Institute Management Team Meeting

Institute Management Team Meeting Thursday, January 30, 2014 Attending: Brian Anderson, Tom Emerson, Mona Knight, Don McKay, Terry McLennand, Gary Miller, Kevin O’Brien, Bill Shilts, Steve Wald, Angie Wisehart, Karen Witter

1. Board of Trustees (BOT) Presentation Terry reported that he is going to look into the possibility of an Institute representative giving a lightning talk at the BOT dinner the evening before the May Board meeting. Several ideas were given for the presentation, but Terry will first confirm that the Institute can get on the agenda.

2. Collections Planning Study Bill reported that the Institute has received money from University Administration and Campus to contribute towards the cost of a planning study for a collections facility.

3. April 2 Legislative Reception Karen reported that the April 2 reception in Springfield will take place at the Sangamo Club. She, Terry and Steve will work on the details together, including the budget. Karen is getting some cost estimates from the Sangamo Club.

4. Cook County Forest Preserves District Karen reported that she had a conversation with Larry Suffredin (Cook County Commissioner and long-time lobbyist in Springfield) to let him know about the Cook County Forest Preserves District project.

Brian reported that he attended a meeting of the advisory board that’s been appointed to this project. They are a very interactive board, and are focused on phase 1 and 2 of the project.

Terry and Karen indicated that it would be useful to have an outline of the project, or a 1- 2 page synopsis.

5. ISTC Update Kevin reported that he has had good discussions with Terry and Gary. ISTC relies on EPA funding right now, but there is a lot of funding going to manufacturing from DOE. Kevin sees ISTC’s future reaching into this program. There is also a lot of discussion around biomass, and there are incentives in Illinois for biomass projects.

Kevin reported that he will be attending a meeting in the Collinsville area, and he’s interested in hearing from the directors on projects their surveys are working on down there. He also asked if there are any issues that would stimulate thinking in that area of the state. Brian reported that there are big projects going on to preserve prairies along the bluff lands in that area. Don reported that there are a lot of mapping projects going on in that area. The Office of Mines and Minerals is looking at mine shafts in that area. Tom informed Kevin that ISAS’s American Bottom Field Station is located in that area. Terry added that it would be worthwhile to go down there as a group to meet with legislators in their districts.

6. NRB Office Moves Gary reported that College of Education staff came over to look at their temporary space in NRB. They will move in mid-February.

7. Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) Call for Proposals Gary reported that iSEE sent out a solicitation for proposals to initiate its first major thematic research projects. They will be awarding $400K total in grants.

8. Servers Consolidation Gary reported that he had a meeting with the IT team and asked them to focus on servers consolidation and provide recommendations back to Gary. There is a fair amount of inconsistencies on how servers are being managed across the Institute. Campus would like the Institute to consolidate. They are making room on the north end of campus for servers, and would give the space to the Institute for free. Campus believes it would be an efficient use of space and energy. Some of the Institute IT staff are interested, but there are a lot of different issues and it is complicated.

9. Museum Concept Gary reported that he met with the education coordinator at NCSA to discuss the museum concept. At that meeting, Danny Powell (Executive Director, NCSA) indicated that NCSA would still like to be involved with the Institute in some areas.

10. Urban Infrastructure Gary reported that he and Brian will be meeting with Professor Barbara Minsker (Civil & Environmental Engineering) to discuss the initiative on resilient cities and urban infrastructure.

11. External Affairs Update Terry reported that he put forward a funding request to campus for funds to help with production material, including imaging equipment.

Terry reported that he continues to work on getting the ISWS signage changed at First and Griffith Streets.

Terry reported that he will be in Washington, DC next week with the Great Lakes Mapping Coalition. He also plans to meet with others to specifically discuss the Institute.

12. Updating Survey Names in Codebook Sue reported that she is working with the Provost’s Office on removing “Division” from the Survey names in the Campus Codebook. 13. Reclassifying Civil Service Employees Sue reported that she has met with Staff Human Resources to begin reviewing the current classifications of Institute Civil Service staff. It is a big list for consideration, but Staff Human Resources is very helpful and supportive.

14. Lightning Symposium Steve reported that 41 people submitted proposals to give talks. The training session is scheduled for February 10.

15. Budget Mona reported that she, Gary and Bill are continuing the mid-year budget review meetings with the directors.

Mona reported that she and Gary have been working on a report that breaks down the Institute dollars by research, gift, and public service. 67% of dollars in the Institute are research related and 30% are public service related.