Research Council Newsletter - University of Massachusetts Amherst

Research Council Newsletter
Spring 2014
Vol. 2 Issue 2
Faculty Research Grant Task Force
The Life Sciences Laboratory Building
IALS at UMass Amherst
The Institute for Applied Life
Sciences (IALS) is an exciting new
home for translational life sciences
research at UMass Amherst,
comprised of the Center for Bioactive
Delivery, the Models to Medicine
Center, and the Center for
Personalized Health Monitoring.
Funded with $150 million in
investments from the Massachusetts
Life Sciences Center and the
University of Massachusetts, IALS
will be home to new state-of-the-art
research
instrumentation
and
equipment, located in three floors of
the south wing of the new Life
Sciences Laboratory (LSL) building.
To facilitate translational research,
IALS will create “collaboratory”
spaces in LSL where industry
partners can work for extended
periods in proximity to campus
researchers. IALS also includes
several new core research facilities
for campus researchers and their off
campus collaborators.
More information can be found at
http://www.umass.edu/ials.
Other Spring RC Topics
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UMass Resource Allocation (see p 2)
Publishing Copyright Issues (see p 2)
Research Strategic Planning
UMass Centers & Institutes
Internationalization at UMass
Campus IT Strategic Planning
A RC task force chaired by Dr. Brigitte Holt
reviewed the Faculty Research Grant (FRG)
program to evaluate the effectiveness of the
current program, and to consider whether
program changes could better enhance
research productivity and success.
Regarding the existing FRG criteria and
application
process,
the
task
force
implemented
or
suggested
several
modifications, including:
Brigitte Holt, Anthropology
1. Eligibility criteria for senior faculty were clarified in the
application guidelines.
2. Logistical changes including: a) conference expenses should no
longer be allowed; b) only one six-month extension should be
granted, with unused funds reverting back to the FRG funding pool;
c) amount of start-up, grant and other funds available should be
listed on the cover page of the application; d) the need for graduate
student funds should be explained in the budget justification.
3. Each FRG recipient should be required to participate in technical
reviewing of FRG proposals for at least two funding cycles.
4. It was recommended that a portion of RTF distribution of external
grants stemming directly from FRG-sponsored research should be
returned to the FRG program as a source of future seed funds.
Accordingly, the potential for future funding should be an important
criterion for evaluating FRG proposals. The recovered RTF could be
levied against the PI, Department, and/or College portion as agreed
upon by the principals.
A second task force recommendation concerns how to raise
awareness of successful FRG recipients, with an eye to fundraising
from donors to increase the overall FRG budget. Working with the
UMass Development Office, an effort has begun to write short
“stories” highlighting FRG scholar accomplishments and the role the
FRG played in helping them secure external funding. Stories will be
showcased in college newsletters, on Research Next, and elsewhere.
Several RC members will meet with officials from the Development
Office in May to explore ways of implementing a permanent publicity
system to enhance targeted fundraising for the FRG program.
More Information / Contact the RC
web: http://www.umass.edu/research/research-council
e-mail: [email protected]
Contributors: G Caldwell, B Holt, J Normanly, L Quilter, C Rotello, L Walker
Copyright Takedowns & Open Access Mandates
Elsevier and other publishers have sent copyright “takedown notices”
to faculty posting their papers on Academia.edu, and on their faculty
profiles on university websites. Further, a number of publishers —
Cambridge University Press, Oxford U.P., Sage, and Taylor & Francis,
among others — are suing universities and faculty for copying
scholarly materials in e-reserves and Moodle/Blackboard.
To maximize control over their own work, faculty should negotiate to
retain rights in their publisher contracts; for instance, by using the
SPARC Author Addendum. Rights retained should include the right to
redistribute and right to re-use your own work.
Additionally, Universities are increasingly adopting “open access
mandates” to facilitate teaching and academic use of scholarship. OA
mandates work by “mandating” deposit in an open access repository,
thus preventing publishers from taking rights away from authors —
even when the author did not individually negotiate their publisher
agreement. Campus OA mandates are distinct from “open access
journals”, in which the journal itself is open access.
SHERPA/RoMEO
SPARC
PLOS
Top Ten Things to Know About UMass Amherst Resource Allocation
1. The current, UMass incremental budget model is difficult to understand, explain, and change, and does not
always align resource allocation (RA) properly with our strategic priorities.
2. The Joint Task Force on Resource Allocation (JTFRA; comprised of faculty, staff, administration, and
students) recommends that UMass consider a new approach to RA. The first draft of the JTFRA report is
posted on the Provost’s Strategic Planning webpage; click on Joint Taskforce on Resource Allocation.
3. Alternative RA approaches for public research universities include performance-based budgeting, formulabased budgeting, and Responsibility Center Management (RCM; see Fall 2013 RC Newsletter here).
4. All RA approaches are tailored to an institution to support its values and strategy, and evolve over time.
5. Most RA approaches allocate resources both centrally and to units who are responsible for the mission.
6. The JTFRA draft was informed by history, current practices, and advice from Huron Education, LLC.
7. Many different models for RA are possible, and the JTFRA work provides one possible example.
8. Actual resource allocations require a system, comprised of a model joined with and driven by strategy.
9. JTFRA recommends continuing to explore both the UMass Resource Allocation Model (URAM) and the
supporting system (URAS), using a parallel process and a model testing phase in the Fall of 2014.
10. Now is the time for campus communication and input on the JTFRA recommendations is welcome.
Feedback from campus forums and discussions will shape the final report, due at the end of April, 2014,
along with the presentations from Huron Consulting that informed the JTFRA’s recommendations.
The Research Council includes 18 Graduate Faculty appointed by the Faculty Senate, with each School or College and the Library represented.
Student representatives and ex-Officio members from the UMass Amherst administrative community complete the Council. For a complete list of
current members and more RC information, check the Senate website; the Faculty, Library and student members are:
Natural Sciences:
E. Bryan Coughlin (Pol. Sci. & Eng.)
Robert Deconto (Geosci.)
J. Eliot Moss (Comp. Sci.)
Education:
Jennifer Normanly (Biochem./Mol.Bio.)
David Evans (EPRA)
Stephen Rich (Microbiol.)
Humanities and Fine Arts:
Caren Rotello, Chair (Psych.)
Olga Gershenson (Judaic & N.East. Studies) Martin Weinberg (Astron.)
Alice Harris (Linguistics)
Social and Behavioral Sciences:
Maria Tymoczko (Lang., Lit. & Cult.)
Brigitte Holt (Anthro.)
Public Health and Health Sciences:
Jesse Rhodes (Pol. Sci.)
Graham Caldwell (Kin.)
Engineering:
Paul Dauenhauer (Chem. Eng.)
Jonathan Rothstein (Mech. & Ind. Eng.)
Isenberg School of Management:
Linda Smircich (Manag.)
Nursing:
Annette Wysocki (Nurs.)
Library:
Leslie Button (Lib.)
Steve McGinty (Lib.)
Student Representatives:
Srinivas Lankala, Kathryn Grasha (Grad)
William Holt (UG)

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