Overview

Purpose/Mission: The Council of Principal Investigators (CPI), consisting of elected PIs representing each Texas A&M college and various A&M System affiliations such as the Health Sciences Center (HSC), Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES), Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), serves as a liaison between university administrators and faculty. The mission of CPI is to recognize and evaluate potential means for improving teaching and research at Texas A&M University in efforts to bring to realization the university's goal of being nationally recognized and competitive in these areas. http://cpi.tamu.edu

Activities/Accomplishments: During FY 2001 the CPI addressed numerous issues brought forth by faculty and university administration. The most noteworthy of these issues, which will continue to be monitored throughout the upcoming Fiscal Year, are outlined below:

Undergraduate Research

Mark H. Weichold, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Programs and Michael W. Buckley, Director of Support Services within the Office of the Vice President for Research, are collaborating to organize an ad hoc committee whose purpose will be to focus on ways to strengthen undergraduate programs on campus. The ad hoc committee will consist of representatives from the following offices: Executive Vice President and Provost, Vice President for Research, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Programs, Honors program office, CPI, FS research committee, Sigma Xi, Student leaders, International programs, Nancy Simpson (Center for Teaching Excellence). The ultimate outcome will be to achieve compliance with Vision 2020, that students during their undergraduate experience will have the opportunity to be involved in research. A new position is being formally funded by Dr. Dr. Buckley and Dr. Weichold are prepared to present an update, concerning the ad hoc committee's progress, at the September 12, 2001, CPI meeting.

Research and Graduate Studies Work Group

Wilford D. Gardner chaired the Research and Graduate Work Group whose primary focus has been working with the Graduate Admissions office and the Departments of Chemistry and Statistics determining the advantages of implementing direct admissions at the graduate level. The short-term goal is to do a feasibility project with a select group of departments to determine if direct admissions provide a better means of securing enrollment of top candidates into graduate programs. Meetings will continue with the admissions office and departments to improve this process so Texas A&M will be more competitive in recruiting graduate students.

Graduate Student Web Page Competition

The CPI authored a proposal entitled "Graduate Student Research Web-page Competition" which has been approved for implementation by Richard E. Ewing, Vice President for Research and John R. Giardino, Dean of Graduate Studies. The competition is designed to encourage graduate students personal development as scholars and researchers, while expanding the presence of research represented on the Texas A&M University web pages. It was recommended: the competition be held annually in the spring semester; submissions will be comprised of a web page and will be judged on content, significance, implications, ease of use, and dissemination of results; and university winner(s) (up to ten) will receive a scholarship of $1000, and in-state tuition for the academic year.

Texas A&M University Web site

George O. Rogers served as Chair of a subcommittee with focus on the Texas A&M University web site. The subcommittee worked closely with Cynthia J. Lawson, Executive Director of University Relations, addressing means to highlight research at Texas A&M to keep with the goals of Vision 2020, as well as improvements to site content and navigation. The graduate studies web site task force, lead by Darren Pearson, Chair of Graduate Studies, and Matt Wilkins, Past Chair of Graduate Studies, also continues to work closely with Ms. Lawson and her staff as enhancements to the Texas A&M site, pertaining to graduate studies, are brought to realization. Ms. Lawson and her staff will continue to meet with CPI, ever three months, providing an update on web site progress.

Human Resources

The Human Resources Subcommittee, chaired by Robert C. Webb, working closely with William B. Krumm, was successful in its goal to have Postdoctoral Research Associates added to the list of Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) eligible titles. The subcommittee continues to negotiate with university administration on several recommendations pertaining to human resources.

International Services

Issues concerning the quality of services delivered by the Office for International Services were addressed by the CPI resulting in a resolution recommending that Internal Services for faculty and other professional staff be administered in a unit of the Office of the Provost or Vice President for Research. This resolution was forwarded to the Faculty Senate for their support and to University Administration.

Interdisciplinary Program (IDP)

Upon realization of the value and benefits of university Interdisciplinary Programs, the CPI, with direction and support of Office of the Vice President for Research, and in collaboration with the University Research Infrastructure (URI) Committee, are furthering the efforts to implement interdisciplinary programs at Texas A&M University. The IDP Subcommittee, chaired by John P. Fackler, is developing a proposal on the implementation of such a program. Clearly there are two aspects of interdisciplinary programs: 1) Research and 2) Academic. Involving undergraduate studies/research in the IDP would allow and encourage faculty to collaborate and may pave the way to modifying Texas A&M's culture, specifically as it relates to the research environment.

Mission Statement

The CPI and the Executive Committee of Distinguished Professors (ECDP) collaborated to develop recommendations for revisions to the Texas A&M University mission statement and the addition of a vision statement which have been formally submitted to the Vice President for Research. This has also been presented and discussed with Provost Douglas and has been circulated to the Faculty Senate and Distinguished Professors for evaluation and comment. http://cpi.tamu.edu/program%20recs.htm#top%20of%20page

University Research Infrastructure

In order to meet the challenges of Texas A&M's Vision 2020, "state-of-the-art" shared research resources facilities are needed. Having recognized this, Richard E. Ewing, Vice President for Research, charged the CPI to formalize an ad-hoc committee who's primary objective would be to develop review criteria for broad-based research infrastructure investment made at the university level. The ad-hoc committee was successful in developing recommendations which were forwarded to and approved by Dr. Ewing. Progress continues to be made in this area, working to implement these recommendations, through the efforts of the University Research Infrastructure Oversight Committee. http://cpi.tamu.edu/program%20recs.htm#top%20of%20page

CPI Bylaws

The Bylaws Subcommittee, chaired by George Rogers, evaluated and revised the CPI bylaws. The most current set of bylaws are available on the CPI Web site, http://cpi.tamu.edu/bylaws.htm#top%20of%20page.

Definition of a Principal Investigator (PI)

The CPI reviewed and approved the proposed Faculty Senate resolution on Principal Investigator (PI) Eligibility for Sponsored Research at Texas A&M. Through the process of reviewing and evaluating the proposed resolution it became evident that both Texas A&M University departments and A&M System Research Agencies are largely in agreement on PI Eligibility.

FOCUS ISSUES - ACADEMIC YEAR 2001-2002

John P. Fackler, Chair
Robert C. Webb, Vice Chair
Max D. Summers, Immediate Past Chair

• Graduate recruiting, fellowships, etc.
• Undergraduate Research
• Post-doctoral status issues
• INS Concerns
• Interdisciplinary programs
• Infrastructure
• Legal Issues for PI's
• Web status
• Mission statement and QEP
• Indirect Costs
• CAFRT
• Research Park and Technology Transfer