March 1, 2021

Attendees: Jerry Lin, Ana Christensen, Amy Smith, Chunda Chen, Scott Crawford, Ken Young, Richard Gachot  

Meeting called to order by: Dr. Jerry Lin @ 1:30 p.m.  

Dr. Lin asked if the current allotted time for the meeting was acceptable to all the members. Members agreed the time was still appropriate.      

I. Review/Approval of February 1, 2021 minutes 

A few minor corrections were made to the minutes. (Addition of Dr. Gachot attending the previous meeting, and one spelling correction). 

Motion to approve the February 1, 2021 meeting made by: Richard Gachot 

Motion seconded by:  Ken Young and Chunda Chen 

Motion to approve minutes by all members. 

II. Updates on Cayuse Fund Manager 

Dr. Lin gives background of the roll of Cayuse Fund manager in terms of spending accuracy and auditing purposes.  Everything is still on track to deploy in June of 2021.  Finance is still in progress of putting all fields from Banner into Cayuse.  Next, case runs of different project scenarios will be performed. Feedback will be needed from the committee concerning what they want to see in Cayuse.   Dr. Lin will keep the committee posted. 

III. Update on Lamar University Scholar’s Week, April 12-16, 2021  

The Committee for Scholar’s week had its first meeting a few weeks ago. Dr. Lin discusses various past examples of scholarly activity and faculty awards presented on campus that were done throughout the year.  The vision for scholar’s week is to consolidate these activities across campus into one week.  Members were asked if they know of any research or scholarly activities that need to be included in scholar’s week.  Due to COVID-19 events may have to be scaled down, but a full list of activities needs to be created for future use.  Scholar’s week needs to become a yearly tradition at Lamar in the Spring Semester.   

There was some concern about overlap of events, or that students may be over committed.  Discussion and more planning will occur before April.   

IV. Metrics for evaluating research performance 

Dr. Lin asks the committee if they can provide and additional guidelines based specific colleges or other factors concerning the metrics used for research performance evaluations.  This information can then be presented to upper Administration.   

Dr. Young mentions that it is important to consider the amount of time provided for research. Faculty workload in some departments can make research more challenging.  Other departmental assignments given to Junior faculty also make research difficult- such as recruitment obligations.   

Dr. Lin then describes that time and effort must be defined to teaching, research, and service.  He states it can be difficult to rate the quality of work coming from various areas.  We need a way to come up with consistent standard for each college to run their own evaluations.  It is helpful if the council can provide a list of important activities for colleges to consider as research/scholarly activities.   

V. Roundtable

i. S&T Bldg and Makerspace for research activities 

Dr. Lin notified members that all machines and 3-D printing Lab in the Makerspace are available for use.  He asked the council assists informing colleagues on campus the available facilities.  The website will soon be available with a list of tools and analytical instruments available to campus.  Dr. Ana Christensen asked if there would be a cost associated to using the equipment and or space.  Dr. Lin stated that no cost is associated at the moment.  In fall of 2021 the S&T will be moving toward becoming a “Research Service Center” and a low cost will be associated with using the facilities.  External users will also be able to use the space, but with a different rate.   

Dr. Lin ended the meeting at 2:11 p.m.