Annual Report

Council for Research

2002-2003

 

Membership

Member

Appointment

Term

Richard Brown (Chemical Engineering)

Faculty Senate

2001-2004

William B. Euler (Chemistry)

Research Center Director

2001-2004

Brian G. Heikes (Oceanography)

Faculty Senate

2001-2004

Marshall Feldman (Community Planning)

Faculty Senate

2002-2005

Kenneth R. Hinga (Oceanography)

Business Administration

2001-2002

Cathy Curtin-Miller

Business Administration

2001-2002

Marie Jenkins Schwartz (History)

Faculty Senate

1999-2002

Dayle F. Joseph (Nursing)

Council of Deans

2001-2004

Dana Kovarsky (CommunicativeDisorders)

Faculty Senate

2000-2003

Janet Kulberg (Graduate School)

Ex-Officio

Karen M. Markin (Research Office)

Ex-Officio, Research Office

Susan Peterson (English)

Graduate Student Assoc.

2001-02

Shaw Chen (Business)

Provost

2002-2003

Joseph S. Rossi (CPRC)

Provost

2000-2003

Mary C. Sullivan (Nursing)

Faculty Senate

2001-2004

Cathy R. Roheim (Env. & Nat. Res. Econ.)

Provost

2000-2003

Janett Trubatch, Ex-Officio

Hossein Zia (Pharmaceutics)

Faculty Senate

2000-2003

Meetings

Professor William Euler served as Chair for the Council for Research during the 2002-2003 academic year. The Council met on the following dates:

September 9, 2002

October 7, 2002

November 4, 2002

December 2, 2002

February 3, 2003

March 3, 2003

March 24, 2003 (planned)

April 7, 2003 (planned)

May 5, 2003 (planned)

Significant Activities:

At the request of the Curricular Affairs Committee, two proposals for the creation of Centers were discussed by the Council for Research: the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies and the Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America. Comments from the Council were favorable for both groups.

The Council engaged in extensive discussions on the small boat and the purchasing policies of the University, particularly on how they affect research activities. No recommendations for action were forthcoming from these discussions.

Two recommendations from the Council for Research were forwarded to the Provost. The first was to suggest that the Provost establish a fund to support graduate student research, similar to that used for undergraduate student research projects. The second recommendation was to change the employment term for postdoctoral associates. Currently, URI limits postdoctoral research appointments to two years; the Council recommended that this be changed to three years, which is in better accord with practices around the country.

Based on recommendations from the Faculty Senate Executive committee, the Council submitted legislation to the Faculty Senate concerning the review process and cycle for Partnerships. The Council recommended that Partnerships, after an initial three-year probationary period, should request to become a continuing entity and fall into the same category as other Centers at the University. All Centers, Partnerships, and similar organizations will be reviewed by the Council for Research on a seven year cycle. This legislation passed the Faculty Senate.

Two subcommittees were set up to help the Research Office. The first was to select a group to submit a "Partnership for Innovation" proposal to the National Science Foundation. There were five applicants for this and the University is only allowed to submit one proposal. The second subcommittee will be meeting to recommend candidates for the annual Recognition Luncheon. This subcommittee will recommend faculty for research awards.

Finally, the Council will be reviewing faculty proposals submitted to the Faculty Development and Proposal Development programs. We anticipate having between $80,000 and $85,000 available to recommend for funding, with about 40% allocated to Faculty Development and about 60% to Proposal Development. We expect about 20 proposals in each category to be submitted and we expect to recommend funding for approximately 6-7 proposals in the Faculty Development category and 7-8 proposals in the Proposal Development category. Proposals in the Faculty Development category typically request smaller amounts of funding than those in the Proposal Development category. To adequately fund all of the worthy proposal submitted to the program would require $200,000 to $250,000.

Report submitted by William Euler, Chair

Council for Research

March 5, 2003