University Research Advisory Committee

1. Year-end report - AVP Simon Kim is planning to meet with each College Deans during the first week of August to discuss the following reports for each college. There will be 2 reports, one for the University and one for individual College. The report will include F&A Return and F&A Rates for each college.

· IRB and IACUC Reviews

- Total IRB Protocols reviewed 308, (New Protocols = 242, Renewals = 66), Modifications = 75. Students =141, Faculty =147 and Staff = 8.

- Total IACUC Protocol Approvals=13.

· Grants and Contracts

- FY 2013-2014 Proposals submitted = 285 with $125M proposal amount requested which includes BUILD Grant Proposal amounting to $25M. FY2012-2013 has 239 proposals submitted with $70M amount requested. The number of proposals increased by 20% and total amount requested increased by 78% this year.

- FY 2013-2014 Awarded Proposals = 129 with total awarded amount of $23M. FY 2012-2013 has 116 proposals awarded with total amount of $19M. The number of proposals awarded increased by 11% and amount increased by more than 18%.

- FY 2013-2014 Research Expenditures totals $25.7M and F&A Revenue is 3.5M with Effective F&A rate of 14%.

2. ORSP Survey of Faculty Satisfaction? What can ORSP do to improve its customer service to its client? The AVP will draft a customer satisfaction survey which will be reviewed by URAC to finalize. URAC will also ensure that their college PIs will complete the survey. Most surveys are completed by extremely satisfied or the extremely dissatisfied customers. We need to get a wider spectrum of response to make the survey more meaningful.

3. Projection for 2014-2015? ORSP is planning a retreat to draft objectives and goals for the coming year, such as target amount of proposal submissions. Also, to address ways to support faculty, to encourage them in writing proposals. The drafted goals will be reviewed by URAC and post to ORSP Website. A URAC panel will be invited to the retreat to discuss PI needs.

4. Additional support for faculty

· Project Support Services Manager – Brian Nowlin and Stephanie Moreno (Time Certain: 1 p.m.) - A draft position description was shared to URAC for review and input. The URAC can share it to their Deans and college and send feedback via email to Brian Nowlin within 2 weeks. The position is funded by Research Foundation.

· Grant Writer – ORSP funded position to help in grant development and proposal process.

5. Retroactive internal clearance – How to prevent/minimize it?

· A reason of not submitting a timely internal clearance for a proposal could be that PI is new and does not know the process but there are retroactive internal clearance submitted by seasoned PIs as well.

· Another reason for retroactive clearance is the delay in budget submission because of collaboration with other agencies. CCPE was able to work with USC to accept the CSULB format in creating budget proposals.

· AVP Simon Kim’s plan is to get the Dean’s approval to access new/junior faculty and seasoned PIs to inform them of the ORSP’s role and process. Only less than 10% of faculty are PIs who are aware of ORSP’s process.

· If there are financial implications, a grant may not be accepted by the University without going through clearance.

· It is requested that the AVP be informed if there is a big proposal plan with an F&A rate less than 26%. Kevin Kelley suggested that maybe it’s best to submit an NOI (Notice of Intent) rather than Internal Clearance to the AVP for approval and pre-proposal process, especially for 0% F&A rate.

· Simon Kim does not want to automatically deny approval of less than 26% IDC without analyzing who benefits from the research as a whole. Any financial restraint will be discussed with the Deans and the Provost. ORSP should not lose money significantly. Simon’s first 3 weeks in ORSP was focused on F&A revenue and ORSP Operating Budget which is after paying Foundation 6% and distributing F&A returns to the campus. Previous years and this last year is mostly break even.

6. Research support budget for 2014-2015 - same budget as the last year.

· Format – Hamid Rahai

- Hamid Rahai suggests that RSCA grants (i.e. SCAC mini-grants, assigned time, faculty small grants, ORSP internal grants) could be consolidated to enable more faculty to apply and avoid duplication of efforts. Many faculty apply to several grants to be able to get the resources they need for one research proposal. Many faculty struggle in getting enough support and funding for their proposal. Consolidating grant funding will enable to get a faculty resources they need such as assigned time, student support and travel in one big grant instead of smaller grants.

- Simon Kim cited an issue on centralization of RSCA grants. There are 2 types of internal grants --- University (SCAC/RSCA) grants and AA/ORSP discretionary research funding awards. SCAC/RSCA grants are administered in accordance with Senate policy, and will need a buy in from many university constituents to be consolidated. One option is to leave RSCA/University grants alone and consolidate discretionary research funds only. However, a different assessment rubric needs to be developed. An example criterion is to give additional points for multi-disciplinary or junior/new faculty.

- Chi-ah Chun mentioned that faculty in between the new/junior and the full tenure rank is neglected and may feel resentful for not given enough opportunity or resources. New/Junior faculty is usually given start-up funds.

- Tom O’Brien suggested adding a faculty survey on internal grants.

7. Centers and Institutes - Tom O’Brien asked on the progress of the Senate policy on Centers and Institutes. The Senate Policy was finalized and Nancy Lewis, the Director for Research Integrity and Compliance is reviewing the current list of Centers and Institutes in accordance with the new policy. However, a lot of the existing Centers/Institutes do not have enough information. Assistance from the College Dean is needed to get the information and guidance needed whether a Center/Institute will continue to exist or not. This will be part of the discussion when AVP Simon Kim will meet with the Deans.

Draft respectfully submitted by: Mae DeBruin, 7/29/14