Academic Plan - Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity
As Indiana’s premier urban public research institution, IUPUI supports the conduct of world-class research and creative activities that are relevant to Indianapolis, the state, and beyond. Achieving research excellence depends on support for scholarly activity through external funding, as well as a strong campus infrastructure. Multidisciplinary research – particularly in areas aligned with the health and life sciences mission of the campus, is a particularly high priority at this point in the institution’s history.
Major Initiative: Signature Centers
The IUPUI Signature Centers Initiative is one of the cornerstones of the Academic Plan. It capitalizes on the many assets at IUPUI by supporting the interdisciplinary collaboration of faculty with common research interests from across the campus. Building on existing strengths, campus funding provides seed money for fledgling ideas with tremendous potential for success, or enables existing centers of innovation and excellence to achieve new heights. Building on the close proximity to the hub of state government and the business community, Signature Centers will be enhanced by partnerships with leaders throughout the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. The fruits of these collaborations will have local and global impact and support the training of the next generation of researchers.
In January 2007, 19 Signature Center proposals (from 81 applicants) received awards that guaranteed $5.7 million in flexible funding – supported equally between the IUPUI central administration and the relevant academic units. Several of these Centers have already demonstrated success in securing external research funds, and progress of the others will be closely monitored through routine assessments to ensure that resources are invested strategically. In January 2008, another 10 proposals for Signature Centers (from 54 applicants) received $3 million in funding. The Signature Centers define IUPUI’s areas of excellence and will serve as a powerful recruiting tool for talented faculty and students.
Status of Additional Action Items Related to Enhancement of the Resource Base:
Conduct World-Class Research and Creative Activities
Action Items:
- Hiring Foreign Adjuncts for Brief Periods to Enrich Research and Teaching
Recommendations:- Increase teaching by foreign adjuncts to enhance internationalization efforts at IUPUI, yet implementation should be left up to individual schools at this time
Full Report [PDF]
- TA and RA Stipends
Recommendations:- Strive to increase budgets for RA support in external research applications
- Build better support for TAs into base budgets for key teaching units
- Actively seek external funding to support graduate student training, and support faculty efforts to obtain such funds at both the school and campus levels
Full Report [PDF]
- Increase Faculty Diversity via Multi-cultural Visiting Appointments
Recommendations:- Develop mechanisms to both recruit and track visiting faculty from underrepresented groups, including the use of appropriate advertisements aimed at increasing diversity among scientists/scholars
- Extend use of the Support for Underrepresented Faculty fund to include visiting research/teaching appointments and postdoctoral fellows
- Adopt best practices aligned with programs that have been conceived to produce more minority Ph.Ds and create an administrative position to manage a multi-cultural visiting appointment program
Full Report [PDF]
Provide Support for Scholarly Activity and External Funding
Action Items:
- Start-up Funds
Recommendations:- Recruit senior faculty by having Deans guarantee return of ICR to PIs for periods of 3 years.
- Allocate campus administration’s share of ICR to schools for use as start-up funds.
Full Report [PDF]
- Reporting Lines and Assessment of Centers
Recommendations:- Document current practices and share information about strategies with deans, center directors, and other administrators prior to drafting new policies
- Clearly distinguish “campus-wide” centers and “school centers” in center policies and establish an IUPUI Advisory Committee that will advise on policies and implementation
- Institute regular program reviews of centers reporting to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research; reviews should be conducted with due consideration for differences in center structures and purposes
- Promote Interdisciplinary Research
Recommendations:- Create infrastructure (e.g., Faculty Annual Reports; database of sharable equipment; common colloquium calendar) that provides opportunities for collaboration and sharing
- Reward interdisciplinary research in P&T review and through sabbatical leaves
- Grant graduate degrees that are interdisciplinary, develop procedures for interdisciplinary hires, and create cross-disciplinary mentoring programs for new faculty
- Grant-matching Funds and Bridge Funds
Recommendations:- Provide early assurance to faculty writing proposals involving matching funds that institutional funds will be available for the match (Draw matching funds from 2 sources – funds from the Graduate Office can be used for proposals that clearly offer support to graduate students; a different fund should be created for matches that require infrastructure or equipment)
- Provide bridge funding quickly to productive faculty
Enhance Infrastructure
Action Items:
- Space Planning
Recommendations:- Continue to work on a Master Space Plan to support the need for research and creative space
- Communicate space needs to the public more openly and prioritized space needs in fundraising campaigns.
Full Report [PDF]
