North Carolina State University. Research Operations Council.

The Research Operations Council convenes monthly and is chaired by the vice-chancellor for research, outreach, and extension. The overall purpose of the council is to improve the development, conduct, and administration of research programs at the University.

From the description of North Carolina State University, Research Operations Council records 1970-1994 [manuscript] (North Carolina State University). WorldCat record id: 475679520

The Research Operations Council convenes monthly and is chaired by the vice-chancellor for research, outreach, and extension. Its membership includes the associate deans for research from each college and school, the associate vice-chancellor for research, the associate vice-chancellor for extension, the assistant vice-chancellor for research, the assistant vice-chancellor for technology administration and development, the associate university counsel, the director of sponsored programs, the director of contracts and grants, the chair or representative from the University Research Committee, the coordinator for international programs, and the coordinator for university centers, institutes and laboratories.

The overall purpose of the council is to improve the development, conduct, and administration of research programs at the University. Specific objectives include:

Review, analyze, and implement policies and procedures that support and affect the conduct of research and work toward their improvement.

Disseminate and exchange information and literature on funding opportunities and new initiatives by state, federal, and private support agencies.

Coordinate major studies and reports concerned with the operation of research programs; for example, periodic review of the research infrastructure and preparation of an overview report on research.

Facilitate communication between the Office of Research Administration and the colleges and schools of the University on all research-related matters.

The Research Operations Council is well organized and structured. The success of this body exemplifies the ways in which faculty and college administrative input can be provided to the University administration.

Because NCSU is a research-intensive land-grant university, research and extension are not only essential components of its mission, but also extremely interdependent. To reflect this interdependence, in 1991 the Division of University Extension was merged with the Division of Research Administration to create the Office of Research, Outreach and Extension. In 1992 a committee of faculty and academic administrators was appointed to develop a process whereby the University could continuously evaluate the institutional effectiveness of its research, outreach, and extension activities and to develop goals and measures to guide at least the first evaluation cycle.

The committee identified three primary purposes of research, outreach, and extension at NCSU and proposed specific goals, outcome statements, and measures by which the fulfillment of these purposes could be evaluated. For example, one research goal established by this effort was "NCSU faculty develops new knowledge," and among the five proposed measures were number and percent of faculty publications in refereed journals, number of patents awarded, and use of patents awarded. During fall 1993 the committee's report was distributed for review to the University Research Committee and the Research Operations Council.

As a result of this committee's report, the vice-chancellor for research, outreach, and extension has appointed a Research and Outreach Institutional-Effectiveness Committee, composed of faculty, extension staff, and academic and research administrators. This committee's primary charge is to recommend the data and information collection, storage, retrieval, and reporting procedures necessary to assess the effectiveness of research and extension activities; and to assess the effectiveness of research and extension in meeting one or two of the goals and objectives identified by the 1992 committee. The committee will report on existing and proposed reporting systems by January 1994 and on its study of the University's effectiveness in meeting selected research and outreach goals by May 1994.

There are a number of other assessments of research. In 1988 the vice-chancellor for research and the Research Operations Council initiated a study to assess all administrative support for research at NCSU. The resulting Research Infrastructure Report was submitted to the vice-chancellor for research in May 1989, and in 1992 a committee of Research Operations Council and University Research Council members issued an assessment of progress made toward the goals set out in the Research Infrastructure Report, identified areas that had not been adequately addressed, and suggested strategies for continuous improvement of the infrastructure for research. The University Research Council, which is the University's policy-making body for research and is composed of faculty from all colleges, intends to evaluate progress toward the goals articulated in these two reports annually or biennially.

A third research assessment activity at the University level is the periodic review of centers, institutes and laboratories, where roughly 25 percent of NCSU's research takes place. In addition to an annual report on CILs published by the Office of Research Administration, an in-depth review of each CIL is held at least every five years to determine whether it is functioning effectively.

From the guide to the North Carolina State University, Research Operations Council Records, 1970-1994, (Special Collections Research Center)