Meeting attendees: Jerry Lin, Ken Young, Scott Crawford, Amy Smith, Ana Christensen, Chunda Chen
Missing members: Richard Gachot, Xianchang Li
Meeting called to order by Jerry Lin at 1:08pm
I. Welcome
Introduction of new Council Member Dr. Amy Smith
II. Guidelines for estimating Time & Effort contribution on grants
Jerry Lin: A guideline for faculty summer pay and salaries to charge against sponsored grants is provided. Please see the attached documents sent by Beverly Kemp through email. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Emily Born (eborn@lamar.edu).
III. Research Council meeting dates
October 5, 2020
November 2, 2020
December 7, 2020
January 4, 2021
February 1, 2021
March 1, 2021
April 5, 2021
May 3, 2021
Jerry Lin: Move the meeting to the first Monday of every month at 12:30pm.
Ana Christensen motioned to move the meeting to the first Monday of every month at 12:30pm.
Amy Smith seconded.
Motion passed.
IV. Upcoming policy discussion in Fall 2021.
Jerry Lin: 1st Policy: Participate Support Payments, ORSPA will draft a policy and send to the council for review to see if the policy and procedures are reasonable.
2nd Policy: Role and responsibility matrix in research administration. There are multiple decision makers in proposal submission and project execution. We would like to clarify the role and responsibilities of PIs, department/college administrators, post-award finance and ORSPA staff. The policy will help ensure the preparation and submission of proposals as well as the execution of sponsored projects.
3rd Policy: Project Closeout Policy, clear guidelines on closing out sponsored projects after completion will be provided. ORSPA will draft a policy and submit to the council for review and approval.
V. Roundtable
Jerry Lin: Any comments or input? Please help bring up research-related issues that matter to your college.
Amy Smith: Since it is my first time on this council, I want to get a better understanding of what this council does.
Jerry Lin: In addition to drafting policies and procedure for research administration, the council was also charged with reviewing the Research Enhancement Grants (REG), which provide seed fund for faculty to develop research and scholarly products. The council reviews and decides on which REG proposals will be funded. The REG grants account has not been funded for FY21. ORSPA will make an announcement if a budget is created for REG this year.
Ana Christensen: In the Biology department, REGs have been helpful to get their projects off the ground and support research students. It has always been a good thing for our department. I have received several REG’s in the past and have been able to include many students for small research projects.
Ken Young: Regarding the REG’s, we should revisit how the funds are dispersed. There was a significant discrepancy with the social sciences or humanities and the STEM projects, which should be addressed to encourage a greater level of participation.
Jerry Lin: You bring up a very good point regarding the STEM proposals and yes, we should revisit this matter and revise accordingly.
VI. Adjourn
Meeting adjourned by Jerry Lin at 1:39pm.
Motion to adjourned by Amy Smith
Ken Young seconded
Motion passed.