STAIR Leadership Summit aims to fill unmet need in research administration

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The role of a research administrator has evolved exponentially over time from back-office support to mission-critical strategic infrastructure, enabling science, partnerships and institutional impact. Penn State and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) recently partnered to address gaps in the research ecosystem through resource sharing, strategic partnerships, and workforce development, culminating in the first Skilled Training in Administration and Institutional Research (STAIR) Leadership Summit held last month.

This two-day summit brought nearly 100 research leaders from Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs) and R1 institutions together to explore complementary programs, solutions to avoid redundancy in research infrastructure, share lessons learned and identify ways in which they can share resources and build a successful workforce pipeline. Interactive and engaging sessions included discussions on developing successful ecosystems through shared services for structural innovation and creating new partnerships.

“Research administrators are essential to scientific progress and pipelines like STAIR are creating national models for research and workforce development at scale,” said Andrew Read, senior vice president for research at Penn State.

A central focus of the summit was sharing the STAIR Collaborative Administration for Research Excellence Series (CARES) program. The program provides comprehensive open access training in research administration designed to build knowledge, enhance skills and strengthen confidence in supporting research activities effectively. With four of eight online, asynchronous modules made available nationwide, 43 research administrators from 25 institutions have already enrolled in the CARES Curriculum since it launched in January.

STAIR is led by principal investigator (PI) Camelia Kantor, associate director of strategic initiatives for the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences; and co-PIs Emily Martell, managing director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences; Zoubeida Ounaies, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering; and Diane Rudy, associate director of pre-award research administration, Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Office.

Participants said the breadth of topics fueled high-energy and impactful conversations throughout the summit.

Jarralynne Agee, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at Miles College, shared how vision requires infrastructure, growth creates operational demand and great ideas need execution support.

“Building your ecosystem with communication amongst all the different areas is essential and staff are part of that strategic infrastructure,” Agee said. “When I talk about how important a research administrator is to a primary investigator, I like to say they’re the Alfred to my Batman. They’re making sure everything is ready for the work to progress.”

Attendees also heard from students who recently completed the first NSF STAIR undergraduate internship in research administration.

“I was able to look behind the curtain and see a side of research that runs very smoothly because of all the work done by administrators,” said attendee Gia White, an animal behavior major at Bucknell University. “I saw first-hand how teams were communicating and collaborating in real time to implement plans. My biggest take-away is that you don’t have to be in the lab to shape research — you can help make it possible.”

The program is already seeing tangible impacts, as one intern has already accepted a position with a large government contractor. “The role is pricing and estimating, which I’m really excited about! My experience working on an NSF budget proposal through STAIR really helped spark my interest in this field and gave me valuable hands-on experience building and thinking through research budgets,” said participant Mikayla Viola, a biology and public health education major at Bloomsburg University.

The successful launch of the STAIR program builds on Penn State’s reputation of investing in the capabilities of research administrators across the University, modeled after long-standing programs, such as the Administrative Committee on Research (ACOR) Certification and Education Series (ACES).

Visit the 2026 NSF STAIR Leadership Summit for presentation slides, a photo gallery and to learn more about training opportunities.