CONTENTS

Begin RAA with a RAA Onboarding Certificate

Begin RAA by completing a 100% asynchronous Onboarding certification that provides foundational knowledge to research administration at Duke.  

Click here to enroll and begin the Onboarding Certificate for research focused on federal, state, and other non-industry sponsors. 

Click here to enroll and begin the Onboarding Certificate for industry-sponsored research.  

Participant & Supervisor Expectations

These are provided and agreed to during the application process.

For Participants

  • Work with your supervisor to select appropriate courses based on your job duties
  • Complete the coursework, including pre-work, post-work, quizzes, and exams for asynchronous and synchronous certification components
  • Attend and actively participate in all required courses. This includes participating in breakout group activities, in session discussions, and having cameras on if allowed based on configuration of work space
  • Regularly communicate your progress in the program with your supervisor 
  • Review assessments and discuss any questions about topics with your supervisor

For Supervisors

  • Work with your employee to allow time to complete certification components including asynchronous modules, virtual instructor-led training, course quizzes and exams
  • Regularly communicate with your employee on their progress in the RAA program and discus any questions your employee may have
  • Communicate with OERAF staff to discuss observations, evaluations, and your employee's progress in the RAA program
  • Review quiz results and discuss questions the participant may have regarding incorrect answers
  • Provide professional development support to your employee as needed, including developing a plan for continuing education credits after completing RAA

Program Standards

These basic tenants are expected of all those who participate in the RAA program.

Courtesy and respect are expected of all participants, instructors, and supervisors. Participants are expected to maintain and contribute to a professional learning environment at all times. 

Lapses in participation, preparedness, professional behavior, or civility are still visible and apparent to instructors in a virtual setting.  

Failure to adhere to these expectations can result in OERAF contacting your supervisor.

Respond and communicate promptly. The virtual setting relies heavily on communication. OERAF asks that everyone be mindful of correspondence whether it be informing us in advance of an absence or technical issues with joining a session. 

Attendance is required to progress through the RAA program. You are expected to attend classes for the full scheduled duration. OERAF uses Zoom reports to determine attendance time for a session. Failure to attend most of the minutes of a session may result in your not received attendance credit for the course. OERAF will work with you in the event of emergencies and other unforeseen reasons for absences. However, if you do not let OERAF know in advance your business unit may be charged a "No-Show" fee.

Quizzes for instructor-led courses will become available to participants once they are marked as successful for attending the course. 

This program relies on participants to actively participate and monitor their progress in and out of class sessions. You are expected to engage and manage your participation through registration, attendance, discussion, meeting deadlines, as well as assignments and quizzes. 

RAA requires participation in all activities and discussions. Instructor-led, virtual sessions are structured to incorporate as much engagement as possible to replicate the in-person experience. It also fosters community interaction with other RAA participants. Please follow the instructor's guidance on how to participate in each session.

Participants are expected to engage with assignments and quizzes by managing their registration, keeping track of their requirements, meeting due dates, and completing coursework on time. 

Each certification track - Pre-Award, Post-Award, Central Administration, Industry Pre-Award, Industry Post-Award - is comprised of specific asynchronous, e-learning courses and virtually delivered, instructor-led courses designed in partnership with Duke research administrators and research administration leaders. 

ASSIGNMENTS

You may be required to complete assignments before or after the session to supplement the shorter session times. Timely completion of pre- and post-session assignments is required to receive credit for a course. 

QUIZZES

Quizzes are the formal testing that occurs when you've completed a virtual, instructor-led course. They will be available to take when the instructor marks your class attendance a successful in Duke's LMS.  

  • You must score an 80% or higher to pass 
  • You have 2 attempts to pass quizzes
  • If you do not receive 80% or higher after two attempts, you will be required to site for the final exam 

Completion of all course quizzes is required before you can sit for the final exam.

E-learning coursed have embedded knowledge checks which must be completed for you to complete the e-learning.  

FINAL EXAM

Your certification is based on passing the final exam. You need a score of 80% or higher to pass. The exam is structured to test your ability to apply the knowledge from the entire RAA program. It is open-book and participants have four-hours to complete the exam.  Exams are offered twice a month as designed times.  Registration for a scheduled exam date will open once participants complete all courses and quizzes in their certification track. Please contact OERAF in advance if you require any special accommodations.

You are expected to actively use the virtual tools employed in the RAA program

  • Registering in courses in the Duke LMS 
  • Independently managing your calendar and Zoom access to attend RAA sessions. The Zoom link for each virtual instructor-led course is available in the LMS. 
  • Joining sessions after authenticating in Zoom to use your Duke-issued account
  • Downloading course resources saved as attachments in the Duke LMS
  • Adhering to the timelines for each certification component to ensure completion in alignment with RACI-HR position requirements 

Course Registration

Using the Learning Management System (LMS) for REgistration

  • Registration for all courses and quizzes is available to participants via the LMS once they enroll in certification.   
  • Register for virtual, instructor-led courses within your certification in the LMS.  
    • Enrollment for virtual,  instructor-led courses closes 5 business days before the scheduled start of a class 
  • Add the session to your calendar or use your preferred other management methods
  • Access the classes on time using the Zoom links associated with the class and provided in the LMS 

Failure to Attend (No Show) Charge

Not attending a course when you are registered for it will cause your department to be charged a $100 no-show fee. Participants are expected to drop courses in advance or contact OERAF (ResearchFinanceEd@duke.ed) if you have unforeseen circumstances that will prevent you from attending. Otherwise dropping the course with less than 24 hours notice will result in the no-show fee. The fees will be charged to your department's default cost center.

Quizzes

Access & Deadlines

  • Quizzes are in the certification and will open once the instructor marks successful attendance at the class.  Please allow 24 hours.  
  • Quizzes can be taken at any time; however, all quizzes must be complete before registering for a final exam.  OERAF strongly encourages you to take quizzes within one week of completing a virtual, instructor-led offering.  
  • You have 2 attempts to take the quiz and pass.  

Grading & Feedback

Scoring

  • All quizzing in RAA requires a mastery score of 80% or more to pass.
  • All quizzes have 15 questions and each question is worth one point.   
  • Your final grade will be the score on your most recent attempt. 
  • The score of your most recent attempt will display in the LMS and be visible to your supervisor via your completed learnings.  
  • You must follow the quiz instructions in order for the score to record in the LMS properly. 

Grading 

  • Quizzes are graded automatically by the LMS. 
  • If you do not understand your score or why a specific question was marked in correct, please email ResearchFinanceEd@duke.edu.  

Final Exam

Eligibility

  • You must complete all courses in your Learning Track to be eligible to take the final exam
  • Register for a testing session in the Duke LMS once you are eligible
  • You are responsible for confirming you are eligible using the Canvas tracking tools provided to you before registering for a testing session
  • You will be dropped from the testing session the day before it occurs if you are ineligible
  • Testing Sessions are 4 hours long and scheduled once every 2 weeks
  • We alternate between AM and PM sessions on different days of the week to provide scheduling flexibility

Grading

  • You must reach a mastery score of 80% or more to pass the Final Exam
  • There is no question-level feedback provided after the exam
  • Your results are sent to you and your supervisor by email, then added to your records in the LMS
  • Passing the final exam constitute completing the RAA program and becoming certified

Retakes

  • You will be provided feedback on suggested courses to retake and subjects to review if you do not pass the exam
  • You are able to retake the exam at any time
  • There is no limit on the number of times you need to take the exam to pass
  • We are required to provide information on participants who have failed 2 or more times to management centers for their review