Attendance – Ed Gillan, Barbara Eckstein, Faryle Nothwehr, Carolyn Colvin, Lance Heady, John Nelson, Jane Paulsen, Johna Leddy, Jane Paulsen, Kate O'Brien, Elizabeth Constantine, George Hospodarsky, Paul Soderdahl, Nicholas Borcherding, David Cunning

Others – Dan Reed, Rich Hichwa, Cheryl Reardon, Ann Ricketts, David Conrad, Bob Kirby, Lon Moeller, Paul Bellus, Josh Berka, Kieran Leopold, Emily Robnett

Item 1:  Welcome (Ed Gillian)

• Bob Kirby added that undergraduate research directors from several CIC schools held a 3-day meeting on November 14th.

Item 2:  Approval of October 2015 Meeting Minutes

• Draft minutes from the October RC meeting were reviewed and approved with one spelling error correction

Item 3:  Updates from OVPR & ED (Dan Reed)

• Research and Economic Development Award nominations are due by February 5, 2016
• DC Visits for Faculty via Lewis & Burke; those interested should contact Cheryl Reardon
• Research Development Office is currently on hold and will be rebooted after assessing how the office can best serve faculty.  Have interviewed candidates for the Research Development Center Director position.
• A call for applications for the next round of OVPR Faculty Fellow positions will begin the week of January 19th with applications due by February 26th
• MERGE Space (former Wedge Pizza Downtown) is scheduled to open in the summer of 2016.  David Conrad is currently working with architects on the design of the space
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Advisory Group is monitoring proposed regulations regarding UAVs and drones and assessing impact on research at UI
• OVPR continues to collaborate with IRIS & other CIC institutions, handed out U-Metrics one-pager
• The Future Postponed: http://dc.mit.edu/innovation-deficit; OVPRED is considering creating a publication similar to the MIT link.  Council suggested giving particular attention to the impact of research on the lives of Iowans.

Item 4:  Update on Economic Development Subcommittee (David Conrad, Ed Gillan, Johna Leddy, Kate O’Brien, Cheryl Reardon, Paul Soderdahl)

• The subcommittee met and discussed details regarding the proposed committee.  The creation of a new UI Charter Committee would be difficult to accomplish, but could potentially be a long-term goal.  Short-term goal should be a more flexible group consisting of a combination of UI Faculty and Community Stakeholders.
• A proposed charge to the committee was presented.  There were questions about the types of faculty who would be asked to serve with the suggestion of dedicated Arts & Humanities representation to ensure the broadening of Economic Development definitions beyond science and technology, e.g. publishing.  Specifics regarding the committee will be updated for the first Research Council meeting in 2016/spring semester.
• Currently, UI files approximately 150 patents per year and the Bioventures building is at capacity.

Item 5:  Minors on Campus (Lon Moeller, Paul Bellus, Josh Berka, Kieran Leopold, Emily Robnett) – See attachments

• Lon Moeller along with several members of the policy committee attended to explain the proposed Minors on Campus policy.  The policy applies to persons under the age of 18 who visit the campus of the University of Iowa for any number of purposes such as sports camps, research, outreach, etc. 
• The policy was commissioned in response to the now infamous Penn State scandal involving Jerry Sandusky and the PSU Football Program.  Committee members indicated early on that the draft policy had received considerable feedback requesting significant changes and clarifications throughout the numerous visits with varying constituencies around UI.
• There were questions regarding the viability of background checks for the large numbers of new campus faculty and staff that are hired annually and that the provision would likely be cost prohibitive, how the policy would affect enrolled undergraduates under the age of 18, how the policy is applied on and off campus, and what distinctions can be made between age groups, for example, a 16-year-old high school student conducting research over the summer versus an 8-year-old sports camp attendee.
• Discussion concluded with Lon Moeller assuring the Research Council that the committee plans to reformulate the policy taking in to consideration the feedback from campus.

Items of Potential Interest to RC Members

• FY2016 Internal Funding Initiatives - OVPRED is accepting applications to encourage leading edge scholarship, creative activities and interdisciplinary research.  Next application deadline is Tuesday, December 15, 2015