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New Mexico State University URC Minutes - February 23, 2001

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Present: Stephen Horan, Nirmala Khandan, Stephen Bernhardt, Cathy Ortega-Klett (K. Wood), Chris Marlow (T. Pettibone), Tracy Sterling, Laura Hueneke (N. Zucker), Margaret Jacobs, Betsy Cahill, Becky Keele-Smith, Jim Strickland, Kristine Derer, Elizabeth Titus, Gary Cunningham

Absent: Harold Matteson, Dave Rocks, Rudi Schoenmackers, William Gould, Vicente Garcia, Satya Krishnan, Shaun McQuitty, William Ogden

Guests: President Gogue, Bernie McNamara, Cheryl Beer (EPSCoR)

1. Introductions and Announcements:

In the absence of URC Chair Nirmala Khandan, who was receiving the prestigious Bromilow Award for Research, Past Chair Tracy Sterling began the meeting with introductions of URC members to President Gogue.

2. Address by President Gogue:

President Gogue announced that Mr. McDonough and Dr. Cunningham are working to speed up the process by which accounts can be created for PIs, and encouraged members to monitor the process and let him know if the 48-hour timeline wasnt being met. (1) He noted that the 80 percent indirect cost recovery policy at NMSU is very liberal and may not be in the best interest of the university as demands on the library budget and computing and networking compliance are assessed. (2) NMSU has an excellent undergraduate research program which should be publicized to enable greater undergraduate research efforts. (3) Greater private fund-raising efforts are needed to reward teaching and research faculty. NMSU has only three endowed chairs while comparisons with other universities show as many as 188 endowed chairs. (4) President Gogue agrees that NMSU must recognize and reward research on campus and explore ways to publicly highlight NMSU as a research institution. For example, the University of Colorado successfully presents high-powered lectures by faculty members before football games. (5) Many schools dont employ graduate school deans and allow college deans to assume this role. Combining the Graduate School Dean and the Vice President for Research positions isnt appealing because the Graduate School Dean must be detail oriented while the VP for Research must be a fund-seeker and travel much of the time. (6) Community outreach and service-oriented faculty activities are not actively pursued at NMSU. Some universities give credit for experiential learning and community service projects, and some have extension agents in every department to help with community outreach. (7) To allow graduate student stipends/tuition waivers, NMSU must be willing to admit graduate students and educate them on less money. Presently, only 12 percent of masters degrees are thesis based. President Gogue ended his comments by noting that research at NMSU, on a per capita basis, does extremely well.

3. Presentation by Bernie McNamara on EPSCoR

The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) is a federal program which identifies, develops, and uses a states academic science and technology (S&T) resources to support its economic growth and a more productive and fulfilling way of life for its citizens. It is supported by NSF and is targeted to states that receive less than average research dollars. Two award categories are available. (1) The Research Infrastructure Improvement Grant provides up to $9 million to support S&T infrastructure improvements which are critical to the states future research and development competitiveness. It requires one-to-two matching funds, for a total of $13.5 million for research, with collaborative effort as a focal area. As NMSUs representative to EPSCoR, Dr. Cunningham will be meeting with the State Steering Committee in late March. A call for collaborative proposals will be made soon and a planning grant will be submitted to NSF in July. Submittal of proposals is urgently requested. (2) EPSCoR Co-funding is awarded to individual research proposals which would not otherwise receive funding from the cognizant NSF program or special competition, even though well-reviewed.

4. Minutes of January 26, 2001

A motion was made to accept the minutes as written.

5. Research Awards Update: Dr. Sterling

The criteria for each award needs to be written. A member from each college should be represented on the award committee. Nominations for the Fort Bliss Federal Credit Union Awards will be reviewed by this committee.

6. Research Themes Update: Dr. Sterling

The review of the survey has been completed and most faculty felt they fit in at least one of the themes. CORC felt that a Nature and Culture theme to encompass the fine arts group was too broad. Energy, a late suggestion as a theme, was well received by CORC. More discussion on these themes will be continued at the next meeting.

7. Research Fair Update - Dr. Strickland

The Research and Creative Activity Fair will be a one-day event on September 27, 2001. Poster sessions will be held at Corbett Center ballrooms and refreshments will be served. Posters must be sponsored by faculty members or professional staff. Colleges will be invited to set up informational displays. Up to six speakers (award winners--Westhafer, Fort Bliss Federal Credit Union, Bromilow, etc.) will be asked to present talks on their research/creative activity to a general audience. The Fair will be advertised on campus. Estimated cost of the Fair is $2,000.

The next meeting will be held on March 23, 2001 in the Zuhl Library Associates Room, 2nd floor at 3:30 p.m.

The meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m.

Minutes by Betty Lindsey