| Actions: | The charge to the Research Council was delayed initially to allow the new Vice President for Research to provide input. The Senate leadership and the Provost agreed to further delay the charge to the Research Council until the report of the Research Institute Advisory Committee had been completed. The Research Council received its charge on June 3, 2019, and began planning initial steps to gather information regarding current centers & institutes at the University.
During the 2019-2020 academic year, the Research Council reviewed the current 1991 policy and requested information on centers and institutes from each UMD College. The Council held an open forum with center and institute directors to collect input and feedback on their experiences, and held other sessions with the deans and with graduate students. A survey was sent to center directors and faculty and students engaged in centers & institutes to gather additional feedback from a broader audience. The feedback from the forum, sessions, and survey was carefully reviewed and compiled into a document of major themes for the Council’s review. Peer data (Big Ten and other peers) was also gathered and best practices were compiled to serve as a resource to the Council as it works to revise the policy.
The Research Council developed preliminary directions, which were presented to the Senate for feedback in March, 2020. The Council used feedback from the Senate and from key stakeholders to develop a draft policy, which it circulated among deans, directors, faculty, and students for additional feedback in May 2020. |
