The Office of Research Administration, with support from the Vice President for Research will be offering a matching program for qualified departmental research administrators to obtain certification as a Certified Research Administrator (CRA), which is a nationally recognized certification offered by The Research Administrators Certification Council. More information on the CRA is available at the Research Administrators Certification Council website: https://cra-cert.org/.
Funding Information:
The ORA matching program will provide for 50% of the cost of the certification exam, the practice exam, and a $1,000 bonus upon successfully passing the exam. The cost of the exam and practice exam will be covered regardless of the results of the exam. Departments are required to cover the other 50% for the staff member supported by this program. The estimated costs are as follows:
| Total Costs | Department Share | VPR Share | |
| CRA Exam | $395 | $197.50 | $197.50 |
| CRA Practice Exam | $60 | $30 | $30 |
| Bonus for Passing Exam | $1000 | $500 | $500 |
| IU Fringe Benefits (6.98%) | $70 | $35 | $35 |
| Total | $1,525 | $762.50 | $762.50 |
Departments will pay for the cost of exams and be reimbursed for 50% by ORA/VPR. Bonus payments will be processed by the Office of the Vice President for Research under a plan approved by University Human Resources and departments will then be billed for 50%.
Program Requirements:
• Individuals must be eligible to sit for the exam according to the eligibility requirements as listed on the Research Administrators Certification Council’s (RACC) website: https://ptcny.com/pdf/RACC-CRA.pdf
• Individuals that currently hold or have formerly acquired their CRA are not eligible for this matching program
• Individuals must be a fulltime employee of Indiana University
• The matching program is only for support of the Certified Research Administrator and does not include the Certified Pre-Award Research Administrator or Certified Financial Research Administrator
• Funds are limited for this program so if selected, the applicant must sit for the exam during the fiscal year for which the match funds are awarded. Applicants will be selected on a first come/first serve basis up to our budgeted matching funds for the fiscal year. Any applicants not selected will receive first priority for the following fiscal year.
CRA Eligibility Requirements:
1. Bachelor’s or advanced degree and three (3) years of professional experience in research administration or sponsored programs administration either in a sponsoring or recipient organization or the equivalent in a self-funded organization; or
2. An associate degree and five (5) years of professional experience in research administration or sponsored programs administration either in a sponsoring or recipient organization or the equivalent in a self-funded organization; or
3. No degree and six (6) years of professional experience in the research administration or sponsored programs administration either in a sponsoring or recipient organization or the equivalent in a self-funded organization. (Petitions for approval of this option are available on the RACC website at: https://racc-cert.org/cra-petition/ )
If you are interested in this opportunity, please download and complete the form linked below and submit it to oraadmin@indiana.edu by October 15. If you have any questions, please email Steve Martin at stemarti@iu.edu.
In order to use the fillable form features and digital signature, please open the form in Adobe Acrobat:
FY 22 CRA Matching Program Application Form
This form can be accessed any time in the Research Administrator Team folder located at RAT Google Drive Folder