RESEARCH COORDINATING COUNCIL
Memorandum 117
January 28, 1999

Members Present:     Tebbs Adams, Barbara Adamcik, Brian Attebery, Ron Balsley, Richard Brey, Raymond Clark, Nancy Griffin for Kay Flowers, Dianne Horrocks, Edwin House (presiding), Dave Kleist, Rudy Kovacs, Mark McBeth, Subbaram Naidu, Anna Ratka, Dan Wolfley

Members Absent/Excused:     Jonathan Blotter, Steve Daley, Chris Daniels, Frank Harmon, Richard Inouye, Skip Lohse, Sarah Patrick, Paul Zelus

Dr. House declared a quorum was present.

Dr. House welcomed Dr. Naidu back from sabbatical leave and thanked Raymond Clark for his hard work on the Graduate Student Research and Scholarship Committee. Raymond has accepted a postdoctoral position in San Diego.

I.     It was MSC (10y, 0n) to approve Memorandum #116.

II.    REPORTS

1.    Dr. House reminded the Council that the Humanities/Social Sciences deadline for proposals is February 1, 1999.

2.    The deadline for Technology Incentive Grant proposals to be submitted to the Sponsored Programs Office for review is February 26, 1999. Dr. House reported that a subcommittee of the Technology Oversight Council reviews these proposals and makes suggestions for improvement. This process has helped ISU produce some of the best proposals in the state.

3.    Dr. Anna Ratka reported that the Faculty Research Committee awarded approximately $30,000 this fall to nine faculty members; three of those were new faculty. The spring call for proposals was just released and the deadline is April 5. A meeting to select the finalists for the Distinguished Researcher competition is scheduled for February 26.

4.    Raymond Clark reported that the Graduate Student Research and Scholarship Committee will meet tomorrow to select a new chair and a new representative to the Research Coordinating Council. The call for proposals is out with a deadline of March 17. This committee has $10,500 to award for spring.

5.    Dr. House reported that the University Research Committee met last week to revise the Guidelines for Proposals so that it correlates with the rating sheet. (See Council Business.) The call for proposals will be released soon with a March 31 deadline.

6.    Dr. House reported a correction to the number of Distinguished Researcher nomina-tions. There were ten nominations with one withdrawal.

G.     There were ten proposals submitted to the State Board of Education’s Research Center competition and two were withdrawn. The review panel will be at ISU for on-site visits--February 3 for the Idaho Accelerator Center and February 4 for the Center for Ecological Research and Education. The third proposal is for a Public Policy Research Center by BSU collaborating with UI and ISU. The panel will travel to Boise for an on-site review of the Policy Research Center on February 5. Paul Zelus is ISU’s lead person on the Boise Policy Research Center proposal. The panel will decide which center they will recommend to the State Board of Education for funding and prepare their report in draft form.

H.     Some progress has been made regarding the research alliances with INEEL since the Council’s last meeting. INEEL has agreed to fund $750,000 for two partnerships this next year, and the new contractor will fund up to one million dollars/year for an additional five years. The Memorandum of Agreement should be signed next week. Administrators at the INEEL have asked that ISU administration and research center directors make a recommendation for division of the funds.

I.     Dr. Mary Poulson, along with seven students, will be attending the National Council for Undergraduate Research symposium in Rochester, New York from April 8-10, 1999. Dr. DeJesus is taking the lead on this and all undergraduate research initiatives at ISU.

J.     Dr. House reminded the Council of ISU’s Undergraduate Research Day on March 26, 1999.

K.     Other - A proposal to NSF to connect ISU to Internet II will be submitted tomorrow. The total cost for connectivity is $633,000/year; ISU’s cost will be $300,000/year for two years if the proposal is awarded.


III. COUNCIL BUSINESS

A.     Revision of University Research Committee’s (URC) Guidelines for Proposals - Dr. House informed the Council that the guidelines had been revised to correlate with the rating sheet. The section regarding research centers was deleted because the University Research Committee does not have sufficient funds to support major research center projects. No requests of this type have been made in the last five years. It was MSC (11y, 0n) to approve the revised URC Guidelines for Proposals with the understanding that minor editorial changes would be made by the Office of Research. B.     Dianne Horrocks distributed a draft of the proposed Conflict of Interest and Financial Disclosure Policy. NIH may require that a Financial Interest Disclosure Form be signed by a faculty member at the time of hire and renewed with each contract. Ms. Horrocks is checking to see if this is necessary. Ms. Horrocks said our Proposal Approval and Routing Form currrently requires PI’s to mark "yes" or "no" to potential conflict of interest. An additional question will be added, so if "yes" is marked, the PI will be asked to complete a financial disclosure form. Ms. Horrocks said she contacted several universities that had successful conflict of interest policies in place and borrowed portions for the draft she prepared. Dr. House thanked her for her hard work and said the Council will consider the draft at the next meeting after Council members have had time to review it.

C.     Dr. House introduced Keith Weber, Director of the GIS Training and Research Center. Dr. House informed the Council that because this center was using "Research Center" as part of its title, formal approval of at least Level I Research Center status is needed by the Research Coordinating Council. Mr. Weber said he needed some indication from the Council as to whether he should request Level I or Level II Research Center status. Dr. House reminded the Council that Level I is requested when a center wishes to use the term "Research Center" as part of its title or refer to that term in its mission statement but won’t be asking for university resources. Level II status is requested when the center has at least three researchers working collaboratively. Mr. Weber described projects that the GIS Center is working on with other ISU departments, the City of Pocatello, Bannock County, and Fort Hall. The GIS Center will also be providing satellite processing for the Integrated Environmental Analysis research alliance with INEEL.

  The meeting adjourned at 4:20 p.m.