Pamela A. Webb
Associate VP for Research Administration
(excerpted from slides provided by Sandra Schneider, Vice Chair, FDP
and Faculty Burden Survey Principal Investigator)
Presented to the
Council of Research Associate Deans
April 25, 2013

Purposes:
◦ Assess changes or additions to administrative burdens since
Faculty Workload Survey #1 in 2005 (e.g., ARRA)
◦ Obtain more detailed information about specific burdens
(e.g., IRB, IACUC)

Goals:
◦ To increase the likelihood of efficient and effective
demonstration projects
◦ Provide information to FDP and federal agencies to facilitate
targeted reduction of administrative burden
FWS II Task Force FWS II Research Team
◦ Randy Brutkiewicz,
Indiana University
◦ Laura Lang,
Florida State University
◦ Kiri Ness,
St. Jude Research Hospital
◦ Sara Rockwell,
Yale University
◦ Joshua Rosenbloom,
University of Kansas
◦ Sandra Schneider (Chair),
University of South Florida
◦ Kelly Shaver,
College of Charleston
◦ Jennifer Wisdom,
Columbia University
Principal Investigator:
Sandra Schneider (USF),
FDP Vice Chair
Project Manager:
David Wright,
FDP Executive Director
Data Collection support:
Survey Sciences Group, LLC
Scott Crawford,
SSG Executive Director
Brian Hempton,
SSG Study Director
Research Assistant:
Nate Decker,
Univ. of South Florida
IRB Approval:
September 2011 (U of South Florida)
Conducted:
January 23, 2012- March 22, 2012
Prelim Analysis: August 2012
Full Report:
Spring 2013
2005 Participants = 6,295
2012 Participants = 13,453 (26% response rate)
12,816 with complete data
From 99 FDP Institutions
Q1-Q4
Basic Work Background
Q5-Q6
Breakdown of Work Time
Q7-Q9
Federally-funded
Research Overview
Eligible to participate if:
Q10-13
Administrative Workload
1) PI of a federally funded
on Federally-funded
project in FY10-11
Projects
2) At an FDP institution
Q14-16
Demographic Information
Q17
Perspectives on Funded
Research and
Administrative Workload
Workload on Federally-funded
Projects
2005
PostAward
Activities,
19.7%
PreAward
Activities,
22.6%
Active
Research,
57.7%
2012
PostAward
Activities,
21.2%
PreAward
Activities,
21.1%
Active
Research,
57.7%
42% of PI’s federally-funded research time is spent
completing pre- and post-award requirements.
On average, which types of
administrative
responsibilities are taking
away the most time from
active research?
20.0%
% Federal Research Time Devoted to Administrative
Responsibilities
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
Proposal
Preparation
Pre-Award
Administration
Post-Award
Administration
Report Preparation
Proposal and Report Preparation takes up
almost one quarter of the average PI’s federal
research time.
Question: What are the administrative
issues that are most burdensome about
proposal preparation?
• Constantly changing requirements, formats and content
• Wasted time filling out numerous documents when the
vast majority of proposals will not be funded
• Detailed budgets despite low likelihood of funding
• Different requirements from different agencies; different
forms (CVs, budgets, etc.)
• Increasing requirements with decreasing funding rates
• Emphasis within proposal on procedure and data that are
not directly relevant to the research
Question: What are the administrative
issues that are most burdensome about
report preparation?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Constantly changing requirements, formats, and content
Routine, redundant, detailed interim reports that no one reads
Different requirements from different agencies; complex forms
Requirements are too frequent and overly detailed; tedious
Ambiguities in requirements; poor fit of forms to actual research
Online submission is “user unfriendly”
20.0%
% Federal Research Time Devoted to Administrative
Responsibilities
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
Proposal
Preparation
Pre-Award
Administration
Post-Award
Administration
Report Preparation
Pre-Award and Post-Award Administration
takes up almost one fifth of the average PI’s
federal research time.
What are the most common
pre-award and post-award
administrative
responsibilities?
100%
Prevalence of Administrative Responsibilities
90%
Percentage of Participants
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Administrative Workload Type
What are the most intensive
pre-award and post-award
administrative
responsibilities?
0%
Administrative Workload Type
COI
PCII (For DHS)
RCR
RECOMBINANT DNA
EXPORT CONTROLS
DATA SHARING
CONTR.…
HIPAA
CHEMICAL SAFETY
RADIATION SAFETY
BIOSAFETY
SELECT AGENTS
GENERAL LAB…
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
ARRA
EFFORT REPORTING
100%
CROSS-AGENCY…
SUBCONTRACTS
CLINICAL TRIALS
PERSONNEL
FINANCES (Non-ARRA)
IRB
IACUC
Percentage of Participants
% Reporting Substantial Time Taken by Administrative
Responsibilities
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
Over 80% of PIs report having time taken away
from research in order to deal with Finances,
Personnel and Effort Reporting.
2012 Burden Drill-Down (Initial N=12816)
FINANCES--Non-ARRA (N=7531)
Managing budget-to-actual expenses
Dealing with equipment and supplies purchases
Determining and justifying which tasks and related costs are allowable as direct charges
Meeting other fed. cost accounting standards (incl. budget transfers, spending
Completing training regarding budgets/expenditures on federal projects
Requesting meeting and tracking federally-mandated cost-share requirements
PERSONNEL (N=7240)
Managing personnel
Hiring personnel
Evaluating personnel
Dealing with issues related to visas
EFFORT REPORTING (N=5041)
Completing federal time and effort reports for myself
Completing federal time and effort reports for others
Completing training regarding time and effort reporting on federal projects
Mean
1=None – 5=Very much
3.09
2.89
2.34
2.09
1.74
1.71
3.55
2.99
2.95
1.89
2.66
2.37
2.08
Over 50% of those who experience the responsibilities
report that IRB, Finances, Personnel, Clinical Trials, and
Subcontracts require substantial time away from research.
2012 Burden Drill-Down (continued)
IRB (N=3897)
Preparing IRB protocols and consent forms for initial review
Completing protocol revisions requested by reviewers
Waiting for feedback from review
Completing annual continuing review of protocols
Ensuring that study procedures meet protocols
Fulfilling federal requirements for training in human subjects protections
CLINICAL TRIALS (N=880)
Posting and updating trial progress to meet federal requirements
Completing training regarding federal requirements for clinical trials
Posting and updating trial results to meet federal requirements
SUBCONTRACTS (N=3354)
Overseeing progress toward project goals and deadlines
Overseeing budgets, expenditures, invoices and other financial matters
Overseeing compliance and safety/security issues
Dealing with management issues specific to international subcontracts
Mean
1=None – 5=Very much
3.50
3.04
3.00
2.92
2.87
2.64
2.51
2.36
2.36
3.31
3.21
2.07
1.75
Although not as prevalent, almost 80% of
those who have IACUC responsibilities
report that it takes substantial time away
from research.
2012 Burden Drill-Down (continued)
IACUC (N=2513)
Preparing IACUC protocols for initial review
Completing annual IACUC reviews and three-year re-writes of protocols
Completing protocol revisions requested by reviewers
Fulfilling federal requirements for training in animal care and use
Satisfying federal requirements for funded projects (e.g. tracking animal numbers)
Maintaining veterinary medical records
Mean
1=None – 5=Very much
3.62
3.38
3.29
2.75
2.63
2.25










Preparing IACUC protocols for initial review
Managing personnel
Preparing IRB protocols and informed consent
for initial review
Annual IACUC reviews and 3-year reviews
Overseeing subaward technical progress
Completing revisions requested by IACUC reviewers
Overseeing subaward financial progress/invoices
Comparing budget-to-actual expenditures
Completing revisions requested by IRB reviewers
Waiting for feedback from review
3.62
3.55
3.50
3.38
3.31
3.29
3.21
3.09
3.04
3.00
Does workload vary by
principal field?
FWS Breakdown of Participants by Principal Field
Principal Field
Bio & Biomed
Phys Sci and Math
Engrg & Comp Sci
Social and Beh Sci
Clinical Sci & Med
Agrl Sciences
Education
Humanities
Business
Arts & Arch
Other
32.3%
16.3%
13.7%
12.1%
9.5%
4.1%
3.1%
0.9%
0.4%
0.3%
7.2%
% Time Taken from Federal Research
55
50
45
40
35
Differences in % Time Away by Principal Field
Does workload vary by
agency?
% Time Taken from Federal Research
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
Differences in % Time Away, by Funding Agency
Question: What factors are associated
with higher and lower levels of
administrative responsibilities?
Consider:
• Academic Rank
•
•
•
•
•
•
Administrative Role
Type of Project
Amount of Funding
Principal Field of Research
Funding Agency
Demographics
Question: What factors are associated with
higher and lower levels of administrative
responsibilities?
In no area is time taken away from research less
than 35% and often it is over 50%.
Factors associated with greater federal
administrative responsibility include:
• Non-professor positions
• Administrative appointments
• Service, Training, Curriculum and other non-research-focused
projects
• Higher combined direct costs; more projects
• Smaller, non-doctoral or specific focus institutions
• Smaller funding agencies
• Females; Hispanic/Latino or African American
Question: What factors are associated
with higher and lower levels of
administrative responsibilities?
•
Differences in post-award administrative
responsibilities, and to a lesser degree, report
preparation account for most differences in
administrative responsibilities.
•
Proposal preparation tends to reliably account for
about 15% of federal research time
•
Pre-award administration hovers around 6%.
35
Differences in % Time Away by Funding Agency
% Time Taken from Federal Research
Proposal Preparation
30
Pre-Award Admin
Post-Award Admin
25
20
15
10
5
0
Report Preparation
To what extent do PIs feel
they could benefit from
additional administrative
assistance?
◦ Generally, the greater the
time away from research, the
larger the estimated
potential reduction.
◦ Of greatest benefit to those
using Human Subjects or
having General Compliance
responsibilities
25-40%
Sample Research Workload Opinion
Items
Administrative workload associated with federallyfunded research grants has increased in the last 5 or 6
years.
The federally-mandated requirements for research
accomplish their intended goals.
The time spent meeting federal requirements for
research provides benefit worth the cost.
Because of research administrative workload, I am
generally less willing to submit federal grant proposals
than in the past.
When I have questions about federal regulations related
to research, obtaining answers is straightforward.
2012
%Agree
68%
26%
21%
26%
21%
http://sites.nationalacademies.org/PGA/fdp/PGA_081164
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