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Memorandum
To: Lawrence Campus
From: James A. Roberts, Interim Vice Provost for Research
Re: Focus on Excellence: An Action Plan for KU Research
Date: December 5, 2003
A stronger research profile is an indispensable component of achieving KU's goal of reaching the top tier of national public research universities. The recent change in Lawrence campus research leadership afforded an opportunity to pause and assess the successes and the challenges facing the campus research enterprise. To assist in this effort, the Provost commissioned a review of the KU Center for Research (KUCR). This process, involving input from the campus and a visit by a team of distinguished external reviewers, gave new insights into the reasons behind the Lawrence campus research achievements since 1997 and focused attention on ways that research administration can be improved to better serve KU's research community. Focusing on the issues raised by the external reviewers in their report, an action plan for moving forward – in terms of successes, challenges and grand challenges – has been developed and is presented in this document.
Summary
The Office of Research and KUCR will
focus attention on research outcomes and will work to sustain
and improve upon the extraordinary growth of Lawrence campus
research. Toward these ends, KUCR will
sharpen its customer service and provide consistent information
to researchers and staff; seek additional space for the growing
number of research projects; and increase internal and external
communication about campus research projects, policies and direction.
For more information, see the KU research website at: www.research.ku.edu/action/.
Research Funding
Since the new KU Center for Research and attendant strategic
actions went into effect in 1997, Lawrence campus sponsored project
expenditures have grown from $58 million to $101 million. Federal
science and engineering research expenditures grew even more
rapidly, increasing at an annual rate of 13.3%; in the 10 years
prior to 1997, the annual growth rate was 5.7%. KU's collaborative
culture and research administrative structure have facilitated
the winning of large interdisciplinary grants, a major component
of this success. Between 1997 and 2001, average federal research
funding to all universities grew 34.1%; Lawrence campus federal
research funding during that time grew 74%, more than double
the national rate. Since 1997, Lawrence campus federal life science
research has sextupled. This growth has been instrumental in
vaulting
KU's ranking in life science funding to number 29 among
national public research universities.
KUCR Support
of the Lawrence Campus Research Community Research support to
the campus comes in many forms including re-investment of research
overhead funds in the research enterprise; start-to-finish research
administration service; fostering of collaborations; support
for large interdisciplinary research programs; and financial
flexibility afforded by KUCR's
corporate structure.
Focus on Research Outcomes
All research on this campus – funded or unfunded – is
important and valued. We will increase our focus on research
outcomes in all forms. KU Research: Focus on Excellence Page
2 December 2003
Communicate Internally
We are committed to: improving customer-service attitude,
focus, and education; providing consistent information to researchers;
striving to better understand concerns of researchers; working
with other campus offices (Comptroller, HR, etc.) to implement
desired/needed changes; and ensuring that the new research website's
administration section has complete information needed by researchers.
We will work to involve the broader campus in policy and administrative
decisions about research directions through: a newly formed Associate
Deans Research Council, the Research Directors Council, the Provosts
Council, the Faculty Senate Research Committee, special ad hoc
groups, broader faculty representation on the KUCR Board
of Trustees, and more one-on-one communication. Because strong
research and strong graduate programs go hand in hand, we will
work more closely with the Graduate School.
Communicate Externally
We will continue developing an external communications
plan to inform audiences about KU research; revamp the research
website with KU research information for the general public,
legislators, prospective faculty and students, and parents; and
explain the economic impact of KU research.
Provide More Understandable PI Grant
Expenditure Reports
We will form an ad hoc committee to review current PI reports
and make recommendations for change. KUCR will
then work with other appropriate KU offices to develop a more
effective PI status
report.
Refine the Research Vision
Above all else, we must not derail the upward research
momentum established on the Lawrence campus; we must only aim
higher. We will commission a campus task force to assess KU research
priorities and recommend new ones if necessary. We will develop
a strategic plan for KU research based on inputs from the task
force, panels and other groups; the strategic plan will serve
as a roadmap for the future - defining our values, our vision,
our goals, and the strategy to achieve the vision.
Acquire Needed Research Space
More research necessitates more quality research space;
quality research space helps attract research funding. As we
seek larger research programs, we will require space that is
appropriate for large collaborative, interdisciplinary, thematic
research. Flexible KUCR funds
can be used to acquire new research space. We will develop a
long-range plan for research space. KUCR will
aggressively track/analyze research space and equipment to support
increasing the facilities and administrative (overhead) rate
in future negotiations so that we can recover all funds spent
on research infrastructure and reinvest them in campus research.
Clarify the Roles of the Vice Provost for Research and
the President of KUCR
The Vice Provost for Research (VPR) also holds the title
of President of the KU Center for Research. The complementary
roles and responsibilities of these positions help to guide KU's
broad-based research enterprise. The VPR is responsible for the
intellectual leadership of all campus research and creative activity,
for the interdisciplinary centers and institutes, and for research
integrity; the VPR is the Lawrence campus representative to the
public for research information. The President of KUCR is
responsible for externally funded research project acquisition
and administration and for corporate investments. We must ensure
that we are organized to respond to new major research initiatives.
We will commission a campus task force to assess the research
administration structure and recommend administrative changes
to provide even better research support to the campus. KU Research:
Focus on Excellence Page 3 December 2003
Collaborate with KU Medical Center
To continue the significant growth of KU life science
research, it is essential that the Lawrence and Medical Center
campuses increase their level of collaboration. We will not only
facilitate Lawrence campus-Medical Center collaborations, we
will actively work to ease barriers to such collaboration. We
will support the efforts of the KU Life Sciences Council as it
plans for the formation of two major multicampus interdisciplinary
research centers.
In 1997, the Lawrence campus had a great opportunity to learn from the past and move our research agenda boldly ahead. This was accomplished by creating a campus-wide research foundation that pursued several important strategies including the focusing of research funds. As a result, research on our campus has flourished. The Lawrence campus is now the model that other universities want to emulate to improve their research productivity and administration. With the recently completed review, we have the opportunity to not only improve our research administrative services and communications, but to also set the stage for the next significant move forward in KU research. We need not shy from any lofty goal, from any competition, because we have shown over and over again that we can compete with the very best and win.
Focus on excellence…in our vision for the future, in the major programs that we want to pursue, in research administration, in our research portfolio, in our research infrastructure, in our conduct of research, in our community of researchers, in our students. Focus on steps to take to lift the reputation of our academic programs and research centers. There are many challenges ahead; working together, we can continue our quest for knowledge and help build a greater KU.
Questions? Please contact:
Office of Research & Graduate Studies
785-864-7240 | rgs@ku.edu
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