Research Policy & Advisory Committee – Annual Report – 2024-2025

Members:

Name	Rank	Department	Div	E/A	Term Ends	Email
Anna Benko	AS	Chemistry & Biochemistry	–	E	2027	abenko@uwm.edu
Rina Ghose	FAC	Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering	SS	E	2027	rghose@uwm.edu
Jenny Hutton	FAC	Music	AH	E	2027	huttonj@uwm.edu
Melissa Tesch	AS	Biomedical Sciences	–	A	2027	mmriter@uwm.edu
Victoria McCoy, Chair	FAC	Geosciences	NS	E	2026	mccoyv@uwm.edu
Joshua Mersky	FAC	Social Work	PR	E	2026	mersky@uwm.edu
Murad Taani	FAC	Nursing	PR	A	2026	mhtaani@uwm.edu
Madhusudan Dey 1	FAC	Biological Sciences	NS	A	2025	deym@uwm.edu
Jennifer Herriges	AS	University Safety & Assurances	–	A	2025	herrigej@uwm.edu
Joseph Mougel	FAC	Art & Design	AH	A	2025	mougel@uwm.edu
< > 2	FAC		GS	E	2025
< >	FAC	(GFC Rep)		A	2025
Kristian O’Connor *	Int. Dean	Graduate School	x-o	o	2025	krisocon@uwm.edu
Kristian O’Connor *	Int. Vice Provost	Office of Research	x-o	o	2025	krisocon@uwm.edu
Samantha Westcott	AS	Sponsored Research	x-o	o	2025	westcots@uwm.edu

Charter:

A3.7    Research Policy and Advisory Committee

1. Membership.  Twelve members as follows: six elected Faculty members, at least one from each Division; a representative of the Graduate Faculty Committee; one elected member of the Academic Staff who is engaged in research activities; two Faculty members and two members of the Academic Staff appointed by the Chancellor.
   
   In addition, the administrative Director of sponsored research, the University executive officer in charge of research (e.g. Vice Provost for Research), and the University executive officer in charge of graduate education (e.g. Dean of the Graduate School) serve as ex-officio members.
2. Functions
   1. On its own initiative or in cooperation with other Faculty committees, advises the Chancellor, the Provost, the Faculty Senate, and the University executive office in charge of research (e.g. Vice Provost for Research), and the University executive office in charge of graduate education (e.g. Dean of the Graduate School) on matters of research policy, procedures, and infrastructure to promote and advocate for growth of research, graduate education and scholarship at UWM.
   2. Recommends overall allocation of resources for research at UWM, and reviews the operation of all University research units, in order to determine whether the programs and activities are both effective and consistent with the mission and research goals of the University.
   3. Recommends and reviews overall University policy governing all mandated review boards within UWM (e.g., Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects, Institutional Safety and Hazards Committee, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee)
   4. Monitors activities of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) through annual review of the IRB’s policies and procedures, workload, and actions on protocols submitted to the IRB.

Meetings:

September 2024:

• Scott Genung and Dan Siercks gave a presentation on a new IT strategic plan, which included a discussion of how research can be supported and what technologies UWM can invest in to create opportunities
• Kris O’Conner provided an overview of the Office of Research priorities, with an emphasis on improving hit rates on awards. The committee discussed strategies to improve proposal quality.

October 2024:

• Dan Siercks gave an update on the development of the research IT governance subcommittee and requested an RPAC member join the subcommittee
• Kris O’Conner and Jeff Nytes gave an overview of the draft Research Data Management Policy

November 2024:

• An RPAC member volunteered to join the research IT governance subcommittee
• Scott Genung and Dan Siercks had a Q&A session about research IT
• The Research Data Management policy was voted upon and unanimously approved
• There was a preliminary discussion of a potential authorship policy, to be developed, that would come before the RPAC in a future meeting

December 2024:

• No meeting

January 2025:

• Jeff Nytes outlined the UWM Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program Policy and the UWM Disclosure of Other Support Policy, and the committee discussed the policies
• There was a preliminary discussion of the Research Center Review Policy to prepare to give feedback on the Milwaukee Institute for Drug Discovery (MIDD) review report

February 2025:

• Discussed the MIDD (Milwaukee Institute for Drug Discovery) Report Response
• Approved the UWM Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program Policy
• Approved the UWM Disclosure of Other Support Policy
• Discussed the proposed authorship policy

March 2025:

• No meeting

April 2025:

• Discussion of the current draft of the Authorship Policy
• Overview of the current Research Misconduct Policy in preparation for hearing about revisions to this policy in a future meeting

May 2025:

• Approved the UWM Authorship Policy
• Discussed changes to the UWM Research Misconduct Policy
• Discussed a New Policy for Salary Supplementation for External Fellowships
• Elected the chair for the 2025-2026 academic year