CRSA Annual Report 2020-2021

Committee Name: Committee on Research & Scholarly Activity (CRSA)

Committee Chair: Carmen Orth-Alfie (2020-2021)

Committee Secretary: Michael Peper (2020-2021)

Members (with terms*): Scott Cossel (2018-2021), Rhonda Houser (2020-2021), Carmen Orth- Alfie* (2020-2022), Sara Outhier* (2020-2022) and Michael Peper *(2020-2022)

* a minimum of three who have a requirement to engage in research and scholarly activities as part of their professional assignment

LFSA Liaison: Mary Raple (2020-2021)

Fiscal Year: 2021

ARTICLE IV. LIBRARY FACULTY AND STAFF ASSEMBLY SECTION III. LFSA STANDING AND AD HOC COMMITTEES

4 August 2020

(Lines 562-571)

• Committee Membership. The LFSA Executive Committee meets following the elections of LFA and LSA officers to organize and make standing committee appointments. Committee appointments are made early enough to ensure that committee members are able to assume their duties on August 1st. For all Standing Committees with elected membership, the Nominating and Ballot Committee provides a slate of candidates and conducts the elections.
• Structure. Each standing or ad hoc committee designates a Chair and Secretary. The LFSA Executive Committee may designate the Chair of an ad hoc committee at the time the ad hoc committee is appointed.
• Terms of Office. Members may serve up to two successive terms on the same committee except where otherwise specified.

(Lines 645-662)

• Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities
  • Membership. The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities is appointed by the LFSA Executive Committee and is composed of five members, a minimum of three who have a requirement to engage in research and scholarly activities as part of their professional assignment. A reasonable effort is made to appoint members who represent staff, various ranks of faculty, and units of the Libraries.
  • Terms of Office. Committee members serve two-year overlapping terms.
  • Standing Charges. The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities, in keeping with the Libraries’ mission, encourages, promotes, and supports research and scholarly activities of the members of the LFSA.
    • Library Research Fund (LRF). The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities establishes and reviews, on an annual basis, guidelines for the disbursal of research funds provided by the Dean of Libraries. The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities allocates these funds based on those guidelines.
    • General Research Fund (GRF). The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities also administers the University’s General Research Fund designated to KU Libraries based on the GRF Guidelines.

Standing Charges Progress Summary (progress and/or accomplishments related to Standing Charges):

Standing Charge: Library Research Fund (LRF)

KU Libraries budgeted $6000.00 for the Library Research Fund (LRF) for distribution and expenditure during FY 21. CRSA received and approved five LRF awards for a total of $3177.00.

Standing Charge: General Research Fund (GRF)

In November 2020 KU Office of Research notified CRSA chair that KU Libraries was allocated up to $14562.00 for the General Research Fund (GRF) to be awarded in FY21 for expenditure during FY22. Formal email announcement and call for applications was posted via KULIB-L on January 4, 2021 with applications due February 19, 2021 (and later extended to March 5, 2021). To promote the GRF and answer questions, CRSA hosted an information program via Zoom on January 22, 2020 with the assistance of Lars Leon (Libraries Organizational Development) and Sara Morris (recent recipient). The CRSA received and approved three GRF applications.

Decisions were forwarded to KU Office of Research by the April 5, 2021 deadline. Awardees were notified of acceptance and provided requirement details via email from KU Office of Research on April 27, 2020. Funds totaling $14562.00 were awarded.

Special Charges for FY21: LFSA did not issues any special charges to CRSA FY 21.

Special Charges Progress Summary: N/A.

FY21 Actions based on recommendation noted in CRSA FY20 Annual Report:

• CRSA FY20 recommended that the LRF and GRF application forms, and informational documents, which are currently on SharePoint should be moved to the CMS.
  • Application information was posted on the Libraries Research Fund and General Research Fund pages with links to forms.
  • The application forms were hosted in SharePoint. Several problems using this platform were addressed, but issues still remain.
  • CRSA FY21 used MS Teams for conducting the work of the committee and Outlook for interacting with others outside of the committee.
• CRSA FY20 recommended formalizing the due date for LRF funding applications to sometime in mid-May.
  • No formal deadline was posted. However, LRF funds were not exhausted before May 1 so one application was submitted in early May and accepted.
• CRSA FY 20 recommended that LFSA consider extending the term of the CRSA Chair beyond one year in order to bring some continuity of the knowledge regarding processes and guidelines related to LRF and GRF funding awards.
  • The CRSA FY20 Chair continued as a member for FY21 (serving on the committee for a third year.)
  • The CRSA FY21 chair, who was serving the first year of a two-year appointment on CRSA, benefitted for having the former chair on the committee.
  • CRSA Chair FY21 was selected as “chair designate” by the CRSA FY21 membership to assume the role of chair for FY22. (See LRF recommendations below for more information.)

Recommendations for FY22:

Based on the experience of CRSA FY21 and review of previous Annual Reports, the following recommendations are documented to help guide and create continuity for the CRSA FY22.

• GRF - As noted by previous committees the awarding of all available allocations for GRF requires CRSA to promote the GRF early and often and to guide, encourage and mentor applicants. CRSA FY21 recommends the following for FY22:
  • promotion of the GRF award beginning in early fall semester or even summer with sessions related to writing, ideas, and information about the GRF funded research.
  • Match applicants with a mentor (former GRF recipient or former CRSA member) to assist in the development of a strong application.
• LRF – As noted by past committees “the end of the fiscal year in June presents some issue with regards to incoming LRF applications” during the summer months. Formation of the next CRSA committee also can cause a delay in reviewing applications in the new FY. The FY21 committee concurs with previous committees that there is a need to create a leadership structure that supports continuity. As noted by earlier committees, “There is complexity for incoming CRSA Chairs in understanding the nuances of funding guidelines and processes related to LRF and GRF awards.” CRSA FY21 recommends
  • Select “chair designate” from among the committee members who are serving the first of a two year-term. The “chair designate” will be mentored by the “chair” to ensure continuity during the summer transition to new membership and address any incoming LRF applications and old business.
  • The “chair designate” will assume role as “chair” at the next FY year (serve during the second year of the 2-year term).
  • To achieve this rotation, CRSA Chair FY21 was selected as “chair designate” by the CRSA FY21 membership.
• Committee processes:
  • Explore webform options for automating LRF and GRF application processes To improve ease of completing the process for applicants,

To enhanced analysis of applications,

To comply with Drupal 8 and campus recommendations for accessibility.

Potential charges for future Committees:

• Review GRF procedural documents from the KU Office for Research (applications, guidelines, and handbooks) to determine if a library specific adaption would be helpful for future applications and the CRSA review committee members. All edits to KU Office for Research documentation to clarify wording of application forms and guidelines, assigning mentors for potential applicants, and adjusting review procedures and documentation to address other issues identified by the committee should be completed soon after the new documentation is received from KU Office for Research.

Prepared by: Carmen Orth-Alfie, CRSA Chair FY21