Sponsored Research Administration & Programming

Transforming the administrative side of research and sponsored programs to balance efficiency and compliance.

Overview

Transforming Solutions is dedicated to helping your Office of Sponsored Research, Office of Sponsored Programs or Research Administration Office optimize efficiency by assessing business processes, determine checks and balances to ensure compliance, and select the best operating model that looks at how people, grant, research, program and other processes, and technology in these areas produce the best outcomes relative to the desired impact.

Our higher education consultants will work with your team to help manage the business side of research, evaluate cost savings and reimbursement measures, and improve customer service for faculty and students.  

We will also help your office explore the internal and external constituent experience to improve efficiency, transparency, and communication among the constituents, university, the sponsor, and the investigator.

Students sitting in the office of sponsored research at a higher ed. institution.

What We Do

Transforming Solutions is dedicated to helping your Office of Sponsored Research, Office of Sponsored Programs, or Research Administration Office in the following ways:

Process Improvement, Technology Review and Organizational Change TSI wants to help make your operations as efficient and user friendly as possible. Looking at the organization’s Processes (how you work and what you do), Technology that enables (or disables) the process and the People (the roles, organization structure, culture, policies) all impact the performance of the team.

Research Software Evaluation and Selection Your software could be causing a negative user experience. TSI will help develop a business case to justify the need for a new software. Our higher education consultants can help you manage your research administration workload by evaluating your existing legacy system and selecting a new system, if needed, to help you meet your strategic goals. We will help evaluate your existing business processes and help adjust these processes to align with a new software. We will then help your staff implement the new software in a way that limits disruptions to daily business operations.

Research Financial Planning & Cost Savings TSI will work with your team to discover areas of cost savings for sponsored programs. Our expert higher education consultants will help negotiate F&A cost rates and identify areas of operating costs that can be salvaged or recovered based on existing processes and business rules. TSI can also offer a technology assessment to evaluate existing technologies and applications and recommend if any can be optimized, repurposed, or terminated.

Research Organizational Management Transforming Solutions will help you assess the “people” side of research by evaluating your staffing needs, policies, and operating procedures. We will review organizational structure, staff roles and competencies, and training needs for your Research Administration organization. We will also implement change management methodology to help your organization adapt to transformation.

Our Solutions

The following are the most frequent service areas we employ to help our Sponsored Research Administration and Programming Services Constituents:

Project and Program Management

Customer Experience & Process Improvement

Organizational Change Management

Technology Assessment and Strategy

Software Evaluation and Selection

Customized Training

Our Top Rated Sponsored Research Administration & Programming Services Consultants

Dan Feely

Gerald Doyle

Susan Rossetti Headshot Image

Susan Rossetti

Our Clients’ Results

#Higher Education
Business Process Improvement Training for Alumni Association
In 2018, Transforming Solutions, Inc. (TSI) was engaged by a top ten, public research university with a medical center to develop and execute a business process improvement training program.
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#Higher Education
Software Evaluation and Selection for Top 10 Public Research University
TSI was hired to develop a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the technology infrastructure at a Public University.
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#Higher Education
Digital Transformation for a Southern Public Flagship University
TSI ensured appropriate mechanisms were in place to meet the needs of the multi-institution University community for the digital transformation of its student information systems.
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#Higher Education
Process Improvement Initiative Across Four Campuses
TSI spearheaded process improvement initiatives across four campuses to assess the current state of readiness for change, opportunities for improvement, and others through constituent experience sessions.
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#Higher Education
Establishing Portfolio Management Office (PMO) at Large Southern University
TSI was engaged to help establish a PMO with training, structure, management strategies, and development of critical PMO foundations through the development of a charter, mission, and vision.
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Continuous Improvement at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC)
TSI was engaged by the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) to create an organizational culture of continuous improvement.
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TSI worked with us to complete a strategic technology assessment, which included the difficult task of coordinating and articulating our vision and strategy for new technology. The project was a great success: they ensured that everyone participated in the process, that all voices were heard, and that deliverables were on-time and distributed to all participants for thoughtful feedback. On a day-to-day basis, TSI was enthusiastic and dedicated to our work, always demonstrating that our success is their success. They have acted as key advisors to me and as coaches for the entire project team. We so enjoyed working with the TSI team and hope to continue to do so in the future.

Sarah Barr
Sarah Barr
Senior Director, Analytics and Business Intelligence • The University of Chicago

Transforming Solutions, Inc. proved to be very adept in creating strategic and practical approaches to our complex improvement project. They gathered data efficiently and effectively, creating buy-in amongst our faculty and staff as they did so. Dan and Alan did this by spending a considerable amount of time on our campuses working directly with groups of our staff and faculty. Ultimately, TSI presented us with a detailed process map of our communications, identified key areas for productive improvement, and worked with us to tailor their final recommendations to our specific needs. The team of TSI does the job and does it well.

Pete Chidester
Pete Chidester
PhD • Eastern Arizona College

TSI staffs their project teams with high quality, knowledgeable, skilled, and dedicated individuals, assuring you that your initiative will be a success!

CFO
CFO
California State University – SLO

TSI joined the UF team at an important inflection point. We were in the very early stages of asking ourselves what ‘next’ looked like for our fundraising program and what technology ecosystem would be required to actualize it. Dan and his team led us through an extensive planning and preparation process that set us up for success in the implementation of our new CRM and the associated platforms. In the planning and preparation phase, we worked with Dan to develop visioning statements, create a roadmap, and secure funding.

Heather Greig
Heather Greig
Assistant Vice President • University of Florida Advancement

I really enjoyed working with TSI, particularly, I loved the way you ran the brainstorming sessions early on, which can sometimes be extremely disorganized if not done right. I respect and admire your ability and instinct to facilitate discussions and to tease out useful information. I believe your success is a result of natural ability, and lots of hard work and preparation. I’d love to stay connected and to serve as a resource if I can be of value to the things you do.

Information Technology Services Leader
Information Technology Services Leader
University of Illinois

FAQs about Sponsored Research Administration & Programming Services

What does a sponsored research administration services consultant do?

– Our consultants will help you answer the following questions:
– How do the processes operate now (and how are they perceived to operate by OSR or OSP’s constituents)?
– How consistent or variable are the processes and, besides the funding source, research type, and college, what else makes the process more variable?
– How many checks and balances currently exist, and how many are optimal to ensure that proposals are accurately submitted and in a timely manner?
– What potential improvements can be made so that there is greater transparency, increased responsiveness, and higher quality service?
– In what ways can processes be changed to reduce bureaucracy?
– In addition to the potential gains with a new structure or process, associated with these recommendations, what risks should be considered?
– What operating model (looking at people, process, and the technology that is in place now) will provide the best outcomes in this area?
– What potential benefits (both tangible and intangible) for OSR or OSP and its employees are possible?
– How can individual sponsoring organizations, and the University at large benefit from the future improvements in this area?
– How should OSR or OSP consider implementing the recommendations so that the change is well-managed and adopted (i.e., change management)?

Sponsored Research Administration & Programming Services consulting fees?

We understand that budgets are tight. We will work with you to create a customized budget that meets your financial circumstances.

Can you provide Programming Consulting Services remotely?

Yes, TSI’s methodologies are flexible enough to facilitate remotely. Our consultants have experience facilitating remote work with teams that will help the organization reach its strategic goals.