The Cayuse community is thrilled to shine its Champion Spotlight on @Andrea Buford, Director, Office of Sponsored Programs at Oakland University. Keep reading below to get to know Andrea!
How do you interact with Cayuse products on a daily basis?
I interact with Cayuse products all day, every day - Proposals and Fund Manager, mostly. I look for things in Human Ethics when we need them on the OSP side of the house - but I don't initiate anything in the Compliance modules. We have literally just this week made the switch to the platform, so I'm still learning that. Learning new software is not my happy place; the muscle memory of "click over here; look over there; the thing you want is on this page not that page" isn't there yet. But the struggling is instructive - if annoying. I have a real-life measure of how very much I was relying on Cayuse, now that I functionally don't have it. I DO have it in a technical sense, of course; I just haven't learned it. We'll get there.
What do you see as the hottest trends in research today?
Probably the right answer is AI in both research and pedagogy, and its societal impacts. And I care about that. I do. But I had a disturbing interaction with a very well-educated friend the other day - and that leads me to an answer that is in my "lane" to help answer. In that conversation, they said something along the lines of "I can't think of any university research that has affected my life." After I closed my gaping mouth, I said ..."COVID vaccine? You drive a car, right? (OU is in metro-Detroit. Car-related-research is a big deal around here. I understand none of it.) I could point to improvements in health care for micro-preemies, institutional partnerships across cultural and geographic divides that bring music, education, art, and health care to marginalized populations. I can also make a compelling case about why the study of, say, ancient Japanese orthography matters to the general population even though it might never have occurred to anyone that it was happening." Safe to say, my friend was wishing they had never mentioned it ;) But seriously, faculty aren't the only ones with an obligation to speak to the entire range of stakeholders about their research. If we want to hold onto, or reclaim, the notion of the importance of hard-earned expertise, then research administrators too should be doing some of the talking about the breadth and depth of the research we see and support.
What do you consider most promising in the era of big data?
Oh, I have a whole rant/lecture I can give about this at the drop of a hat. I have been reliably informed (by my children) that it is NOT interesting. Nevertheless, I persist. Here's the thing - and why it matters in the world of university research support. Big data is often (though not always) offered as a counterpoint to hypothesis-driven science. Sponsors and publication review platforms push investigators towards rigorous science being equated with the idea of testing a strong hypothesis. Yet, big data allows us another path - potentially equally rigorous. In this space, empirical input determines the direction of research considered by investigators. It's not just that data comes OUT of research; data goes IN as a driver of scientific inquiry. Whole lines of inquiry open up if we think about research this way.... but sponsors, publications, and tenure committees have been a little slow to respond. I'll stop now, before Bacon, and Popper, and John Stuart Mill enter the conversation and seriously - I'm thinking my kids might have been right! But, as much as I love hypothesis-testing and theory-centric research, there is a new-ish way and we need to wrap our brains around it.
How can an organization stay relevant five years from now?
I'm probably operating from the naive assumption that universities are just plain relevant. Like, where would we go???? *Andrea looks around, perplexed...* But, in this political climate where all kinds of things I had thought to be immutable are gone, I should probably check myself. It seems to me that universities should continue not just to push intellectual boundaries (but yes, that too) but also cultural ones. The history of the university isn't exactly one of stunning inclusion, and we could learn so much by welcoming and amplifying other voices. Now how to do that from the chair I actually occupy at the university? That's less clear - at least to me. Certainly a diverse staff is a must, but diversity isn't just demographic. Do I stand between people with more privilege and my staff when there are micro-aggressions (and worse)? Yes, of course I do. But I have made no headway in challenging the fact that that's necessary in the first place. Certainly a PI's research is their own -absolutely. But administrators are in a unique position to raise questions prior to research beginning. How are participant payments to happen? Are they reasonable? Can they happen in multiple ways so that participants actually derive some benefit? Does the dissemination plan include opportunities to present findings to non-academics as well as academics? Opportunities for inclusion are everywhere and can be gentle and utterly obvious. Let's use them and celebrate them - that's what I think.
What app would be hard for you to live without?
I use the obvious ones, of course. But Bring Fido. Not kidding. I have only been in Michigan 5 years and at least some of that was COVID-times. So, exploring my new place is behind schedule. I use Bring Fido to figure out where I can bring Finnegan (see above....he's the dog) that will allow us both to have fun. Michigan is beautiful, by the way - there's probably an app that demonstrates that. Come visit!
What do you like to do outside of work?
This work, given half a chance, will consume a life. So, I try not to let that happen. I am learning the Irish language. I still pretty much stink at it, but I'm having fun. Last winter, I went to a language intensive in Dublin over part of the winter break, and I will do that again this year. I have half-baked plans of either retiring in Ireland or retiring in the Midwest and traveling to Ireland three times a year. We'll see what really happens; I have some time to think about it. I'm also learning ice dancing. As a person who's lived in the midwest for decades, I knew how to ice skate. But I didn't know much of anything about pairs skating. So, I have a skating partner, who is about a million times better at skating than I am, and three mornings a week at 5:30 a.m. (not my favorite part of this) we are on the ice. Next year, we will go to an intensive at the Lake Placid Olympic ice arena. It's targeted to *ahem* adult skaters - which until lately in ice skating has meant anyone over 35. So we're trying to broaden the definition by, well, quite a lot ;) I also have a dog, a yellow Lab named Finnegan, who is a therapy dog. He's 10 so he too is confronting his retirement plans. He's down to working once or twice a week - mostly with area police departments. So, his training and getting him to his jobs (he's smart, but he can't drive) are also how I spend my evenings and weekends.
And from this, you will deduce two things. Yes, my children are grown and fully-launched. And housework...well, it's "done enough."
If you could meet any historical figure, who would you choose and why?
Maya Angelou, every time. What a life! What a power! I would just sit in my chair and listen and learn. And not much shuts me up, as perhaps you've noticed.
Thank you, Andrea, for being a Cayuse Champion and sharing your thoughts!