Oakland University Manages a 300% Research Funding Increase with Cayuse

Challenge

When Oakland University, a small public research university in Rochester, Michigan, earned R2 classification in 2018, it began investigating digital solutions to replace the existing mix of manual, paper, and homegrown systems used to manage research administration.

“We needed some tools that would grow with us and that would also standardize things across campus and really make things easier,” recalled Dr. Andrea Buford, Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs at OU. “We didn’t want the workload to feel like a burden on the administrative staff in the departments, and we didn’t want them to see research as a new burden for them.”

After investigating options, OU began the transition from its old systems to a new, digital system by implementing Cayuse Sponsored Projects, Proposals, and Human Ethics.

Solution

After completing implementation Cayuse Sponsored Projects, Proposals, and Human Ethics helped provide a foundation of centralized, electronic research administration infrastructure.

With Human Ethics in place, “the ability to see whether IRB protocols were in place was amazing, it was remarkable,” Dr. Buford noted, adding that “from within Sponsored Projects we could see if the protocols were in place and we could start to allow spending in the event of an award. We didn’t have to make 14 phone calls, send emails, or beg and plead to see a copy of the protocols.”

Thanks to the platform’s transparency and accessibility by all researchers, Dr. Buford reported that “everybody’s happy. It’s much better, and it streamlines the time needed for approvals – you’re not literally moving paper around campus.”

Results

Overall, the implementation of Cayuse has helped Oakland University reduce administrative burden, increase transparency for researchers and administrators, streamline research procedures, and increase the visibility and recognition of research on campus.

Thanks to the platform’s accessibility and transparency, faculty involved in all facets of the research lifecycle can store data and records in a single electronic system and gain insight into the status of proposals and processes at any time.

According to Dr. Buford, “It’s increased and continues to increase transparency to the point where little things – PIs asking ‘where’s my proposal’ or ‘do I have money left in my account’ –  they can just get in Cayuse and look.” Additionally, “Reporting writ large for decision-makers at the president’s cabinet-level – ‘how many proposals did we submit,’ ‘how much money was that for,’ ‘what did we get,’ ‘what’s our hit rate’ – those are numbers I can get them in two seconds.”