Training Opportunities

Video Lending Library

OSPA has a lending library of NCURA video workshops available for departments and staff to check out. Each workshop is about 3 1/2 hours; course handouts are available for most. To check out DVD's contact Diane Wright at

dewright (at) iastate (dot) edu
or 4-0984. Your department may keep the videotapes for up to two weeks; we ask that you return them promptly so we can check them out to others.

The following NCURA videos are available in DVD format:

Good Customer Service for Research Administrators: How to Support the Research Endeavor at Your Institution (9/09/08)

With new demands emerging from sponsors, faculty and institutional management on a daily basis, how do Research Administrators define Good Customer Service?

Our panel of experts will examine who is the Customer and what constitutes Good Customer Service. They will look at the roles of the Central Sponsored Programs office and the role of the Department Administrator. The faculty will explore the elements of customer service that works both ways between central and departmental research administrators, and how this relationship is critical to good service to the ultimate customer: the PI. They will discuss approaches as to how to communicate to your customers in a way that lets them know that you are both working toward a common goal.

Some of the elements of customer service that will be covered are:

The Sponsor as the Customer will also be examined as good communication is critical to insuring the this customer is best served -- while keeping your researchers content.

Complex Agreements (6/10/08)

We are hearing more and more the term translational research- how research results are translated into products or public use. Getting research results from the bench to the public can take several paths and involve several types of agreements outside non-disclosure agreements, teaming agreements, material transfer agreements, clinical trial agreements, and license agreements with start-up companies. The negotiation and management of these agreements usually involves some unique challenges for research administrators. This program will focus on these agreements and areas of risk, accounting issues, institutional and individual conflict or interest, protection of human subjects, effort certification for investigators, publications, and the special challenges you face in administering all these issues in collaborations with multiple parties and a multi-site clinical trial program. Whether you are involved as the prime institution or as the subawardee we all need to understand and work through the wide range of issues.

The faculty for this program are seasoned pros who will share their experiences in successfully managing these unique and often challenging agreements.

Effective Proposal Development (3/11/08)

This program will provide a number of best practices in proposal development functions. Continual pressure to connect faculty with funding, to facilitate collaborations and manage limited submissions are among the few of the challenging tasks before you. Some institutions have a separate office to handle this function, others have a person within and still others are responsible for this area along with a host of other pre award functions. Our seasoned faculty represent both large and small institutions, representing different successful approaches.

Topics include:

Managing Cost Issues (1/22/08)

Regardless of your role, almost all research administrators in all type of universities need to know how to advise and/or manage cost issues. These are before you in proposal budgets, when negotiating terms and conditions and, maybe the most challenging of all, while managing the day-to-day accounts for sponsored projects. Representing the pre and post award central office as well as the departmental business office, our faculty will cover topics including:

Case studies used to provide participants with useful applications of some best practices and systems used to manage costs.

Sub-awards: A Survivors Guide of Key Concepts and Principles (09/11/2007)

Drawn from NCURA's seven-week on-line tutorial, this broadcast is intended as a review for mid-level research administrators and will provide enough basic information to help those who are new to the world of subcontracting to survive! The faculty, who designed and developed NCURA's tutorial, will share a number of case studies, discuss the Dos and Don'ts and dispel myths that may have been creating high anxiety to those new to this arena.

Faculty will touch on the following areas:

Conflict of Interest: How to Spot and Manage It (06/12/2007)

The words "Conflict of Interest" have been known to strike fear into the hearts of even the most seasoned research administrators. As institutions increase their research enterprise, the gateway for conflicts widens. Our job is to first identify it - whether real or perceived - and then, if possible, determine ways in which to manage it. The faculty will give tips on what to do when you uncover a conflict and, in particular, for those out in the department, where they can go for help. This program, with its expert panel, will relate best practices in managing a COI and give examples of what works, and what doesn't.

Effort Reporting (03/06/2007)

Auditors' continued attention on effort reporting has sparked numerous findings and stories in the press. This program will give the audience guidance on everything from bare-bones reporting necessary to stay in compliance to what some institutions are developing to help streamline their process. Whether you are in central administration or in the "thick of things" out in the department, be sure to watch this program as our expert faculty offers their insight on what they believe the government is currently focusing on and shares some best practices in use at several institutions to help you and your institution, stay out of the spotlight, out of trouble, and out of the newspaper.

Sponsored Programs Essentials (01/23/2007)

In an ever-changing environment, the core building blocks of sponsored project administration are essential. Whether you are new to the profession or a seasoned veteran, this workshop is intended to help you look at basic principles from a different perspective. Every time you approve or sign on the dotted line, you should be thinking about reasonable, allocable, allowable and consistent. And -- if you have forgotten some of the basics and have fooled yourself into believing everything will be all right -- it won't.

This veteran workshop faculty will address due diligence when making decisions and, what the process should be. They will discuss the underlying themes that every research administrator (pre-award, post-award, departmental, costing, audit and compliance) should be thinking about with every transaction they process. Areas to be covered include: proposal phase - budget development, revised budget phase, award acceptance review of final budget, sub-recipient monitoring, purchase orders, accounts payment vouchers, cost transfers, financial reporting, time and effort, and project monitoring. This interactive workshop will provide a number of case studies that will cover the gambit of the good, the bad, and the ugly. You will hear about the best ways of ensuring compliance and how to stay out of trouble.

SPECS (Sponsored Program Education and Training Sessions)

The Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (OSPA) and Sponsored Program Accounting (SPA) are excited to offer a 10-session certification training program that will cover a full range of topics related to the successful management of sponsored projects at ISU. Topics will include all Pre-Award and Post-Award functions, research compliance, technology transfer and related issues. The participants will attend five sessions in the Spring and complete the certification requirements with 5 additional sessions in the Fall of the same year. This training is appropriate for all administrative and support staff who provide assistance to Principal Investigators/Project Directors on sponsored projects and will benefit both the novice and experienced sponsored project administrator.

Video Lending Library

NANO sessions