The Systems That Make RA Support Actually Work
If you're onboarding a research assistant this summer, read this post outlining the four systems that help me support RAs and protect my own energy.
This is the first post in my four-part series on systems for scholarship. New here? Here are links to part two, part three, and part four.
Photo by Philipp Katzenberger on Unsplash
Back in January, I found myself doing something I hadn’t done in a while: onboarding a new research assistant. It had been years since my last one, and I was out of practice—not with the technical aspects of working with an undergraduate research assistant, but with creating and managing the structure required to support someone else’s labor while advancing my research agenda.
As I welcomed my research assistant—I’ll call her Sarah—I recalled a lesson I learned as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania: successful research assistantships don’t depend solely on the student’s drive. They are often influenced by how effectively we, as faculty, manage our research assistants.
That word—manage—is one that many academics resist.
But RAs are not magical helpers who intuit what you need and when you need it. They are emerging scholars with their own learning curves. And when we forget to slow down and systematize what we know, we inadvertently set both them and ourselves up to spin in circles.
This post is the first in a June blog series I’ve named, “Systems for Scholarship.” In this series, I will share research systems I’ve created that have helped me thrive as a scholar while working smarter, not harder.
Each Wednesday in June, I will discuss a different aspect of the research process and describe principles and strategies that can be incorporated into your own research practice to create (or maintain) an active and generative research pipeline without leaning into academia’s hustle and grind culture.
Then, on Fridays, paid subscribers will receive full access to a second companion post with a done-for-you checklist, downloadable template, or step-by-step video or audio recording on best practices for incorporating that week’s strategy into your research process.
In July, weekly posts will follow a similar format but focus on teaching—especially creating systems that help you navigate teaching in an increasingly volatile higher education context.
In this first post, I outline four steps for streamlining the process of working with a research assistant(s). I hope it will help you, dear reader, as you transition into summer research or prepare for the fall.
I want to clarify from the outset that the goal of sharing these systems is not to encourage other faculty members to work more or harder. Instead, I want to share what I have learned with fellow faculty members and researchers who plan to remain in academia for the time being but may be feeling burned out.
Step 1: Know What Needs You (and What Doesn’t)
During my postdoc days, I sometimes wasted more time than I saved because I was not discerning enough about the various categories of research tasks and the distinction between those that could easily be delegated and those that had to be performed by me.
For example, I recall asking my first undergraduate research assistant to read several articles and create an annotated bibliography. She did a fantastic job, but her notes didn’t spark the kind of insight I need when I engage with existing literature. I ended up having to reread everything anyway because this kind of task requires my own sense-making to move the research forward.
Since then, I perform a quick audit at the start of each RA cycle:
What research tasks truly require me?
Which research tasks can I delegate with proper instructions?
Which research tasks may require a greater time investment on my part to teach a RA but are ultimately worthwhile because they will save me time in the future?
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, this audit is a great starting point. Spend an afternoon with your to-do list. Take a deep breath and ask: “How can I best set myself, my research, and my research assistant up for success in a way that aligns with our energy, bandwidth, and research goals?”
Step 2: Build the “2-for-1 Rule” Into Your Workflow
As I gained more experience managing research assistants, I noticed a pattern: the best working relationships emerged when I intentionally paired mundane research tasks with those that were more meaningful.
In fact, I started calling this process the 2-for-1 Rule:
For every two grunt tasks I assign (think: file renaming, data cleaning, downloading PDFs), I intentionally offer one task that’s more generative, creative, or personally meaningful for my research assistant.
And I don’t assume I know what generative or meaningful tasks are for my research assistant—I ask.
When I onboard my research assistant, I always begin with a “get to know each other” meeting where I ask more directed questions about their background, prior work and learning experiences, research and subject matter interests. As they share, I take notes about topics and tasks that make them light up and career goals that they have for the future.
I ask questions like: What are you curious about? What research methods excite you? What’s something you’d like to learn this summer? These questions not only help me tailor their work, they increase buy-in.
Last semester, my RA, Sarah, told me she felt seen and stretched during our time working together. She was so grateful for the experience, that our last few weeks working together she offered to focus only on grunt tasks to help me set up my new research assistant for success.
She did that, but I also made sure that her final week was spent analyzing data, which was a task that made her light up. She went above and beyond my ask and learned a new form of text analysis. She even created heavily annotated R Script files for her successor!
This is the kind of investment that can’t be forced, but is invaluable as a researcher.
Step 3: Create Systems That Outlast This Academic Season
While it can be tempting to use a patchwork approach to completing research, I’ve learned the value of strategic planning and creating systems that allow me to transition between academic seasons without needing to recreate the wheel each time.
For example, every summer I now work from the same base:
A spreadsheet broken down by week, listing the project focus and tasks
A shared Google Drive with templates, annotated examples, and clear naming conventions
A working “statement of operations” (SOP) where my research assistant can log how they did each task, what they learned, and any roadblocks they hit
The goal? If I onboard a new RA in the fall, they won’t have to start from scratch. Instead, they will be welcomed with a paper trail and process. For example, these SOPs serve as templates that I can adapt, reuse, or even share with collaborators.
Step 4: Don’t Just Manage Projects—Manage Energy
My favorite ritual might be the most analog one: the research vision board I make each semester. I mount a poster in my office with abstracts for every active project, color-coded sticky notes for progress stages, and clear categories: “Under Review,” “Data Collection,” “Ideating,” etc.
They’re not as visually appealing as the more traditional vision boards I create with pictures from magazines, but they are functional. My research vision board helps me see where an RA might plug in. It also reminds me of the shape of my research pipeline. It allows me to pause—mid-chaos—and say, “Ah, this is what matters most right now.”
Systems Aren’t a Flex; They’re a Lifeline.
Managing a research assistant takes work. Not managing them takes even more time and depletes your already limited energy.
The systems I’ve created aren’t about control. They’re about care—care for my research, for my assistants, my future job prospects, and my overall well-being.
The systems I’ve created allow me to lead without scrambling, mentor without over-functioning, and return to work with clarity instead of resentment.
If you’re onboarding an RA this summer—or thinking about how to scale your research with limited time—I’ll be walking through the rest of my systems in this June series.
Next week, I’ll share how I track the literature I predictably keep up to date with new research without drowning in unopened PDFs.
Later this month, I’ll be hosting a workshop that will help you build your own research assistant onboarding system from scratch (or finally document the one you’ve been improvising for years).
Until then, start with one quiet afternoon and a highlighter. What tasks really need you?
And what could you finally let go of—if the system was strong enough to hold it?
Until next time,
Brielle aka Your Cooperative Colleague
P.S. If you’ve been craving more clarity, rhythm, or direction in your academic life in general, I’d love to see you at my summer reset workshop next week:
“Finding Direction When Academia Feels Like It’s Falling Apart.”
🗓️ Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. ET
💻 60 minutes | $50
Register by 11:59PM on Friday, June 6 and get $10 off with the code:
DIRECTION10
Click here to sign up or learn more.