RESEARCH COORDINATING COUNCIL

Memorandum 161

February 17, 2005

Members Present:

Brian Attebery John Bennion James Bigelow

Phil Blick Steve Byers Linda Deck

Deb Easterly Kay Flowers Larry Ford

Dianne Horrocks Richard Inouye Lori Johnson

Skip Lohse Mike McCurry Malcom Shields

Beth Hudnall Stamm Susan Swetnam Rob Van Kirk

Thomas Windholz Paul Zelus Connie Tillotson (Secretary)

Alternates: Dottie Sammons-Lohse for Al Strickland

Absent: Representative for Kasiska College of Health Professions

Kathy Dilorenzo Frank Harmon Subbaram Naidu

Robert Picard Robert Wharton

Guests: Gregory Green, Vice-Chair, Faculty Research Committee

Ms. Horrocks called the meeting to order. She said Dr. Wharton would not be available. He had other commitments and requested her to chair the meeting.

I. Approval of Minutes

Ms. Horrocks said there were a few editorial changes to the minutes and new minutes were provided that reflected those changes. Ms. Horrocks asked for any changes or corrections to the minutes other than the changes reflected in the new minutes. She also asked for information on who made the moved to approve the minutes. It was clarified that Dr. Shields had made the motion to accept the minutes. Clarification was requested from the Council as to who had moved to adjourn. It was noted that Dr. Shields also made that motion. Ms. Horrocks requested a motion to approve the minutes. Dr. Attebery moved to accept the minutes, Dr. Shields seconded the motion. Motion passed (Memorandum #160).

II. Reports

A. Faculty Research Committee (FRC) - Dr. Swetnam reported last semester 23 people applied for FRC grants. They had only enough funds to fund eight projects. She has heard that several are planning to apply in the Spring. FRC have also been revisiting wording in the proposal guidelines. In particular, they are discussing items dealing with the Human Subjects Committee to coordinate efforts for seamless processing. They are also considering revising the phrasing of the criteria for evaluating proposals. The Call for Proposals is out for this semester. They are due April 8, 2005. They are also anticipating meeting regarding the Outstanding Researchers. They are meeting next week to choose the outstanding researchers from among the nominees.

B. Graduate Student Research and Scholarship Committee (GSRSC) - The representative for GSRSC could not attend but did provide a report which Ms. Horrocks shared with the Council. The Call for Proposals went out Monday, February 7, 2005. The proposals are due Wednesday, March 23 in the Office of Research by 5:00 p.m.. The ASISU Scholarship Applications are due on Friday, March 4 at 5:00 p.m. in the Office of Research. They will be meeting on March 11, 2005, to make recommendations for the ASISU scholarships.

C. Humanities and Social Sciences Research Committee (HSSRC) - Ms. Horrocks said the HSSRC distributed all the funding in the Fall semester so no call for proposals will be issued. There will be no new business until next Fall.

D. Undergraduate Research Committee (UgRC) - Dr. Van Kirk said the Call for Proposals was issued and proposals are due March 25, 2005. They have approximately $9,000 to fund proposals. They reserved ~$1,000 for expenses related to the symposium. Dr. Van Kirk reported a change in the location of the symposium. Unfortunately, the week that the symposium is scheduled is also the week of Freshman orientation/registration. Every room in the SUB is booked for the entire week. The symposium is scheduled for April 14 and 15. Since the SUB is booked, the poster session and event for the keynote speaker will not be held in the SUB. Dr. Van Kirk is still searching for another location for the event. Currently he is investigating using the facilities in the Fine Arts Building. The lobby area would be adequate for the poster session and the lecture room would be used for the speaker. Another positive aspect of this idea is that the Office of Research is also located in the same building and will allow more interaction with the Office and the students. The keynote speaker will be Renee Crane who is an Assistant Program Officer in the Office of Polar Programs at the National Science Foundation. She will be speaking on Thursday, April 14, 2005. The poster session will be late afternoon and early evening. Friday has been scheduled to hold the student presentations.

E. University Research Committee (URC) - Ms. Horrocks said that Dr. Wharton is the chair of this committee. The Call has been issued. Usually only one call for proposals is issued and that occurs in the Spring semester. She said if you have not seen it or want additional information, you may contact Ms. Connie Tillotson (Office of Research). The deadline is March 31, 2005.

F. Federal Initiative Update - Dr. Ford said the FY05 proposals are currently in the process being submitted for funds which have been appropriated. The Office of Sponsored Programs is overseeing this process. For the next round, FY06, Dr. Wharton and Dr. Ford visited our Congressional delegation in D.C. on Tuesday. They presented 16 proposals and he felt the presentations went very well. The total proposals amounted to $20M. Dr. Ford the process could be time consuming requiring an individual to travel from office to office to meet with the delegates. We were fortunate that Idaho delegation cooperates very well and one location was provided to meet with all the Idaho delegates in Senator Craig=s office complex. They met with the delegates for almost two hours discussing each proposal. It will likely be a tough year with the deficits and a tight budget. Dr. Ford was advised by the delegates that the proposals they heard were outstanding. Dr. Ford said one request which we submitted this year is different from any other request submitted in the past, is a request for $4.5M for the ISU Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering. This was submitted as a joint request from all three Universities. Also, in the final draft from Idaho National Lab=s request under the Center for Advanced Energy Studies, they are also requesting $4.5M to be awarded to the Institute. We have unanimous support from the state institutions and the Lab so we are hopeful this request will be awarded. If it is awarded, the funds will be shared equally among the three institutions and will be used to provide faculty, joint appointments, researchers, students, and student support in Idaho Falls. One outstanding provision is the new 2+2 Bachelors= Program in Nuclear Engineering where the student will spend the first two years at any of the three universities and then moved to Idaho Falls to complete the BS in Nuclear Engineering and receive an ISU BS in Nuclear Engineering. Dr. Ford said the other universities were willing to participate in this capacity and has enthusiastically supported this endeavor. Dr. Ford said the proposals submitted represent a good mix with proposals from the GIS Center, Rural Health, Geosciences, College of Business, College of Health Professions, and the College of Pharmacy.

G. INL/BEA - Dr. Ford said the Idaho National Lab came into being February 1, 2005 with the new contractor - Battelle Energy Alliance. One of the features of the new lab management is the Center for Advanced Studies (CAES) and the Idaho universities are cooperating together under the Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering as their approach to this center. The new director of the Center is Dr. Leonard Bond, a physicist from PNNL. They have appointed Dr. Michael Lineberry as their education director for this Center. Dr. Lineberry is a former employee of Argonne West but he is also a joint faculty member and Director of the ISU Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering. He has a position in the new Lab under the director of Nuclear Energy (Jim Lake). Dr. Wharton and Dr. Ford spoke with Jim Lake who is very excited about this connection. Dr. Lineberry will be directing all the educational features of this Center. They had a meeting earlier this afternoon and they were provided with the final draft for the federal initiative request for the Center with the request for $4.5M to be awarded to our institute. The Steering Committee for this endeavor will be Dr. Wharton, Dr. Owens (BSU), Dr. Hatch (U of I), Leonard Bond, and the new Chief Research Officer of the Lab. Dr. Wharton and Dr. Bowen have been meeting with Admiral Grossenbacher to further cement our relationship with the Lab.

H. Release Time Support for External Funding (RTSEF) - Ms. Horrocks said that the Council has issued a Call for Release Time Support for External Funding which is sought every Spring semester. This Call has recently been sent out with a deadline of April 1, 2005. This call is expressly for requests for release from teaching requirements to prepare proposals. Ms. Horrocks requested the Council to spread the word to colleagues. If you have questions or have not received the Call, you may contact Ms. Tillotson. Ms. Deck wanted to know whether the call was open only to faculty members or others. Ms. Horrocks said she believed is was only for faculty but would research this questions and provide a response at the next meeting.

III. Council Business

A. AGo for the Green@ Workshops - Ms. Horrocks provided flyers concerning workshops provided by the Office of Sponsored Programs. She said the first of these workshops was held today over the lunch hour. These workshops are geared to assist faculty, staff and graduate students and anyone else in the ISU community who might be interested about information and tips on how to get a grant, how to prepare a proposal, how to look for funding sources, etc. They are working with the Office of Research and Grants and Contracts Accounting in presenting the workshops. The flyer provided also identified a full day workshop on March 31. Five brown bag workshop presentations and one full day workshop on March. She advised two outside consultants will be presenting the March 31 workshop. Participants may attend either the morning session or the afternoon session or attend all day. Registration is required for the March 31 workshop since space will be limited. Participants can call the Office of Sponsored Programs at x2592 to register. The other workshops do not require registration. Ms. Horrocks requested Council members to share the information with their colleagues and anyone they deem might have an interest. Ms. Horrocks said the workshops have been announced on the Faculty/Staff Bulletin Board, News and Notes, and Dr. Wharton has shared this information at Dean=s Council. She said they are trying to spread the word of the availability of the workshops.

B. Animal Care Facilities - Ms. Horrocks said that Mr. James Peck, the former Animal Care Facilities manager, has recently retired. Currently Ms. Mia Nettick is serving as the Interim Animal Care Facilities manager. A search is being conducted by the Office of Research for a permanent replacement with an application deadline of February 18. Dr. Ford advised that this position is unique in the State. A Search Committee has been established. The Search Committee will consist of Dr. Ford (Search Committee Chair), Dr. Curtis Anderson, Dr. Dave Delehanty, Dr. Riena Carlson (Consulting Veterinarian), and one person from Pharmacy. Once the search has been complete and a suitable applicant secured, the Office of Research will then advertise for a full-time animal technician position. Negotiations are underway with the State of Idaho to reevaluate the duties and pay for this position.

C. Office of Research Integrity Conference - Ms. Horrocks said Dr. Wharton has collaborated with a few faculty members to submit a proposal for an Office of Research Integrity Conference at ISU in the Fall of 2005. Ms. Horrocks said she received word from Ms. Easterly that the proposal was funded from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Research Integrity (ORI). She said Dr. Wharton will provide additional information to the Council. This will a wonderful opportunity for ISU to host this Conference.

IV. Other Business

A. Ms. Flowers said as a result of the responses they have received in regard to the Acceptable Use Policy, a subcommittee of the Computer Systems Advising Committee (CSAC) has been formed specifically to address research computing. Members are Dave Coffland, Ben Nickels, Ralph Norton, Ken Trimmer and Randy Gaines as the chair. They would like to have 2-3 members from the RCC to assist. Ms. Flowers said she was looking for anyone from the Council that may be interested in assisting on the subcommittee. Ms. Stamm nominated Dr. Cyndy Kelchner who previously had been a director of a super computer center. Dr. Bigelow and Dr. Lohse also indicated that they would be interested in assisting on this subcommittee.

B. Dr. Inouye said a Stream Ecology Symposium is scheduled for May 5, 2005, to honor Dr. Wayne Minshall. Dr. Minshall retired from the Department of Biological Sciences last spring. He mentioned they have a stellar list of participants arriving - some of the leading people in the field of stream and field ecology. It will be a one day event and banquet scheduled at the Performing Arts Center.

C. Dr. Ford said that a year or so ago, the Council passed a policy regards the evaluation of research faculty. Some faculty now have been here long enough to be evaluated for promotion. We also have a few tenure-track research faculty that will be evaluated for tenure consideration. Dr. Ford said in one of the upcoming Council meetings, he will be presenting for the Council=s consideration a policy on tenure and promotion for research faculty. In the past, the evaluation was conducted in the same manner as for other teaching faculty whereby the department, then the College evaluates the faculty member seeking promotion. For research faculty, the applicants= materials are then provided to the Chief Research Officer for recommendation. Dr. Ford mentioned this is essentially the same procedure which they would prefer to follow for tenure-track positions.

D. Dr. Stamm reported they have had very positive responses from the people of Indonesia for IRH assistance regarding the Tsunami disaster. Dr. Stamm suggested the Council can view recent activities at www.isu.edu/departments/irh to learn more of their tsunami efforts. It was mentioned that Dr. Scott Hughes and Dr. Paul Link made a presentation on tsunami awareness on February 14. This may be repeated at another date. Ms. Deck mentioned that the talk was provided in conjunction with the Idaho Museum of Natural History.

Ms. Horrocks requested a motion to adjourn the meeting. Dr. Bigelow moved to adjourn, Dr. Byers seconded. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned 3:40 p.m.