The University Record, November 12, 1996
Steiss will join M-Pathways Project; Parnes will direct DRDA
Alan Steiss, former director of the Division of Research Development and Administration (DRDA), has been appointed to coordinate the University’s efforts to develop a research information management system as part of the M-Pathways project.
The processes by which research proposals have been prepared, approved and submitted to external sponsors for consideration and by which awards have been made for research projects have not been significantly changed in 25 years, Steiss says. As new technology is implemented by external sponsors, Steiss will help the University develop a new system for research administration.
Frederick C. Neidhardt, acting vice president for research, says that Steiss will oversee 
a program to “reshape the basic template of research administration, from the preparation and submission of sponsored project proposals, through the establishment and monitoring of accounts, to the completion of final reports.”
Steiss will be succeeded as director of DRDA by Marvin Parnes, currently assistant vice president for research, effective Nov. 15. Neidhardt says that Parnes will help “bridge DRDA and the Office of the Vice President for Research, providing an opportunity for the two units to establish closer ties and increase their overall efficiency and effectiveness.”
