Members—

Charges—

Standing Charges

1. Monitor the administration of the General Research Fund (GRF) and make recommendations, as needed, to ensure its effectiveness and appropriate utilization. Report to FacEx concerning actions taken with respect to this charge by 03/05/16.  (FY2016 3 year GRP Review). 
2. Monitor the execution of the University’s Restricted Research Policy (Faculty Senate Rules and Regulations, Article IX) in handling requests for exceptions.
3. Serve as the body to hear faculty appeals of research rejected by the restricted research committee or by the Vice Provost for Research, as specified in the Restricted Research Policy.
4. Monitor the implementation of policies and procedures for determining which proposals will go forward in cases where the number of grant applications that may be submitted from the University is limited.  Identify problems or concerns, and report issues and recommendations to FacEx.
5. Continue working with the ACEC (Academic Computing and Electronic Communications) Committee to process needs for and issues with computing and telecommunications for research, including recommendations for sustainable policies and procedures and monitoring ongoing and new developments in IT. Report issues and recommendations to FacEx as needed.

Specific Charges

1. Conduct three-year review of the GRF in Spring 2016.  Two changes to the procedures for the FY2016 review were approved by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee (see letter attached):
   1. Change the restrictions on redistribution of funds to only capping the percentage of a decrease in a unit’s funding to 10%.   Increases would not be constrained, except by the amount of funds generated from decreases. This would allow for larger percentage increases to units with very small historical allocations.
   2. Allow the FSRC to recommend a special adjustment in the case of administration reorganization of units.  In cases where many faculty are moved from one unit to another, there may be justification for reallocating GRF funds between the units involved.
2. Continue to consider issues related to the use of current systems for external evaluations of the University and internal research evaluations for departments, programs, and faculty.  Explore how these metrics are impacting faculty research, research opportunities, and the understanding of faculty research profiles.
3. Review how the university’s development of faculty entrepreneurship programs relates to faculty productivity.  Consider how faculty entrepreneurship activities are evaluated.  Report to FacEx by January 1, 2016.

Meeting Minutes—

Final Reports and Outcomes—