USF Certified Research Administrator Program

Program Courses

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Courses are offered to active USF employees (full or part-time). You must have access to the MyUSF portal and have an active USF email address to enroll. Supervisory approval to enroll is not required by our office. Both online courses are FREE to USF employees. 

You may refer to your department's guidelines should you have questions. To determine which course(s) is right for you, please refer to the course descriptions.

CRA-USF Basic Course

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The CRA-USF/Basic credential is earned by successfully completing the online course in Canvas, with a score of 100%. The course covers general knowledge and information on the life-cycle of research administration, from pre-award through post-award, focusing on the basic essentials to get employees started on the right path for conducting research administration at USF.

This online course is self-guided, allowing employees to complete the course at their own pace, within a designated time frame; upon enrollment, participants have access to the course for a maximum of 4 calendar weeks and may complete it at any time during this period.

After completing this course, employees are encouraged to enroll in the CRA-USF/Advanced online course which provides hands-on practice opportunities to develop and enhance skills.

I. Introductory Section

  • Introduction to Research Administration at USF
  • Uniform Guidance
  • Export Controls
  • Conflict of Interest in Research
  • Facilities and Administrative
    Reports and Queries

*Announcements on course offerings are sent periodically to the USF Research Administrators listserv. If you are not currently on the listserv and wish to be added, please send an email request to AcademyCRA-USF@usf.edu.

II. Research Administration Life-Cycle

  • Finding Funding
  • Bulls iResearch
  • Preparing Project Budgets
  • Award Setup
  • Award Monitoring, Reconciliation and Reporting
  • Effort Reporting Compliance
  • Pay Distribution for Research Administration
  • Cost Sharing
  • Participant Payments
  • Advance Accounts
  • Cost Transfers
  • Subrecipient Monitoring
  • Financial Reporting & Monitoring
  • Managing Fixed Assets on Sponsored Awards
  • Internal Controls and Audits
  • Award Closeout and Record Retention

 

Coming Soon!

Sponsored Research is excited to announce the development of three new CRA Advanced courses that are expected to go live Spring 2025. These courses will be role based and are designed to enhance knowledge and skills related to research specific processes at USF. The new courses are outlined below, please direct any questions to AcademyCRA-USF@usf.edu.

CRA Advanced - Principal Investigator: A course dedicated to Principal Investigators who will be, developing budgets, submitting proposals, practicing research and managing awards, etc.

CRA-Advanced - Unit Research Administrator: A course dedicated to department administrators that assist in processes related to an award lifecycle.

CRA- Advanced – Reviewer: A course dedicated to individuals who will be reviewing proposals, awards, agreements and contracts, etc.