The Faculty Advisory Board of the Office of Research Administration

The Faculty Advisory Board (FAB) helps the Office of Research Administration (ORA) reach points of excellence through self-examination and extending the “faculty voice” in planning and implementation activities. Through this active engagement with faculty representatives from across the university, ORA works to fulfill our commitment to improving the research administration infrastructure and activities for our research faculty and staff. The ORA Faculty Advisory Board was established with a commitment to transparency, shared understanding and active problem solving.

The Charter of the FAB outlines the following set of responsibilities of the board:

Providing insight and recommendations related to the “faculty research experience.”
Advising on the progress of the Research Administration Strategic and Operational Plans.
Receiving information on, and provide feedback related to ORA’s continuous process improvement initiatives. 
Identifying challenges and discuss solutions for process improvement across ORA (Office of Research Administration) with appropriate consideration for prioritizing resources.
Reporting feedback and suggestions for improvement to Dr. Robert Nobles, VPRA.

Specifically, the FAB brings faculty researchers together with key staff to address the needs and opportunities across all areas of research administration. Through this partnership, the FAB has been instrumental in moving the research enterprise forward in the following ways: 1) successfully advocating for open research activities during the pandemic; 2) streamlining and improving IACUC services, IT solutions, and support for faculty; 3) successfully advocating for transparency in external consultant reports on research administration; 4) thinking through continuity of activities between the Research Administrative Services (RAS) and other research and university offices responsible for grants/contract administration; 5) successfully advocating for transparency in metrics used to measure success in research administration; and 6) successfully advocating for the comprehensive review of and modernization of the IT tools being used to facilitate research administration.

With ORA’s goal of becoming the #1 Research Administration Office in the nation, the vital action of active and continual engagement with faculty from across campus will continue to be preserved.

Meet the Members of the 2023 ORA Faculty Advisory Board

Miriam Vos School of Medicine: Gastroenterology (Chair)