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Office of the Vice President for ResearchNorman Campus

The Work of Many• The material presented here represents the

thoughtful, creative work and inspirational support of many people over the past few years– President Boren– Paul Risser and the Research Cabinet (particularly Nick

Hathaway, Daniel Pullin, Lee Williams and Morris Foster)– The Research Visiting Team– VPR Advisory Committee– CIVO– Office of Export Controls– Office of Research Communications

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Motivation and Context• Today’s academic research and creativity enterprise

is different– Many of the most challenging problems reside at the

boundary of multiple disciplines– Many problems are now global in scope and systemic in

structure, and the emergence of a global economy and greater cultural diversity is changing higher education

– The nation’s future workforce, and the ability to compete globally, are in jeopardy

– Competition among institutions has increased significantly

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Motivation and Context• Today’s academic research and creativity enterprise is

different– Grant solicitations are considerably more prescriptive, complex,

and focused on tangible, measurable outcomes. Competition is fierce and success rates are at historic lows

– Government is shifting from being a partner to being a procurer (pay less, get more), and private industry is now a bigger player

– The value in the academy of success based on prestige is giving way to market value and tangible return on investment

– Increasing value is being placed on undergraduate research

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Recent Progress in Research at OU• Multidisciplinary Strategic Research Initiatives• Research Cabinet• Research Communications Office• University Strategic Organizations• Competitive College Investment Fund• External visiting team report• VPR Advisory Committee with members from every college• Research Statistics and Analysis Group to understand our progress and

challenges• Excellence in Proposals pilot program leading to a proposal

development center• Web-based Capabilities and Interests system to build awareness

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Yet We are Not Where We Should Be or Want to Be…

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University of Nebraska

OU = 6%

OU = 10%

Penn State

PSU OU

41% 6%24% 10%12% 32%

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Many more metrics have been compiled and analyzed to frame

the way forward

Visit http://research.ou.edu/rsafor additional information

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What do the Data Say About Us?• That OU has considerable unrealized potential and thus

tremendous opportunity to– Think bigger – well beyond our traditional horizons – toward

problems that require new approaches, frameworks and support mechanisms

– Raise expectations and implement more effective processes for accountability and productivity measurement

– Seek and obtain funding for national centers and large projects– Dramatically increase our engagement with Federal agencies,

especially DOD and DOE– Submit higher quality, more competitive proposals overall

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• That OU has considerable unrealized potential and thus tremendous opportunity to– Develop more effective ways of investing in research to promote

growth and prominence– Establish additional Federal presence in Norman– Develop new support infrastructures and contracting vehicles– Engage more effectively with industry, HSC and NIH activities– Be more active in driving the national research agenda– Build local and national awareness of our research capabilities– Recognize that the “let 1000 flowers bloom” model long used in

academic research is no longer effective as the primary philosophy of achieving institutional success

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What do the Data Say About Us?

What Other Things do the Data Say About Us?

• That mechanistic changes alone will be insufficient• To become a truly outstanding comprehensive research

university, we need to make fundamental changes– In how we think and plan

• Challenging ourselves dream bigger• Developing a shared vision, clear strategies and metrics for defining success• Improving communication regarding the research enterprise• Giving strong consideration to research capabilities in hiring new faculty, including in

clusters

– In how scholarship is inspired, nurtured and rewarded– In how we set expectations and maintain accountability– In how internal resources are provided– In how we assess the competitive position of our programs nationally and

internationally

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What Other Things do the Data Say About Us?

• To become truly outstanding in research, we must ensure that all programs – natural and physical science, engineering, humanities and social sciences, arts, law and continuing education – play a vibrant and active role in the OU research enterprise

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Some Characteristics of Success• An inspiring environment and institutional personality that fosters creativity and bold,

transformative thinking. Exciting ideas drive creative/imaginative people.• Disciplinary strength as well as interdisciplinary activities• Effective mechanisms for evaluating interdisciplinary scholarship and the value of integrative

research and education in the tenure process• Mutual reinforcement of teaching and scholarship• Highly ranked programs and faculty recognized internationally for their research, including

members of national academies• A diversity of and balance to approaches: co-existence of basic, translational, and applied

research and training• Meaningful programs that seek to broaden participation and enhance diversity • Integrative undergraduate research programs and K-12 outreach programs• Highly competitive graduate student recruitment activities• A broad portfolio of grants, contracts, procurements, open and restricted activities in a

framework of creative industry, government and academic partnerships

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Some Characteristics of Success• Strategically aligned institutional funding that flows not into departments and

colleges but across organizational boundaries• Appropriate incentives, accountability, rewards and support mechanisms• Significant engagement with multiple remote Federal centers or laboratories and

a meaningful local Federal presence• Balanced funding across agencies, foundations and private industry• A willingness to phase out old ideas and activities and embrace new ones

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The penultimate indicator of success is not when all programs are of equal stature,

productivity or renown, but rather when all programs are achieving their full

potential – a potential that is continually re-defined by bold, transformative ideas

within a culture of inspired leadership

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How Do We Reach Higher?• By developing a strategic direction that

– Is contextualized by local, regional and global needs, activities and plans– Is driven by institutional vision, developed/owned by the faculty, and supported

and resourced by institutional leaders– Is fluid, providing a roadmap for decision making and resource allocation while

accommodating unexpected opportunities– Builds upon existing strengths but seeks to create new strengths, and modes of

engagement and communication, that fundamentally will transform us– Incorporates recommendations from the external research visiting team– Considers the long-term view with a limited number of actionable, outcome-

oriented performance objectives for the short- and medium-term– Defines the steps and resources needed to achieve these goals– Includes priorities and a clear set of metrics for assessing progress– Is so compelling that support and resources are unavoidable

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The Issue of Resources

• Reality: The fraction of OU’s budget from State appropriations, though larger than that of other states, has fallen in recent years

• Conclusion: OU will never reach its potential if rely on State appropriations. Therefore, to reach our aspirations we must be very good at raising money from lots of resources.

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Some of the Driving Questions• How can we build upon the President’s tremendous success in transforming

OU in order to move research forward in the same way?• What systemic factors are holding us back and what can we do to overcome

them?• What metrics should be used to measure our progress and standing?• What linkages, programs and resources are missing and how can we put them

in place?• How can we leverage for benefit the longstanding conflict between classroom

instruction and research productivity?• How do we balance investments in faculty we already have in comparison to

new hires?• How can we take full advantage on the Norman Campus of our strengths in

health sciences? Training in OU Outreach?• What things can be done without financial investment?

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How Do We Go About It?

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We’re Well Beyond the Blank Sheet of Paper

• Leverage the considerable analyses and evaluations performed during the past several years…– Research Visiting Team report– Research Statistics and Analysis Group reports– Long-term trend data– Benchmarks against other institutions

• …to develop a planning framework and process• We have done so in a bottom-up manner with support from

the top

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Quantitative Analyses, Reviews, ReportsVPR Office, Research Cabinet, Colleges

Three Objectives, Five Strategy AreasVPR Office, Research

Cabinet, VPR Advisory Committee

Specific Strategies, Action Plans, Priorities and Metrics

Colleges, Departments, Research Units, Faculty

Institutional Goal

Purpose of Aspire 2020• Through the active involvement of faculty and

administrative leadership in a structured planning process, Aspire 2020 will lead to a decadal road map for scholarship on the Norman Campus (including Norman Campus programs at OU-Tulsa)

• Some important activities already have begun (e.g., Proposal Development Center, Cluster Hire Initiative)– This makes Aspire 2020 immediately relevant and demonstrates

the administration’s support of the principles it embodies

• The point isn’t a plan (we won’t even create a written document), but rather CHANGE

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Our Institutional Goal: To Become the Nation’s Foremost Public,

Comprehensive Research University of Our Size

• Appropriateness• Achievability• Measurability

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• Competitiveness – The ability for OU to compete more effectively in the national and international marketplace of ideas, people and resources.

• Engagement – The ability for OU to engage across its programs, and with other organizations, aligning interests, building relationships, establishing mechanisms for pursuing new activities, and communicating OU’s strengths and capabilities to multiple sectors.

• Culture – An inspiring environment and institutional personality that incentivizes and rewards creativity and bold, transformative thinking, and that maintains accountability with the highest standards of excellence in all scholarly endeavors.

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The Foundation of Aspire 2020: Transformational Objectives

Transforming Research

Competitiveness

Transforming ResearchCulture

Transforming Research

Engagement

Nation’s ForemostPublic

ComprehensiveResearch University

Of Our Size

Objective #1 – Transform Research Competitiveness

• The ability for OU to compete in the national and international marketplace of ideas, people and resources.

• Strategies1. Big Thinking. Stimulate and support big thinking and transformative ideas, especially to establish national centers and major

national research programs at OU. Develop a few major cross-campus themes that engage numerous disciplines and hold promise for propelling OU to international prominence.

2. Proposal Development. Establish processes to nurture ideas and translate them into highly competitive extramural proposals. Improve faculty awareness and understanding of funding sources and opportunities, providing specific information far in advance of solicitation issuance. Assist in developing awareness of faculty capabilities/interests, and facilitate the building of research relationships within OU and between OU and other institutions.

3. Faculty and Programmatic Excellence. Make research potential or accomplishment a fundamental characteristic of every faculty hire, and add outstanding new faculty, especially those with substantial leadership experience and potential, with attention to clusters. Expand quantitative analysis of research metrics and conduct competitive analyses at the university college, departmental and center levels to benchmark ourselves against other programs – using this information to inform strategies for identifying and addressing weaknesses and creating and taking full advantage of opportunities.

4. Federal Agency Presence. Establish a meaningful presence of another (in addition to NOAA) Federal agency and ensure associated strong, sustainable engagement with multiple OU research programs.

5. Graduate and Undergraduate Research. Develop an integrative program of undergraduate research containing multiple pathways and emphasizing the total professional experience. Improve the recruitment and retention of graduate students, increasing substantially the number of graduate students supported by extramural funds and emphasizing the enhancement of diversity.

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Objective #2 – Transform Research Engagement

• The ability for OU to engage across its programs, and with other organizations, aligning interests, building relationships, establishing mechanisms for pursuing new activities, and communicating OU’s strengths and capabilities to multiple sectors.

• Strategies1. Federal Agencies. Vastly improve engagements with Federal agencies, particularly DOD (including restricted research) and

DOE, inspiring and incentivizing college and departmental leaders to play a central role in research planning and strategy execution. Improve faculty participation in peer review and agency/foundation advisory committees and play an active role in driving the national research agenda

2. Private Foundations. Increase linkages with private foundations, especially for supporting activities in the fine arts, liberal arts, humanities, social sciences, and activities that seek to improve the human condition.

3. Private Industry. Devise a mechanism for more structured and effective engagement in research with private companies, particularly but not exclusively those in Oklahoma, and evaluate the feasibility of special mechanisms for performing certain types of applied research and development.

4. Inter- and Intra-Campus. Develop mechanisms for all programs, especially those in the fine arts, humanities, liberal arts and social sciences, to become engaged in sponsored research and creative activity and to collaborate across departments and college. Identify a few areas of potential strategic investment, both within and across campuses and involving multiple colleges including Law and Continuing Education, for which international prominence is attainable. Identify opportunities and mechanisms for collaboration between Norman Campus research and OU Outreach sponsored programs.

5. State Agencies. Increase the alignment of research programs with the strategic goals and objectives of State agencies as well as the State’s S&T and EDGE Plans

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Objective #3 – Transform Research Culture

• An inspiring environment and institutional personality that fosters and rewards creativity and bold, transformative thinking, and that maintains accountability with the highest standards of excellence in all scholarly endeavors.

• Strategies1. Incentives. Create meaningful incentives and support mechanisms for faculty to pursue extramural research

opportunities and to create opportunities of their own. Identify and remove existing disincentives.2. Rewards. Establish appropriate and meaningful mechanisms to reward success in internally and externally funded

scholarship. Ensure that rewards and incentives are appropriately aligned with the diversity of disciplines and approaches in the scholarship enterprise. Create award and recognition programs that highlight faculty achievement and thus help students recognize the importance of scholarly endeavors and inspire them in their own career.

3. Directed Resources. Provide financial resources to seed new ideas at the college and departmental levels in ways that are linked to University strategic directions. Develop strategies to support core facilities and major equipment via shared models of engagement with other OU campuses.

4. Standards of Excellence. Raise expectations for achievement and set higher standards for success in research and creative activities, including factors related to quality, participation, productivity, and achievement, applying metrics such as publication impact factors, rankings, and individual’s roles in advancing the knowledge enterprise.

5. Accountability. Increase accountability at all levels and to a much greater extent base institutional decisions for tenure, promotion, salary, space and other resources on participation, performance and productivity in research and creative activity.

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Sample Metrics for Success by 2015 and 2020 – to begin the discussion

• Be the lead institution on three proposals for major national centers (e.g,. NSF STC, ERC or SLC; NIH COBRE), with one of them being successful

• Lead a substantial DoD-supported grant or contract• Be executing several classified/restricted research projects• Be invited to join AAU by 2020• Hire three National Academies faculty members by 2015• Increase significantly the number of post-docs and non-faculty researchers• Increase significantly the engagement in externally funded research, and

cross-disciplinary research, of humanities, fine and liberal arts, business, journalism, and other domains of scholarship that traditionally rely on internal funding to pursue their work

• …

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A Set of Institutional Themes?• Several universities have established broad imperatives, areas of distinction, or

themes around which to focus their attention• At Oregon State University

– “Oregon State is differentiated from other universities in part through its focus, current strengths, and great potential in five multidisciplinary academic thematic areas that integrate the mission of teaching, research, and outreach that is our charge from the people of Oregon. These robust intellectual themes, which respond to the unique challenges of Oregon's future, are integral to our vision, and constitute signature academic priorities that define the University. Accordingly, while OSU will progress in many areas, it will prioritize its academic resources and investments on:

• Understanding the origin, dynamics and sustainability of Earth and its resources• Optimizing enterprise, technological change and innovation• Realizing the potential of the life sciences and the optimal delivery of public health services in healthy

environments• Managing natural resources that contribute to quality of life and sustainability• Building and maintaining a strong curriculum and basic inquiry in the arts and sciences

– OSU has now moved to “Areas of Distinction”• Advancing the Science of Sustainable Earth Ecosystems• Improving Human Health and Wellness• Promoting Economic Growth and Social Progress

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Alignment of Themes With

National Research

Agendas is Important

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A Set of OU Institutional Themes?• Some possibilities for consideration on the Norman Campus – just to stimulate

thinking– Understanding and communicating potential impacts of local and regional climate change– Improving the quality and availability of water– Predicting the fate of ecological systems and understanding their relationship to

sustainability and economic security– Advancing the science, engineering and economics of sustainable energy– Applying arts and humanities to advancing the quality and security of life– Advancing the technology and affordability of health care – Understanding the evolution of societies toward extremism– Cascading failures in physical and social systems

• Key considerations– Value proposition– Investments and expectations– Contribution to the three objectives

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Culture

Engagement

Competitiveness

NC

-HS

C-T

ulsa Crosscutting T

hemes

Driving Integration Across the Three Objectives

NC

Them

e 2

NC

Them

e 3

NC

Them

e 1

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Specific Strategies, Action Plans, Priorities and Metrics

Colleges, Departments, Research Units, Faculty

Where Are We Today?

• We all have concerns• Concerns that become complaints lead to

dysfunction• Concerns that become actions lead to solutions

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The Key to Success: Active Involvement BY FACULTY in Planning

Involvement Action Teams• Action teams

– Consist of deans, chairs, academic and research unit directors, research staff, and faculty across all disciplines who will meet for a finite time period to address a specific topic in the strategy areas

– Develop, prioritized institutional actions for a given strategy area, as well as metrics for measuring progress and resources needed

– Are co-led by faculty with one leader from the VPR Advisory Committee– Use discussion papers to provide background information and guide the

conversation– Will hold several in-person meetings and use blogs to ensure broad

participation

• Involvement of Federal organizations (NOAA) and private companies on the Research Campus is critically important

• Process is open and engaging

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Action Teams

• The first three Action Teams have been defined and are about to begin their work– Research Incentives and Rewards– Arts and Humanities– Crosscutting Campus-Wide Research Themes

• Work will be completed by the end of June, 2010

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Deciding What’s Important

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High Medium Low

Imm

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rme

dia

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g

Priority

Imp

act

Short

Inte

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L

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• Aspire 2020 will be a decadal plan because institutions need to look beyond the immediate or even intermediate future

• However, some activities are so urgent and so universally supported that immediate action is required (e.g., proposal center)

• Consequently, priorities, planning, and assessment for Aspire 2020 will reside within four dimensions – and the entire space should be filled

Co

stL

ow

In

term

ed

iate

Hig

h

NAS/NAE Faculty Hires

Proposal Development

Center

Aspire 2020 Timeline

Jan Feb

Mar Apr

May June

August

Finalize Planning ProcessPresent to University Leaders

Meet with Each CollegeConduct “Environment” Survey

Publicize and Hold Town Hall

Continue…Continue…

Refine Strategies, Develop Action Plans (focus groups, town halls,

other meetings)

Meet with Each CollegeConduct “Environment” Survey

Publicize and Hold Town Hall

September…

Continue…

Future Action Teams

• Graduate and undergraduate research• Benchmarking, expectations and accountability• Creative environments and support for transformative

ideas and interdisciplinary projects• Mechanisms for affiliating with non-academic units

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Other Items Being Addressed• Establishing another Federal presence at OU• DOD and DOE engagement/restricted research• Corporate engagement in research• Alternative administrative structures for R&D• Aligning more effectively with State interests• Operation of “core facilities”• Improving awareness of our capabilities• Diversity and broadening the participation of traditionally

underrepresented groups• Faculty recognition via national/international awards

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http://aspire2020.ou.edu

• A driver of fundamental culture change that will place OU on a new trajectory in research and creative activity

• A road map for strategic investment that will assist in determining whether, how and when to pursue unexpected opportunities, and to create opportunities of our own

• A framework to assist in supporting effective, continuous communication and collaboration

• An easily understood message that conveys our aspirations and inspires, excites and ignites new levels of engagement across all segments of the University

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The Promise of Aspire 2020