CITADEL FACULTY RESEARCH COMMITTEE Minutes, October 21, 2004

Present: Dot Moore, Bob Steed, Virginia DeRoma, Linda Elksnin, Joe Kelley, Kevin Crawford, Guy Toubiana and David Heisser. Jeff Davis, Josey Templeton, Saul Adelman and Tom Jerse sent their regrets to the Chair.

The Committee discussed applications for New Faculty Grants and Page Charge Requests.

The Chair proposed that the Committee be organized in three subcommittees for preliminary review of applications for regular Research Grants. It was agreed by consensus that the following subcommittees be formed—

Journal subscriptions. Can a New Faculty Grant pay for a journal subscription? The consensus was that, since books can be purchased with grant money, a grant can in some instances be used for a journal subscription, although this will not be the usual procedure.

Rate at which student assistants will be paid. Linda Elksnin said that the Committee needs to check up on the current pay rate for both graduate and undergraduate assistants. The Chair said he would do so and report back to the Committee.

PowerPoint scans under Page Charge Requests. Virginia DeRoma said that ordinarily PowerPoint expenses should be a supply cost under a Presentation Grant proposal. Dot Moore offered that the definition of Presentation could be expanded to include "presentation of applications" or words to that effect. There was discussion whether people who encounter unanticipated additional expenses should file a supplementary or amended request for funding. The Chair pointed out that the Committee should try to adhere to its deadlines and not encumber Accounts Payable with too many additional requests that are not on schedule. Dot Moore observed that the Committee’s function is to make things easier for faculty, not for administration. After further discussion it was agreed that the budget category "Other" on the Presentation application form would be the appropriate place for PowerPoint slides, etc., not covered elsewhere. This will be spelled out in the instructions for completing the application.

Number of copies of proposals. There was discussion of the number of paper copies of proposals that applicants should submit. The Chair said that regular Research Grant proposals should henceforth be submitted in four copies, including one for each subcommittee. The sense of the group was that Presentation Grant applications should be electronic, with only one paper copy to the Chair. David Heisser reported that last year’s Committee had decided that the pagination of electronic forms would be arranged so that the abstract and budget of each proposal would appear at the beginning. This would allow Committee members to print out the first two pages to have in hand during discussions. Also there had been discussion last year of scheduling the cluster subcommittees to meet in rooms equipped with computers so people could look at the applications online.

Meeting with Provost. Linda Elksnin suggested that the Committee invite the Provost to meet with us at his convenience. The Chair said he would be in communication with General Steven about this.

Next meeting. The Chair announced that the next meeting of the full Committee will be Thursday, 9 December, at 11 AM.