AASHTO RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE (RAC)

RESEARCH COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION TASK GROUP/TRB CONDUCT OF RESEARCH COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION SUBCOMMITTEE

MEETING MINUTES

3/4/08

8:00 – 10:00 am Pacific

9:00 – 11:00 am Mountain

10:00 am – 12:00 pm Central

11:00 am – 1:00 pm Eastern

Call in information: (712) 580-0610, access code 768-170-876

Online at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/join/768170876

  1. Introductions/Housekeeping
  2. Introductions

RAC C/C Members present: Michael Bonini, Nelda Bravo, Nancy Chinlund, Colin Franco, Georgene Geary, Allison Hardt, Mark Norman, Leni Oman, Calvin Roberts, and Sue Sillick,

COR C/C Members Present: Nancy Chinlund, Hau Hagedorn, Dick McReynolds, Mark Norman, Leni Oman, Sue Sillick, and Felicia Young

Friends present: Ned Parrish and Barbara Post

  1. Meeting notes – Georgene Geary
  1. Changes/additions to agenda?

None

  1. Corrections to 1/8/2008 meeting notes? (attached)

None

  1. RAC and TRB Conduct of Research Committees Coordination and Collaboration

This is the first meeting that both groups have been invited together. Four members from the Conduct of Research Committee were in attendance. The Chair requested a volunteer from the Conduct of Research (CoR) Committee to update the CoR Website with the results from this group.

  1. Report on Action Items from Last Meeting
  2. TRNews Article (Steve Albert)

No update was available – discuss again next month.

  1. Unfunded Research Needs Search (http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=006511338351663161139%3Avblegi9v2au&hl=en) (Sue Sillick)

It was reported that Google has been requested to index the unfunded research needs and we are waiting on their reply. It was also noted that Leni is working on guidelines for how to put research needs on the web so they are searchable, i.e. pdf, indexed pdf, html, etc.

  1. Steve A. will put together a list of contacts for the conferences/road maps for possible addition to this search tool.

No update.

  1. Sue will contact Crawford regarding CRP’s. Sue will also talk to Mike regarding state unfunded research needs.

Sue reported that Chris Jencks will add unfunded needs from cooperative research programs (CRP’s) other than NCHRP to the TRB website so that they can be searched from this portal as well.

  1. Tom and Steve will work to obtain beta testers for the unfunded research needs portal.

No update.

  1. Other sources of unfunded research needs?

It was noted that the database on Environmental & Planning (STEP) unfunded needs are not currently posted on the website. Some of the concerns were related to the needs possibly being already partially funded or unfunded because they have already been completed by others. Felicia will report back at the next meeting on any other thoughts and the status.

UTCs were considered as a potential source and the UTC contact Steve Albert will be asked to look into.

Other DOT agencies were also discussed including EPA, FAA, FTA, and Freight. Felicia volunteered to talk to Dawn Tucker about getting involvement/information from other DOT agencies. SHRP II was also identified as another potential source.

  1. Possible vetting of unfunded NCHRP topics by TRB committees (Mark Norman).

Mark N. noted that TRB was considering vetting by providing all unfunded CRP topics to TRB committees or by having topics categorized and sent to the appropriate TRB committee for possible vetting. He said he would wait to begin asking committees to review unfunded research needs until they are all on TRB’s website.

  1. RIP Training/Marketing (Nelda Bravo/Barbara Post)
  2. All please send your stories to Barbara and Nelda.

Barbara Post reported on RIP training, noting that it was extremely popular, in 2-1/2 days they completely filled the 40 available slots for March 6th. More dates will be scheduled in the summer or early fall. She also reported on a webinar held last week on ‘Finding information’ which was attended by over 300.

Barbara also noted that they have incorporated 3 of the stories they have received into the “Value of RIP” web seminars. She also noted that the UTCs are coming on line and adding records to the RIP database.

A discussion was held on State DOTs submitting to RIP. Sue S. has a list of the states that are not submitting to RIP and she will contact them individually to provide encouragement.

Barbara P. asked the group about international projects in RIP. She noted that they are mainly getting completed reports; out of 170 records only 22 were active. This was discussed and it was recommended that we would like to get the full report in TRIS if it is complete, but, if not; it would be a benefit to get the information in RIP with as much contact information as possible.

Ned noted that he sat in on the RIP training and there may be a category in RIP (“suggested”) that could be used for unfunded research. Sue volunteered to discuss with Barbara P. the task of defining these categories and further discussing the possibility of using a category for DOTs and UTCs to enter unfunded research needs. We need to be clear about each of the tools and their specific function.

  1. Website Development (Nancy Chinland)
  2. http://research.transportation.org/?siteid=55&pageid=2454

Nancy reported that they are in a state of collecting information. Wikis or a “network of Wikis” were discussed, as was the use of Sharepoint through the RITA website. Wikis are hot right now- the Freight data committee and the TKN pooled fund project are both discussing the use of Wikis. Nancy mentioned that California was considering putting together a Wiki for “Integrated corridor management”. RITA was noted as also being interested in a Coordination and Collaboration website. It was suggested to pursue a possible collaborative website with RITA and coordinate with the TRB website. Nancy will try to have someone sit in on an upcoming Collaborative work environment webinar and possibly report back on that at the next meeting.

Also, Nancy volunteered to be responsible for getting coordination and collaboration items posted to the TRB COR website.

  1. Bubble Charts (Leni Oman)
  2. Leni O. and Dawn T. will work on the WSDOT Bubble charts.

Leni will send out an updated draft version around mid-month.

  1. Leni will see if the SCOE fishbone chart is posted to a website.

The SCOE fishbone is on the website, Leni will forward out the link. She requested the members to review and asked them to consider: does the format work, what is missing, and where should it be posted.

  1. TRB Brochure (Mark Norman)
  2. Committee members should provide comments on outline and let Sue S. know if you are interested in drafting any sections of this document ASAP.

Kim is working on the TRB brochure. Mark N. pointed out that TRB will get a loaned staff person from FHWA for 6 months and the brochure will be one of the items the loaned person will be asked to work on. Sue noted she has sent the volunteers names and some edits to Kim already.

  1. NW UTC/DOT Coordination and Collaboration Update (Leni O.)

Leni shared the Northwest Transportation Consortium MOU which includes DOTs and UTCs of 4 states in the Northwest: Alaska, Oregon, Washington State, and Idaho. They are also working on a “yellow pages” of technical expertise in research in the area. The NW TransConsortium is setting up a pooled fund similar to the New England Transportation Consortium. They are still trying to identify a way for the UTCs to contribute. An Educational Conference set for Portland next summer was discussed as a C and C effort.

  1. Other coordination and collaboration activities? (All)

Other NCHRP projects (such as 20-7) were discussed. An NCHRP 20-7 website listing funded projects was found on the AASHTO website but did not appear to be connected to the TRB or SCOR website. Colin and Dick will discuss with TRB and AASHTO to coordinate.

NSF funding and programs were brought up and it was agreed that we need to investigate a possible connection, potentially through RITA.

  1. Develop Objectives
  2. Partnering articles in TRNews.
  3. Unfunded research needs portal.
  4. RIP data entry training and marketing.
  5. Website Development
  6. Bubble Charts.
  7. TRB Research Brochure.

The objectives were reviewed; a survey on the value of the products will be completed after additional some products released.

  1. Next Meetings – Mark your calendars!
  2. 4/1/08, 5/6/08, 6/3/08, 7/1/08, 8/5/08, 9/2/08, 10/7/208, 11/13/08, and 12/2/08.
  3. 4/1/08 Agenda items – Suggestions?

The next conference call is scheduled for April 1, 2008 at the same time. The details for the meeting to be held at National RAC are still being worked out; there may be some cost issues with phoning in for those that are unable to attend.

Action items

Ø  Sue S. will update committee membership and meeting notes on the website.

Ø  Nancy C. will begin working on a coordination and collaboration web presence on the COR website and will continue to work on the C/C website.

Ø  Steve A will give an update on progress with the TRNews article.

Ø  Leni O. will develop guidelines for posting information to the web so that it is searchable/findable.

Ø  Steve A. will put together a list of contacts for the conferences/road maps for possible addition to the unfunded research needs search tool.

Ø  Sue S. will work with Chris Jenks at TRB to get all CRP unfunded research needs posted to the web.

Ø  Tom M. and Steve A. will work to obtain beta testers for the unfunded research needs portal.

Ø  Felicia will report back at the next meeting on any other thoughts and the status on the Environmental & Planning (STEP) unfunded needs.

Ø  Felicia volunteered to talk to Dawn Tucker about getting unfunded research needs related to transportation and involvement/information from other DOT agencies.

Ø  Sue S. has a list of the states that are not submitting to RIP and she will contact them individually to provide encouragement.

Ø  Sue S. volunteered to discuss with Barbara P. the task of defining the RIP project status categories and the possibility of using a category enter unfunded research needs.

Ø  Nancy C. will try to have someone sit in on an upcoming Collaborative work environment webinar and possibly report back on that at the next meeting.

Ø  Leni O. will send out an updated draft version around mid-month of the WSDOT Bubble charts.

Ø  Leni will forward out the link to the SCOE fishbone website.

Ø  ALL: review the SCOE fishbone considering: does the format work, what is missing, and where should it be posted.

Ø  Colin and Dick will discuss the NCHRP 20-7 projects website and others with TRB and AASHTO to coordinate.

C&C Subcommittee Page 4