Provost Rebecca Chopp opened the Oct. 17 meeting by informing the council that three policies it recommended last year—concerning stopping the tenure clock, maternity leave and parental leave—are “officially enacted” and will be reported to the Board of Trustees in November.

Chopp also discussed the upcoming Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) accreditation review process and asked council members for their opinions regarding the future of research at Emory. That will be the focus of the “theme” around which the University must plan to comply with the SACS review.

The council discussed a number of research-related topics, including interdisciplinarity, release time from service commitments, grant writing education and grant applications from non-tenure faculty. Chopp invited members to send further comments to her via e-mail.

Frank Stout, new vice president for research administration, introduced himself to the council and discussed his plans for streamlining the University’s research infrastructure. Stout said he is working to foster closer collaboration between the offices of sponsored research and technology transfer, and he announced that an on-call research administrator will soon be available 24 hours a day.

Dean Bobby Paul of the graduate school stressed the importance of graduate students to research and said his mission is to continue enhancing the quality of recruitment. He also mentioned a new research funding initiative called the Quadrangle Fund.

Josiah Wilcox, chair of the University Research Committee, distributeda a handout on research support for discussion. Wilcox said the main issue was a recently established federal rule mandating that basic research needs be funded through indirect costs, a process for which Emory does not have a system in place. The council decided to gather more information and continue this discussion at a later meeting.

Polly Price of the faculty hearing committee said the committee has not heard any cases this academic year. She said there may be some confusion on the committee’s role regarding the appeals process for faculty denied tenure, and Chopp said she would raise this issue with a tenure review committee she is forming.

Michelle Smith, director of corporate relations, gave a presentation on the University’s 2000 United Way campaign. The campaign’s goal this year is $380,000.

The next Faculty Council meeting will be Nov. 21 at 3:15 p.m. in 400 Administration Building. —reported by Terri Loften

If you have a question or concern for Faculty Council, send e-mail to Chair Claire Sterk at csterk@sph.emory.edu.