RESEARCH COUNCIL MINUTES


October 14, 1996


Attendees: Bill Blass, Chair, Jim Adcock, Debora Baldwin, David Bemis, Ham Bozdogan, Chris Cox, David Dobbs, Pat Fisher, Zoe Hoyle, Kim Jensen, Paula Kaufman, Michael Keene, Ron Maples, Sue Mettlen, Kula Misra, Ben Oliver, Ted Paludan, Steve Pulik, Flora Shrode, Dwight Teeter, Ken Walker, Carolyn Webb, Jodie Wehr and Gail White.

Guest: Ramsey Valentine, Director of Strategic Planning, Information Infrastructure

NOTE: The next Research Council meeting will be held Monday, November 11 at 3:30 p.m. in the 8th Floor Board Room, Andy Holt Tower.

Comments by Bill Blass: Blass introduced Sue Mettlen, Vice Chancellor, Information Infrastructure to the Research Council. Blass announced that Ramsey Valentine, Director of Strategic Planning, Information Infrastructure would make a presentation to the group on Lotus Notes.

Comments by Ken Walker: Walker stated that he received comments concerning the new "yellow sheet". The yellow sheet will be finalized very soon and any additional comments can be directed to Walker. Walker stated that there have been complaints about the length of time it takes for a document to be processed in the Office of Research. Proposals require three working days to be processed and contracts require ten working days since they are more complicated. The Office of Research will track paperwork in the office and will provide feedback to PI's on the status of their proposals and grants and contracts.

Comments by Zoe Hoyle: Hoyle announced that she has received the figures for the Annual Report and hopes that the report will be ready in a month. Information for the Biennial Review has been received from the Associate Deans for Research and drafts will be provided to the Special Projects and Public Relations Committees for review.

Comments by Kim Jensen: Jensen announced that the Special Projects Committee has created a link from the Research Council Home page to a listing of UTK Research Council Web Awards. These resources were chosen because they give a good representation of research. She also stated that both the Special Projects and Public Relations Committees will assist Hoyle in choosing the articles for the Biennial Review. Another project the subcommittee is working on is a lecture series.

Comments by Mike Keene: Keene distributed a Center Review Schedule to members. Paludan asked for a list of the centers that will be reviewed this academic year. Anyone who would like a list of these centers can contact Mary Hunsberger in OR. Walker stated that there are approximately 90 centers, bureaus, and institutes. The majority of these centers are now official.

Indirect Cost Update by Walker: Walker announced that Indirect Costs are now called Facilities and Administration Costs (F&A). A list of reasons why the Office of Research approves cost-sharing on F&A costs was distributed. Walker stated that F&A costs are important to the University. The past two fiscal years earned approximately $9.8M each year in F&A costs. Walker is working with departments to bring F&A rates in their proposals to the federally audited rate since this money could be used to offset budget problems in other entities. F&A cost recoveries have increased from 15% to 21% because of tighter controls by OR. On another front, Cox stated that if there is a large decrease in indirect costs the University would see many people getting laid off.

Research Infrastructure Committee Discussion: Bozdogan is the Chair of the Research Infrastructure Committee and asked what, specifically, is the charge of this group. What is the rationale for this committee and its three subcommittees (High Performance Computing, Desktop Services, and Access Services)? The RI committee should determine research infrastructure needs and also determine what areas are essential to the research enterprise. Fisher is chair of the subcommittee on Desktop Services and they are planning to change their name to Desktop Research Support Services or something similar that would actually reflect the charge of this group. Oliver asked what group would consider recommending site licenses for expensive software. The response was that it could be any one of the three groups. Mettlen responded that individual software would fall under Desktop Services, network and mainframe software would fall under High Performance Computing, and communication would fall under Access Services. Mettlen hoped that this group would make recommendations to her and suggest what should be added in the area of infrastructure if the University funding situation improves.

Walker felt that another subcommittee of the RI committee on "analytical equipment" was needed. There is a lot of major equipment at the University but it is difficult to find out what equipment is actually in each department. The descriptions provided to the Treasurer's Office are not detailed and some equipment is purchased in components making it difficult to identify large pieces of equipment.

Keene announced his frustration at trying to dial off campus after 3:30 p.m. He was told by the campus operators that the phone lines are all tied up in the afternoon. He hoped that Mettlen could look into this. She indicated that she would do so.

Kaufman inquired about the expectations of the RI committee in regards to the Library.

Additional comments by Walker: Walker introduced John Schultz to the RC. Schultz is working in the grants and contracts section of OR. He has many years of experience in procurement at Lockheed Martin Energy Systems. Walker also announced that the Sponsored Programs Database is in the process of being revised; Mettlen will help in this process.

Presentation by Ramsey Valentine: Valentine gave a presentation on Electronic Collaboration with Lotus Notes. View graphs of his talk are enclosed.

Adjournment: 5:10 p.m.