Earlier this year, the National Science Foundation issued a $400,000 grant to Tufts University as part of the university’s plan to train community college students to perform research administration work. Research administrators typically have bachelor’s degrees, but research universities are chronically unable to fill these positions.
Using the grant, Tufts University will develop an apprenticeship program for 6-7 Bunker Hill Community College students to train them in both research administration and research compliance. The program, which is considered experimental, will last for 18 months. The community college students will work at Tufts University during the trial period.
If the program is successful in training two-year students in research administration tasks, the approach could potentially open up hundreds of jobs annually for community college students. Research administrators in Michigan typically earn an average of about $70,000 per year. Certified Research Administrators (CRA) can earn more than $80,000. Earners in the 75th percentile can expect to make about $100,000 annually, and the highest earners in the field can earn $125,000 or more.
This is another example of the high-wage, high-demand jobs that we need in Washtenaw County. Washtenaw County is the home of two research universities that could make substantial use of entry-level research administrators. The University of Michigan is classified as an “R1” research institution, which is a measure of its research activity. Eastern Michigan University is classified as an “R2” research institution.
Further, EMU has a master’s program in Clinical Research Administration. WCC and EMU could potentially work together to develop a program to train entry-level research administrators in all facets of the grant application and management process. A program like this makes a huge amount of sense, especially given the high volume of research these universities conduct annually.
Research administration pilot could expand to other community colleges
Many research administration offices allow remote work, so a person with this training could work anywhere in the United States while remaining here in Washtenaw County. UM currently has about a dozen open positions for research administrators.
The Tufts pilot program will work with selected students and offers other benefits to universities and private research institutions. Community colleges tend to attract a more diverse student body than universities do. For universities looking to maintain diversity among their staffs, community college-trained students may provide the additional diversity universities may be looking for.
Partnering with a research institution would also lower the cost of developing and operating the program. Research administration depends upon specialized software to create grant applications, track grant funding, and manage the myriad compliance issues that arise. With this software already in place at a cooperating university, community colleges may be relieved of expensive annual subscription costs.
It’s very hard to see the downside to the Tufts pilot. If it works, community colleges could become the vehicle of choice for training new research administrators in the coming decade. Perfect solution for a major problem.
Photo Credit: Dave Schumaker, via Flickr
