsibilities because the new ticketing system won’t increase the font size large enough for him to read? How is the call center rep going to feel when they can’t keep up with ticket statuses because it is represented only by colors they can’t distinguish between? They are unlikely to feel valued or that they have a future at the organization.
There are no easy answers here. Diversity and equity programs in workplaces exist, at least in part, because the business case for enhancing the sense of belonging among employees is strong. But the challenge of being genuinely committed to inclusion and enabling all people to thrive in a workplace is that the threats to thriving are pervasive.
Even the best diversity program is only effective if it makes a difference to the daily operations of an organization and if its principles of equity and fairness influence the way decisions are made. Thinking about the people whose work is being excluded from an organization’s digital transformation and involving them in the project is an opportunity to put your commitment to inclusion into practice. It can go a long way towards mitigating frustrations and increasing the sense of belonging at your organization.
For a nonprofit that cares about improving the world, that is a worthy goal in itself, but enhancing the sense of value and belonging significantly contributes toward decreasing turnover and increasing employee performance.
Include equity in your Salesforce solutions
At Attain Partners, we actively acknowledge and appreciate the importance of creating an environment in which all team members feel valued, included, and empowered to do great work and share ideas. We work closely with our clients to create a breakthrough vision of the future and execute with purpose and diligence to transform organizational processes, encourage progressive change management, enhance the sense of belonging, and help our clients move their mission-centric work forward.
When working with our clients, including nonprofits, we always design for and consider the constituent experience. For example, we design systems so that users (internal and external) can easily use the tools and fully engage with the organization even if English is not their primary language.
In addition, one of the reasons we’re proud to partner with Salesforce is its commitment to increasing accessibility for low-vision and/or hearing-impaired users. We help our nonprofit clients take advantage of Salesforce’s continual investment in innovation and accessibility.
Kristi Phillips
Managing Director and Nonprofit Market Lead, Attain Partners
Attain Partners – Salesforce Experts
No matter if your organization is beginning its Salesforce journey or 10+ years into development, we are here to help you achieve your digital transformation goals.
Jaemi Loeb is a Senior Consultant at Attain Partners and a veteran nonprofit leader. Her expertise sits at the intersection between technology and people, tools, and daily operations. She is passionate about helping organizations to streamline their workflows and use data to meet their missions.
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https://attainpartners.com/wp-content/uploads/Newsletter-Graphics_2023-08_August_Edge-Cases-Blog.png9671834Olivia PychaOlivia Pycha2023-08-11 12:57:042024-05-22 18:47:57Edge Cases and Equity in Nonprofit Digital Transformation
Training the Next Generation of Research Administrators with Attain Partners
Attain Partners’ research administration experts have decades of experience in the field, direct experience working in education, and a successful track record of serving the nation’s top colleges and universities. We now offer in-depth, sponsor-based research administration training tailored to the needs of your institution. We will work with your team to develop a program that meets your needs and allows your institution’s research administration operations to get up to speed.
Learn how Attain Partners works with clients to get new research administration staff up to speed and refresh the knowledge of existing staff by conducting onsite, sponsor-specific training.
Staffing Challenges in Research Administration
Since 2020, in what has come to be known as The Great Resignation, the US has seen unprecedented changes to its workforce, with large numbers of employees leaving their jobs for new opportunities. According to the Pew Research Center, between January and March of 2022, about four million workers switched jobs each month, a trend that predicted nearly 30% of workers would go on to change jobs in 2022.
Higher education and research administration specifically have not been immune to this level of turnover. One look at the RESADM Listserv or any higher education job board will show hundreds of job openings available at any given time. Additionally, there has been a move toward remote work in the field, increasing the number of positions that candidates are eligible for without relocating.
While this number of job openings can be great for experienced research administrators looking to grow in their careers, it has made hiring and staffing sponsored programs offices more difficult for institutions.
Leveraging Transferable Skills to Fill Gaps
Even with the expansion of remote work widening the pool of candidates, it is not easy to find experienced research administrators to fill open roles. According to the 2022 Research Administration as a Profession (RAAP3) survey, 76.5% of research administrators have fewer than five years of experience.
While it has always been true that most people do not enter research administration as an intended career, many more positions are being filled with hires from other areas of higher education or with transferrable skills from other fields. These new hires enter positions with no direct experience in the field but are selected for their ability to leverage skills from different areas of higher education, nonprofits, or accounting fields. Unfortunately, even when a new hire has transferable skills, it can take a lot of time and effort to train a new research administrator to the necessary level so that they can function independently.
Training is Essential for Research Administrators
In part because of the varied paths to this career, research administrators must undergo a great deal of specialized training to be successful in the field. For institutions without dedicated research administration training programs, this can be a challenge, especially with the unprecedented turnover the field is experiencing today.
When positions remain empty, staff are often responsible for covering the workload of empty positions. Workloads get heavier, and to-do lists build up. It can be hard to find time during an already overcommitted research administrator’s day to train a new hire adequately. Additionally, sponsor requirements are ever-changing, so even experienced research administrators can fall behind without regular updates.
Beyond training new hires, learning and development are crucial for retaining your current employees. According to a report released by TalentLMS, 38% of employees wish companies would offer more training that aligns with job responsibilities, while 55% say that they require more training to improve their on-the-job performance. Additionally, 76% of workers say that continuous training is a positive factor when deciding whether or not to stay with their current employer. (Perna, 2022)
Attain Partners is excited to offer in-depth, sponsor-based training to your institution. We will work with your team to develop a program that meets your needs and allows your institution’s research administration operations to reach the next level by providing a solid foundation for both new and experienced staff.
mark davis
Managing Partner and Practice Lead, Attain Partners
Addressing Gaps in Research Administration Knowledge with Sponsor-Specific Training
Attain Partners works with clients looking to utilize outside resources to train staff as they face many of the challenges we have discussed. For one of our clients, vacant positions, plus the stresses of a growing portfolio, meant that current staff had little time to devote to training new hires while keeping the office running. Another client utilized training during an organizational restructuring to ensure that all staff had baseline knowledge to be successful in their new roles.
Between these two engagements, Attain Partners developed a sponsor-focused training program that covers pre-award and non-financial post-award requirements for many of the federal sponsors that Universities interact with often: the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Department of Education (DoEd). Additional pre-award modules are available for the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Energy (DoE), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Attain Partners developed a sponsor-focused training program that covers pre-award and non-financial post-award requirements for many of the federal sponsors that Universities interact with often: the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Department of Education (DoEd).
The training started with a deep dive into how to read a solicitation, identify important information, and create a checklist of items needed for proposal submissions. The group looked at solicitations from several sponsors and got hands-on experience navigating the different formats and levels of detail provided by each agency. This was followed up by a session focused on creating and reviewing sponsored program budgets. Staff were given detailed case studies that walked them through common areas of concern during the budget development process, such as calculating faculty effort and cost share, and requesting additional information or clarification from principal investigators.
The remaining sessions were focused on individual sponsors selected by each client to align with the major funding agencies in their portfolios.
For pre-award activities, the courses covered a review of sponsor guidelines, administrative requirements, budgeting, submission systems, and common errors. On the non-financial post-award side, the sessions addressed reading award notices, prior approval guidelines, reporting, and how to process items like no-cost extension requests and modifications. Each session involved hands-on activities and case studies so that staff could put the knowledge they gained to use and work as a team to solve problems. Activities included solicitation reviews, budget development, filling out sponsor forms, reviewing successful proposals compared to the requirements of a solicitation, reviewing award notices, and case studies addressing common areas of concern.
Attain Partners also provided job aids and checklist templates to help the participants incorporate what they learned in training into their everyday operations. As an outcome of our training, staff members are prepared to review RFPs, create checklists, submit error-free proposals to any sponsor, and efficiently set up and manage new awards.
Let Attain Partners Train Your Team of Research Administrators
These experiences highlights the value of partnering with Attain Partners to address the challenges associated with training new research administration staff. By engaging in sponsor-specific training delivered in focused sessions, our client was able to equip its staff with the necessary knowledge and skills to navigate the intricacies of various sponsors’ guidelines and requirements. The hands-on approach to training, coupled with practical case studies and job aids, enabled the staff to apply their newly acquired knowledge effectively in their day-to-day operations.
By investing in comprehensive training programs, institutions can better equip their staff to handle sponsor-specific requirements, reduce errors in proposal submissions, and improve overall efficiency in managing sponsored programs. As the research administration workforce continues to evolve, it is essential for institutions to prioritize the development and training of the next generation of research administrators.
Learn More
Continuing education and training are vital to ensuring that your research administration operations are functioning efficiently and effectively. For more information on how Attain Partners can help your institution with your training needs, chat with our experts directly here.
About the Author
Kathleen Halley-Octa is a Manager within the Attain Research practice of Attain Partners. Kathleen is an experienced research administrator who specializes in pre-award administration, training development, and eRA system implementation. Prior to joining Attain, Kathleen served as the Director of the Office of Research & Sponsored Projects for the College of Education & Human Development at Georgia State University, where she oversaw both pre- and post-award operations for the college’s research portfolio. While at GSU, she co-founded the Access to Careers in Research Administration Program, a cohort-based research administration training program for graduate students wishing to prepare for careers in research administration. Previously, she also worked as a departmental administrator in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and later ran Georgia Tech’s Research Admin Training Program. She has been an active member of NCURA since 2011 and has presented at both regional and national conferences.
https://attainpartners.com/wp-content/uploads/[email protected]12572401Olivia PychaOlivia Pycha2023-08-04 15:28:002024-05-16 15:45:58Leveraging Sponsor-Based Training to Build Foundations in Research Administration
