Opening Remarks: Research Council chair Bill Blass spoke of Dr. Wade Gilley's inauguration. The President is very interested in research and information technology. He plans to establish and invest in seven "centers of excellence" throughout the UT system. He has established a committee to streamline administration, headed by Chancellor Rice of UT/Memphis. Another Committee, headed by VP McKay of UTSI, is studying information technology. Blass has arranged for several members of Research Council to lunch with Dr. Gilley on Friday, November 12, 1999.

Information Items:

• Update on Thematic Areas: Due to the illness of Clif Woods, this item was skipped.
• NIH Funding Update: Gayle Baker reported for Lillian Mashburn that the bill associated with NIH funding was vetoed by President Clinton, the major objection being the delayed availability of a large portion of the funds until September 20, 2000.
• Workstation Proposal Update: The workstation proposal will be sent to the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor/Provost. DII has also put together a proposal.
• Infrastructure Funding Update: Zoe Hoyle reported that around 20 proposals have been submitted.

Discussion Items:

• Acceptable Use Policy Draft: The draft policy was reviewed for its impact on instruction and research. An ad hoc group (Blass, Bates, Birdwell, and Mark Miller) will meet with Alice Woody (General Counsel's Office) on the draft. Members were asked to email other comments to Blass.
• Policies and Procedures with Respect to President Gilley's Inquiry: Andrew Kramer, chair of the Policies and Procedures Committee and others brought up several "problem" policies, procedures and systems:
  • Mandated raises without additional funding in R-accounts
  • Accumulation of vacation and sick time on other contracts/grants and taken on different contracts/grants
  • Dollar limit on bidding process needs to be raised to the state limit
  • Old accounting system for contracts and grants that may not be in compliance with federal regulations
  • University credit card system features need to be fully implemented
  • A portion of overhead needs to be directed back to the PI to cover expenses which may no longer be covered explicitly in contracts and grants (travel, computers, etc.). Overhead is not distributed uniformly to the PI across campus.
  • Consider including computing in overhead.
  • Some R-accounts are being charged for phone service in laboratories. This should be covered by overhead.
• Research Infrastructure Basic Services Policy: With the progress on the workstation proposal, Blass stated that the Research Infrastructure Committee now needs to define a "market basket" of services that should be provided to each faculty member by the university.

Meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m.