Accomplishments

  • 2022-2023

    Advocating for UTHSA Researchers

    The CPI holds regular meetings with UTHSA leadership including President Henrich, the COO Ms. Marks and the VPR Dr. Potter to discuss concerns of importance to researchers and the research enterprise. These meetings have been constructive and productive, keeping an open line of communication between the administration and researchers as well as contributing to the advocacy mission of the CPI to ensure that research remains a central component in the Institution’s mission.

     

    Centralization of Administrative Services

    The CPI has continued efforts to relay concerns about how systemic and day-to-day challenges arising from the initiatives (MOST) that reorganized the structure of the administrative services at UTHSA. The CPI has worked with Ms. Marks, Ms. Gomez-Leon, Dr. Potter, and others to address concerns PIs have raised regarding pre and post award services, IT infrastructure, travel requisition and reimbursement, staff hiring, and purchasing and procurement. The voice of the CPI has ensured the perspective of researchers is considering in the proposed solutions.

     

    Other Accomplishments:

    Reviewed, advised, and trialed the implementation of the Contract Management System implemented by OSP. Provided insight into the needs of researchers, where the bottlenecks in the current approval process were, and suggestions for improvements.

    Discussed the implementation of Graduate Student stipend increases with Dean Weiss, expressed to the Dean how these increases impact faculty budgets, and suggested strategies that would minimize sudden stipend increases and help with grant planning and budgeting.

    Reviewed with HR leadership how proposed changes to the employee onboarding process could affect the hiring and retention of research staff. The CPI addressed the general concern expressed by our constituents about how delays and a one-size-fits-all approach in the hiring and onboarding process for new employees was detrimental to the continued growth and success of the UTHSA research mission.

    Worked with the UTHSA Data Management Working Group and all stakeholders to develop the infrastructure and procedures to ensure UTHSA grantees would have the tools to comply with NIH policies for the implementation of Data Management and Sharing Plans.

    Continued to foster a close working relationship with Facilities Management to ensure renovations to existing space and new construction activities would have minimal impact on the research mission.

    The CPI provided feedback to the LSOM Office of Research regarding planned activities to support investigators in obtaining pilot project grants and bridging funds. The CPI also discussed ways for researchers to accept medical students into their labs under the Research Connect program.

  • 2021-2022

    Making the CPI a stronger voice for researchers
    The CPI has regular scheduled meetings with UT Health San Antonio leadership (President Henrich, Ms. Marks, and Dr. Potter), to discuss concerns of importance to researchers and the research enterprise. These meetings are extremely constructive and ensure that research remains an important component of the Institution’s mission, and that the administration hears a strong voice on behalf of its researchers.

    EDGE/MOST
    This last year has been challenging with the implementation of the Enterprise Design for Growth and Effectiveness (EDGE) initiative (renamed as MOST). The CPI has worked diligently with Ms. Marks, Ms. Gomez-Leon, Dr. Potter, and others to communicate the concerns of the PIs and to provide feedback on the effectiveness of this initiative. By working with leadership,  the CPI have helped streamline processes related to travel, procurement, pre- and post- award management. We will continue to advocate for the PIs to increase the efficiency of this redesigned operating model aimed at modernizing campus administrative services.

    Other accomplishments
    The CPI have also:

    • Worked with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs on the English language proficiency requirement that should make recruiting international postdocs easier and faster for our faculty.
    • Identified effective ways for Facilities Management to communicate and schedule essential construction.
    • Met with the leadership of Lab Animal Resources to discuss animal per diem cost analysis and rate setting. Discrepancies were noted for housing costs for VA researchers, and these were charged to the same rate as internal investigators.
    • Worked proactively with leadership on possible solutions to maintain compliance with new federal policies (e.g., NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing).
    • Notified the administration of potentially serious issues with the implementation of new spam filters on the UTHSA email system, provided guidance and suggested solutions to manage spam more effectively.
    • Engaged the Marketing and Communications office regarding faculty profiles, website navigation and design (both internal and external).

  • 2020-2021

    Making the CPI a stronger voice for researchers
    The CPI has met repeatedly with top administration officials, such as President Henrich and Dean Hromas, as well as Drs. Giuffrida and Potter, and Ms. Marks and Tawney to discuss concerns about topics of importance to researchers and the research enterprise. Among these, animal per diem, core facilities, purchasing and traveling requisitions were discussed. Thus, the CPI has consistently ensured that research remains an important component of the Institution’s mission, and that the administration hears a strong voice on behalf of its researchers.

    COVID-19
    Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the CPI has been working with HSC Leadership to ensure that policies intended to keep the workplace safe also allow for research programs to continue with as little impact as possible. In addition, the CPI worked with Dr. Giuffrida to host a Virtual Townhall on COVID-19 to provide an opportunity for all PIs to ask questions and get the information they needed to keep their laboratories safe and productive.

    HR & Kronos
    The CPI met with Ms. Tawney and her HR leadership team to provide input from the PIs on the development of performance based incentives for research staff, the comprehensive leave policy, and to discuss issues and voice concerns as HR implemented the Kronos system for tracking employee time and attendance.

    EDGE Initiative
    2020-2021 was a year of change, and the CPI worked diligently with Ms. Marks, Dr. Potter, Mr. Green, and others to ensure that the concerns of the PIs were communicated to the policy makers during the development and implementation of the updated pre- & post-award grants management program, comprehensive leave policy, and travel plans under the EDGE Initiative. This included a CPI-hosted Virtual Townhall on Grants Management where PIs were able to ask questions and learn about how consolidation of grants management under EDGE would affect the pre- and post-award processes.

  • 2019-2020

    • Moderation of increased LAR per diem rates
      Recently, DLAR proposed to execute a change in animal per diem rates and included a large increase for many species and strains including nude mice and rabbits. Moreover, the proposed changes were to be implemented immediately, without advance notification to the faculty. CPI met with Dr. Giuffrida to address this issue and to further understand the rationale behind this sudden change and put forth faculty concerns. CPI emphasized that the sudden increase in rates puts significant burden on available resources and may interfere with maintaining consistent research productivity. Upon extensive discussion and consideration, the VPR’s office decided to modify the proposed plan by gradually implementing the changes over several months to a year, thus giving enough time to all faculty to prepare for the new rate structure.

     

    • Developed protocols with Facilities Management to mitigate utility outages
      CPI has been consistently meeting with Facilities Management over the last year to address power outages throughout all campuses of the Institution. The goal has been to develop a protocol for effective communication to the faculty about these power outages and implement mitigation strategies in order to maintain research operations smoothly. Over 4 separate meetings in the year 2019 and 2020, CPI discussed planned outages that took place in December 2019 as well as unanticipated outages that briefly occurred in April 2020 during the shutdown from the COVID19 pandemic. For the December 2019 planned outage, CPI discussed with Mr. Raymundo Rivera, the Chief Electrical Engineer in Facilities Management, all the necessary steps to be taken to prepare for the outages and prevent any disruption in research activities as well as met with him again post-outage to address any issues that were experienced during the outages to prevent them from occurring in the future. As for the unanticipated brief power outages in April 2020, CPI investigated the cause of these outages and met with Raymundo Rivera and Miguel Rivera, with the result that the power transfer from the main CPS substation supplying the camps to the alternate substation, as well as the operation of the campus emergency backup generators were tested and will continue to be tested on a continuing schedule to ensure their proper function.

     

    • Postdoctoral policy
      The CPI participated in discussions leading to a new postdoctoral polity for the institution, covering such aspects as English proficiency standard, time limits for postdoctoral fellowships, salary mandates, concerns about access to health care benefits, individual development plans, and procedures for dismissal of a postdoctoral fellow.

     

    • Issues
      The CPI brought up issues with the transition to the new Outlook mail system with Mr. Yeman Collier of IMS, as well as the VPR Office, in particular the amount of spam email being received, concerns about the use of faculty contact information, and operational security, in order to address user complaints and effective operation of our computing and network systems.

     

    • Plastic Waste and the Institution’s Recycling Program
      The CPI recognized the growing problem of the waste generated by the extensive use of disposable plastic items by laboratories. While the use of disposable labware has definite advantages, it also creates a very large amount of waste. The CPI has started to evaluate this problem, as well as possible deficiencies in the recycling program at the Institution. A task force consisting of CPI members was formed to evaluate the waste and recycling program at the Institution and make recommendations to improve its effectiveness.

     

    • HR issues with hiring procedures
      The CPI has met several times with Ms. Amy Tawney, VP and Chief of Human Resources, and other HR officials to discuss faculty concerns with HR policies, particularly in the cumbersome process for hiring laboratory personnel. Specific suggestions made to HR have been making this process more efficient and faster. The CPI is continuing to monitor these hiring procedures.

     

    • Making the CPI a stronger voice for researchers
      A major reason for the CPI’s existence is to give researchers a more effective voice in the operation of this Institution. To this end, the CPI has met repeatedly with top administration officials, such as President Henrich and Dean Hromas, as well as Dr. Giuffrida, the VP of Research. During these meetings, CPI members present their concerns as well as ask questions about topics of importance to researchers and the research enterprise. Through these meetings, the CPI has consistently ensured that research remains an important component of the Institution’s mission.

  • 2018-2019

    • A Long Campus-wide power outage is tentatively scheduled for December 20, 2019 to complete the final connection of the campus with the new main electrical switching station that replaces the original station from the 1970s. The staff in Facilities Management has been in contact with the CPI about this planned outage and they will present a series of Town Hall meetings to inform faculty and staff about the implications of this power transition. Emergency power will be available throughout the using this outage and investigators are encouraged to check the availability of emergency power outlets in their laboratories so if need be they can add outlets before the planned outage.

     

    • Concerns were brought to the CPI on December 13 about new signage on the Biosafety Type II, B2 biosafety hoods in the STRF and whether they were safe to use. CPI representatives met with Dr. Charlton, Ms. Bloodworth of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) and Mr. Waterhouse of ENV services on December 19 about this issue. There was miscommunication about the correct use of these hoods and the EHS staff have scheduled a Lunch and Learn session for the STRF staff and trainees in January to become informed about the correct use of these biosafety hoods.

  • 2017-2018

    • The CPI met with the administrative directors responsible for online training in the areas of general compliance, research administration, protection of human subjects, and environmental health and safety. Approaches were discussed for streamlining these processes and enhancing coordination so as to avoid unnecessary duplication among programs and courses. The upcoming replacement of Knowledge Center with Taleo is considered to be a good opportunity for achieving these objectives.

     

    • The leadership of Information Management and Services met with the CPI for a wide-ranging discussion of researcher concerns. The Taleo platform (see above) was reviewed with specific attention to improvements relative to the Knowledge Center, enhanced coordination among training content owners, and better matching of training requirements to job duties. IMS welcomed the offer of CPI members to serve in a pre-release evaluation process for Taleo. The plans for the new ~$12M data center were presented, including the concept of a hybrid system with storage both on-premises and off. Means for optimizing IMS Help Desk support were reviewed. Recurring issues with VPN outages were discussed at length, concluding that IMS will strive to improve communication with users as these interruptions occur. Other discussion points included the restrictions on computer administrative privileges and cloud storage options available to investigators.

     

    • The CPI worked closely with Facilities Management on coordination of several scheduled utilities outages, ensuring to the fullest extent possible that researchers are notified well in advance and are provided with opportunities for direct input into the planning for these events.

     

    • The CPI engaged in exchanges with key directors of various research-related UTHSCSA components, including: Andrea Giuffrida, Vice President for Research; Ramiro Ramirez-Solis, Director of Institutional Core Facilities; Sudha Seshadri, Director, Biggs Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases Institute; Brij Singh, Dental School Vice Dean for Research; Robert Hromas, Medical School Dean.

     

    • Institutional management policies for indirect cost reimbursements (F&A revenues) on research grants were presented in detail by Michael Black, Chief Operating Officer and Andrea Marks, Chief Financial Officer. The CPI membership gained an in-depth understanding of how these funds are allocated and the terms under which a portion of the pool may be returned to the academic units that generate them and, ultimately, to grant PIs.

     

    • Rules and regulations regarding travel and meeting expenses charged to research grants were reviewed with Jerry Long, Assistant Vice President of Business Affairs, who strongly encouraged PIs to contact him directly regarding special issues in this area.

     

    • For further details on CPI accomplishments, please refer to the Meeting Minutes page of the website.

  • 2016-2017

    • The CPI continues to work closely with Human Resources, the Employee Health and Wellness Clinic, Environmental Health and Safety to improve immunizations and TB monitoring for new and current employees.

     

    • The CPI had discussions with the Office of Sponsored Programs that resulted in changes to the certification language required for grant budgets to make it more acceptable to the principal investigator.

     

    • The CPI partnered with UT Health Administration to insure that the NCI Cancer Center Designation was maintained in light of the new MD Anderson affiliation.

     

    • The CPI meets with IMS on a number of issues and recently helped change institutional policy so as to more broadly exempt certain research data from the encryption requirements detailed in HOP Policy 11.1.14.

  • 2015-2016

    • The CPI worked with Human Resources, the Employee Health and Wellness Clinic, Environmental Health and Safety, and the School of Nursing to improve immunizations and TB monitoring for new and current employees

     

    • The CPI worked with the Office of Sponsored Projects to allow for the inclusion of longevity pay for staff members on all proposals and to eliminate the requirement for a detailed budget for NIH modular grant applications

     

    • The CPI worked with the Office of Sponsored Programs to reduce the institutional requirements for materials submitted prior to grant submissions

     

    • Conducted a survey on campus carry and presented those results to the President and the University Committee charged with making recommendations

  • 2014-2015

    • The CPI worked with Facilities Management to ensure that animal facilities were modified appropriately for the power outages

     

    • The CPI worked with Facilities Management to reschedule power outages to dates/times that were less disruptive to research