CRA Staff Management & Training 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A research administrator needs to address chronic absenteeism in a post-award team. What is the MOST appropriate first step?
- Immediately escalate to HR for disciplinary action
- Document attendance patterns and schedule a private discussion with the employee (Correct answer)
- Redistribute the absent employee's workload permanently
- Issue a written warning without prior discussion
Correct answer: Document attendance patterns and schedule a private discussion with the employee
Documenting patterns and holding a private conversation establishes facts and gives the employee an opportunity to explain before formal action is taken.
Question 2: Which competency framework is most commonly referenced for developing research administrator professional development plans?
- SHRM Body of Competency and Knowledge
- NCURA Research Administration Competency Model (Correct answer)
- PMI Project Management Competency Framework
- COSO Enterprise Risk Management Framework
Correct answer: NCURA Research Administration Competency Model
NCURA's Research Administration Competency Model outlines the knowledge, skills, and abilities specific to the research administration profession.
Question 3: When onboarding a new grants coordinator, which resource should be provided FIRST to establish regulatory context?
- The institution's indirect cost rate agreement
- The Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) overview (Correct answer)
- A list of active sponsored projects
- The department's internal budget templates
Correct answer: The Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) overview
The Uniform Guidance is the foundational federal regulatory document governing grants management, making it the essential first context for new staff.
Question 4: A senior research administrator is mentoring a junior colleague who struggles with sponsor deadline management. Which strategy is MOST effective?
- Assign the junior colleague easier proposals only
- Create a shared deadline tracking system and review it weekly together (Correct answer)
- Assume the junior colleague will improve without intervention
- Transfer all deadline-sensitive work to more experienced staff
Correct answer: Create a shared deadline tracking system and review it weekly together
A collaborative tracking system paired with regular check-ins builds the junior colleague's skills while ensuring deadlines are not missed.
Question 5: Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which classification most commonly applies to sponsored research staff performing professional grant management duties?
- Non-exempt hourly employees
- Exempt administrative employees (Correct answer)
- Exempt executive employees
- Temporary seasonal workers
Correct answer: Exempt administrative employees
Grant management professionals typically meet the FLSA administrative exemption criteria because their primary duty involves office work directly related to management or general business operations.
Question 6: Which approach BEST supports knowledge retention when training staff on complex federal reporting requirements?
- One-time lecture with printed handouts
- Spaced repetition with scenario-based practice exercises (Correct answer)
- Sending a link to the Federal Register
- Requiring staff to self-study on their own time
Correct answer: Spaced repetition with scenario-based practice exercises
Spaced repetition combined with scenario-based exercises promotes deeper understanding and long-term retention of complex regulatory content.
Question 7: A research administrator discovers that a newly hired staff member misrepresented their grant management experience during hiring. What is the CORRECT course of action?
- Ignore it if the employee is performing adequately
- Notify HR and follow institutional policies regarding misrepresentation (Correct answer)
- Provide extra training to compensate for the gap
- Allow the probationary period to serve as the only consequence
Correct answer: Notify HR and follow institutional policies regarding misrepresentation
Misrepresentation on employment applications is a serious integrity issue that must be reported to HR for formal review under institutional policy.
CRA Staff Management & Training 2
A research administrator needs to address chronic absenteeism in a post-award team.
What is the MOST appropriate first step?