AI4RA Tip of The Week #14

NCURA Region VI/VII Regional meeting 
This year’s NCURA Region VI/VII Annual Meeting, themed “Saddle Up for Success,” convenes research administrators from across regions VI and VII (and beyond) to tackle the shifting regulations, technologies, and expectations shaping research administration. The program offers practical strategies across multiple tracks, including compliance, contracting, departmental and PUI RAs, agencies and sponsors, and post award, that you can put to work as soon as you’re back at your desk. It’s also a chance to build connections with peers across the region, swap real-world solutions to shared challenges, and come home with fresh ideas for your own office. 

What can I learn about AI? 
AI is reshaping how research administrators tackle daily workload in real time, and this year’s regional meeting features several sessions led by or featuring AI4RA team members. Additional sessions on AI and data analytics are also part of the agenda. Together, these sessions will help you understand where AI can augment RAs and where human judgment still has to lead.  Participants will be introduced to accessible frameworks for AI safety and implementation. These frameworks are designed to be flexible to your institution’s specific conditions, positioning attendees to make informed, practical decisions about prospective AI use cases. 

AI4RA Presentations

• Augmenting Research Administration with AI — hands-on time with AI4RA’s own tools, including a prompt engineering trainer and document review workflow
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ungoverned: Evaluating AI Outputs at Scale — an emerging framework for evaluating AI outputs consistently across tasks and tools
• Your Risk-Averse Mindset Needed: Responsibly Navigating the AI Adoption Rodeo — a straightforward look at how data moves through AI systems and how to use AI responsibly
• PROSPER Beyond the 8 Second Ride in a Dept/PUI: Saddling Staff for Success – how Southern Utah University’s PUI research office grew from a small traditional team to a well-rounded 13-person staff through NSF GRANTED program models, while covering the challenges faced and plans for sustaining that growth long-term.
• Roping In Trustworthy Results from AI Tools – we teach RAs core AI skills including clear prompt-writing, repeatable workflow design, and breaking down complex tasks, to turn AI into a reliable, trustworthy tool for daily RA work.
• High Noon for AI Adoption: Draw Up Your Plan (AI4RA Sponsored Session) – What’s needed to responsibly integrate AI tools like Vandalizer into enterprise research administration workflows 

AI4RA Travel Stipend 
To help more of our community attend, AI4RA is supporting twelve research administrators to attend the meeting, with each recipient receiving up to $2,500 to reimburse travel, registration, and per diem costs. Applications are due by 11:59 PM local time on Sunday, August 9th. Applications will be reviewed August 10–23 and decisions will be announced August 28th. This timeline will allow winners to lock in the early-bird registration rate (deadline October 8, 2026) and the conference hotel block rate, so if you’re selected, book both right away. 

Note that NSF and University of Idaho travel policies apply, so keep the conference hotel rate and standard per diem and travel rules in mind as you plan. 

What You’ll Gain as a Stipend Recipient 

• Front-row access to the AI conversation in RA — you’ll attend the AI4RA workshop, the AI4RA sponsored session, and concurrent sessions on prompt engineering and on evaluating AI outputs, putting you directly in the room with the people shaping how AI gets used in research administration
• A standing connection to the AI4RA community — joining the AI4RA groups.io list keeps you plugged into updates, resources, and peer conversations long after the conference ends
• Hands-on experience with Vandalizer before you even arrive — the 2-week trial lets you walk into the workshop already familiar with the tool, and your feedback directly shapes how the platform develops
• A chance to build your professional portfolio — co-writing a short blog post gives you a public, citable piece of writing reflecting your expertise, plus a built-in reason to process and share what you learned
• Enough to cover or augment the cost — the travel stipend covers up to $2,500 in travel, per diem, registration, and lodging. Costs above the $2500 are the responsibility of the traveler or their employer. 

Apply for the travel stipend here: https://ai4ra.uidaho.edu/ncura-travel-stipend-2/

NCURA Region VI/VII Conference info: https://www.ncuraregionvi.org/rm2026