OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH STRATEGIC PLAN MISSION STATEMENT The Office of the Vice President for Research facilitates and expands scholarship, research and economic development by providing leadership, resources, coordination, oversight and innovation. VISION STATEMENT Texas Tech University will achieve national prominence in research and promote economic development by: providing an environment that fosters intellectual discovery, creative problem solving and the dissemination and application of knowledge; conducting programs that contribute significantly to social and economic development; exposing students to nationally recognized faculty who are leaders in their disciplines; offering superior support services to research clientele; establishing national and international partnerships in research; 1
GOALS, CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS, and OBJECTIVES (including Strategies and Assessments) GOAL 1. National Research Prominence: Attain national recognition as a top public research university. Ranked in the top 100 public universities in total research expenditures. Ranked in the top 100 public universities in federal research expenditures. Three research centers or institutes with at least $3 million each per year in research expenditures. Two faculty members in the National Academy of Science. Objective 1.1: Increase extramural research funding. Invest in research infrastructure, including major equipment and physical facilities. Provide incentives to increase research productivity. Provide seed funding for individual and multidisciplinary research projects. Continue to develop and maintain federal research initiatives. Facilitate the formation of interdisciplinary research groups. Assist faculty in the submission of proposals. Total research expenditures. Federal research expenditures. Number of publications and citations. Objective 1.2: Build nationally recognized research programs and enhance the national reputation of the University as a public research institution. Provide start-up funding packages for new faculty members. Promote, publicize, and reward research achievement. Help qualified faculty members rise to prominence in their professional societies. 2
Number of faculty research awards. Number of Fellows in national societies. 3
Goal 2. Partnerships: Build and support strategic partnerships that expand research. Increase the dollar amount of research partnerships with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center by 50%. Establish formal agreements with government laboratories and federal agencies. Increase the research funding from private sector companies by 20 percent. Objective 2.1: Establish and strengthen the partnerships with the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Establish interdisciplinary research partnerships with the Health Sciences Center. Sponsor a joint Texas Tech University/Texas Tech Health Sciences Center research award competition every year. Market and publicize joint initiatives. Number of cooperative initiatives. Number of joint publications. Amount of external funding. Objective 2.2: Increase the number of partnerships with state and federal agencies and national laboratories. Identify potential state and federal partners that could provide benefit to the university. Establish formal partnership agreements with agencies and laboratories. Actively pursue Intergovernmental Personnel Act assignments. Publicize the results of successful partnerships. Number of formal written agreements. Amount of funding. 4
Objective 2.3: Develop partnerships with other educational institutions. Identify and pursue opportunities with other educational institutions that provide potential for external funding. Develop and maintain collaborative federal research initiatives with other universities. Number of formal written agreements. Level of funding. Objective 2.4: Develop partnerships with private sector companies. Identify companies that would be interested in associating with university instruction and research programs. Establish formal partnerships that significantly advance the university s programs. Publicize successful partnerships with private sector companies. Number of formal written agreements. Number of scholarships. Amount of research funding. 5
Goal 3. Human Resources and Infrastructure: Improve facilities, infrastructure, and administrative support for research. Have a diverse staff that is representative of the community. Move toward peer-institution parity in compensation for staff. Have all new employees participate in the university orientation and customer service programs. Annual performance review, including a development plan, for all employees. Objective 3.1: Provide adequate space for university research needs. Procure additional research space on campus via either remodeling existing space or constructing new facilities. Convert existing underutilized space at the university into research or joint research/teaching space. Number of square feet for research programs. Objective 3.2: Develop the infrastructure to support a higher level of research. Strengthen centralized services (Office of Research Services, Animal Care Services, central core facilities) that support research. Provide the amount of administrative support necessary to effectively conduct research. Ensure proper compliance with state and federal regulations concerning biosafety, animal care and use, and human subjects in research. Increase financial resources available to adequately equip research space. Researchers surveys. Peer institution comparisons. 6
Objective 3.3: Ensure that Fiscal Affairs offices and processes (travel, purchasing, and personnel) accommodate special needs of research and sponsored projects. Strategy: Work with Fiscal Affairs area to identify and resolve concerns. Researchers surveys. Service providers surveys. Objective 3.4: Recruit and maintain a highly qualified and diverse staff. Assure that current and accurate job descriptions exist for all positions. Empower the appropriate area for the recruitment of new personnel. Have an effective performance evaluation system for all employees consistent with university priorities. Annually conduct performance evaluation and provide feedback, which includes a development plan. Reward superior performance. Accurate job descriptions for all positions. Level of salary equity with peer institutions. Objective 3.5: Provide excellence in service to internal and external constituencies. All new staff will attend customer service training within sixty days of employment. Annual performance appraisals will include an assessment of customer service. Use internal and external customer satisfaction feedback to improve quality of service provided. Participation level in SERVICEplus. Customer service surveys. 7
Goal 4. Fiscal Stability: Strengthen financial stability of the research enterprise. Recover all allowable Facility and Administrative (F&A) costs. Annually distribute research incentive awards equal to at least 50% of the earned F&A costs to colleges and research centers and institutes. Increase the percentage of research expenditures obtained from competitive federal grants to at least 60% of total research expenditures. Objective 4.1: Develop funding to enhance the research, technology transfer, and economic development enterprises. Ensure start-up funds for new faculty members. Provide seed grants for innovative research ideas that might be leveraged into major sponsored projects funded by external customers. Develop financial support for the acquisition and maintenance of research equipment, facilities, and supplies. Develop funds to aggressively search for extramural research awards from potential sponsors. Provide appropriate awards for excellence in research. Percentage of facilities and administrative costs returned. Percentage of sponsored research from competitive federal grants and contracts. Amount of start-up funds, seed grants, research equipment, technology transfer, and economic development funds. Objective 4.2: Maintain policies and procedures to maximize the recovery of facilities and administrative costs. Continue to increase the amount of recovered F&A costs to the colleges and centers. Amount of facilities and administrative costs recovered as a percentage of total sponsored project expenditures. 8
Goal 5. Accountability: Strengthen the performance, assessment, and accountability. Minimal findings from audits. All research-related timelines in Operating Policies are met. Objective 5.1: Ensure that all research area units operate in a fiscally responsible manner and comply with university policy. Assist in formulating unit budgets. Monitor budgets and financial commitments. Units operate within established budgets. Units operate within established university policy. Objective 5.2: Ensure that operating policies and procedures concerning research are clearly written and communicated to appropriate parties. Review existing Operating Policies on established schedule. Work with the Research Committee to develop new policies as needed. Inform faculty, administrators, and staff of policies and procedures as appropriate. Meet schedule deadlines. Researchers, administrators, and staff surveys. Objective 5.3: Maintain an effective benchmarking process for the research enterprise. Continually improve assessment and benchmarking programs for research. Continue to participate in the NACUBO Sponsored Project Performance Benchmarking program that compares the university with other institutions. Assessment: Report on benchmarking. 9