Institute Management Team Meeting
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Attending: Brian Anderson, Dick Berg, Mike Demissie, Tom Emerson, Libby Johnston, Mona Knight, Don McKay, Terry McLennand, Gary Miller, Kevin O’Brien, Bill Shilts, Angie Wisehart, Karen Witter
1. Budget
Bill reported that the State budget does not have enough support to move forward. Terry indicated that they must pass a budget by July 1. Brian asked if plans need to be made for cuts. Gary replied that the Campus will let departments know what to do once a budget passes.
2. Monthly Meetings with Directors
Bill reported that he would like to begin meeting with each of the directors individually on a monthly basis, preferably over lunch. He currently meets with Kevin, and finds it useful. Angie will schedule the meetings.
3. Executive Director 5-Year Review
Bill reported that Vice Chancellor Schiffer has put together the review committee for Bill’s 5-year review. Bob Hauser (Dean, College of ACES) will chair the committee. Bill does not know how the review will be structured.
4. ISGS Update
Don reported that ISGS will be participating in a field trip on May 31 that will also include ISAS, INHS, ISWS, and Highland Community College. The field trip is in Jo Daviess County covering the driftless area. There are 150 registrants.
5. ISTC Update
Kevin reported that ISTC will be hosting a reception on May 28, the evening before the ISTC Advisory Board meeting. Everyone is welcome to attend.
6. ISWS Update
Mike reported that he will be travelling to Portland, OR to attend the annual Water and Environmental Conference.
Mike reported that Sally McConkey had a good meeting in Chicago with Water Reclamation District representatives. Christopher Burke was also in attendance. They would like ISWS to provide assistance in a new stormwater design. Gary added that one of the MRAP proposals awarded is related to this. Brian reported that he will be meeting with the Water Reclamation District and the head of Stormwater Engineering in Chicago next Tuesday in relation to the Cook County Forest Preserves District project. George Roadcap (ISWS) will also be in attendance. The Forest Preserves District has a goal to add 30,000 acres to the forest preserves system.
7. Prairie Chicken Issue
Brian reported that the news reports have been wrong on the cost to transport prairie chickens to Illinois. Some claimed that it has cost taxpayers $500K, when only $7,400 has been spent. This includes transportation and operation costs. Income tax dollars are not being used.
8. ISAS Update
Tom reported that staff have been at Fort Johnson in Warsaw doing some testing. This is in anticipation of doing a bigger project in September. This will be for the 200 year anniversary of the fort burning down and being lost since 1812. ISAS would like to have media coverage, and thinks it would be a good event for legislators. Terry indicated that he could help invite legislators to an event. Tom added that some younger staff have been actively posting pictures of the work on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
9. Fundraising
Karen reported that she met with Dick and Don, and Brian, to discuss the advancement area. She looks forward to meeting with the other directors. She is seeking their input to refine the process to move forward.
10. HB 3820
Terry reported that there continues to be more discussion on the proposed grant and contract bill. There is now clear language that this bill will not affect federal grants. State grants will be impacted. It is clear that inter-governmental agreements will not be impacted. There will be a grants services office in the State, but it is not clear if it will be mandatory to use their services, or if there will be a fee associated with their services. The bill will primarily impact state agencies, and the University falls under the definition of a higher education institution. The bill, if passed, will not take effect until July 1, 2015.
11. Surveys as State Agencies
Bill wanted to remind the group that the Surveys are still state agencies. Vice Chancellor Schiffer would like to see the Institute’s budget increase by seeking funding elsewhere, but Bill is not convinced that can happen without drifting away from the missions of the Surveys. Bill believes that is important for everyone to remember going into the future.
12. Collections Planning
Gary reported that he had a meeting with Capital Planning last Friday, and they expect the campus to approve the Master Planning project request. They are beginning to draft the solicitation for bids. Gary will be involved in the selection process and review of applicants. It is likely that the planning study would be done by May/June 2015. Geoff Levin (INHS) is going to do a very careful study of the size of INHS collections, and try to determine what their future needs will be. ISAS has a good idea of their needs. The Institute Collections Team should meet early this summer to begin planning. Don reported that Zak Lasemi went to Oklahoma to look at their facilities. He would be a good person to include in discussions, as well as Rob Finley, who is familiar with the Texas collections facilities.
13. Matching Research Awards Program (MRAP)
Gary reported that he sent out the MRAP solicitation today. He will start finding external reviewers right away. He also reported that he still needs to provide feedback to those who did not get funded in the previous round.
14. Upward Evaluations
Gary reported that the upward evaluation process will start early next month and will be open for 6 weeks. Sue had to identify a finite set of supervisors to be reviewed. Staff will be able to review 2 supervisors in their Survey, and 2 people in the Executive Director’s office.
15. Promotion Policy Proposal
Gary reported that the Promotion Policy proposal is currently with Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Lauren Stokes for review.
16. EurekAlert!
Libby reported that she met with the Communications Team this week, and one of the things that they discussed was the EurekAlert! subscription. When the subscription was purchased, it was agreed that each Survey would submit 2 news releases/year which would cover the membership cost versus paying to post releases individually. There has only been 1 news release so far so they discussed what makes news, potential story ideas, and the News Bureau’s role. Libby will help with the releases, if needed.
Scientists can also be posted on a EurekAlert! experts list for media contact purposes. Libby has asked Communications Team members to put together a draft list of experts from their survey for the Team to work with. Libby will run the list by the directors for final review before posting any names.
17. Communications Conferences
Libby reported that there is a science writing and communications conference on June 26-27 in Madison, WI. The OVCR communications director sent out the information and Libby is encouraging Institute staff to attend since it is not expensive.
There is a free social media conference on campus half days on June 16-17 that should be good.
18. MyResearchPortal
Brian asked Gary if there is going to be a fee for each PI in MyResearchPortal. Gary doesn’t know for sure. Mona added that not all ISGS PIs are in the portal yet.