By Tyler White | Staff Writer

Baylor’s new Compliance and Research Administration will streamline university research processes, including grant proposals and conflict of interest disclosures. The electronic system is set to launch in mid-September.

Dr. Kevin Chambliss, vice provost for research, said previously that everything related to research, outside of funding, was done manually. With CARA, there is a one-stop shop for research projects.

“What we really see it doing is streamlining our ability to manage grants to greatly increase everybody’s visibility of the process,” Chambliss said.

The system, which is run through Huron Research Suite, has a login portal where users sign in with their credentials. From there, there are a series of tabs and dashboards that provide users with their proposals, ongoing research and deliverables.

Chambliss said the university needed an electronic research administration system because of Baylor’s research enterprise growth. He said over the period of Illuminate, it has grown by an annual average of 30%, which has become too much to handle with manual filing.

“It’s been exciting as Baylor’s grown from where we were to where we are today,” Chambliss said. “And as we’re a budding R1 institution, it’s the right time for us to invest in this type of resource to help campus at large.”

Susan Stearsman, associate vice provost for research, said funding for research has increased from $12 million to over $60 million.

“What drove it now is the growth combined with, once Ignite went live, we amped up the availability of data in Ignite,” Stearsman said. “And now, it’s time for the corresponding amp up in the rest of research.”

Stearsman said the system will allow for greater collaboration across all different research functions because CARA provides more transparency and data availability.

“I think just having the visibility and the fluid data in the system is going to help us not just for that process, but also … I can go in and just look at any project at any time and see the status,” Stearsman said.

Chambliss said that while the system won’t necessarily benefit all students directly, the increased efficiency will assist students who are involved in research at Baylor.

“What we really hope it does is streamline our ability to manage grants,” Chambliss said. “Any students involved in research with faculty, especially funded research, the university’s ability to manage that and to stay on top of things in terms of deadlines and reporting and getting things set … will only increase efficiency. And in that way, you have positive effects for the students that are a part of the research enterprise.”

Stearsman said the implementation of the system, with its relief of administrative burdens, could lead to more grant funding, which could also create more opportunities for students to be involved in research at Baylor.

“The more grant funding we have, the more students have opportunity to … be participating in active research and publication,” Stearsman said.