CERD Office Celebrates with Open House and Ice Cream Social to Round Out Year One

Many thanks to those of you who were able to join us on July 27th  for our one year celebration of CERD (CEHD Research and Development Office).  As mentioned in our presentation, following is a survey we would very much like you to complete.  It is a very short survey and will provide us with information to better serve you. You are asked to indicate if you have used our services (Pre/Post/Outreach) and if you have, you will be asked to rate your experience.  There is a question at the end of the survey which allows for an open ended response so you can describe in more detail your experience.  Click here to access the survey.

For more photos click here

Research Dean’s Corner

by Dr. Susan Bloomfield

Hello to my colleagues across the CEHD:

Summer is rapidly winding down and we have just a few more days of minimal traffic to enjoy before we gear up for a new academic year.   In this “quiet before the storm” I want to alert you to a few research resources on campus to support and enhance our research, links to which we will add to our website so you have a full toolbox at your disposal.    Highlighted in more detail below are the statistical consulting services offered by the Department of Statistics and the OAK Fund coordinated by University Libraries to support the higher publication charges of open-access journals.

Kudos to the 12 PI’s who are submitting 14 proposals to the Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences this week!   Jesus Palomo, our Research Development Officer, reports that this is nearly double the number submitted last year (8).  Earlier I alerted some of you to this very rare situation  with so many submissions in response to one federal RFP deadline that collided with our temporary reduction in available pre-award support, with Dr. Sharmila Pathikonda’s departure for a new career opportunity.   [Note:  we will start interviewing for our second RDO by August 23.]    It was great to see so many of you working ahead of time to get your full proposals submitted as early as possible, which enables our pre-award staff to give you the best possible service on polishing up your proposals.   Read on in the newsletter for more information about SRS’s new submission guidelines that requests all budgets and related documents five business days before proposal deadlines.

Our  CERD Open House on July 27 was a lively affair, with 4 -5 dozen folks attending to celebrate the first full year of our expanded R&D Office operations.  If you were unable to attend, please see the attached slide set [CERD Open House SlideShow_July 2017] (which was playing in the background during the open house) for a review of this last year’s activities and some proposed initiatives for next year.   The impressive ice cream bar with all the fixings was well depleted by the end of the afternoon!   I am very appreciative of the organizing efforts of Windy Turner and Amy Jurica Hinnant (our Outreach Coordinator), who worked hard to make this a fun and informative event.

Finally, if you have not yet filled out our short Qualtrics Survey about our office’s services, please click the link just above under the Open House photographs.   Thanks to the 30 of you who have completed this already; we appreciate your feedback and hope to hear from many more of you soon.

Regards, Sue

Amended submission guidelines: The submission guidelines that were sent to all faculty last week by Sponsored Research Services Director Kristi Billinger can be found on our CERD website.     At the bottom of page 2 is included a box with important information for those of you choosing to use our College R&D Office pre-award assistance, tightly related to the 5 business days before deadline goal SRS has set. Please click here to see the amended guidelines or on the CERD website, look under “Resources”, “Forms and Documents”,  and then under “Documents” to access and  read the new  submission guidelines.

Funding support for open-access peer-reviewed publications:   The University Libraries coordinate an Open Access Knowledge (OAK) fund to assist faculty with the high publication fees assessed by open access journals.   These limited funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis, so you are most likely to get a positive answer in the fall semester.   During FY 2017, $85,000 in funds were made available to those faculty who could meet all eligibility criteria listed on this web page:

Click here for more information on OAK funds.

Assistance with statistical analysis of your project: The Statistical Collaboration Center that the Department of Statistics at TAMU operates can be found by clicking here. PI’s can either contact the email address provided in the introduction or complete the consulting form to initiate the process.

 

Pre-Award Updates

Attention New Faculty! Maestro Training Sessions

Every month Maestro is offering several training sessions.  If you want to sign up for a class, contact them by email maestro@tamu.edu.  The following is a list of training classes offered:

Training for Maestro General Overview at 9:30-10:30 on 

• August 14, 2017
• September 18, 2017
• October 16, 2017
• November 20, 2017
• December 18, 2017

Training for Researcher Portal Users at 1:30-3:30 on

• August 16, 2017
• September 20, 2017
• October 18, 2017
• November 15, 2017
• December 20, 2017

Training for Executive Portal Users at 9:30-11:30 on

• August 15, 2017
• September 19, 2017
• October 17, 2017
• November 21, 2017
• December 19, 2017

Training for Administrator Portal Proposal/Project Viewers at 1:30-3:30 on

• August 17, 2017
• September 21, 2017
• October 19, 2017
• November 16, 2017
• December 21, 2017

 

Vice President for Research: Research Development Services – 2018 Seminars, Workshops, Writing & Feedback Groups RDS PD 2018 link 

Following are just a few of the training opportunities available, please see link above for complete list.

• Junior Faculty Proposal Writing Academy
• PESCA Writer’s Workshop
• Writing Successful Proposals

 

Helpful Do’s and Don’ts of Contacting your NSF Program Director Contacting NSF PD link

Information to help with the Broader Impacts Section of an NSF Proposal NSF Broader Impacts link 

Post Award Updates

With Summer entries wrapping up, it is time to begin planning for Fall 2017 / Spring 2018.  In order to have sufficient time for processing payroll and tuition transactions for summer, we ask that faculty provide research staff payroll and GAR support details no later than August 21, 2017.  Please send information to the designated post-award representative (listed below).

Did You Know – Independent Contractors

Independent contractors paid from research accounts (4xxxxx-xxxxx) must first have an approved Independent Contractor Certification form approved by SRS. In addition, any independent contractor invoices submitted must fall within the date range, dollar amount, and scope of work on the currently approved Independent Contractor Certification form.

CERD reviews these certification forms whenever a PI submits an invoice for payments to an independent contractor. We keep an eye out for invoices that do not fall within the criteria of the certification, or any that do not yet have a certification on file.  In these situations, we are happy to help you prepare the appropriate paperwork, without which we cannot process payment.   As always, it’s best to have pre-approval of these certifications from SRS before work begins on your grant/contract.

Links  to both the Independent Contractor Certification and Independent Contractor Invoice can be found at https://srs.tamu.edu/forms/srs-forms/

The Post-Award Team

Clayton Holle, Business Administrator (EPSY) – Post-Award Manager

Adriana Burnett,  Business Coordinator (TLAC/HLKN)

Pamela Parks, Business Coordinator (HLKN)

Mary Seifert, Business Coordinator (EAHR/EPSY)

Outreach Services

Earlier this summer, Amy Jurica Hinnant, Outreach Coordinator, attended the National Principal’s Conference 2017  in Philadelphia.  This year’s conference was the first ever to combine both elementary and secondary principals from around the country. Networking with principals and thought leaders from as close as Navasota, Texas, to Laketown, Utah, to Washington, D.C. and many points in between, Amy was able to make many contacts.  One of the more interesting contacts was the director of the Overseas American -Sponsored Elementary and Secondary Schools.  These schools are assisted by the U.S. Department of State and provide services to over 20,000 children in countries world wide. The schools mostly follow American curricular patterns and utilize English as the language of instruction, while some are bi-national and international in character. If your research would benefit from schools abroad, give Amy a call and get connected to anywhere from Kenya to Japan or Panama to Uzbekistan.  Other topics covered at the conference ranged from ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) discussions and how the states are preparing plans for submission to the U.S. Department of Education this fall,  to ensuring effective practices in the Pre-K to 3rd grades years, to a close-to-home success story from Aldine ISD in Houston of school turnaround at Smith Academy.