The Research Administration Training Series, which aims to educate the campus research community about methodology for all of its personnel on and off campus, has been steadily increasing in class attendance since its inception two years ago.
The training series, known as RATS, had 900 attendees the semester it began. This fall, attendance soared to more than 1,100.
Deborah Larson, manager of property accounting, attended Tuesday’s lecture on Environmental Health and Safety and Radiological Health as an elective for a clinical research certificate.
“Most of the grants and contract information that deal with (the) equipment we use involve government regulations,” Larson said.
After leaving the U in 1998 and recently returning, Larson felt she needed to become certified to understand her job fully, she said.
The series offers four certifications: pre-award, which focuses on how to find grants for researchers and how to apply for them; post-award, which deals with project management and spending; clinical research, which addresses issues in human research investigations; and postdoctoral scholars, which focuses on research integrity.
“Research is an increasingly complicated field and there has not been a substantial amount of education on how to do research in different areas of contracts and understanding regulations,” said Jeffrey Botkin, associate vice president for research at the U.
Botkin started the series with Ray Gesteland, vice president for research, in 2005 as a response to the expressed need by research personnel.
“Program participation is strongly encouraged, especially for recent employees,” said Anthony Onofrietti, director of research education.
Several professional associations, such as the Utah Nurses Association, the Society of Clinical Research Associates and the Association of Clinical Research Professionals, grant continuing education hours for people who want to attend the series.
“(We) provide a variety of services to support faculty and staff involved in the administration of research here at the U, especially in training on how to find grants and funding opportunities, how to manage awards and how to conduct responsible research,” Onofrietti said.
In the past two years, more than 100 people have received at least one of the certificates of achievement and many have received two or more, he said.
However, the lectures are voluntary and are not restricted to those seeking certification. There are 40 classes offered during the year on various subjects ranging from how to obtain grants to good clinical practices.
Senior administration, faculty and subject-matter experts teach the lectures. Participants use interactive technology, such as individual keypads to transmit information to encourage participation and to gather demographic information.
About 95 percent of the people who attend the classes are from the health sciences or main campus, Onofrietti said. The remaining five percent are usually people who are involved in research but are located off campus.
“We are trying to meet the needs of communities and the needs of faculty and administration,” Botkin said. “We strongly recommend people to give us comments or criticisms, so we can improve the program.”