Research Advisory Council
Meeting Minutes
October 08, 2013
PPCD Federal Audit Preparation
Julie Seppala and Tammy LaBissoniere provided an update on the Canvas Training
developed for faculty members to utilize in preparation for the upcoming audit. The
3-5 minute presentations provide information for faculty regarding the interviews
auditors’ will conduct when they visit campus. The main focus of the audits will be
payroll issues; however they can choose other expenditures for review. They are
also meeting with departmental administrators and a separate training instrument
will be developed for that group. Three years of expenditure date was provided,
from which approx. 200 anomalies will be selected for in-person review with the
164 faculty members who have NSF funding.
Subaccounts for PI’s, Co-PI’s and Faculty with Joint Appointments-Dave Reed
Dave was asked to bring this issue to the RAC by a department chair who would like
for each member of a proposal team to have sub-accounts for their expenditures of
the award funds.
The point was made that it is difficult enough to get a proposal
out the door, and it was suggested that perhaps it could be completed after a
proposal is awarded. There is a box on the current transmittal sheet that can be
checked to request more than one index number per project. The disadvantage
would be the difficulty for the PI to manage numerous project indexes. There are
some academic units which mostly have Co-Pi’s on proposals (not lead PI’s) so IRAD
distribution and tenure issues are difficult to analyze. The junior faculty members
should be mentored and encouraged to be aware of this as Co-Pi’s on projects.
Communicating Research Awards to the Media-Jackie Huntoon
There is a concern across campus that Michigan Tech’s research is not reaching the
mass media. Jackie researched this issue and found the key to media exposure is
having the information published in a major publication such as the Detroit Free
Press. She contacted UMC and they did not have a practice in place to obtain
information on all research awards. She developed an information template which
would ask the PI of the award to answer basic questions and a press release would
auto-generate. Once implemented, this template would need to be adopted and an
electronic request sent to each PI asking them to submit the form for distribution to
the media. It would also be beneficial to provide the information via the website.
All supported the implementation and Jackie and Joanne Polzien will meet with UMC
and IT to discuss implementation and provide the RAC with updates on their
progress.
Core Facilities Group Recommendations-Dave Reed
The council reviewed the nine recommendations from the final report. Brian
Barkdoll will bring to the Senate for discussion and will update the RAC. Different
groups are working on the implementation of the recommendations. Dave will
continue to update the RAC. The Council asked that an email message to remind the
Deans and Chairs about the TechFinder database be sent, which Cathy completed
during the meeting.
Board of Control Reports–Dave Reed
Board of Control reports for 4th Quarter 2013 was provided and there were no
questions.
Federal Government Shut-down
The council discussed the current shut down. Information will be provided by the
VP for Research offices as it is received. Research should be conducted unless
otherwise directed by a Federal Agency. Proposals will also be submitted unless
notified by an agency. Spending should not be conducted past an end date of a
Federal Project unless there has been a pre-approved extension.