Graduate Council
EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH POLICIES COMMITTEE
Minutes of
April 16th, 2009
MEMBERS PRESENT: Marcus Agustin, Chair, Rakesh Bharati, Wai Hsien Cheah, Laura Hanson, Christa Johnson, Craig Miner, Mariana Solares, G. Stacey Staples, Erin Timpe, Jianpeng Zhou
I. Announcements
Christa Johnson announced that the STEP (Seed Grants for Transitional and Exploratory Projects) competition had concluded. The faculty winners had been awarded a STEP to cover the research period August 15, 2009 to June 30, 2010. The next round will cover the period July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. There will be two opportunities to request summer salary for each 3 month summer term, since faculty will be able to request support for one half summer term during each funding cycle (May 16-June 30 and July 1 – August 15).
II. Minutes of March 19th, 2009
Wai Hsien Cheah made a motion to approve the minutes as amended; Craig Miner seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
III. Nominations for Research and Projects Advisory Board (RPAB)
The ERP suggested two names to submit for candidacy for the Research and Projects Advisory Board: Wai Hsien Cheah of Speech Communication, and William Neumann, of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
IV. Continuing Business
A. Matching Funds for External Grants (RICC)
The Research Infrastructure Capacity and Competitiveness (RICC) proposal is designed to convert the tri-yearly competitions for Assigned Time for Research, Equipment and Tools, or Interdisciplinary funds into semi-annual competitions. Faculty would choose which type of funding to apply for from among the three options. The RICC proposal also introduces a fourth option: matching funds for external proposals.
Rakesh Bharati opened the discussion by stating that the intent of the proposal is to build infrastructure for research across the university. The matching funds aspect of the proposal will bring a return of ICR dollars. Christa Johnson noted that the faculty who win the equipment and tools may purchase library materials with the equipment money. She also stressed that the intent of the proposal is about research infrastructure, not individual faculty needs.
Discussion focused on how matching funds would be provided, and how the timeline should be set. Additional discussion focused on the difficulties of evaluating proposals in four different categories.
Rakesh Bharati made a motion to defer this issue to next year; Erin Timpe seconded. The motion passed with eight ayes and two abstentions.
B. Responsible Conduct in Research Training
Christa Johnson reported that NSF has stated that online training for responsible conduct in research (RCR) alone will not suffice. Details on NSF’s RCR training requirement are expected to be announced soon.
ERP will continue this discussion as information becomes available.
C. Non Tenure Track Faculty Funding
Clinical faculty in the Schools of Pharmacy, Dental Medicine and Nursing are not tenure track, therefore are currently ineligible to receive research assistance through internal grants. ERP wishes to determine whether there is a mechanism by which they might be included in the internal funding process.
Marcus Agustin drafted a letter to Steve Hansen asking the following questions:
ERP will continue this discussion in the fall.
D. Biosafety Policy Update
The committee had no updates. It will resume discussion on this issue in the fall.
E. Including the Professional Schools in the Graduate Council
The committee plans to discuss this issue in the fall.
V. New Business
There was no new business.
VI. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 12:14 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Stephen L. Hansen
Associate Provost for Research and
Dean, Graduate School
