UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

Kingston, Rhode Island

FACULTY SENATE

COUNCIL FOR RESEARCH REPORT #2000-01-2

ANNUAL REPORT

2000 - 2001

Membership

Appointment

Term

William Euler (Chemistry Dept.)

Research Center Director

1999-2001

Robert Felner (Education & Soc. Pol Res)

Faculty Senate

1998-2001

David Heskett (Physics)

Faculty Senate

1999-2002

Kenneth Hinga (Oceanography)

Business Manager

1999-2001

Dayle Joseph (College of Nursing)

Council of Deans

1999-2001

Dana Kovarsky (Communicative Disorders)

Faculty Senate

2000-2003

Janet Kulberg (Grad/Psychology)

Ex-Officio, Graduate. School

Karen Markin (Research Office)

Ex-Officio, Research. Office

Margaret Ordoñez (Textiles)

Faculty Senate

1998-2001

Susan Peterson

Grad. Student Assoc.

2000-2001

Marie Jenkins Schwartz

Faculty Senate

1999-2002

Linda Randall (Management Dept.)

Provost Appointment

2000-2003

Joseph Rossi (CPRC)

Provost Appointment

2000-2003

Elinore Sheryka

Student Senate

2000-2001

Janett Trubatch (Research Office)

Ex-Officio, Vice-Provost

for Research

Cathy Wessells (Env. & Nat. Res. Econ.)

Provost Appointment

2000-2003

Jeanine Williamson (University Library)

F aculty Senate

2000-2001

Hossein Zia (Pharmaceutics)

Faculty Senate

2000-2003

During the 2000-2001 academic year, Professor Margaret Ordoñez served as Chair of the Council.

Activities

The Council for Research met on the following dates:

September 25, 2000

October 16, 2000

November 6, 2000

December 11, 2000

January 22, 2001

February 12, 2001

April 9, 2001

An additional meeting is planned for May 7, 2001

The Council's work this year centered on forming an ad hoc committee for Strategic Planning to address the work begun with the white paper prepared by the Council on research and outreach at the university; reviewing the progress of existing Partnerships and responding to Partnerships' ongoing concerns; forming an ad hoc committee for design of WebPages to facilitate the proposal submission process for new researchers; and reviewing Faculty and Proposal Development proposals for the Council for Research Grants Program. The standing committees of previous years were suspended until the Strategic Planning Committee report is final.

In addition, the Council addressed the issue of business development and conflict of interest; equipment upkeep and responsibility; and reviewed pre-proposal submissions for 2 NSF grants programs.

Membership on subcommittees for fiscal year 2000-2001:

1. Strategic Planning Committee

Members: Robert Felner, Kenneth Hinga, Janet Kulberg,

Susan Peterson, Cathy Wessells, Jeanine Williamson

The ad hoc committee for strategic planning joined with a sub committee of the Outreach Council and individual representatives from the URI community to form the Strategic Planning Committee for Research and Outreach. The committee agenda is being facilitated by the PDLOT and will focus on identifying strategic initiatives and forming strategic and operational plans to strengthen research and outreach at the university.

2. Partnership Review Committee

Members: William Euler, Dayle Joseph, Joseph Rossi, Jeanine Williamson, Hossein Zia

The Committee was charged by the Provost with reviewing the progress and activities of each Partnership and addressing ongoing Partnership concerns such as overhead distribution, the relationship between Partnerships and departments, and the ability of Partnerships to be self-sustaining. The Committee has drafted its recommendations based the Partnerships' responses to a self-study review and will present its report at the next scheduled meeting of the Faculty Senate.

3. Ad Hoc Committee for design of a WebPages to assist new investigators with the proposal submission process

Members: Ken Hinga, William Euler, Karen Markin, Gail Wing, Craig McNeil, Margaret Ordoñez, Katherine Scheil, Rosemary White

Based on recommendations made by the committee, the Research Office will re-design its WebPages to facilitate the proposal submission process for new researchers.

Faculty Development and Proposal Development Grant Programs

In November, the Council voted to request $200,000 from the Provost for Faculty Development and Proposal Development and to recommend that the Faculty Senate resolve to increase funding to $200,000 for program. The resolution was made by the Faculty Senate on January 25, 2001.

The Council voted to revise the conflict of interest policy to state that "signatures of Deans and Department Chairpersons are considered an acknowledgement, not an endorsement". It voted to revise the RFPs to specify that a final report be required for future proposal submissions to be considered.

Proposals submitted by the March 1, 2001 deadline included 22 Proposal Development requests, totaling $202,797.18. Twenty-four Faculty Development proposals were submitted to the Council with requests totaling $154,238.80, an increase of $95,735 compared to requests submitted in this category last year. The Council reviewed proposals on April 9, 2001 and will announce the awards in May of 2001.

Business Development and Conflict of Interest

The Research Office and Council Members continue to review policies from other institutions and current press to monitor the issue of conflict of interest as it pertains to business development.

Equipment Upkeep and Responsibility

The Council discussed whether imaging equipment should be housed in a central facility and if it should be managed by the University. The Council agreed that the current system be maintained.

Pre-Proposal Reviews

The Council formed 2 ad hoc committees to review pre-proposals for the NSF Major Research Instrumentation and NSF Partnerships for Innovation grants programs.

Focus Areas

The Council charged the Vice Provost with meeting with the Chairs of the original focus groups to discuss their status, needs, and relationship to Partnerships.

 

Report submitted by

Margaret Ordoñez, Chair

Council for Research