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New Mexico State University URC Minutes - September 5, 2003

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Present: Becky Keele, Brenda Benefit, Barbara Coppola, Wynn Egginton, Inigo Garcia-Bryce, Dean Hawkins, Richard Hills, Michael Hites, Stephen Horan, Nirmala Khandan, Chuck Kozel, Ken Martin, Bernard McNamara, Martha Mitchell, Enrico Pontelli, Rudi Schoenmackers, Edmund Scribner, Ronda Skaggs, Elizabeth Titus, Karl Wood (Kristine Kitchens)

Absent: Lisa Dalton, Everett Egginton, Linda Lacey, William Ogden, Marc Pruyn, Rasler Smith

Guests: Karen Luces

1. Minutes - Minutes for April 11, 2003 were approved as presented.

2. Time & Date of Regular Meetings

The new meeting time of 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. on the first Friday of every
month was established. Meetings will continue to be held in the
Associates Room in Zuhl Library .

3. Summary of Major Activities/History and Mission

Becky Keele gave a short summary and handout on the mission of the
URC and the major activities that URC has been involved in since its inception in the mid 1970’s. Some of the activities mentioned included:

• Development of the URC Website,
• Creation of the URC Research and Creative Activity Awards,
• Development of the Annual Creative Activities and Research Fair.
• Development of e-prints

Elizabeth Titus gave an update on e-prints stating that they were still in the beta level of development. The national research labs in New Mexico, NASA, the Air Force Research Lab, Research Labs are just a few who are developing an alternative publication for scholars. She also mentioned that EPSCoR states are in the organizational stages of working with the NSF to get funding to enrich science and technology collections in libraries to support research.

The P.I. training certification from the Office of Grants and Contracts will be provided in the near future with URC and CORC serving as the pilot test group.

4. Discussion of Target Areas for Research Identified by the University

Rich Hills, Interim Vice Provost for Research shared the history on the development of research target areas for the University. They include:

• Infrastructure, Safety
• Sustainability
• Information Technology
• Biotechnology
• Space
• Border

An umbrella committee has been formed since the initial development of these target areas with over 100 members in attendance at monthly meetings. He also stated that URC members have the prerogative to make suggestions for improvements in the research environment or research support for faculty. Hills announced that research expenditures increased by 9%, and the number of proposals funded increased by 14.5%.

5. Subcommittee Reports

Becky Keele discussed the three standing subcommittees and their purpose. She also asked council members to please sign up to participate in at least one of the subcommittees. A sign up list was circulated.

Third Annual URC Research and Creative Activities Fair – Call for Posters

Becky Keele and Rudi Schoenmackers gave information regarding the Research and Creative Activities Fair. Date for fair is Friday September 26th in Corbett Center. The fair is being held in conjunction with the Alliance for Minority Participation (AMP) conference. The four current recipients of the URC Research Awards will perform a five-minute presentation during the luncheon and then be present during the poster presentation from 1-2PM for further discussion/questions. AMP Public Information Coordinator, Karen Luces, along with Rudi Schoenmackers gave information about the AMP conference.

6. Discussion of SCT’s Integrated Administrative Software and Network
Connectivity Needs in New Mexico

• Michael Hites reported that SCT was selected as the integrated information system for NMSU’s administrative staff including finance, human resources, student financial aid, email, calendaring, web portal and contract management. Teams from various offices are participating in demonstrations of the software. SCT has been selected by most research universities as their integral system. Grant preparation with Info Ed would not be covered by SCT.

• Hites also spoke about the network connectivity needs in New Mexico and how NMSU found their networking replacements by getting grants from CHE, NSF, and EPSCoR, which run out in 2004. Hites mentioned several alternatives and is requesting feedback on this subject.

The meeting adjourned at 4:30p.m. The Executive Committee met following the regular meeting.

Minutes by Frances Schumacher