Council on Research Meeting Minutes
Monday, March 4, 2019
2:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Arts and Sciences (AS) Room 122
Robert Rosenswig, Chair
Members present: Rosenswig, Robert (Chair); Aykanian, Amanda; Coddington, Kate; Ernst, Jesse;
Freedman, Jeff; Jahanbani, Nakissa; Jiang, Shiguo; Minder, Justin; Morano, Carmen; Piotrowska, Monika;
Poehlmann, Nancy
Members absent: Kumar, Satyendra (Ex Officio VPR Designee); Drislane, Lisset; McAndrew, Lisa;
Slade, Leonard; Trolian, Teniell
Additional attendees: Philip, Thecla
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Council on Research (CoR) Chair Robert Rosenswig at 2:30 p.m.
Approval of Meeting Minutes
The January 28, 2019 CoR meeting minutes were reviewed and approved, with one abstention.
Old Business
1. Track Use of Indirect Monies
Chair Rosenswig reported he had met with the CFO regarding CoR’s/the Senate’s efforts to pursue an
accounting of the use of indirect monies. The chair reviewed an excerpt of the CFO’s presentation to
CoR in 2017-18, explaining he had asked for a more detailed and transparent accounting of the 5%
“Other” category.
New Business
1. Excellence in Research and Creative Activities (ERCA) – update.
ERCA Chair Aykanian reported she had scheduled a subcommittee conference call to review ERCA
evaluations and would report on the recommendations at the next meeting. CoR agreed that the
subcommittee would need to forgo Lisette Drislane’s request to resign and, for expediency’s sake,
would proceed with review by the remaining members. CoR had asked AVPR Kumar/the VPR’s Office to
report on the history behind the current ERCA review practices and report back, the chair reminded.
The subcommittee, CoR Chair Rosenswig added, would discuss potential revisions to the rating form
and review procedures.
1
2. CART Proposal for consideration by the Committee on Centers, Institutes and Specialized Laboratories
(CISL).
CISL Chair Freedman reported as follows:
Gary Ackerman, Associate Professor at the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland
Security and Cybersecurity, sent along a proposal to establish a "Center for Advanced Red
Teaming” at UAlbany. “Red Teaming” is a term of art that describes fighting a variety of threats
(e.g. terrorism) by preparing defenses that are based upon assumed (potential) adversarial
actions.
I had met with Prof. Ackerman a few weeks earlier to review the CoR requirements for
submitting such a proposal to the Committee and CoR.
Chair Freedman agreed to share the proposal with CoR/VPR Office members and to invite Professor
Ackerman to present at the next CoR meeting. CoR would then discuss the subcommittee’s
recommendation and potentially vote on same, providing no further information was needed.
3. Reminder that the next meeting will be March 25
th , with discussion of the next round of award
evaluations.
Chair Rosenswig announced there were no Conference or Journal Support Awards applications for
Spring 2019. Given the limited number of applications during his tenure as CoR Chair, he proposed, and
members consented, that CoR recommend those awards be offered and reviewed once rather than
twice a year. Members suggested that revision of internal award deadlines be considered.
Meeting Wrap Up
The CoR chair opened the floor for any other business items:
4. IRB Office Discussion
At a member’s request, Chair Rosenswig updated he had been in touch with Adrienne Bonilla and a
number of chairs and investigators regarding cases when obtaining an IRB in a timely manner had been
problematic. He stated he planned to meet with Dr. Bonilla again after reviewing the cases to discuss
what can be changed in order for an IRB approval to be obtained in two to four weeks maximum.
5. CoR Chair Position
The chair reminded that this was his last semester serving on CoR, and he announced he would be on
sabbatical the next year. Returning members were asked to consider volunteering to serve as CoR
Chair in 2019-2020.
Meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
Submitted by Elisa Lopez, Staff Support
2
