Research Administration Initiative

The Research Administration Initiative will establish a streamlined organizational model with clearly defined roles and equitable support systems to enhance the research of faculty's work at Rice. This effort will be accomplished by creating standardized resources, service levels, and a robust training program for research administrators. The transition will be guided by a high-level roadmap outlining the necessary steps for realignment, outlining roles and responsibilities, tracking and reporting for service commitments, and training activation.

Information and decisions made to date as part of the research training initiative can be found on this site.

Project Goals:

Research Admin GoalsProject Timeline:

The project is currently in Phase 4, Research Administration Training Program. This includes several cohorts of research administrators from across campus participating in 10 classes throughout the calendar year.

Research Admin TimelineProject Governance:

Executive Sponsors

Provost Amy Dittmar, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Kelly Fox, and Executive Vice President for Research Ramaroorthy Ramesh are the executive sponsors. The three executive sponsors convene, oversee, and provide parameters for the working groups and consider the recommendations provided to them to make final research administration decisions.

Name Campus Affiliation
Amy Dittmar Howard R. Hughes Provost
Kelly Fox Executive Vice President Finance and Administration
Ramamoorthy Ramesh Executive Vice President for Research

Project Leads

Associate Vice President and CFO Katrina Spencer and Assistant Vice President of Research Development and Infrastructure Carlos Garcia are the Project Leads.

Name Campus Affiliation
Katrina Spencer

Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Carlos Garcia Assistant Vice President of Research Development & Infrastructure

Future State Working Group

Working groups consist of subject matter experts from across the Rice community and are being convened to implement the transition roadmap for research administration training effectively.

Name Campus Affiliation
Aaron Parvis Assistant Vice President for Sponsored Projects
Mickey Stevenson Assistant Vice President for Research Integrity and Compliance
Brad Fralic Associate Vice President and University Controller
Teia Wright Assistant Controller for Research and Cost Accounting
James Hayward Administrative Director, Interdisciplinary Research Support Office
Mauricio Benitez Associate Vice Provost and Senior Advisor
Vicky Nielsen Armstrong Executive Administrator, Chemistry
Belinda Collins Director of Finance and Administration, OIT
Caroline Griffin Research Administrator, Rice Neuroengineering Initiative
Chris Rodriguez Direct of Research Administration, School of Social Sciences
Patricia DeLucia Associate Dean for Research, School of Social Sciences
Marica O’Malley Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Toni Green Finance Specialist, George R. Brown School of Engineering
Anita Norwig Assistant Dean of Humanities
Emmanuel Tunley Executive Administrator, Electrical and Computer Engineering