Communicating with Research Faculty: Challenges and Strategies

Rachel Dresbeck, Ph.D., Director, Research Development and CommunicationKatie Wilkes, B.A., Program Manager, Research Funding and Development

Services

Oregon Health & Science University

Oregon Health & Science University – Portland, Oregon

Communications challenges

• What information do you want people to have?

• Who do you want to receive this information?

• What are your barriers?

Things we’ve learned working with faculty

We do not live in an economy of information.

We do live in an economy of attention.

Common Barriers:

People are busy!People don’t care about what you care about!People don’t perceive the need to know about the things you’ve done for them!

Challenge: telling people about the new F&A rate

TO All PIs:For the past nine months, a team from Central Financial Services and the Sponsored Projects Office has been has been charged with leading the development of a coordinated and institution-wide system to develop a new cost-based facilities and administrative rate agreement. West Coast U (WCU) has a long and robust history of supporting the full spectrum of basic, clinical, and translational biomedical research. Accelerating biomedical research to the benefit of human health is now a particular institutional focus. It’s an opportune time to take the next step in putting together the necessary infrastructure. "Research is evolving at WCU and nationally, the NIH demands new ways of doing impactful science with fewer dollars. We too must extend and evolve the original concept that formed its foundation - a comprehensive research platform that’s integrated and well-coordinated across the institution,” said Dr. Vice President for Research. Serious Person, MD, WCU Provost, similarly notes that she is “…all in favor of creating research across the institution, schools and programs. Thus, it is important that this be a University wide message.”

Strategy: Make the call to action clear.A new Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Cost Rate Agreement was issued to Academic Health Center on 2/18/09 and is effective now. This will affect you in three main ways:

1) You will need to plan your budgets for new and competing renewal grants very carefully when writing the applications. Because the F&A rates increase incrementally over the various fiscal years, budgeting for F&A costs is more complex. If you spend more in the early or late stages of the grant, the direct costs may need to be re-budgeted as F&A costs. It’s your responsibility to plan for this, because you’ll have to spend within the total cost awarded.

2) Starting on July 1, 2010, your costs may change if your spending varies from the categories you budgeted

3) You need to know the process for carry-overs and no-cost extensions. No-cost extensions related to awards issued prior to 2/18/09 will be assessed the old F&A rates. (Etc.)

Strategy: Use your tools appropriately

We use blogs, email, websites, newsletters, Facebook, informal networking, meetings, snail mail, presentations…and even emails.

Lots of tools, but how do you use them strategically?

Strategy: Target Your Messages

People appreciate targeted communication!

Example (targeted outreach to postdoctoral fellows):• Postdoc Update newsletter• Postdoc Facebook page• When emailing postdocs, use

an email header such as:“Postdocs: Learn new

collaboration tools, Nov. 2”

Strategy: Use Old-School Methods!

Never underestimate the power of informal communication!

Examples:• Flyers at the elevators• Physical letters – that is, stationery and note cards.• Networking events• Table or booth at an on-campus event• Build a good reputation so that you get referrals

Strategy: Document Your Efforts

Measure everything! Track success rates of communications efforts.

Examples:• Google Analytics for websites• Email management software if

you’re sending emails to groups of people (e.g. Mail Chimp)

• Keep a spreadsheet to track attendance for classes and workshops

A word about surveys.

Before you decide to send a survey, here are some things to think about:

• Do you really need to send a survey? • Is the purpose of the survey clear? What will the survey

information be used for?• Are you going to get good information from the survey?• Could you send a targeted survey to a sample population?

(Recent targeted survey at OHSU had 40% response rate.)• If you do send a survey, keep it short and add an incentive.

Case study: Implementing a Researcher Profile Tool

Goal: To make faculty and staff aware that our new tool SciVal Experts is the place to go to find out who does what at OHSU.Barrier: Faculty complain that they don’t know who does what and they didn’t use the previous tool, but they are suspicious of change. Solution: Soft launch with highly orchestrated communication planKey messages: • SciVal Experts is now powered by Scopus, the largest abstract and citation

database of peer-reviewed literature, with over 18,000 titles from more than 5,000 international publishers. More robust than PubMed!

• SciVal Experts is a directory of research expertise that makes it easy to find who does what, what they’ve published, and who is working with whom.

• Contact funding@ohsu.edu if your profile seems to be missing publication information or if you need to make any changes to your profile.

Case study: Implementing a Researcher Profile Tool

Problem: OHSU requires a “gateway” page, which could be a barrier.

Solution: Redesigned OHSU’s gateway page and create a vanity URL (www.ohsu.edu/experts)

Explains exactly what SciVal Experts is and gives role-specific instructions on use.

Case study: Implementing a Researcher Profile Tool

Problem: Researchers don’t always read announcements or things fall off their radar.

Solution: Post a tutorial on OHSU Research News weekly for 5 weeks that covers a new aspect of the tool (e.g. how to search by concept, how to navigate a faculty profile).

Keeps SciVal Experts “in the news” without being redundant.

Case study: Implementing a Researcher Profile Tool

Other communication activities we used:

• Posted SciVal Experts flyers in research buildings• Hosted an Elsevier training on-campus• Presented at the Research Administration monthly meeting• Table at New Faculty Orientation• Added link to SciVal Experts to email signatures• Mentioned during Human Investigations Program talk• Research Administration trainings (RDA 101, Essentials of

Grant Administration)

Case study: Implementing a Researcher Profile Tool

Questions?Contact info:

Oregon Health & Sciences UniversityResearch Funding & Development Services

http://www.ohsu.edu/funding

Email us: funding@ohsu.edu