Annual Report

Annual Report

Council for Research

2004-2005

Membership Appointment Term

Shaw Chen (Business) Provost 2002-2005

Denise Coppa (Nursing) Provost 2004-2007

Mary Kate De Marco (HSS Business Mgr) Provost 2003-2006

Nancy Eaton (Math) Faculty Senate 2004-2007

John Farrell (GSO) Council of Deans 2004-2007

Marshall Feldman (Community Planning) Faculty Senate 2002-2005

Wayne Lee (Civil Engineering) Faculty Senate 2004-2007

Brett Lucht (Chemistry) Faculty Senate 2004-2007

Karen M. Markin (Research Office) Ex-Officio, Research Office

Roderick Mather (History) Faculty Senate 2004-2005

Thomas Mather (Plant Sciences) Provost 2003-2006

Lynn Pasquerella (Grad School Assoc Dean) Ex-Officio, Graduate School

Joseph S. Rossi (CPRC) Provost 2003-2006

Janett Trubatch (Research Office) Ex-Officio, Vice Provost for Research

Jing Jian Xiao (Human Dev & Fam Studies)[1] Faculty Senate 2003-2006

Nasser Zawia (Biomedical Sciences) Faculty Senate 2003-2006

Beth McCombe Graduate Student Assoc 2004-2005

Isaac Mamaysky Student Senate 2004-2005

Meetings

Professor Nasser Zawia served as Chair for the Council for Research during the 2004-2005 academic year. The Council met on the following dates:

September 13, 2004

October 4, 2004

November 1, 2004

December 13, 2004

February 7, 2005

March 21, 2005

April 11, 2005

May 9, 2005 (planned)

Significant Activities:

The specific priorities for the 2004-2005 Council for Research were:

Approaching the President regarding taking the next step in establishing a research foundation,
Developing simplified guidelines for the reauthorization of partnerships,
Requesting from the Provost more partnership funding money,
Assessing departmental research priorities and goals at URI, and
Remaining involved with graduate education research through various existing committees and appointed subcommittees.

The Council met with President Carothers and Vice President Weygand in December 2004. The major points raised by Council members in support of a research foundation are that such an entity would:

Allow for more flexibility and better efficiency in URIÕs fight to stay near the top of an increasingly highly competitive research environment,
Help to avoid potential compromises in expertise,
Improve relations with private contractors,
Attract higher-level researchers and investors,
Encourage researchers to submit for more smaller funding opportunities, and
Free researchers from administrative duties, in turn allowing more time for research, teaching, and writing more grants.

The President was supportive of the formation of a research foundation and promised to work with the legislature towards that end.

Also in December 2004, the Council voted to approve continuing status for the URI Center for Personal Finance Education. The Center provides outreach education and conducts research to improve the economic wellbeing of families. The concept of the Center is consistent with the state and federal missions of Cooperative Extension and with the academic program in the Department of Human Development and Family Services. The Center directly supports the long-range institutional goal of the University for improving the economic wellbeing of families in Rhode Island.

With regards to partnerships, the Council came to a consensus that simplifying the process for Centers, Institutes, Bureaus and Partnerships to apply for continuing status will increase the likelihood of response and better ensure that legitimate, authorized Centers, Institutes, Bureaus and Partnerships are developed and maintained at URI. As a result, the Council developed a simplified review form focusing on personnel, achievements, and funding sources. The form was submitted for review to the Faculty Senate in February 2005.

In addition to simplifying the review process, the Council requested from the Provost additional funding to support the partnership program to help defray administrative costs and keep the continuing but unfunded partnerships more productive. The Council is very supportive of the partnership program and understands that a little administrative support can go along way toward furthering the success of these organizations.

Regarding research priorities and goals for the University, through a survey of the colleges the Council assessed the following departmental requests:

Simplifying administrative procedures for travel, purchasing, and hiring of personnel,
Offering merit pay incentives to top researchers as a means of furthering the recognition currently received,
Establishing a development fund as set aside money for research recognition awards (e.g. stipends, conference travel funds, equipment purchases),
Facilitating interdisciplinary research (i.e. connecting faculty, encouraging involvement, allowing relief time to promote collaborations, continuing to support and develop the partnership program, etc.),
Providing workshops for PIÕs to assist them in addressing interdisciplinary review groups (i.e. writing compelling reasons to support funding, justifying budget requests, etc.),
Compartmentalizing internal awards to help fund departments that have difficulty obtaining extramural funding,
Taking steps to better recognize the social sciences (i.e. bring a broader awareness of the top issues in these fields, offer masters and Ph.D. programs that encapsulate all areas of study, create a dean or vice provost position for the social sciences, etc.).

With regards to limited funding competitions, a subcommittee (J. Farrell, B. Lucht, K. Markin, and T. Mather) was formed to review applicants to the NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program. The NSF allows only three proposals to be submitted from each university and the subcommittee made recommendations to meet this requirement.

For the NSF Partnership for International Research and Education program, NSF allows for only one proposal to be submitted from each university. However, only the College of Engineering submitted a preproposal, so they submitted a proposal pertaining to microfluidic technology.

The Council reviewed and recommended funding for three grant programs. The Council reviewed faculty proposals submitted to the Career Enhancement and Research Proposal Development programs. Twelve proposals were reviewed in the Career Enhancement category, requesting $83,070. Seven of these proposals were recommended for funding, totaling $36,795. In the Research Proposal Development category, twenty proposals were reviewed, requesting $147,315. Eight of these proposals were recommended for funding, totaling $67,845.

For the third grant program, a subcommittee (L. Pasquerella, J. Trubatch, and N. Zawia) was formed to review applicants to the Research Funds for Faculty Supporting Graduate Students program. Eleven proposals were reviewed to support research programs that support out-of-state graduate students, and four were highly recommended for support. An additional four proposals were strongly recommended for support based upon the facultyÕs history of graduate student support and strength of the research projects themselves.

Finally, a subcommittee (W. Lee, L. Pasquerella, J. Trubatch, and N. Zawia) was formed to select honorees for research for the Research, Outreach, Graduate Studies, & Intellectual Property Recognition Luncheon. Five faculty with outstanding career research accomplishments were selected to be honored at the May 11luncheon.

Report submitted by Nasser Zawia, Chair

Council for Research

April 20, 2005

[1] With approval from the Faculty Senate, Linda Welters (Textiles, Fashion, & Design) filled in for Jing Jian Xiao during the Spring 2005 Council for Research meetings due to a scheduling conflict.