Research Council Meeting

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Members Present: Ariel Aloe, Duhita Mahatmya, Fatima Toor, Robert Wallace, Divya Rathi, Mihaela Bojin, Cody Poe, Shelton Stromquist, David Drake, Paul Dilley, Scott Shaw, Yasar Onel, Seth King, Tawny Tibbits, Queena Lin

Members Absent: Natalie Denburg, Anthony Panos, Carrie Figdor, Abigail Townsend, Ravinder Gaddam, Emily Killian

Others in Attendance: Lois Geist, Lauren Galliart, Mike Weaver, Kristy Nabhan-Warren, Ali Salem

Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order at 1:30pm
• Minutes approved from 12/17/24 unanimously without edits.

Item 1: VPR Updates

• Federal Updates (Geist)
  • The council discussed Executive Orders and changes to policies and regulations at the Federal level affecting research at the University of Iowa. Updates are being tracked at https://research.uiowa.edu/2025-federal-updates
• Research Security (Andrews)
  • Notes attached

Item 2: Charter Committee Updates (Aloe)

• Basic red lining has been completed 
• Ariel meeting with Faculty Senate leadership
• Please review four core principles before the end of the week

Meeting adjourned at 2:48pm

Research Council Meeting

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Members Present: Ariel Aloe, Duhita Mahatmya, Fatima Toor, Robert Wallace, Cody Poe, Divya Rathi, Mihaela Bojin, Cody Poe, Shelton Stromquist, David Drake, Paul Dilley, Scott Shaw, Yasar Onel, Seth King, Tawny Tibbits

Members Absent: Natalie Denburg, Queena Lin, Anthony Panos, Carrie Figdor, Abigail Townsend, Ravinder Gaddam, Emily Killian

Others in Attendance: Lois Geist, Lauren Galliart, Mike Weaver, Kristy Nabhan-Warren, Erika Holm-Brown, Ali Salem

Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order at 3:05pm
• Minutes approved from 10/30/24 unanimously without edits.

Item 1: VPR Updates (Geist)

• David Schwebel will be on campus January 24^th for a leadership retreat being run by the office of the president. He will also stop by the VPR office
• David will start at the University on July 1^st working mostly remote the first month
• Three SPARC groups are working in the areas of interdisciplinary research and collaboration, diversifying the UI research portfolio, and development in corporate and foundation engagement. Broad goals are to diversify the institution’s research portfolio and increase the number of large, interdisciplinary projects

Item 2: Staff Council Visit (Erika Holm-Brown)

• Representative of Staff Council the Committee on Committees
• Visit is for annual check-in and to hear from the Research Council on any issues related to Staff Council

Item 3: Research Council Charter Review (Geist/Weaver)

• Research Council charter last revised in 2015
• Discussion to add more members for broader representation
  • Larger group adds some challenges and is not necessarily beneficial to productivity. Members need to be active and engaged. Since DSP and RDO are already a part of the OVPR, we can invite them as needed
  • The Council already exceeds the membership stipulated in the General Charter
• We should take the review as an opportunity to define our internal processes. Chair responsibilities not written down anywhere. The charge of the committee seems passive. Need to take a more active role into alerting the VPR to issues. We should also know why we are creating changes before we start making them
• First review the current charge to ensure that it aligns with what we want the council to be
• Lois would like us to have it done by the end of the academic year, and we should look at the charge vs policies and procedures (broad vs specific)
• Think about our best accomplishments, what worked/didn’t, and what we might want to change if something is missing
• There are many advisory groups that provide input to the research enterprise. Needs to be additive, not duplicative. Identify the gaps in which this committee could serve. 
• Leverage connections with researchers across campus. 
• Can we get funding or resources to make advising more actionable? 
• What other groups exist already? Weaver- can get a list of advisory bodies, look at other charters, benchmarking with those groups and other shared governance bodies. 
• What do our peer institutions have that are analogous to a Research Council? 
• Start with an uber committee review the discussion and assign subcommittees. A small group can lead and make this group effective. Look at advisory groups under the umbrella of OVPR, what they look like, what they do. Find the gaps and use the Research Council to fill it in. 
• Talk with colleagues in your department and college and ask them what they need. She is willing to partner up with groups to help lead that. 
• Research Councilors should be ambassadors to campus, find out what campus needs, good to have active faculty along with existing committee members for RC. 

Item 4: Subcommittee Updates (Galliart)

• Ariel is going to draft a report and send to his group for edits
• Shaw and Fatima are dividing reports for their group
• These reports should be separate from the charter information

Meeting adjourned at 4:22pm

Research Council Meeting

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Members Present: Scott Shaw, Duhita Mahatmya, Mihaela Bojin, Cody Poe, Carrie Figdor, Paul Dilley, Queena Lin, David Drake, Anthony Panos, Seth King, Yasar Onel, Ariel Aloe

Members Absent: Natalie Denburg, Kailey Cash, Shelton Stromquist, Abbie Townsend, Matt Suiter, Ravinder Gaddam, Fatima Toor, Emily Killian, Divya Rathi

Others in Attendance: Lois Geist, Rachel McGuire, Ted Welter, Tawny Tibbits, Mike Weaver, Lauren Galliart, Jen Lassner, Kristy Nabhan-Warren, Ali Salem

Call to Order

• Meeting called to order at 11:02am
• Minutes from 9/13/24 approved unanimously

Item 1: VPR Updates

• Introduction from Interim VP Lois Geist
• VP Search Update
• Research Misconduct Policy (Andrews)
  • See handout

Item 2: Subcommittee Updates (Galliart)

• Benchmarking group
  • Ariel will provide the Council with email prompt and meeting questions at the next meeting
• Conversations Group
  • The public forums are complete, and the group has the notes from the forums
  • The group will meet to discuss next steps and share those with the Council

Item 3: Facilities and Administration Costs (Ted welter, Rachel McGuire)

• See slides

Meeting Adjourned at 12:10pm

Research Council Meeting

Friday, September 13, 2024

Members Present: Ariel Aloe, Cody Poe, David Drake, Queena Lin, Yasar Onel, Divya Rathi, Emily Killian, Fatima Toor, Mihaela Bojin, Carrie Figdor, Duhita Mahatmya, Anthony Panos, Seth King

Members Absent: Natalie Denburg, Kailey Cash, Paul Dilley, Scott Shaw, Shelton Stromquist, Abbie Townsend, Matt Suiter, Ravinder Gaddam

Others in Attendance: Marty Scholtz, Tawny Tibbits, Mike Weaver, Lauren Galliart

Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order at 2:05 pm.
• Minutes approved from 05/07/24 unanimously.
• New members Duhita Mahatmya, Ravinder Gaddam, Emily Killian, Abigail Townsend, and Divya Rathi were introduced. 
• Website updated to reflect new members
  • https://research.uiowa.edu/research-council

Item 1: VPR Updates (Scholtz)

• Marty will be stepping down as VPR and Lois Geist will serve as interim while the search for a permanent VPR continues. Lois will be at next month’s meeting
• FY23 had $662 million in research expenditures
• This was a 30% increase over five years, the largest in the University of Iowa’s history. It was done with limited to no net increases in faculty or support staff
• NIH has been our primary funder. NSF has doubled from the previous year. We’ve received more funding from the Department of Energy. Department of Defense funding in the health sciences has been on the rise since Covid with an increase in clinical trials
• Federal funding for research is not optimistic, so it’s important to diversify UI portfolio
• Campus proposal for P3 funds amounts to $15 million a year to invest in strategic initiatives. P3 preliminary proposals are being accepted via InfoReady with an emphasis on the announced distinctive collaborative opportunities (writing and communication, brain science and mental health, cancer research, and patient care) 

Item 2: Subcommittee Updates (Aloe, Galliart)

• Benchmarking Group
  • Last year was tasked with reviewing research related websites across campus
  • Going forward the group would like to do informal interviews to get information from key players as to what the goal of their websites are and how to disseminate the information. 
  • Group needs to set up a meeting to discuss next steps
  • Initial findings are available in SharePoint 
  • Current group members: Bob Kirby, Mihaela Bojin, Carrie Figdor, David Drake, Ariel Aloe, Seth King 
• Conversations Group
  • Last year we created a survey to gauge awareness of research resources on campus
  • Sent to over 100 researchers and emeritus members
  • Based on that information the group decided to hold four in-person open forums to discuss research opportunities. Two on east side of campus, two on the west side
  • Next dates are September 24^th from 10-11am in PBDB 1385, October 1^st from 10-11am in PBDB 1385, and October 8^th from 2:30-4:30pm in IMU 256
  • Qualtrics survey results are available in SharePoint
  • Current group members: Scott Shaw, Fatima Toor, Anthony Panos, Queena Lin, and Shelton Stromquist

Item 3: Research Council Charter Review (Weaver)

• President’s office may charge charter committees to review their own charters and suggest revisions
• This is a great opportunity to participate and change the language of the charters
• Ariel- it would help to add to the charter the expectations that the chair and vice chair are expected to fulfill
• https://opsmanual.uiowa.edu/governance/university-iowa/advisory-bodies/research-council-charter

Item 4: Publication Waiver Subcommittee (Weaver)

• Committee reviews grants and contracts that require publication restrictions and makes recommendations to the VPR
• We only have one returning member, Mihaela Bojin
• Mike will send out email asking for more volunteers

Meeting adjourned at 3:23 PM

Research Council Meeting

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Members Present: Cody Poe, Mihaela Bojin, Scott Shaw, Queena Lin, Ariel Aloe, Carrie Figdor, David Drake, Fatima Toor, Seth King, Allison Chi, Joshua Carrizales, 

Members Absent: Abbie Townsend, Yasar Onel, Matt Suiter, Natalie Denburg, Anthony Panos, Kailey Cash, Paul Dilley, Shelton Stromquist, Rebecca Taugher-Hebl, Laura Dean,

Others in Attendance: Bob Kirby, Mike Weaver, Lauren Galliart, Marty Scholtz, Karen Shemanski

Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm.
• Minutes approved from 4/16/24 unanimously 

Item 1: VPR Search Firm (Karen Shemanski)

Item 2: OVPR Updates (Scholtz)

• Faculty, Staff, and Discovery and Innovation awards
  • Feedback from President’s office was positive, already have scheduled next year’s awards
  • Faculty and Staff are encouraged to nominate colleagues for next year
• International Travel
  • Register your trips for international insurance coverage
• AHI Winners
  • Six faculty led projects for the spring
  • Applications have been increasing in number and quality each year

Item 3: Benchmarking and Conversation Groups (Aloe, Toor)

• Benchmarking Group (Aloe)
  • The group needs to decide which data needs further context in pre and post awards
  • Discussions will happen in the fall
  • More intentional conversations with smaller number of different offices and websites
  • Council may be asked to help decide which people to meet with
  • Draft of the report will go out later in the week
• Conversations Group (Toor)
  • Email will be sent to original group of Qualtrics survey takers asking for participation
  • Research Council will not be meeting during the summer, but interviews with survey takers will begin in the summer

Meeting dismissed 4:12pm

Research Council Meeting

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Members Present: Shelton Stromquist, Carrie Figdor, Fatima Toor, Cody Poe, Allison Chi, Seth King, Rebecca Taugher-Hebl, Queena Lin, Ariel Aloe, Joshua Carrizales, Laura Dean, Scott Shaw

Members Absent: Abbie Townsend, Mihaela Bojin, David Drake, Yasar Onel, Matt Suiter, Natalie Denburg, Anthony Panos, Kailey Cash, Paul Dilley

Others in Attendance: Bob Kirby, Mike Weaver, Lauren Galliart, Chris Petkov

Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order at 3:37 pm.
• Minutes approved from 3/20/24 unanimously 

Item 1: OVPR Updates (Weaver)

• Announcement of Luis Martín-Estudillo as new Director of the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies
• April 30^th- Presidential Institutional Award Ceremony combines several existing awards events and will be held from 4:30-7 PM at Hancher Auditorium
• Spring Undergraduate Research Festival- most presenters ever had, over 150 students, added an exhibition hall for presenters that don’t fit as traditional poster presentations, good faculty/staff/public attendees 
• 16^th annual Research in the Capitol was held on Monday, April 8^th, students present research from UNI, ISU and Iowa to legislators and why their work is important, 27 students (most ever), included team science for the first time
• OUR search- 29 applicants, 8 preliminary interviews, mid-to-late May will be campus visits 
• Chronicle article- UC San Diego: NIH, ONR, and Army withholding grants because a PI did not provide closeout reports before they retired. Mike spoke with Jen Lassner and PIs at Iowa receive notices from DSP/GAO once they are delinquent
• VPR search- being run out of the president’s office and HR, new hire expected by October, search firm will meet with Research Council in May

Item 2: Chris Petkov, Vice Chair for Research- Neurosurgery

• Collaboration with Newcastle and Iowa for 10 years
• Supports- grants for Newcastle, grants for Iowa, grants for the infrastructure that connects the two
• New funding- NIH UK equivalent, NSF UK grant
• Iowa has a powerful brain scanner, one of only 70 in world
• Carver trust- Newcastle has lost their institute of neuroscience, Ted Abel pushing brain sci funding, administrative support for these initiatives led to funding, exploring non-traditional funding venues
• Lab focus on language and memory- able to visualize impact of deep brain stimulation on epilepsy patients, kept electrodes in place for pre and post-surgery to display results on gene expression, deliver 100 reproductive experiments to become satisfactory, 
• What are things we are doing well or we could do more of? Iowa invested in tech and building up infrastructure, hard to recruit to Iowa but once people visit it’s a good place to stay, IRB not as bureaucratic as UK, getting people on site is crucial to recruiting here

Item 3: Group Findings (Toor)

• See slides
• Benchmark Group- Results? Two routes- talk to more people and interviews or just share list of websites and their info. What is it we are trying to figure out from the websites? Colleges vs department websites 
  • Communications Group- discuss further next meeting
  • Next time- discuss excel benchmarking document at next meeting

Item 4: Software Licensing (Shaw)

• Tabled for next meeting

Meeting dismissed 5:12pm

Research Council Meeting

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Members Present: Shelton Stromquist, Carrie Figdor, Mihaela Bojin, Fatima Toor, Cody Poe, Nai-Ching Chi, Abbie Townsend, Seth King, Rebecca Taugher-Hebl, Matt Suiter, Natalie Denburg, Anthony Panos, Kailey Cash, Paul Dilley, Queena Lin, 

Members Absent: Ariel Aloe, David Drake, Scott Shaw, Joshua Carrizales, Yasar Onel,

Others in Attendance: Marty Scholtz, Bob Kirby, Mike Weaver, Lauren Galliart, Thomas Folland

Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order at 9:37 am.
• Minutes approved from 1/11/24 unanimously 

Item 1: Strategic Vision Building for the UI MATFab User Facility (Folland)

• Current process of getting new equipment 
  • Equipment acquisition is typically made by one faculty member. 
  • Core facilities are driven by current users, not necessarily by potential users.
  • If a potential user doesn’t currently have a resource, it’s hard to gather support as to why they should have it. 
• MatFAB can help connect faculty for what instruments they would like and what upgrades are needed.
  • Core facilities are not going to be federally funded so you need to have a unified approach. 
• Need another committee or group to drive core needs and research support at UI.
• Create a core facility user group that serves the university on a more formal basis.
  • User group can work with Research Development Office to identify current and potential faculty members who would like to use MATFab and drive the procurement of new instrumentation.
  • Would foster interdisciplinary use.
  • Prototype group/committee focused on MATFab but the model can expand to other areas. 
  • Going to speak to different colleges and their Associate Deans for Research to assess the broader pool of potential users. 
• Externally focused steering committee. 
  • Broader than a typical steering committee. 
  • Models for how other universities have solved this problem? Yes, other R1 schools, NSE departments that run these core facilities. Kansas, Indiana, Vanderbilt are examples. 
  • Other core facilities that we have that might fall under this model? Still investigating. Need to determine how broad we want to make it. 
  • Surveying post docs or grad students 
    • Start with Tori Forbes, MATFab Director; she knows what current post docs and grads are checking out the equipment. 
    • Qualtrics surveys have been useful in determining who to reach out to. 
    • Plan to reach out with ADRs to discuss which people to reach out to such as DEOs.

Item 2: OVPR Updates (Scholtz)

• Upcoming events
  • Prairie Lights Book Matters- faculty authors.
  • Spring SURF
    • Format has changed to having three sessions, one being an exhibition hall.
  • Research and Discovery Awards
    • April 30^th
    • Student event honoring banner recipients at the Englert was successful.
• Federal government shutdown
  • Avoided temporarily
  • NSF received a significant decrease in their budge for current year
  • DOE got a small increase
  • NASA/NIST/NOAH cut funding
  • NEH budget wasn’t cut
  • Current congress attitude is that research is “nice to have” instead of a “must have”.
  • State level higher-ed is still fairing well
    • Approach of earmarking funding for specific projects instead of general funding seems to be more effective.

Item 3: Subcommittee Updates (Galliart, Toor)

• Slides Attached
• Emeritus faculty that provided email addresses will be sent original Qualtrics Research Survey.
• Addressing needs of Emeriti faculty worth discussing and addressing in an institutional way.
• Purpose of Benchmarking group is not to criticize websites, but to assess how different websites aid researchers.

Meeting dismissed 10:55am

Research Council Meeting

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Members Present: Ariel Aloe, Cody Poe, Mihaela Bojin, Seth King, Fatima Toor, Shelton Stromquist, Carrie Figdor, Yasar Onel, Laua Dean, Rebecca Taugher-Hebl, Anthony Panos, Scott Shaw, Joshua Carrizales

Members Absent: Natalie Denburg, Kailey Cash, Paul Dilley, Queena Lin, David Drake, Abbie Townsend, 

Others in Attendance: Marty Scholtz, Bob Kirby, Mike Weaver, Lauren Galliart

Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order at 2:32pm
• Minutes approved from 12/14/23 unanimously 
• Cody Poe was introduced as a new council member, taking over the remainder of Matt Suiter’s term

Item 1: OVPR Updates (Marty Scholtz)

• Banners celebrating researchers and scholars are up on the pedestrian mall and around downtown Iowa City
  • Each banner also has a webpage sharing the honoree’s bio
• There will be an event at the Englert on February 28^th recognizing the banner honorees and the Discovery and Innovation award winners in the undergrad, graduate, and post-doctoral students
• Government shutdown concerns
  • If there is a shutdown, our federal partners are able to receive proposals, can lead to challenges drawing down money
  • We are monitoring the situation and let the council know more as the situation changes

Item 2: Research Chair Quarterly Update (Fatima Toor)

• Slides attached

Item 3: Subcommittee Breakouts

• Benchmarking and Interview committees had 30 minutes to discuss updates and next steps

Item 4: Subcommittee Updates (Lauren Galliart)

• Interview Committee
  • We will send out an email reminding DEOs to share their recommended staff with us
  • Finish data collection in mid-February
    • Group would like to see the data as it rolls in
  • Meet for interviews in March
    • Meet in groups of 4 or 5, 20 interviews total
  • Compile and discuss results April/May
• Benchmarking Committee
  • January 19^th deadline to look at assigned websites
  • We need to contact website owners to let them know what we are pulling from and looking at on their sites

Meeting adjourned at 10:40 AM

Research Council Meeting

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Members Present: David Drake, Shelton Stromquist, Carrie Figdor, Abbie Townsend, Seth King, Yasar Onel, Rebecca Taugher-Hebl, Fatima Toor, Mihaela Bojin, Joshua Carrizales, Matt Suiter

Members Absent: Ariel Aloe, Natalie Denburg, Anthony Panos, Kailey Cash, Paul Dilley, Queena Lin, Scott Shaw

Others in Attendance: Marty Scholtz, Bob Kirby, Mike Weaver, Lauren Galliart, Erica Holm-Brown, Teresa Marshall, Rodica Curtu

Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order at 9:05 am.
• Minutes approved from 11/21/23 unanimously with one edit. Matt Suiter was incorrectly counted as absent. The posted minutes reflect this correction.

Item 1: Faculty Senate Review (Teresa Marshall, Rodica Curtu)

• Faculty Senate is currently reviewing the VPR Org and committee members met with the Research Council. OVPR representatives were not present.

Item 2: Staff Council, Committee on Committees (Erica Holm-Brown)

• Research Council inquired as to whether the applications could be reviewed prior to Staff Council making their selection(s).
  • Applications are reviewed anonymously to eliminate bias.
• Charter Committee Staff are different from faculty in terms of how representatives are elected and whom they represent.
  • Considerations include college representation versus job family.
• There are two different types of elections for Staff Council Representatives.
  • Org Reps (Colleges, central administrative units, etc.) versus job function representatives (administrative services, research services, etc.).
• Toor suggested less opaqueness on the candidates applying for research council.
• Carrizales asked if the Research Council could suggest applicant qualities that they value highly to the Committee.
  • Yes, feedback suggestions are accepted.
• Research Council candidates will be reviewed by the Staff Council Committee on Committees in March of 2024.

Item 3: Subcommittee Updates (Galliart)

• Emails were sent to DEOs requesting faculty names to respond to the survey.
• Toor suggested that we send out the Qualtrics survey as the DEOs continue to respond.
• Benchmarking committee has been assigned websites to review.

Meeting adjourned at 10:40 AM

Research Council Meeting

Tuesday, November 11, 2023

Members Present: Carrie Figdor, Fatima Toor, Seth King, Ariel Aloe, Laura Dean, Shelton Stromquist, Scott Shaw, Yasar Onel, Abigail Townsend, Rebecca Taugher-Hebl, Matt Suiter

Members Absent: Natalie Denburg, Anthony Panos, Joshua Carrizales, Mihaela Bojin, Kailey Cash, Paul Dilley, David Drake, Queena Lin

Others in Attendance: Marty Scholtz, Bob Kirby, Mike Weaver, Lauren Galliart, Sara Schieb

Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order at 9:05 am.
• Minutes approved from 10/24/23 unanimously without edits.

Item 1: Library Resources (Sara Schieb)

• Researcher Profiles (Iowa Research Online)
  • Important for tracking research and scholarship
  • You can direct colleagues/students/publishers to your work
  • Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)
    • A unique identifying number for researchers
    • Federal agencies often require an ORCID
    • Can assign a designee to update items on your behalf
  • Claim your Google Scholar profile since it exists regardless of whether or not you have claimed it
• Bibliometrics and Altmetrics
  • Track citations and impact
  • Are books included or strictly articles? Based on Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)
  • DOIs are the persistent identifier for articles and similar items
  • Does it track non-printed items? Yes, but it is a bit more challenging
• American Chemical Society (ACS) is the only capped agreement
• National Institutes of Health (NSH)- As open as possible, as closed as necessary
• The Conversation- open to all faculty at UI. OVPR can help connect those who would like to write for it.

Item 2: Updates from OVPR (Scholtz)

• Engaging funding agencies- want to target places we’ve had less success with in the past
  • Examples- NASA program manager on Earth observation, College of Engineering hosted the National Science Foundation (NSF) deputy director, Dentistry is hosting the deputy director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
  • If we can get them to campus, it generally increases the opportunities for researchers at Iowa
  • Future visits- strategizing how to engage the Department of Defense, especially in the medical field
  • Working on a list of 10 foundations to reach out to
    • The best way to get foundations to visit is through a relationship or connection to someone on campus
    • Shaw- Can we have access to the foundation list? Scholtz- Yes, still refining the list
    • OVPR will reach out to ADRs in December and they can notify faculty for feedback

Item 3: Subcommittees (Galliart)

• Next meetings
  • Before the December Research Council meeting, so as not to lose momentum
• Polls
  • Benchmarking- poll to subcommittee for heading categories (what info the sites provide)
  • Interviews- continue to work on and refine poll questions
    • Mike and Lauren work on language for email to DEO
    • Create an announcement to inform DEOs about the initiative before we send the emails

Item 4: Upcoming Meetings (Weaver)

• Faculty Senate Review Committee will be attending the next meeting
  • Lauren will clarify if they wish to observe or present

Meeting adjourned at 10:30 AM

Research Council Meeting

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Members Present: Carrie Figdor, Fatima Toor, Seth King, Mihaela Bojin, Ariel Aloe, Matt Suiter, Laura Dean, Joshua Carrizales, Rebecca Taugher-Hebl, Shelton Stromquist, Queena Lin, Paul Dilley, David Drake, Scott Shaw, Yasar Onel

Members Absent: Natalie Denburg, Anthony Panos, Abigail Townsend

Others in Attendance: Marty Scholtz, Bob Kirby, Mike Weaver

Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order at 9:04 am.
• Minutes approved from 9/26/23 unanimously without edits.

Item 1: Updates from OVPR (Scholtz)

• VP Scholtz thanked the Council members for their attendance at the Research Security meeting on October 5, 2023.
  • UI slides were sent out via email to attendees.
  • Additional questions can be directed to Mike Andrews.
  • Updates will be provided as federal guidelines are rolled out.
• Book Matters events
  • Previous event was October 26th at the Stanley Art Museum.
  • Topic was community engaged work.
  • There will be approximately three per semester.

Item 2: Subcommittee OneDrive Documents (Toor)

• Toor would like everyone to be able to contribute to each subcommittee regardless of whether they are members.
• Toor provided notes on the benchmarking support based on her conversations.

Item 3: Subcommittee Breakouts

• Collegiate Research Support Benchmarking Committee
  • Committee members- Bob Kirby, Mihaela Bojin, Carrie Figdor, David Drake, Ariel Aloe, Seth King.
  • Toor added notes to the summary document.
  • Collegiate Associate Deans for Research are a good starting point to find college-based resources.
  • Subcommittee will compile an inventory of resources.
  • Check on what OVPR already has in regards to benchmarking of college-based resources.
• Outreach to Campus Investigators Committee
  • Committee members- Matt Suiter, Scott Shaw, Fatima Toor, Anthony Panos, Laura Dean, Queena Lin, Paul Dilley, Shelton Stromquist
  • Plan to design a survey for outreach.

Item 4: Upcoming Meetings (Weaver)

• Agenda Items
• Guest Presenters

Meeting adjourned at 10:33 AM

Research Council Meeting

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Members Present: Yasar Onel, Constance Berman, Laura Dean, Natalie Denburg, Queena Lin, David Drake, Joshua Carrizales, Ariel Aloe, Matt Suiter, Mihaela Bojin, Scott Shaw, Rebecca Taugher-Hebl, Carrie Figdor

Members Absent: Fatima Toor, Anthony Panos, Seth King

Others in Attendance: Marty Scholtz, Bob Kirby, Lauren Galliart, and Michael Weaver

Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order at 3:32 PM.
• Ariel Aloe (Vice Chair) welcomed the council and led introductions.
• Mike Weaver reviewed the Operations Manual charge.

Item 1:  Updates from OVPR (Scholtz)

• Research security meeting with the associate deans on October 5^th, 2023.
  •  International research engagement and research security.
    •  Will discuss issues affecting working with international students and colleagues.
    • Federal mandates require a program to be in place to educate the community on issues of international research security.
    • Mike Andrews will lead.
  • FBI agent will be attending to present.
  • Leadership from international studies will also be there.
  • At the Pappajohn Business Building, council members have until Friday to turn in Qualtrics responses.
• High potential for a government shutdown, not a lot of guidance from federal partners yet.
  • Program officers and staff would not be available during a shutdown.
  • NIH deadline on October 6^th. UI will still submit proposals on time. If you need to talk to someone, you have until Friday assuming a shutdown occurs.
  • Webpage will be updated if changes are needed. Business as usual, staying up to date on things until things change.

Item 2:  Publication Waiver Subcommittee (Weaver)

• Members David Drake, Mihaela Bojin, Paul Dilley, and Rebecca Taugher-Hebl trained this past spring on duties.
•  No additional training needed at this time.
• Current members will remain on subcommittee.

Item 3: Topics for 2023-24 Council Year (Aloe, Weaver)

Research Support in Colleges

• What type of support is needed and what they can expect from collegiate and institutional research offices?
  • What level of support is offered at each college? What colleges provide admin support for grant recipients and how does this differ across colleges.
  • ADRs discuss collegiate support and best practices frequently. ADR group is very collaborative and good at facilitating these convos around campus.
  • Pre award support seems to vary the most at the college-level.
  • What is the policy about continuing support after someone retires?
• We will call for volunteers to look at the websites and do some institutional benchmarking.

Research Space/Facilities

• What are the responsibilities of FM when it comes to research space?
  • Space is limited on campus and there are several groups working together on these issues.
  • First step may be to bring in Design and Construction and Facilities Management teams to understand how their process works.

Outreach to Leading Researchers

• Get perspectives from UI researchers. What’s working/not working.
• Small groups of research council members could participate in some informal outreach to researchers in their respective colleges.
  • Could include speaking with early-career, mid-career, and tenured faculty.
  • Start thinking about who people might want to talk to and general questions to lead discussions.

Presentations from OVPR Units

• OVPR unit presentations
  • Associate Vice Presidents for Research – their current projects.
  • Leslie and Kristy P3 work, conversations for the public good. General communication training.

Meeting adjourned at 4:35 PM

Research Council Meeting

Monday, May 15, 2023

Members Present: Joshua Carrizales, Kailey Cash, Rebecca Taugher-Hebl, Queena Lin, Fatima Toor, Mihaela Bojin, Yasar Onel, Anthony Panos, Ariel Aloe, Sai Kumar Ramadugu, Jason Rantanen

Members Absent: Natalie Denburg, Anny Curtius, Jenna Yang, Paul Dilley, David Drake, Constance Berman

Others in Attendance: Michael Weaver, Jennifer Lassner, Aliasger Salem, Jennifer Nahrgang, Kristy Nabhan-Warren, Mike Andrews, Josh Weiner, Marty Scholtz

Call to Order

• Meeting was called to order at 3:32 PM
• Minutes from the April 17^th meeting were accepted with no edits

Item 1: Revisions to Operations Manual Chapter 27.2 Principles Governing Access to Research Information (Scholtz)

• Vice President Scholtz reviewed the history of 27.2
• The University of Iowa needs to update the chapter’s outdated terminology to meet funding agency demands on dissemination of research information
• Updates will allow for UI to take on restricted research grants and contracts
• Focus of the revisions is on maintaining protections for students working toward their degrees, early career faculty, and research staff.
• Research Council suggestions have been incorporated into the policy revisions

Item 2: Research Security Program (Andrews)

• Mike Andrews discussed developing research program requirements as they pertain to foreign influence. Requirements are still being rolled out by it will apply to all federally funded research
• Requirements are centered around foreign travel, cyber security, export control, and research security training

• The Global Research Engagement Advisory Team (GREAT) has been working on these issues since November of 2021
  • Members are broadly representative of the University
  • The committee is focused on working to help develop Research Security policy and training programs
  • Travel policy is already in effect
  • Policies will likely be under the operations manual within Chapter 27.2

Item 3: Roundtable & Summer Meetings

• Fatima requested that we plan meetings for July and August

Meeting adjourned at 4:56pm

Research Council Meeting

Monday, April 17, 2023

Members Present: Paul Dilley, David Drake, Joshua Carrizales, Kailey Cash, Rebecca Taugher-Hebl, Queena Lin, Constance Berman, Fatima Toor, Mihaela Bojin, Yasar Onel, Anthony Panos, Ariel Aloe 

Members Absent: Natalie Denburg, Sai Kumar Ramadugu, Anny Curtius, Jason Rantanen, Jenna Yang

Others in Attendance: J. Martin Scholtz, Michael Weaver, Jennifer Lassner, Aliasger Salem, Marie Kerbeshian, Nai-Ching Chi, Sara Scheib, Jennifer Nahrgang

Call to Order

• Meeting was called to order at 3:32 PM
• Minutes from the March 23, 2023 meeting were accepted with no edits
• Sara Scheib was introduced as an ad hoc attendee representing UI Libraries

Item 1: Research Policies (Scholtz & Lassner)

• Vice President Scholtz discussed the policies provided to Research Council including the draft Research Data Policy and the draft Security in Research Policy.
• These were created in response to new policy mandates from the federal government. OVPR continues to receive guidance and will need to put these policies in place soon.
• Mike Andrews, Director of the Research Integrity Office, will attend the May Research Council meeting to discuss these mandates.
• Andrews leads a group of campus representatives working on crafting related policies.
• Research Data Policy group has been around since 2017.
• DSP has had a policy on its website for some time, which is referenced for data use agreements.
• Onel discussed international groups and whether their data can be shared if other nations aren’t willing to sign on.
• Toor discussed controls on work on semiconductors. Questions around what changes will look like practically; lots of communication and education, updates to travel regulations, etc.
• Third document (27.2) covers “secret research”
• Revisions to the policy address archaic language that doesn’t track with current activities or definitions.
• Chapter 27.2 continues to be revised. Another version of the document should be available by the end of the week. OVPR will share and it can be discussed at the May meeting.

Item 3: UIRF: Helping to Amplify the Impact of Research at UI (Kerbeshian)

• Takeaway points:
  • Call early, call often.
  • UIRF respects investigator priorities.
  • Think broadly about intellectual property.
  • Look at available educational information.

Item 4: Research Website (Weaver)

• Michael Weaver showed the updated Research Council Website (https://research.uiowa.edu/ui-research-council)

Meeting adjourned at 4:56

Research Council Meeting

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Members Present: Ariel Aloe, Mihaela Bojin, Fatima Toor, Joshua Carrizales, Anthony Panos, Yasar Onel, David Drake, Jason Rantanen, Kailey Cash, Paul Dilley, Queena Lin, Rebecca Taugher-Hebl, Sai Kumar Ramadugu

Members Absent: Anny Curtius, Amanda Haes, Natalie Denberg, Constance Berman, Jenna Yang

Others in Attendance: Jen Lassner, Marty Scholtz, Aaron Kline, Mike Weaver, Lauren Galliart, Bob Kirby, Jennifer Nahrgang, Lewis Stevens, Nai-Ching Chi, Kristy Nabhan-Warren, Ali Salem

Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order at 3:33 PM
• Fatima Toor (Chair) welcomed the council and called for approval of February 2023 minutes. She also introduced new observers, Allison Chi (nursing), Lewis Stevens (pharmacy), and Jennifer Nahrgang (Tippie), to the Research Council
• Toor requested minutes going forward be made into bulleted lists

Item 1: Guest Speaker, RDO Works (Aaron Kline)

• Kline presented an overview of the Research Development Office. Topics covered include: What is the RDO?, Collaboration & Interdisciplinary Research, Networking Surveys, Grant Writing, NSF CAREER Club, Research Development Network, New Faculty Meetings, Research Services Fair, RDO Resource Library, Pivot, External Grant Review of Proposals, Broader Impacts/ Research Impacts Seminar, Jumpstarting Tomorrow, Seeding Excellence, AHI, Limited Submissions, RDO Monthly Newsletter, and Presentation Recordings

Item 2: Previous Meeting Topics (Toor)

• New observers- Chi, Stevens, Nahrgang
• Research Council Presence

Item 3: Council Subcommittees (Weaver)

• Survey responses
  • Blank names
• Publication waiver volunteers- Dilley, Bojin, Taugher-Hebl, Drake
• Website volunteers- Aloe, Toor, Carrizales
• Mike will follow up with the volunteer that wasn’t identified

Item 4: Website Design (Carrizales)

• Main questions - How do we want to engage? What do we need out of the website? How to we highlight the Research Council charge?
• Add council member pictures to website
• List upcoming meetings on the page
• Discussion on where the site should live. Nesting it within the OVPR page?
• Add a carousel of photos to the main page of the Research Council members at work
• Create a form where people can send questions to a VPR representative

Meeting adjourned at 5:02 pm

Research Council Meeting

Friday, February 17, 2023

Members Present: Yasar Onel, Fatima Toor, Queena Lin, Jason Rantanen, Joshua Carrizales, Mihaela Bojin

Members Absent: Sai Kumar Ramadugu, Anny Curtius, Amanda Haes, Ariel Aloe, Paul Dilley, Jenna Yang, Rebecca Taugher, David Drake, Kailey Cash, Natalie Denburg, Anthony Panos, Connie Berman

Others in Attendance: Ali Salem, Marty Scholtz, Lauren Galliart, Kristy Nabhan-Warren, Kelly O’Berry

Call to Order

• Meeting was called to order at 3:31 P
• Minutes from the January 11^th, 2023 meeting were accepted with no edits. Toor motioned to accept the minutes, Carrizales seconded, approved unanimously by the council.

Item 1: HSO and IRB updates and policies (O’Berry)

• O’Berry presentation (slides attached)
• Toor expressed positive feedback in regards to the IRB. Rantanen asked about examples of requests. O’Berry said it was not possible, as they have confidential information and documents all vary. O’Berry stated PI training only for grad and undergrad training as of 2021. HSO speaking with faculty now to inform on new IRB processes and resources. Schultz declared his hope that faculty can be led to a local resource to make things more accessible. O’Berry said that IRB liaison program allows departments to select a person for training to become a liaison for this program and their department. Rantanen stated rare IRBs can be expensive, disincentives IRB research, seems geared more towards repeat users especially in medical field. IRB2 less efficient. Salem used the training course to negate new costs and found it very helpful. Training applicable IRB1 or 2. O’Berry asked for promotion of new users for new HawkeyeIRB users. HSO open to suggestions for improvements. Are the emails listed on the site active? Too much info on the website? Board members asked for a more user-friendly dashboard.

Audio crashed at 4:25pm

Item 2: Research Council Chair Updates (Toor, powerpoint slides attached)

• Newsletter articles- 172 views for the first disbursement.
• Website update- Josh is updating the site. He met with Modei and Leslie. He wants to focus on making the website accessible to users and people with disabilities, and to have a clear pipeline as to how to update the website. He needs specifics as to what we would like to add to the website. The website will be nested within the OVPR site. Josh will present further at the next meeting. He would like a subcommittee for publication restrictions or embargos and one for selecting website content.
• Since O’Berry stayed later than anticipated the remaining items on the agenda will be moved to the next meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 4:55 pm

Research Council Meeting

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Members Present: : Fatima Toor, Queena Lin, Jason Rantanen, Joshua Carrizales, Natalie Denburg, Anthony Panos, Connie Berman, Mihaela Bojin, Rebecca Taugher, David Drake, Kailey Cash

Members Absent: Sai Kumar Ramadugu, Anny Curtius, Amanda Haes, Ariel Aloe, Paul Dilley, Jenna Yang, Yasar Onel

Others in Attendance: Ali Salem, Mike Weaver

Call to Order

• Meeting was called to order at 3:33 PM
• Minutes from the December 13^th, 2022 meeting were accepted with no edits. Rantanen motioned to accept the minutes, Panos seconded, approved unanimously by the council.

Item 1: Research Council Website/Newsletter Updates (Toor)

• Toor reviewed Section 3 of the Research Council Charge (“Advise in developing methods for informing University members about research opportunities and for stimulating, evaluating and rewarding good research”). Toor would like the council to take a more active role in this by better utilizing the Research Council website. Toor provided the recent example of adding postdocs to the VPR newsletter mailing list as the council identifying an opportunity and advising on a solution. Research Council could be effective in helping in the ongoing development of the OVPR communication plan. Toor intends to write an introduction article for the OVPR newsletter that would include information on the broader funding landscape, Research Council activities, and requesting that researchers engage with the council on any existing issues.
• The council discussed having guests from across the research enterprise come to future meetings to hear about what is going on. Several units were highlighted in the discussion and the council plans to invite unit directors and administrators from the Federal Relations Office, Human Subjects Office, Conflict of Interest Office, Research Development Office, Division of Sponsored Programs, University of Iowa Research Foundation, Research Integrity Office, and other compliance units.

Item 2: Research Council Membership Discussion (Toor)

• Toor presented data on representation across colleges and organizations from the last ten years of Research Council membership discussing which colleges are over and underrepresented. Discussion centered on how members represent the research enterprise, either representing their college or unit versus representing broader research interests. It would make the council more difficult to convene if it was expanded to have perpetual representation from all colleges. It was suggested that the council review the data and request membership in the future from colleges that have traditionally been underrepresented. The council could then ensure that representation rotates to all colleges and organizations while maintaining its smaller and more nimble size.

Item 3: Institutional Strengths and Emerging Areas of Opportunity Metrics (Weaver)

• Weaver requested that the council continue to review the document distributed last month and provide any feedback by the end of January. The council can have a full discussion on the document at the February meeting.

Item 4: Research Council Website/Newsletter updates (Toor)

• • The current Research Council website is on the old Drupal infrastructure. Low traffic to the site places us lower on the priority list for updating by the OVPR communications team. The website will be updated, but the council should focus on what they would like the website to say, and the content they would like to feature. Toor showed examples of other websites that she feels are more interactive and effective. The council would like volunteers to help with content development. Carrizales volunteered as he has previous experience with websites.
  • The Research Council will be included in the Research newsletter, potentially more often around upcoming events or deadlines, but content will drive the frequency.

Item 5: Planned meetings with ADRs of 10 UI Colleges, UIRF, and Libraries admin (Toor)

• Toor discussed her plan to meet with each Associate Dean for Research to discuss how the Research Council can better engage with and serve the colleges. Questions include, what are your pain points and what can the council do to help? What does the ADR consider their role to be and what do they see as the role of the council.

Meeting adjourned at 5:02 pm

Research Council Meeting

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Members Present: Fatima Toor, Yasar Onel, Queena Lin, Jason Rantanen, Joshua Carrizales, Natalie Denburg, Anthony Panos, Connie Berman, Mihaela Bojin, Rebecca Taugher

Members Absent: Sai Kumar Ramadugu, Anny Curtius, David Drake, Amanda Haes, Ariel Aloe, Paul Dilley, Kailey Cash, Jenna Yang,

Others in Attendance: Ali Salem, Kristy Nabhan-Warren, Teresa Mangum, Mike Weaver, Lauren Galliart

Call to Order

• • Meeting was called to order at 3:41 PM
  • Minutes from the November 17, 2022 meeting were accepted with no edits

Item 1: Intro of New Council Member (Toor)

• Fatima Toor introduced Joshua Carrizales to the council, who has been approved by the Graduate and Professional Student Government to fill the open position on the council. He is from the department of biomedical engineering and is a second year PhD student. He wants to help bridge the gap between grad students, faculty, and staff.

Item 2: OVPR Updates (Salem, Nabhan-Warren)

• Ali Salem updated the council on ongoing discussions with the Associate Deans for Research regarding institutional areas of strength and emerging areas of opportunity. ADRs were given draft metrics from the Strategic Plan Action and Resource Committee assigned to this topic and asked to provide edits for how to better tailor them to their disciplines. ADRs were encouraged to work with others in their college on this process and will be asked to use the metrics to identify several strengths in their colleges over the next few weeks. Kristy Nabhan-Warren is ensuring that Arts and Humanities metrics are included and that nuances for this type of scholarship are considered.
• The Council discussed the process and expressed concern about a lack of transparency regarding who is involved in the process. No council members had been contacted by an Associate Dean and were essentially unaware of the project. The main concern is that the process is not receiving ground-up feedback from faculty and that the process is heavily influenced by the strategic vision from administration. The draft metrics will be shared with the Research Council for feedback following the meeting. This will be the primary topic of discussion at the January Research Council meeting.
• Salem suggested that it would be valuable for the Research Council to look at specific policy issues, i.e. research track faculty/staff classifications in colleges. Toor will work with Yasar Onel to put together a proposal regarding research track faculty.
• Mike Weaver summarized recent announcements regarding the Discovery and Innovation awards. The nomination period has been announced via campus-wide email. Nominations are due Tuesday, February 7^th of 2023. Any questions can be directed to Leslie Revaux.

Item 3: Obermann Center Presentation (Mangum)

• See attached Power Point slides

Item 4: Research Council Website/Newsletter updates (Toor)

• • The current Research Council website is on the old Drupal infrastructure. Low traffic to the site places us lower on the priority list for updating by the OVPR communications team. The website will be updated, but the council should focus on what they would like the website to say, and the content they would like to feature. Toor showed examples of other websites that she feels are more interactive and effective. The council would like volunteers to help with content development. Carrizales volunteered as he has previous experience with websites.
  • The Research Council will be included in the Research newsletter, potentially more often around upcoming events or deadlines, but content will drive the frequency.

Item 5: Research Council Membership (Toor)

• Fatima will share the data representation at a later date.

Meeting adjourned at 5:08pm

Research Council Meeting

Thursday, November 17, 2022

Members Present: Fatima Toor, Mihaela Bojin, Kailey Cash, Yasar Onel, Paul Dilley, Jason Rantanen, Sai Kumar Ramadugu, David Drake, Anthony Panos, Natalie Denburg

Members Absent: Ariel Aloe, Anny-Dominique Curtius, Amanda Haes, Constance Berman, Jenna Yang, Rebecca Taugher, Queena Lin

Others in Attendance: Marty Scholtz, Jennifer Lassner, Mike Weaver, Lauren Galliart, Leslie Revaux, Aaron Kline

Call to Order

•  
  • Meeting was called to order at 3:34 PM
  • Minutes from the October 24, 2022 meeting were accepted with no edits

Item 1: Survey Results (Toor)

• See Included Power Point slides

Item 2: Faculty Senate Feedback (Toor)

• Toor discussed the council charge in conjunction with her meeting with the Faculty Senate. Several colleges are not currently represented (Public Health, Nursing, Business, Pharmacy, Grad College). The council discussed increasing Research Council membership so that each college would be represented as well as what the process would be to incorporate this change into the charter. This could increase the council’s visibility on campus. Toor suggested sending a survey to council to gather feedback on the optimal size and makeup of the council. It was suggested that the council could work with shared governance and collegiate leadership to potentially recruit representatives from colleges lacking a formal representative to council meetings in the near-term while they explore officially expanding the council in its charter.
• The council discussed putting together a quarterly spotlight in the OVPR newsletter as well as refreshing the Research Council website.
• The council heard from OVPR on current efforts regarding strategic planning and will refrain from further discussions as the Strategic Plan Action and Resource Committee and Associate Deans for Research do their work.

Item 3: OVPR Updates

• P3 Updates (Scholtz) 
  • Marty updated the committee on the P3 funding initiative. The FY24 call for preliminary proposals received 33 responses totaling $62 million in funding requests. The proposals will be reviewed and applicants will be notified by December 8th whether or not they have been selected to submit a full proposal. Full proposals will be due in March 2023.
  • The Faculty Senate will be conducting a periodic review of the Office of the Vice President for Research. Teresa Marshall will lead the review. Phase 1 is a self-study and Faculty Senate will formalize a committee to conduct the review in spring of 2023. It is expected that Research Council have an opportunity to be involved in the review process.
  • There is an ongoing need to bolster seed funding for early career researchers. P3 has provided some opportunities, but we need to reinvigorate these programs with permanent funds.
• Book Matters (Revaux) – This series will celebrate books by Iowa scholars across all disciplines (https://research.uiowa.edu/book-matters). Victor Ray will present a reading and reception in celebration of his new book, On Critical Race Theory, at Prairie Lights on Tuesday, November 29th from 7-8:30 PM.
  • Scholars in Conversation event will be held at the Stanley Museum in February.
  • Book Celebration at the Old Capitol Museum on March 31, 2023 will celebrate all UI Faculty scholarship who published books in the last year. OVPR doesn’t currently have a comprehensive list of books published by UI faculty and has reached out to Associate Deans to help identify faculty. Walton indicated that the libraries is setting up a system to capture these publications. Right now, the criteria include single authors, co-authors, and editors and co-editors of major textbooks. We are not including book chapters at this time.       
• RDO Updates (Kline)     
  •  The Research Services Fair was held at Hancher on October 20th. There were lots of presenters and attendees and many good connections were made.
  • SEI RFPs for supplements (grad student focused) and Team awards (team of researchers and team of undergraduates) are both live and applications are due mid spring.
  • Community engaged scholars RFP will go live in the next few weeks. $50,000 is available for working with partners around the state of Iowa. These applications will be due mid spring.
  • NSF CAREER Club will be starting again: https://research.uiowa.edu/nsf-career-club. Lots of resources are available to faculty who go through the program.
  • The federal NSF budget is on the verge of a large increase. UI needs to be ready to tap into new money, CAREER awards are a great opportunity to get your foot in the door for this funding. The money will go to bolster existing programs and to new and emerging areas of emphasis.

Item 4: Future Engagement with ADRs

•  
  • Toor will plan to join an Associate Deans for Research meeting in early 2023 to discuss how Research Council can best engage.

Meeting adjourned at 4:59

Research Council Meeting

Monday, October 24, 2022

Members Present: Fatima Toor, Yasar Onel, Ariel Aloe, Lin, Anny Curtius, Constance Berman, Paul Dilley, Kailey Cash, Rebecca Taugher, Jenna Yang, Bojin, Amanda Haes, Anthony Panos, Jason Rantanen

Members Absent: David Drake, Natalie Denburg, Grad Student (no replacement named), Sai Kumar Ramadugu

Others in Attendance: Marty Scholtz, Lauren Galliart, Mike Weaver, Kristy Nabhan-Warren, Bob Kirby, Jen Lassner, Ali Salem

Call to Order

• • Meeting was called to order at 3:34 PM
  • Minutes from the September 9, 2022 meeting were accepted with no edits

Item 1: Updates from OVPR (Scholtz)

• • Awards are up 55% this fiscal year (12% not including the large TRACERs project). New proposals are up significantly as well. While these are positive numbers for research at the University overall, it puts additional strain on the underlying research infrastructure, which is already struggling to hire new staff and lacks the resources needed in many offices. VP Scholtz would like to start a campus conversation on how to fund the enterprise to support these growing challenges. P3 program funding is not a good source as it is meant to be one time funding, not recurring. UICA can add dollars to the overall funding base, but it is difficult to get donations directly to institutional administration. The campus needs to think about this as a function of ongoing growth.
  • P3 Preliminary Proposals are due October 31^st. There will be $15 million available for selected proposals. Proposals should align with a part of the institutional strategic plan.

Item 2: Discussion of the survey responses (Toor)

• • Fatima Toor discussed the results of the Qualtrics survey on the perception members have of the Research Council in general. So far, around half of the council members have responded to the survey. The survey will remain open for those who have not had a chance to respond. Most responses are from new members and view campus visibility as the biggest limitation of the council. We could increase engagement with the on-campus research leaders, such as the Associate Deans for Research, the Graduate College, Departmental Executive Officers, etc., Infrequent meetings have also been noted as a limitation to the council’s effectiveness.
  • Issues the council has addressed in the past include harassment in research settings, human subjects research, and delays in proposal submission and protocol approval. Historically, there have been more targeted subcommittees with different areas of focus. Traditionally, there has been an emphasis on discussing and reviewing proposed policies, but it has been difficult to take things from discussion to actionable results.
  • Another issue discussed was the relatively small size of the council and lack of representation from each of the university’s colleges.  

Item 3: Summary of discussion with Prof Jian Cao, Chair of the Office for Research Advisory Council (ORAC), Northwestern (Toor)

• • Professor Cao recommended that the council decide on two or three tangible goals and deliver on those goals. This will help the council to stay focused throughout the year. The council will need to balance between being reactive to things brought to them and being proactive on issues they would like to take on.

Item 4: Next steps and potential items for the council

• • Scholtz indicated that the strategic plan would be a good place for the council to engage given the number of groups currently working on it on campus. Specifically, OVPR needs help identifying strengths and emerging areas of distinction at UI.
  • Research Track Faculty and research scientist policies have been brought up by IIHR. They would like P&S research scientists to have more ability to conduct research related activities.
  • Conflict of Interest – contributions from Research Council are being considered in the Human Resources redraft of the policy. Lassner will share the current version at a future meeting.
  • Postdoc issues – postdocs would like to have a centralized office to handle postdoc affairs. Several groups around campus are working on this and it would be good to coordinate these efforts. There are no staff dedicated to handling postdoctoral affairs (tracking students, retention, career development). There was a suggestion to designate an HR representative to postdoc issues. Specifically, regarding what happens after a grant ends or continuity of health insurance.
  • Important to disseminate announcements and deadlines.
  • Engagement with Associate Deans for Research

Meeting adjourned at 4:56

Research Council Meeting

Friday, September 9, 2022

Members Present: Fatima Toor, Natalie Denburg, Mihaela Bojin, Paul Dilley, Anny-Dominique Curtius, Jason Rantanen, Ariel Aloe, Queena Lin, Kailey Cash, Rebecca Taugher-Hebl, Amanda Haes, David Drake, Jenna Yang, Anthony Panos, Yasar Onel

Members Absent: Madeline Wilson, Sai Kumar Ramadugu,

Others in Attendance: Marty Scholtz, Richard Hichwa, Jennifer Lassner, Aliasger Salem, Jan Waterhouse, Trevor Glanz, Bob Kirby, Michael Weaver

Call to Order

• The meeting was called to order at 9:01 AM
• Fatima Toor (Chair) introduced herself and outlined her vision for a more active and impactful Research Council

Item 1:  Review Research Council Charge

• Toor reviewed the charge and mission of the Research Council (https://rcouncil.research.uiowa.edu/)

Item 2:  University of Iowa Strategic Planning

• Vice President Scholtz provided an overview of the institutional strategic planning process, committee structures, and the background for how it was created. The Council discussed the plan’s implementation, specifically goal two, which focuses on Research and Discovery (https://strategicplan.uiowa.edu/innovative-research-and-creative-discovery). There is currently a need for working groups to provide input from across campus on how the plan’s tactics can be implemented and tracked. The plan is set out for five years, so it will be an ongoing effort. The Council discussed how teams will be built to work on the Objectives and Strategies. Part of these teams’ mission will be to build the process as well as supporting the plan’s strategies. This will be an ongoing discussion for the Research Council

Item 3: P&S Policy Changes

• Jan Waterhouse and Trevor Glanz from University Human Resources joined the meeting to discuss proposed changes to the Operations Manual for Professional and Scientific Staff. Revisions to the policy started several years ago with a committee inclusive of Human Resources and Shared Governance leadership. Waterhouse shared an overview of the draft changes. These changes have already been presented to both Staff Council and Faculty Senate. The final implementation will follow review from the President’s Office. Waterhouse expects that the changes will be finalized by the end of the fall semester.

Item 4: Planning for future Research Council Meetings

• Toor would like for the Council to meet monthly at rotating times, preferably in person. Members indicated that, in their experience, one meeting per month may not be enough to accomplish aggressive goals. Toor would prefer to start at once per month and potentially charge subcommittees to meet more frequently between meetings. There was support for starting at once per month with the potential to meet more frequently as the year progresses.

Item 5: Other Items for Discussion from the Council

• Toor would like to explore increasing the size of the Research Council. This would allow for contributions from colleges that have not always had representation on the Council at all times.
• Rantanen noted that there has been ongoing work by the council on various compliance issues including restricted research and foreign influence.
• Weaver will reach out to the council to start scheduling future meetings.

Meeting adjourned at 10:07 AM