Administrative Core

Simply put, the Administrative Core makes sure it all happens. In myriad phone calls, emails, reminders, and cajoling, staff in the administrative core make sure that grant reports are made on time, that visiting workshop speakers find their way from the airport and get housed at night, that computers and other equipment gets fixed, that research assistants get paid, and personal crises are smoothed over. We have an excellent staff to see that these things happen. With most of the staff in place for several years and an excellent backup support staff at NORC, this host of details, small and large, does get taken care of quite effectively. Indeed, the efficiency of this support operation is what attracts many of our researchers to secure services at the Population Research Center.

Organization

PRC personnel is structured as follows, with the positions of director (Robert T. Michael), assistant director (Kathleen Parks), and research administrator (Gregg Reynolds) being partially grant-supported. All those listed below, however, are vital to the smooth running of the administrative unit.

Robert T. Michael, Director: Professor Michael oversees the Administrative Core Unit with a prestigious history of leadership. He has worked as a research associate of the PRC since being the founding director, in 1980. Also at NORC, he has served as CEO and founding director of the Economics Research Center. At the University of Chicago, he chaired the Committee on Demographic Training for eight years and, most recently, completed his second term as dean of the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, where he is the Eliakim Hastings Moore Distinguished Service Professor.

Staff

• Kathleen Parks, Assistant Director for Research and Training; Ph. 773-256-6302
• Mike Kwit, Assistant Director of Finance and Planning; Ph. 773-256-6035
• Gregg Reynolds, Research Administrator; Ph. 773-256-6365
• Adelle Hinojosa, Administrative Assistant; Ph. 773-256-6315

Services Provided

Grants Management: The PRC cooperates closely with the other three NORC Research Centers for the delivery of many administrative services. The NORC Research Centers have consolidated their grants administration in an effort to provide service to all grants located within the three centers within one office. This arrangement reduces the potential burdens imposed on the research associates (and the other research centers) in administration of their grants. It also promotes efficiencies in the use of personnel, thereby avoiding the need to add additional staff within the PRC to meet the administrative demands resulting from the growth in grants to the PRC's portfolio.

Proposal Preparation: An important service within the PRC is providing assistance to researchers in the preparation of grant applications. The center provides the full range of services necessary for preparation of high quality proposals, from help in identifying possible funding sources to preparation of proposal budgets and physical production of high quality documents.

Dissemination Services: The dissemination of research has moved onto the internet and utilizes the PRC web page for electronic dissemination of working papers and other relevant information. Researchers have requested conference services that include developing conference grants and providing conference planning and management. Increased support in this program service will greatly facilitate this growing need among PRC members.

Demography Workshop: The weekly, Thursday noon workshop, is at the heart of the collective life of the Population Research Center. Center members and NORC specialists who normally reside in different locations on campus are drawn together in these weekly gatherings. They hear each other and gather pointed suggestions from their colleagues. They also hear the work of budding demographers -- graduate students and research assistants who are writing their first paper or testing out an early chapter of their dissertation. Even when the work is done jointly with a faculty member, it is often the student who presents the results. This is, then, our training ground, where students get to try out their ideas and presentation style and to gain professional poise (and humility) before a live (even lively) crowd. Because of this tradition, some faculty who were deeply involved in preparing a presentation may not appear on our list of recent workshops, but they have been well represented by their best students. We have also had the chance to hear outstanding speakers from outside, with news of the latest research at other population centers.

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