Research Financial Administration – Survey Results

Agenda Survey (15 minutes) Intent Respondents Results Communication & Ongoing Learning (20 minutes) Options for communication Upcoming sessions Breakout groups Upcoming projects (10 minutes) Closing (5 minutes)

Research Financial Administration – Intent of Survey Shortage of staff Frustration Workload How do other departments manage Tears Responsible for everything No training Help me!!!!!!

Research Financial Administration – Respondents Distribute survey to any department administrator who may have some involvement with Research Financial Administration range of respondents from a purchasing clerk to college administrator # of respondents – 25

Research Financial Administration – Respondents # of faculty 0-10 : : : : : : : : : 0 91 – 100 : 0 >100 : 1

Research Financial Administration - Respondents # of Research Awards 0-50 : : : : : : : : 1 >400 : 1

Research Financial Administration - Respondents % of time spent on research financial administration 0-10% : % : % : % : % : % : % : % : : % : 1

Research Financial Administration - Respondents Financial Administration Training Yes – 3 Yes (other than Office of Research) – 1 Some – 4 No – 17 Learned on the job/mostly self taught/previous incumbent …

Research Financial Administration – Survey Results ObservationCountProcessTrainingCommunication Account set up Process, timeliness, signatures, multi-accounts, naming in FRS 13X Sponsor and Research award details Expense eligibility, CFI (in-kind and bottom line), Tri-council, CRC, required documentation, sponsor rigidness (minimal/no flexibility between expense categories) 12XX Understanding FRS Rules for unit and grant, object code restrictions, more details in FRS, OMAFRA reports, commitments, printing monthly reports for closed accounts, overview of payroll, purchasing and journal entries filter, tracking specific expenses, department listing by department number 11X Admin Training In-class training, more frequent meetings, informed about changes (sponsors, FRS, etc) 10XX

Research Financial Administration – Survey Results ObservationCountProcessTrainingCommunication Journal entries Number of entries, moving of expenses, no account set up, revenue … 7XX Closing of Accounts Timeliness, retired faculty, accuracy of end dates 8XX Office of Research/Research Financial Services Signing contracts, # of accounts set up, who does what, … 5XXX Budget Information 5X Who to contact Website- not clear 4X Invoicing Delinquent payments from sponsors, timing of invoice and payment, payment received, large balances before invoicing, copies of invoices not received in department, faculty reporting timelines vs invoicing timelines making some challenges for faculty to make changes to their TF’s 4XX

Research Financial Administration – Survey Results ObservationCountProcessTrainingCommunication Faculty Training Responsible for their accounts, overspending 4XXX Client Services Lack of willingness to help, some staff difficult to work with, some staff too busy to return calls/assist with issues, differences/mixed messages from RFS, different interpretation of policies, information not processed in a timely manner 4X Research Revenue By department, MTCU vs Other revenue 3X Reporting Frequency and Timeliness 1X Currency exchange 1X Consistency of policy interpretations among departments/colleges 1X

Research Financial Administration – Survey Results Questions and Answers Does this accurately capture your feedback? Does this reflect your experience? What’s missing?

Research Financial Administration – Communication & Ongoing Learning Options for communication Website Training sessions Eg. Summary of Changes – 2011 Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide

Research Financial Administration – Communication & Ongoing Learning Topics to be covered Session #1 (November 16) FRS Session #2 (TBD) Account set up process Office of Research/Research Financial Services Closing of accounts

Research Financial Administration – Communication & Ongoing Learning Topics to be covered Session #3 (TBD) Expense eligibility (name sponsors) Sponsor requirements (name sponsors) TBD Session #4 (TBD) TBD

Research Financial Administration – Communication & Ongoing Learning Breakout groups What works best for communicating change? What are some additional topics you would like to see covered? Next session is on FRS – please list one question you have about FRS that you would like to have answered

Research Financial Administration – Upcoming Projects Automated closing of accounts End date notice (90 days and 30 days) New Attributes Documentation Last Report Date Last Reporting period Next Report Date Next Reporting period

Research Financial Administration – Upcoming Projects Task List for Research Financial Services My Grants Tracker Closing old accounts 4000 active accounts 1455 GPR type accounts 950 accounts with an end date of Sep 2011 or earlier 115 accounts with a balance of $0.00

In Closing Next steps Next session FRS Training November 16th Thank you for coming and keep up with the good work!!