Minutes - Sep 19, 2005

Date of Meeting: 

Monday, September 19, 2005

Present:

Scott Bounds, Ben Darbo, Jeffrey Denburg, Michael Flatt', Ed Folsom, Vicki Grassian, Meredith Hay, Johna Leddy, Michael Mackey, George Malanson, Cheryl Reardon, Ian Smith, Michael Wichman

Vicki Grassian called the meeting to order.  Professor Grassian, Department of Chemistry, is the 2005-06 chair of the Research Council.  Grassian provided the Research Council with an overview of her roles on campus, her research program and her past involvement on the Research Council. 

Grassian reviewed the charge to the Research Council as outlined in the Operations Manual.  

Activities of the 2004-05 Council 

Grassian highlighted excerpts from Mark Sidel's annual report that summarized activities of the 2004-05 Council.  These highlights include:

  1. OVPR office being reviewed
  2. new focus on economic development and tech transfer
  3. more emphasis on growing the Research Enterprise.  

Publication Waiver Sub-committee 

Johna Leddy provided an overview of the role of the Publication Waiver Sub-committee.  Grassian asked for volunteers to sit on this committee and Michael Flatt' and Johna Leddy agreed to serve another year.  Grassian will try to recruit an additional member for this committee.  VP Hay announced that she will be processing requests for publication waivers differently and has implemented stricter guidelines for waivers involving research on human subjects.  

Research Council meetings 

Grassian is planning to schedule Research Council meetings once per month for approximately 1.5 hours (September - December).  If urgent issues develop, she will convene additional meetings.

Pro tem appointment

Grassian appointed Michael Flatt' to be Research Council pro tem for this year (2005-06).  The pro tem will serve as chair when Grassian is unavailable.

Meredith Hay - Her first 90 days on the job 

Vice President Meredith Hay highlighted her first 90 days on the job.   Highlights include:

  • Visited most of the major units on campus and met with a variety of researchers.
  • Hired Pam York, new Executive Director for University of Iowa Research Foundation (UIRF), in August. 
  • Instituted an external review of Technology Innovation Center (TIC) and Oakdale Research Park (ORP).  Will also be hiring new director of TIC and ORP.
  • Traveled to Des Moines to form relationships with key members of Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED).
  • Met with members of the Board of Regents and worked to secure $2M in economic development funds.  These funds will require a 2M match from U of Iowa and focus on start up companies, entrepreneurial activities and outreach to companies.
  • Developing a proposal for a new Hygienic Lab building located on the Oakdale campus.
  • Helped develop a campus-wide process and timeline for federal earmarks that will determine how we will rank federal requests.  The process will involve collegiate units and will be reviewed by a committee consisting of Willard, Hay & Hogan. 
  • Created a task force committee to examine shared credit and interdisciplinary research.
  • Created another task force committee with Provost Hogan to review life sciences and natural sciences.  This committee will be chaired by Jack Lilien. 
  • Modifying organizational chart to reflect departmental changes.  Announced that Bill Decker will be retiring in April 2006. 
  • Developed Enterprise Iowa - a new organization that will house all economic development activities under one umbrella.  Approximately 5000 sq. ft. of new office space will be located in the Old Capitol Mall.
  • Creating a Faculty Fellow position to reside in the OVPR- ongoing process.
  • Hired Mani Subramanian to be the new Director of the Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing. His academic appointment will be in the College of Engineering in the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering.

Master plan for research 

Hay will be soliciting a master plan for research that will help guide how we make our investments.  How should the Research Council be involved with the master plan for research?

Seed grant programs 

Hay provided an overview of the seed grant programs from AY 05-06.  The OVPR will be sending out the call for programs in early October.  Hay would like the Research Council to review all of these programs over the next year to determine if these programs are the most effective use of funds in promoting and supporting research on campus. 

Meeting adjourned at 4:55 PM.