Meeting Notes
RAC Task Force on Administration
Conference Call
Tuesday, September 24th, 2013
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
In attendance: Allison Hardt (co-chair), Cynthia Gerst,Chris Hedges, Skip Paul, Michael Bufalino, Clint Adler.
Absent: Ron Curb, James Watkins, Rod Montney, Dawn Van Landingham, Steve Pepin, Amy Schutzbach,
Action items underscored.
- Notes from previous conference call.
A MOTION (GERST/BUFALINO) to accept the meeting notes was APPROVED.
- Old Business
- Membership Changes
Moy Biswas retired from the NC DOT and the task force at the end of June. George Colgrove has moved to a different position and has resigned from the task force. Alicia Wright-Kehner is on active duty and has been removed from the roster for the duration.
- DOT Fact Sheets (Allison)
- Massachusetts and North Dakota have been added
- Three left - Region 1 – RI, Region 2 – TN, Region 4 - SD
- Website Subcommittee –Cynthia Gerst
Cynthia summarized a number of recent changes made to the SCOR/RAC site (see attached). A spreadsheet of pending surveys was added to the RAC surveys page; the National Transportation Library is helping to develop a set of subject categories for the peer exchange reports; the second level menu was removed from the Meetings page; task force meeting notes will be accessible from the Meetings page. Allison will remind RAC members to submit their peer exchange reports for posting (or to distribute the reports via the listserv if there are any concerns about confidentiality. The next meeting will be onOctober 28th. Sections to be addressed include:
- New To RAC (chalkboard on home page)
- RAC 101 Presentation (link in What’s New on home page, and in RAC Admin Task Force products)
- FAQ (link from left frame of home page)
- Popular Pages (list of links beneath What’s New on home page)
- “Ahead of the Curve” - Cynthia Gerst
This initiative now has three working task groups: Curriculum, Quality & Credibility, and Marketing & Communication. Each task team has been charged with developing a task conceptualoverview (an overview roadmap) for accomplishing the task assignment. The roadmaps will be discussed and incorporated into the Ahead of the Curve Framework during a meeting in Washington, D.C. on November 2013. The roadmaps should include items such as:
- Overview task description
- Potential products
- Intersection/collaboration needs with the two other task groups
- First cut timeline including potential meetings
- Implementation concepts
The results of work to date will be presented at a workshop during the 2014 TRB annual meeting.
- RAC Winter Meeting
The RAC Officers have accepted the Task Force’s six recommendations for the winter meeting (see attached). Allison has invited RAC members to suggest specific topics for the meeting. Possible topics included the 5.8 GHz spectrum allocation for dedicated short-range communications, the SCOR strategic plan, and SHRP 2 implementation status. These and other topics may emerge from the December SCOR meeting, during which Skip will encourage SCOR members to attend the January meeting. Skip and Dale will be responsible for organizing the agenda.
- New Business
- 2014 RAC 101
Allison distributed comments on the 2013 Baton Rouge RAC 101 session (see attached). Typical suggestions are for more interaction and smaller break-out groups. Various alternatives were discussed – a smaller group with new members only, a large group with smaller breakouts, “speed dating”, shorter presentations with more Q&A, lecture style versus smaller tables, breakfast meeting, etc. A working group will be formed in the coming months to develop the format for the 2014 RAC 101.
- RAC Mentors Checklist
Chris Hedges has developed a first draft; Allison and Cynthia are reviewing it for discussion at future meetings. Chris Hedges will send the National Academies’ mentoring booklet to Allison.
- Survey of RAC Member and DOT Research Section Demographics
Skip – The draft survey seemed to be very detailed and would require significant time and effort to complete. He is not sure what value would be provided; i.e. what would we do with the information? Results will have little impact on CEOs. He would need more clarity before supporting the idea. Clint –best practices for budget prioritization have been investigated in the NCHRP 20-24 series. Skip – some DOTs provide additional funding for research beyond SP&R, and some work with FHWA on definitions of SPR eligibility. The consensus among participants was not to pursue this further.
- Items for RAC leadership
Cynthia Gerst – the Administration Task Force Website working group is recommending changes to the structure of task force meeting notes. Cynthia will prepare a summary of the changes and asked Allison to inform the RAC Officers during their next call.
- Open Discussion
- Next Call – Tuesday, October 29, 2013
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