AA Staff with Council of Deans

AA Staff with Council of Deans July 27, 2010

PRESENT: Brayton, Braza, Campbell, Chally, Daniel, Ebong, Hallblade, Hetrick, Hoover, Jaffee, Jaffee, Kaye, Roberson, Robinson, Samant, Wood, Workman

Guest: Cheresa Hamilton

Mark Workman opened the meeting at 2:05 p.m. He welcomed Ajay Samant, new dean of the Coggin College of Business.

Workman said it would be David Jaffee’s last meeting as Assistant Vice-President of Undergraduate Studies. He acknowledged David’s contributions to the undergraduate experience at UNF during his 10- year administrative tenure.

Announcements

Shawn Brayton reported that production for the 2010-2011 undergraduate catalog had begun. She said she anticipated the complete catalog would be online by the end of the week.

Marianne Jaffee reported on the progress of CMS migration for AA units. She said the College of Arts & Sciences would begin the migration process in mid-August, and told others that she would contact them when their units should prepare to migrate their webpages.

Marianne Jaffee reported on the 2010 new faculty orientation program. She said there would be three days of workshops in August, kicked-off by a provost welcome reception at MOCA. She said that she and Dan Richard (OFE) gained info from chairs and new faculty members from 2009 on ways to improve the new faculty webpage and the orientation program.

ORSP Draft Policies

I. Fixed-Price Sponsored Project Agreement

Imeh Ebong introduced Cheresa Hamilton, director of contract grants accounting for the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects. Ebong discussed a drafted policy outlining a fixed-price sponsored project agreement. He explained that the objective of the policy was to create a way to formulate, monitor and close-out fixed-price projects, and address the treatment of residual funds and cost overruns, when applicable. Ebong described risks associated with fixed-price agreements when primary investigators underestimate the costs of completing research work, and explained the to-date cost and budgeting process for deficits or cost overruns. He explained that in the proposed model, residual funds would be distributed in sliding percentages among PIs, academic departments or centers, and an ORSP reserve account.

The group discussed the proposed policy:

 It was suggested that centers be evaluated to determine their validity as such, versus research identities for individual faculty members.

 There was an expressed concern about colleges being responsible for cost overruns. Cheresa Hamilton explained that ORSP closely monitors expenditures from fixed-price grants, and said that cases of cost overruns for which colleges would be responsible are rare. It seemed unfair for colleges to cover the costs of accounting errors on the part of PIs, since they have very little control over how projects are run.

 A question was asked how the percentage divided among the college, department and/or center would be determined. There was a suggestion that this be clarified in the policy. Imeh Ebong said this would be difficult to clarify because the process varies from college to college, and would need to be determined by deans.

 A comment was made that some faculty members indicated they had concerns about the draft policy when it was introduced several years ago, before the issue was temporarily tabled. Imeh Ebong said he planned to host another open forum for faculty to discuss concerns before the policy would be formalized.

 t was suggested that leftover money from fixed-price grants be pooled together and first used to pay for overrun expenditures at the end of the year. Additionally, the remaining money could be distributed according to the proposed distribution system.

Group members were asked to contact Imeh Ebong with questions or concerns about the draft policy. Ebong said he would try to address concerns, and then bring the draft policy back before the group before moving forward with its formalization.

II. Supplemental Compensation on Contracts and Grants

Imeh Ebong discussed a second drafted policy. He explained that the objective would be to formulate a process, in compliance with federal and state regulations, whereby faculty could receive additional compensation if they completed work beyond their regular assignments.

Ebong distributed the draft proposal and a handout describing guidelines for requesting and processing extra compensation on contracts and grants. He explained the requirements for supplemental compensation.  There was discussion on situations in which faculty members complete extra grant work, but are ineligible for supplemental compensation. Joann Campbell said federal and state regulations surrounding this issue could be a disincentive for securing a grant for some faculty members.

 A suggestion was made that some provisions be included in the policy that would outline when it is permissible for PIs to use IPD funding to supplement their salaries.

Mark Workman thanked Imeh and Cheresa, and said the draft proposals would be readdressed at a future meeting.

2010-2011 and 2011-2012 Budgets

Mark Workman reported that SUS universities had received their budget allocations from the state legislature for the 10-11 academic year. He explained that $10 million of one-time New Florida money had been included in the budget by the legislature but not yet allocated, and said that the BOG was working to create a set of criteria for the distribution of that money among the universities. Workman said he would discuss plans for the funding with the group as soon as he received the application process and additional information from the BOG.

Workman said that an 11-12 academic year legislative budget request, adhering to the already-approved BOT work-plan, would have to be submitted to the BOG by 8/3. He said the focus of the work-plan was on short-term, one-to-three-year goals. Workman said he would update the group on the progress of the 11-12 budget at a future meeting, since materials had to be turned in very soon.

Meeting adjourned at 3:35 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Melody Taylor.