Comments on: Thoughts on Restructuring Research

By: Theresa Kelley

Theresa Kelley — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:45:56 +0000

What remains murky about the proposed reorganization is its relation to the problem of compliance that colleagues in the sciences are very concerned about. Why would addressing this problem require reorganizing how research is managed across the university? A problem that concerns one sector could be addressed there. Having someone speak for campus wide research in all fields in Washington would be appropriate if that position were in fact evenly concerned with all levels and kinds of research. If the processing of complex grants (including those in the humanities) is slow, that suggests a need for more personnel in the grad school to distribute the workload or perhaps, if these problems are specific to the sciences, a position within that part of the university to address grant preparation steps there.

By: uwh

uwh — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:47:39 +0000

The article probably didn’t mention it since no one made any comments about it, asked any questions or expressed any concern at the Senate meeting.

By: SAA

SAA — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:31:15 +0000

The paper got this part of their report all wrong. To quote: “Because of these concerns, the University Committee said it has formed an ‘Ad Hoc Committee to Determine the Needs and Structure of UW-Madison’s Research Enterprise.’ This committee will be chaired by Provost Paul DeLuca.”

As I understand, the UC formed the Ad Hoc committee in response to the planning process of the Provost and Chancellor, not because of the complaints she has heard.

By: DRW

DRW — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:00:06 +0000

The Ad Hoc Committee is chaired by Biochemistry Professor Hector DeLuca, not Paul Deluca. It’s interesting that the article doesn’t mention that many faculty are concerned about the reorganization and also how faculty governance needs to play a part in this decision.

By: GWP

GWP — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:40:38 +0000

Excerpt from today’s Cap TImes (http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/education/campus_connection/article_588372b4-b233-11de-b6ac-001cc4c03286.html) reporting on the most recent Faculty Senate meeting.

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* Martin, who is starting her second year leading Wisconsin’s flagship university, said the thing she heard the most complaints about during her first year on campus was the structure of UW-Madison’s research enterprise.

This is at least a little surprising considering UW-Madison consistently ranks among the nation’s top research institutions.

Martin said there were three main concerns she was hearing about.

First, “the faculty was very worried about the long-term delays in getting their grants out and set up after they were awarded. So they felt there was a lack of efficiency and responsiveness.”

Next, Martin noted the university has “a whole set of safety and compliance issues — that are partly the product of increased regulation at the federal level — that we need to get caught up with and organized on.”

She added: “And a third thing I heard from faculty is we need a presence in Washington. A lot of universities have a vice chancellor or vice provost for research that spends at least part of his or her time in D.C. with an ear to the ground about what kinds of things might get funded and getting in on discussions about what we think should be funded.”

Because of these concerns, the University Committee said it has formed an “Ad Hoc Committee to Determine the Needs and Structure of UW-Madison’s Research Enterprise.” This committee will be chaired by Provost Paul DeLuca.

DeLuca is slated to host “town hall” meetings on this topic Oct. 14 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Microbial Sciences Building (1550 Linden Dr.) and on Oct. 23 from 1 to 2 p.m. in room 3650 of the Humanities Building (455 N. Park St.).