Less Admin. More Research. That is the vision behind the Research Administration Transformation, a key effort within Building Momentum Together (BMT). The transformation focuses on reducing administrative burden, strengthening compliance and giving faculty and staff more time to focus on the work that advances Rice’s research mission.
Finding the Opportunities
Before designing solutions, the team looked at where current processes create the most work and risk. Three areas stood out:
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Award closeout: Without a single reporting interface for ending awards, staff must track deadlines and closeout tasks manually. Cleanup and encumbrance closeouts can fall outside the closeout timeline, creating late cleanup, rework and compliance risk.
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Cost transfers: The current process is manual, with no workflow or escalation path. Unclear ownership for expense monitoring can lead to errors, corrections and increased audit risk.
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Award setup: Award information is entered manually into both Cayuse and Oracle. This makes setup cumbersome and can complicate handoffs and reporting among users accessing different systems.
Solutions Designed by Staff
The next step was putting staff at the center of the solution. A 19-member Design Committee of Rice administrators spent months helping shape, test and refine the new processes and technology.
The committee's work resulted in three new tools that improve efficiency and reduce risk:
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Award Closeout Dashboard and Checklist: A closeout dashboard and checklist in Oracle will help staff stay ahead of deadlines while reducing rework, compliance risk and avoidable costs.
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Cost Transfers: A role-based Oracle workflow and self-service process for project-to-project transfers will improve visibility, clarify ownership and reduce manual work.
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Cayuse-to-Oracle Integration: Automated data flow will reduce manual entry and reduce downstream rework and reconciliation.
The Design Committee has also been integral to developing the change management and training plan to support this transformation, including piloting the trainings that will be available to campus research administrators and reviewing training and informational materials that will support administrators after go-live.
“I can see it now finally being where it was promised,” said Mirela Willhelm, Senior Department Administrator in Physics & Astronomy. “It’s just making our jobs so much easier.”
What’s Next?
The Research Administration Transformation is an important step in BMT’s broader journey toward operational excellence. With foundational process and technology improvements underway, Phase 3 will focus on how Rice can continue to leverage technology and innovation to improve service, reduce administrative effort and create better experiences for the research community.
The goal remains simple: less administrative work, better processes and more time supporting Rice’s research mission.