Embracing Innovation: AI-Powered Support at Rice

Rice University is leaning into the future of research administration. Staff at Rice have been issued licensed access to advanced AI tools.

“…We’re excited to see how these tools will support the collective work of the campus community and how they might inspire new ways to collaborate and innovate,” said Kelly Fox, executive vice president for operations, finance and support. “This initiative reflects Rice’s commitment to integrating cutting-edge technology to empower our campus with advanced AI capabilities across teaching, research and administrative work.”

Research and Cost Accounting (RCA) has been highly engaged in exploring ways to leverage these exciting new tools to streamline operations and ensure compliance, while also strictly adhering to Rice’s guidelines for responsible use, data privacy, and attribution.

Navigating the rules for Cost Transfers – especially involving federal funds – can be complex. One of the most important parts of ensuring that the justification text within cost transfers is compliant.

Crafting Stronger Justifications

Transactions involving federal funds are subject to strict scrutiny. This AI tool empowers you to evaluate and articulate the pillars of a strong justification – essential for RCA approval:

1. Root Cause: Accurately identifying why the error occurred.

2. Prevention: Articulating the corrective actions to stop recurrence.

3. Allocability: Proving the expense directly benefits the destination project.

4. Untimeliness: If a cost transfer is untimely, identify the extenuating circumstances and the changes you will make to internal controls.

What AI support is not?

This RCA support tool is not a final authority, nor is it a pre-approval of a cost transfer by RCA. It is designed to assist staff at Rice by assessing the narrative completeness of the justification.

How to Access?

These tools are integrated directly into your existing tools.

• Via Templates: You will find a direct access link on the current versions of the Non-Labor Cost Transfer template cover page. There are two links to two different tools. One that can be used to review the completeness of the main justification, and one that can be used to review the completeness of supplementary justifications that are necessary when cost transfers are untimely.

• Guidance on how to use the tools can be found here.

Secure and Private

We take security seriously. While the guidance documentation is open to all, access to this tool is strictly controlled via your Rice NetID. You can only access these tools if you are logged in to your browser with your Rice NetID.

• Your Data is Yours: Each user has a persistent, private chat history. Your queries and findings are visible only to you; there is no “cross-pollination” of data between users of these tools.