Meet Jared Littman, Vice Provost for Research

In June, Jared E. Littman, Ph.D., joined New York Tech as vice provost for research, a newly created position. With this appointment, New York Tech has entered an important new phase in its strategic effort to reach a high level of research activity and achieve R2 status, which President Hank Foley announced last year as a goal for the university to achieve by 2028. Universities that achieve this status under the Carnegie Classification graduate at least 20 doctoral students annually and spend more than $5 million a year on research activities.

New York Tech News recently interviewed Littman to learn more about his role and his strategic vision for the university’s Office of Sponsored Programs and Research (OSPAR), as well as gain insight into some of his personal interests, namely music. 

What excited you about this new position?
The opportunity to create and expand a research enterprise that could transcend over time to build sustainable success is quite appealing. The challenge of fostering a research culture where faculty, administration, and students are involved in this collaborative process and growing these opportunities and successes is very exciting to me. Also, working with all the incredible individuals within the university community, as well as being the first to hold this role was very intriguing.

What is your vision for OSPAR, both short- and long-term?
OSPAR is an extremely valuable resource for faculty and the institution for its expertise and support in preparing grant proposals and the management of funded grants. My short-term vision is to assess what is working well and where additional support is needed. Then I will be able to strategically update positions, processes, policies, and professional development for the team. Long-term, OSPAR will continue these important functions as well as collaboratively interact with additional units such as research development, compliance, and innovation, which are part of my plans for expanding the research infrastructure.

What are the plans to expand that infrastructure?
Building and expanding the infrastructure to be successful in research is vital and will take time. This will be a multiphase process in which I plan to hit the ground running. It is that important. The first few months requires assessing what is currently in place, what needs to be updated or changed, and then what we need to build and implement to support research. No stone will be left unturned. Some examples of the infrastructure needs that support a successful research operation within an institution are policy and process, proposal and award support, graduate programs, research labs, animal care facilities, research development, tech transfer and innovation, and compliance. And that’s just tapping the surface.  

How will you plan to increase student involvement in grants?
A focus will be to increase students’ involvement by adding them to proposals and grant budgets. Also, I plan to create a research opportunity center at New York Tech, where opportunities will arise for students to work with faculty on research projects. Students will gain experience and knowledge through experiential learning, which is so valuable to their development. There may even be some research scholarship programs created for students down the road.

You joined New York Tech from Long Island University; what was your role there in helping to secure/maintain R2 research classification status?
There are many aspects that feed into a university research classification; we must set and monitor effective plans to achieve research classification goals. Part of the process of achieving and maintaining a high research status includes: 

• ensuring that external research funding was being spent timely and appropriately;
• developing a system to monitor those external expenditures and being able to analyze and forecast those metrics as well as for the internal research expenditures; and
• facilitating that all research labs and animal facilities were running efficiently and compliant with regulations.

New York Tech is focused on achieving R2 status. What are the next steps in reaching that goal?
Building and expanding the research infrastructure is paramount. This starts with the institutional culture by creating policy, process, and research support. This includes research development and supporting faculty with training and guidance so that their external research proposals are highly competitive, as well as managing their grants once awarded. A critical component of increasing award management support is capturing all the appropriate data and metrics to analyze and project during a fiscal year and beyond. Equally as important is analyzing and capturing all the internal research data as it pertains to institutional research spending. Forecasting research expenditures, awards, and proposals in the pipeline by analyzing the data also is critical.

Subsequent steps include expanding our facilities, which include research labs and animal facilities, and expanding our Ph.D. programs and degrees so that more doctoral students graduate per year. Hiring research faculty is highly important as part of the process. These are vital to our research classification success.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment to date, and why?
I have many accomplishments within research that I am proud of, such as building research enterprises from the ground up at institutions, obtaining large grant awards, the countless hours of volunteering within research networks to expand research ideas, and the administration of research. However, I am most proud of the relationships I have built and the support I have been able to provide to others. After all, I believe it is all about people and the relationships you build. That is how we progress in science and as humans. 

Can you talk about your musical background? Which artists have you written music for?
I have been in love with music since I was very young. That passion drove me to countless hours of practicing guitar each day through my teenage years and then studying at Berklee College of Music. I always had some rhythm or melody in my head. I could not wait to get out of class so I could pick up my instrument and start playing what I was hearing.

I enjoy writing, performing, and listening to various styles of music, such as fusion, blues, soul, rock, flamenco, jazz, and classical. Aside from putting together my own bands, a few artists that I have worked with in the studio and/or performed with include an American Idol finalist I toured with and wrote a few songs on their record and producer Acar Key, who worked with Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, and C+C Music Factory. I also played in various bands that were the main tour opener for Vanilla Ice and the rock act Type O Negative, amongst others. I very much enjoyed creating music and interacting with other musicians from all genres and backgrounds.

Do you still perform?
These days, only for my children. With them it’s usually hit or miss if they enjoy the performance! However, they love picking up the guitar, sitting at the piano, or banging the drums. Life has been extremely busy the past few years between work and raising young children; I have not been able to find balance and the time to perform or even play much. The beautiful aspect of music for me is that the love is still there, and eventually I will carve out the time to play, write, and/or perform.

This interview has been edited and condensed.