Workshop

Pre-Meeting WACD 2026 Business Skills Workshop

Registration Required 

Cost: $150

Date: September 28th, 2026

Time: 1:00pm – 5:00pm

Faculty:

Cassie Sather, Associate Operations Director, Shared Resources, Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Julie Auger, Executive Director, Research Operations, Salk Institute

Workshop Summary

Shared research resources operate at the intersection of science, service, finance, and institutional strategy. This interactive workshop will help shared-resource professionals approach their facilities as mission-driven businesses—connecting the services they provide and the customers they serve with the people, partnerships, resources, costs, and revenue required for sustainable operations. Attendees will use practical frameworks to examine their facility’s business model, understand its full cost structure and funding portfolio, develop an annual operating budget, and monitor financial performance throughout the year.

The workshop will also help participants communicate why their resources matter. Through stakeholder mapping and guided exercises, attendees will translate their facility’s capabilities into a clear value proposition tailored to investigators, trainees, department leaders, institutional leadership, and external customers. They will then connect that value proposition to meaningful performance measures that demonstrate quality, efficiency, sustainability, and institutional impact.

Participants will learn to distinguish raw data from operational metrics and true key performance indicators, select measures appropriate for different audiences, and design dashboards that support decisions rather than simply report activity. Hands-on exercises will include redesigning a potentially misleading KPI, diagnosing a struggling facility through a realistic case study, and identifying actions based on multiple sources of evidence

Attendees will leave with practical tools they can apply immediately, including:

• A clearer picture of their facility’s business and operating model.
• A stronger understanding of expenses, funding sources, utilization, financial risk, and budget monitoring.
• A concise, stakeholder-focused value statement for communicating their facility’s contribution.
• A draft set of actionable KPIs tied to quality, efficiency, and impact.
• A framework for using financial and operational information to guide decisions, strengthen leadership conversations, and support long-term sustainability.