"Dear Task Force Members: Please find below, the most recent draft of the recommendations for presentation to the chancellor. We will use this list as the basis for discussion of our next meeting, the date for which will be finalized shortly. We are inviting two members of the UCRA Executive Committee to attend this meeting. Thank you. Gillian. Gillian M. Small, Ph.D. Working Draft (as of 2/23/09) The Task Force on Restructuring the PSC-CUNY Research Award Program recommends the following: An allocation will be made to each campus, initially based on PSC-CUNY funds awarded to the campus in the prior year as well as on the number of full-time faculty, with a weighting process favoring the junior faculty population. The amount will be adjusted annually based on whether a particular college submits applications proportionate to the number of eligible faculty. "Eligible faculty" includes all untenured full-time faculty, and those tenured full-time faculty who show scholarly activity in the prior three-year period, as evidenced by entries in CUNY's Faculty Scholarship/Creative Activity Collection. Each campus will establish a faculty committee to make recommendations for funding to the provost. The committees will work with a list of directed priorities that favor new research proposals and junior faculty proposals across all disciplines. Proposals that seek a renewal of ongoing research should demonstrate progress on that project. The committee should weigh heavily the outcomes from any PSC-CUNY support in the prior three-year period, as described in the research proposal. Each faculty committee will use one university-wide form that will list criteria to be assessed in the evaluation process. The approval rate should be significantly reduced from the current range of 75 to 90 percent, with a corresponding increase in per-grant allocation. A strong emphasis should be placed on funding non-tenured faculty over tenured faculty. Senior faculty in some areas, such as the sciences, should be expected to apply for external funding on a consistent basis. Funding will be allocated to accounts at the Research Foundation based on committee recommendations and approval by the provosts. To ensure the program continues to meet the goals described above, outcomes will be reviewed annually by a CUNY-wide panel of research-active and externally funded faculty that will be appointed by the chancellor. The panel will receive a report of funding allocations from each campus and, if deemed necessary, will make recommendations regarding future adjustments in administering and allocating the funds for each campus." |