New processes to streamline research administrative services

The Division of Research is implementing several administrative process changes following an external assessment of pre-award and post-award administrative services. Changes also reflect input from faculty via a survey collected by the external consultants, Attain Consulting.  

The goal is to provide more efficient support services and reduce administrative burden of researchers pursuing external funding as the university works to double research under the Clemson Elevate strategic plan.

Below are some highlights of upcoming process changes.

Pre-Award (Office of Sponsored Programs)

• A standard intake form in InfoEd will remove inconsistencies across colleges and expedite processing of submissions.
• Requesting non-disclosure, material transfer and other research-related agreements will be processed through InfoEd, simplifying the ability to track progress of negotiations in real time.
• Target implementation for these processes will begin in January 2025. Please contact  Sheila Lischwe, director of the Office of Sponsored Programs, with questions or comments. 

 Research Compliance

• The Office of Research Compliance is revising and streamlining the InfoEd forms for the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).  The new forms, which will be available Dec. 9, should streamline and expedite IRB and IACUC review processes and responses.
• IMPORTANT NOTE:  To accommodate the transition, the system will be temporarily inaccessible from Nov. 23 until Dec. 9 when new forms go live, so any submissions (new, amendment or annual review) that need to be filed before then must be signed and submitted (moved out of “In Development”) by Nov. 22. For questions, please contact Robin Tyndall, director of the office of Research Compliance.

Post-award (Grants and Contracts Administration)

• The Grants and Contracts Administration has developed a new electronic Cost Transfer Request Form to expedite the review and approval process.  As in the past, your College Post Award contact will enter the information into the electronic form and route to you for your review and approval.  Once approved within the system, the form will route automatically to the correct location for final processing. 
• If you have any questions regarding cost transfers, please contact your college post award contact, or if you have any questions related to the process, please reach out to Jessica Yoder.

Electronic Research Administration

• Mike Bryant has been hired to serve as director of a new Division of Research unit to improve and streamline the use of InfoEd and other technological resources aimed at reducing administrative burden for faculty and staff, as well as to provide new information tools to inform research activities and progress.

As the Division of Research continues to work with Attain Consulting to create a blueprint for streamlined administrative services to support research growth, additional process changes are likely. Those will be communicated as details become available.