Research is one of the primary missions of many colleges and universities. There are great opportunities to leverage current administrative information technology to develop new functionality, integrate systems, improve access to information, and enhance support for Research Administration and Research Compliance.
The Kuali Research Administration (KRA) project applies the Kuali collaboration model to these ends. It calls for higher education institutions to collaborate as partners in the design and development of the Research Administration system. As with other Kuali projects, the partner institutions bring resources to the project and a KRA Board of senior representatives oversees their deployment in accordance with the model.
As the vision statement from its successful proposal to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation asks,
“What if any and every college and university could use, without fee, an outstanding research administration system that embodies the ‘best of’ techniques and processes for research administration, while maintaining the flexibility to fit disparate institutional structures and needs?
“This is entirely possible via a community source partnership to pool resources, requirements, and execution of an efficient development process. The software and community developed through this process could meet college and university needs while providing an economically sustainable path for the future.”
The KRA project is the instrument to develop this software and its community.
A significant part of this model is the wholesale adoption of the functionality in a proven system, thereby avoiding the inertia of a “clean sheet” design. The KRA partner institutions have therefore agreed, from the outset, on the functional components that the project will deliver. The project has chosen MIT’s existing Coeus system as its baseline design. KRA will then fill in functionality missing from Coeus, update its technical architecture for easier integration with other administrative systems, and release open source software backed by the Kuali Foundation.
KRA development will begin in July, 2007 and meet the Kuali Architecture and Development Standards. In particular, KRA will follow the modular design and phased releases that the Standards promote. The KRA system includes the key modules from Coeus functionality and approved enhancements. Each module is developed during its designated Phase by both a functional committee and a development team working in concert.
The KRA project is currently seeking additional investing partners. You may also subscribe to the Kuali Research Administration mail list.
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