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FAS Temporary Research Administration Consulting (FASTRAC)

The FASTRAC program was launched in response to departmental requests for highly-trained research administration professionals in order to alleviate workload and mitigate compliance risk.  FASTRAC is a no-cost service that offers short-term research administration assistance to FAS and SEAS departments and centers by:

  • filling short-term research administration vacancies
  • providing extra support during heavy proposal submission deadlines
  • aiding the development of large-scale collaborative proposals
  • consulting and manpower for special pre- and/or post-award research administration projects
  • on-boarding, mentoring, and coaching new research administrators

Common examples of sponsored research activities performed by the FASTRAC Team include: 

  • Preparation and internal submission of grant and fellowship proposals  
  • Sponsored account reconciliation and grant close-out activities 
  • Preparation and internal submission of post-award prior approval requests in GMAS 
  • Preparation and submission, in consultation with the PI, of financial and progress reports
  • Review and approval of sponsored transactions in Buy2Pay and Concur 
  • Preparation and submission of sponsored journal entries in Oracle
  • Sponsored funds projections using PI Dashboard, HART, and related systems 
  • Preparation and submission of faculty supplemental salary requests in SPECTRA
  • Assistance with eCRT quarterly and annual effort certifications 

Assignments are temporary and typically last no longer than three months. FAS departments with non-sponsored financial and administrative needs should contact the Administrative Systems Assistance Program (ASAP) in the FAS Office of Finance.

Please contact Jennifer Lech at jennifer_lech@harvard.edu to discuss your department's need for FASTRAC services.  You may also complete the beta version of our new FASTRAC request form by clicking here.