Research Council Meeting

Present:

Frank Abboud, Scott Bounds, Joe Cannon, Michael Chibnik, Bill Decker, Karen Farris, Michael Flatte, James Giblin, Boyd Knosp, Johna Leddy, Michael Mackey, Teresa Mangum, Imran Pirwani, Cheryl Reardon, Sandra Reed, Jay Semel, Mark Sidel, Michael Wichman

Guests:

Twila Reighley and Charlotte Talman

Overview of Sponsored Research

Twila Reighley, Assistant VP for Research and Director of the Division of Sponsored Programs, provided an overview of Sponsored Programs.  Currently the UI handles over 3,000 proposals -- requesting nearly $600 million and receiving almost 1,800 awards totaling approximately $334 million.  The UI also has 750 other types of agreements.  Reighley discussed challenges and opportunities that face her organization, which include the volume, variety and timing of proposals, the trend toward flat or declining federal basic research budgets, faculty departures, electronic proposal submission, expanding expectations on universities and sponsors, increasing number of limited submissions, need for documentation, increased emphasis on education and training, improved communication, the upcoming Peoplesoft conversion, and managing export control and auditing concerns.

Overview of the Clinical Trials Office 

Charlotte Talman, Director of the Clinical Trials Office (CTO), provided an overview of the Clinical Trials Office.  This office opened in July 1998 under the direction of Vice President Skorton.  The office, located in the College of Medicine Administration Building, serves investigators in all colleges and is staffed by the director and two support staff.  The CTO function is to review and negotiate contracts (not budgets), "match" researchers and sponsors, and provide faculty and staff education in the clinical trials process.  CTO processes several different types of studies, including studies supported by industry, the evaluation of a technology or product developed by a company or investigator, and either clinical (involving human subjects) or pre-clinical (in vitro or animal models with direct linkage to planned human studies).  The two common issues facing CTO are speed, in order to remain competitive with non-academic sites, and negotiation of acceptable contract language.

Reighley and Talman addressed questions from the Research Council, including:

• The rationale on why F & A was returned to departments who sponsored clinical trials.  Roughly two-thirds of ICR money goes back to departments and is invested in research infrastructure (~$1.2 M annually) and support for faculty salaries.
• What is the broader philosophy of sponsored programs related to education?
• Does DSP offer services to students?
• Do "just in time" proposals (e.g., NIH) create more work for your office?
• How do we address colleges and departments who are under-performing from an external perspective?
• How do your offices determine goals and measure performance?  Are bonus incentive plans available to P&S staff members?

OVPR Self Study Document

The OVPR Self Study report was completed in November 2004 as the first step of the review process.  The document was prepared with the input of senior staff, a comparison of peer institutions, and a community survey.  An overview of the document is included in Chapter 1 - Introduction and Executive Summary.  

The next step of the process is the external review, which will occur within the next few months. 

Meeting adjourned at 11:30 AM.