[Plsfaculty] FW: Maximizing UA's share of the Federal Economic Stimulus funding

[Donna-Rae Marquez]

  _____  

From: Printing & Publishing 3Ds [mailto:PPSS3DS at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On
Behalf Of 3D Memos
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 2:06 PM
To: PPSS3DS at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
Subject: Maximizing UA's share of the Federal Economic Stimulus funding

 

March 9, 2009

TO:     Deans, Directors and Vice Presidents 

FR:     Andrew Comrie, Associate VP for Research, Dean, Graduate College

RE:     Maximizing UA's share of the Federal Economic Stimulus funding

Provost Meredith Hay and VPR Leslie Tolbert have asked Nancy Smith and me to
coordinate university-wide efforts to assist The University of Arizona in
maximizing its share of the Federal Economic Stimulus funding.  This message
contains information recently released about what funding will be available
from various programs, instructions about how our internal UA process will
work, and what is needed from you. You will also find this message, an FAQ
list, and subsequent updates at  <http://www.vpr.arizona.edu/>
http://www.vpr.arizona.edu/ under "Stimulus Information" on the left menu.

Our goals are simple. to make sure the UA receives the maximum benefit from
the Federal Stimulus Package by accessing funds available at both the
federal and state levels. We believe the best results will come from a
well-coordinated effort supported by effective, proactive communications,
and have developed a process for organizing this complex set of projects.

We're excited about the new funding opportunities for The University of
Arizona. Shortly, we will organize a meeting (or set of meetings) where we
will distribute information, answer questions, and provide more detail about
how the process will work.

As you will see from the following information, most faculty members are
likely to be accessing Stimulus funding via conventional grant programs, and
no special coordination is needed. However, new kinds of major funding under
the Stimulus plan are available in special competitions, challenge grants,
building support, IT infrastructure, etc. that will require coordination
with multiple entities across campus. 

1. If you are aware of faculty in your college or center/institute who may
pursue such opportunities, please forward this message to them.

2. The attachment also includes a call for brief one-page pre-proposals of
this latter kind that require special campus coordination - deadline for
some of the initial calls is Friday, March 20.

3. Also at  <http://www.vpr.arizona.edu/> http://www.vpr.arizona.edu/ under
"Stimulus Information", you will find a Stimulus overview in four PowerPoint
slides, prepared by Shay Stautz (UA Federal Relations).

We look forward to working with you!

Best regards,

Andrew Comrie, Associate VPR for Research

Nancy Smith, Director, Corporate & Business Relations

 

UA FEDERAL STIMULUS PACKAGE COORDINATION 

How the UA Process Will Work.  This project will be managed by the VPR
office, headed by Leslie Tolbert, Andrew Comrie and Nancy Smith. Their roles
will fall primarily into three linked areas - Coordination, Communications,
and Facilitation. 

Because there are so many areas of expertise required for this effort, the
process will include many people / groups campus wide, including the
following: 

*       Stimulus Working Group - A team of individuals will meet weekly to
share information and intelligence, update other members, and facilitate the
process. This group currently includes Meredith Hay, Joel Valdez, Leslie
Tolbert, Jacqueline Mok, Andrew Comrie, Shay Stautz, Greg Fahey, Bob Smith,
Nancy Smith, and Judy Bernas. Other leadership will be called upon in a
flexible arrangement.

*       Provost Advisory Council on Strategic Advancement - This group of
leading researchers has an important role in this process, evaluating and
prioritizing the 1-page pre-proposals.

Project Categories. We have organized all of the possible projects related
to the Federal Stimulus program into three "buckets" as follows:

        Bucket #1:      Conventional Research Funds

Description: Funds in this category are distributed through existing
programs in conventional granting agencies. It includes research funding
available through standard competitive grants - the kind funding we are
familiar with and expert at obtaining. 

Instructions: Please encourage your research faculty to aggressively pursue
this funding immediately with a "business as usual" approach. Our
coordinating committee will focus very little on this area, other than to
continue to monitor, collect, and disseminate information to you. Even in
this category, there are likely to be special requirements not typically
seen, such as quarterly reporting.

        Bucket #2:      Unconventional Research Funds

Description: This category (and bucket #3) is where we will focus primarily,
as there are new programs, new sources of funding, and unprecedented levels
of transparency, oversight, and accountability requirements. 

Instructions: We are issuing a call for "One-Pagers" - pre-proposals (see
"contents of pre proposals" below) that will be collected and evaluated by
the Provost's Committee on Strategic Advancement and other groups and
decision-makers as needed.

Bucket #3:      Research Infrastructure & Equipment

        Description:  Includes any facility issues including new
construction, renovations, renewals new space needs/requirements, etc. 

        Instructions:  Again, we are issuing a call for "One-Pagers" -
pre-proposals (see "contents of pre proposals" below) that will be collected
and evaluated accordingly, including Facilities Planning, IT leaders, etc.

What is Needed From You:

*       Call for 1-Pagers.  We are asking for you to submit immediately (via
email) 1-page pre-proposal descriptions of projects for consideration. No
single deadline applies - there are multiple opportunities and we need
information as soon as possible on a rolling basis. The initial deadline for
the earliest calls coming out now will be Friday, March 20. For subsequent
new RFPs that are announced, the deadline will be roughly 10 days following
the announcement. Each document should contain the following: 

Contents of One-Page Pre-Proposals

o       Agency Name (include web site) 

o       Working Title of Proposal

o       Brief Project Description

o       Description of how project leverages with initiatives already in
place at the UA

o       Description of how project will/can be coordinated with
research/other groups on campus

o       Explicit reference to any space or facilities needs, and/or any IT
infrastructure needed

o       Amount of funding requested

Submit Email Proposals to:

Nancy Preble, Assistant to the Vice President for Research

Email:   <mailto:npreble at email.arizona.edu> npreble at email.arizona.edu

 

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