RESEARCH COUNCIL MINUTES

                             November 13, 1995


Attendees:  Bill Blass, Chair, Jim Adcock, Gayle Baker,
Chris Cox, Mike Devine, David Dobbs, Ham Bozdogan, Burt
English, Pat Fisher, Michael Gant, Kim Jensen, Paula
Kaufman, Michael Keene, Lori Kincaid, Andrew Kramer,
Kula Misra, Steve Pulik, Larry Ratner, Dwight Teeter,
Phyllis Turner, Ken Walker, Carolyn Webb, and Jodie
Wehr.

NOTE:  The next Research Council meeting will be on
Monday, December 4, at 3:30 p.m. in the 8th Floor Board
Room, Andy Holt Tower.


Comments from Bill Blass:  Bill Blass urged any members
assigned to the council late to contact him if they
wanted to be assigned to a subcommittee.  A new e-mail
listing of council members and the Office of Research
staff was also distributed.  This is a listing of e-
mail aliases obtained from the ph database.  Aliases
are being used in preparation of migration off the VAX. 
Please check to make sure your address is correct. 
Blass mentioned that he has not heard from the Teaching
Council, but will keep us informed.  Blass encouraged
members to attend the demonstration of the Faculty
Information Service and the Community of Science
information services on Tuesday, November 21, at 10:30
a.m. in Room 226 of University Center.  A memo (dated
November 6) from Mike Devine and Homer Fishers was sent
to all council members outlining this event.

Comments from the Office of Research:  Mike Devine
announced that his change in title to a Vice Chancellor
is now being processed.  Also, Ken Walker's title will
also change to Associate Vice Chancellor.  Walker
informed the council that the 3rd floor of the
Conference Center Building on Henley Street is now
occupied by "research" staff and that the facilities
are very nice.  He suggested that council members may
want to tour the facilities.  Problems with the heating
and cooling system are still being worked out.

Research Advancement Status Report:  Kim Jensen's group
is charged with addressing the promotion of research at
UTK.  She stated that the News Center helps in this,
but that there is no umbrella organization for getting
research out to the public.  She felt that the Office
of Research's Research Good News was a good beginning
in addressing this issue.  She stated there are many
people at UTK that deal with research communication but
that there needs to be more coordination in this
effort.  Jensen is working on a form that will make it
easier for faculty to submit items to Research Good
News.  She also requested that Research Good News be
moved higher up in the UTK Homepage.  Currently it
involves multiple steps to find it.  Jensen stated that
there were at least three ways to promote research at
UTK:  1) news media, 2)  targeted audiences, and 3) 
specialized research magazine.  Devine stated that the
Research Advancement Group was down to one staff.  The
Office of Research is currently doing a search for an
Information Specialist.  He hoped that once new staff
is hired we will be able to address the issues of
promoting research.  Devine is currently assessing
whether his office can publish a research magazine
since there is a FTE and budget freeze.  Larry Ratner
mentioned that he and Associate Dean Lester had an
editorial in the Knoxville News-Sentinel addressing the
importance of university research at UTK.  Ratner
suggested that the council become involved with alumni
and encourage faculty to give presentations about their
research to Alumni groups.

Faculty Information Service (FIS):  Burt English, a new
faculty member commented on the amount of work it takes
to complete a Faculty Data Form (via Word Perfect) and
questioned how the FIS benefits faculty.  Blass stated
that entering a form interactively (via Netscape) was
far easier than using Word Perfect.  Walker stated that
one benefit of the FIS was it would help to reduce
redundant requests from the administration.  Also, he
stated he used the FIS when faculty meet with him to
discuss cost sharing requests.  He is able to access
the FIS to see how much funding a faculty member
receives and also how productive they are.  Whether or
not a faculty member is in the FIS has some bearing on
Walker's decision on cost sharing requests.  English
asked if there was support from the Office of Research
in entering FIS data.  The Office of Research does not
enter data but there should be departmental secretary's
assigned to this task.  Ratner stated that half of his
faculty are listed in the FIS but the other half is
resistant to participation.  He felt that there needed
to be another big push on why the FIS is important and
how it can be helpful.  Adcock suggested using the
"carrot and stick" approach in getting faculty to
complete a FDF form.  The Science Alliance uses this
approach--faculty had to be in the FIS to be considered
for any awards.

Mike Keene hoped that sometime in the future the
Funding Opportunities Database and the Faculty
Information Service would "shake hands".  That is, that
a keyword in the Funding Opportunities Database would
match one in an FIS listing and information
automatically be sent to faculty.  Gayle Baker pointed
out that the Current Awareness System (see below) will
have this sort of capability.

Further discussion of the FIS will be put on the agenda
for December.

SARIF EPPE Report:  Michael Gant gave the committee
report for Dottie Habel.  Since the beginning of FY95
the committee had 23 requests totaling around $20,000. 
Twenty awards were made for $7,000.  Andy Kramer asked
if requests could be made "after-the-fact".  While the
committee likes to make awards prior to spending the
money, they have made awards after-the-fact.  All
requests must be made by faculty and not by department
heads.  Lori Kincaid (guest from the Energy,
Environment, and Resources Center) asked if research
staff were eligible for EPPE awards.  Ken Walker
responded that the EPPE fund was initiated by the
Faculty Senate for faculty only.

Chancellor's Awards for Research:  Michael Gant
requested clarification and guidance from the council
on the eligibility requirements for the Chancellor's
Awards for Research.  Gant stated that he had a few
inquiries concerning joint appointments and whether or
not a faculty member would be eligible for the award. 
One query concerned whether a faculty member with a 80%
time appointment at ORNL and a 20% time appointment at
UTK would be eligible for this award.  After much
spirited discussion putting forth diverse views, the
Chair directed the Subcommittee to bring a
recommendation to the council meeting in December.

Policy and Procedures:  Jim Adcock distributed a draft
memo to deans, directors and department heads
concerning the Policy and Procedures Subcommittee.  He
requests input from council members.  Adcock also
commented that old computers could be set up
inexpensively as e-mail terminals by only purchasing an
ethernet card.  He suggested that redistribution of
idle older equipment to departments needing network
access seemed a good idea.

Research Networking and Computational Needs:  Ham
Bozdogan stated his committee would be studying and
exploring research computing needs.  Any concerns or
input can be sent to him via e-mail.  He will present a
statement to the council in December for approval and
forwarding to the Division of Information and
Infrastructure.

June 30, 1996 Shutdown of VAX Systems:  Blass will
include this on the agenda for December's meeting.  He
stated that faculty and staff should begin using their
Ph Database alias for e-mail as a way to prepare for
the shutdown.  

Academic Technology Unit, Division of Information
Infrastructure:   There exists (on paper) an Academic
Technology Unit of the Division of Information
Infrastructure. Its purpose is to deal with services
and support in instructional technology, research
computing, and academic information technology. Blass
commented that a Director of this unit is shown on the
Division's organization chart but that as yet there was
no job description nor search planned for this
position. He emphasized that because of this lapse,
there is no professorial advocate for academic
interests on the Vice Chancellor's staff (except for
the Vice Chancellor herself) and that this is rapidly
becoming a critical issue as Division changes are being
mandated and made which impact the academic side of the
house without Information-Infrastructure-Unit Director
level representation in the planning and decision
making processes. (It should be noted that prior to
reorganization of computing, there were 1.75 FTE's of
Professorial level input and advocacy.) 

Blass reported that he met with Acting Vice Chancellor
Jose-Marie Griffiths on Friday last and had a
substantive discussion with her regarding these
concerns.  The DII has two top priorities:  1) network
expansion and 2) instructional technology. The Academic
Technology Unit is a factor in the Division's number
two priority. The Vice Chancellor indicated that she
had been unable to gain approval for any FTE's to
populate the Director's or staff positions but that
continuing discussions on this matter were being held
with the Chancellor. Blass requested input from the
council via e-mail or direct contact with him upon
Council's 
reflection on the matter. 

Demo of Current Contents:  Gayle Baker made a brief
presentation about Current Contents.  Current Contents
provides indexing to over 6,000 current journals with
coverage beginning May 1995.  Current Contents can be
accessed through the WWW and through Lynx.  Baker is
working on creating "personal web pages" for faculty
and also hopes to tie it in with such services as
Inter-library Loan and Library Express so that
information can be requested and viewed electronically. 
Baker is available for assisting faculty in using
Current Contents.  The Library also has CD-ROMs for
accessing journals, abstracts, reviews, etc. that are
older than May 1995.  

Comments by Chris Cox:  Chris announced that in the
event of a government shutdown, PIs should only spend
funds that they have, no new awards will be made, and
there will be no access to staff at federal agencies. 
A memo from the Office of Research will be sent to PIs
regarding the probable shutdown.

Adjournment:  5:10 PM

NOTE:  Future meetings are scheduled for December 4,
January 29, February 26, March 25.  These meetings all
take place in the 8th Floor Board Room, AHT at 3:30
p.m.  The final luncheon meeting is planned for April
29, 1996 at 11:30 a.m. at the Faculty Club.