UC TSR&TP Operating Guidelines

Revised January 2006

I. MISSION STATEMENT

The UC Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program (TSR&TP) supports research and education that will help provide the new concepts and scientific talent essential to solving the problems of toxic substances in California's environment. The TSR&TP strives to develop and nurture research on the impacts of toxic substances on human and environmental health, and on new methods for preventing or mitigating such impacts through an annual grants competition and interdisciplinary Centers of Excellence. The TSR&TP also serves as a focal point of communication for the University of California among researchers, industry, the government, and the public.

II. PROGRAM GOVERNANCE

A. Executive Committee

Executive Committee Chair

An individual other than the Director should chair the Executive Committee. A three-person chair structure will be instituted to reduce the burden on the Chair and to preserve institutional memory. The Executive Committee will nominate and elect a current year Chair and Vice Chair, each with one-year terms. The past year's Chair will be available as an advisor to the current Chair. For the first year of this new structure, the chair of the Strategic Planning Committee will serve as the past year's chair. The Vice Chair will not automatically succeed the Chair. Open nominations and a new vote for both positions will be taken each year. If the Chair cannot attend a meeting, the Vice Chair will assume the Chair's duties. In the event that both the Chair and the Vice Chair are unavailable, an Associate Director will chair the meeting.

Duties of the Chair

  • Run meetings
  • Set meeting agendas
  • Oversee program budget and perform financial audits
  • Organize subcommittees or ad hoc working groups
  • Orchestrate long and medium term planning
  • Meet annually with TSR&TP Director and Lead Campus PIs

Budget for Chair's Position

The Chair shall have funds available for travel and other expenses of the position. The Chair will propose a budget and the Executive Committee will vote each year to approve the amount. This amount will be reported separately as an item in the Program's budget. Expenses will be processed through the Director's Office. The Director's Office will provide a detailed report to the Executive Committee on the Chair's expenditures (see financial audit below).

Financial Audit

The Director's Office will prepare an annual detailed report of grant/fellowship, lead campus, and administrative expenses, as well as all other programmatic expenditures. The Executive Committee, led by the Chair, will review this report.

Membership

Voting members are comprised of one representative from each UC campus, one from the Division of Agriculture & Natural Resources, one from each of the three national laboratories, one ex-officio representative from the UC Office of the President (UCOP), and the Director. Associate Directors attend meetings ex officio, and may be extended the privilege of voting at the discretion of the committee. The Executive Committee will draft a brief statement of a member's duties to accompany the request to each campus' chancellor for new members.

Duties of the Committee

  • Strategic Planning
  • Set Policy
  • Proposal Reviews
  • Lead Campus Reviews
  • Oversight of TSR&TP Administration
  • Publicize TSR&TP Opportunities at the Campus Level
  • Evaluate Effectiveness of the Program

Length of Service

Each member shall be appointed for a three-year renewable terms, but effective members can serve longer terms. Selected emeritus members with special expertise can be invited to meetings and to the Annual Symposium to provide a historical perspective. Emeritus members shall mentor new committee members from their campus.

Frequency of Meetings

The Executive Committee will meet twice a year, once in the spring, and once in the fall.

Subcommittees & Ad Hoc Working Groups

Subcommittees to address specific projects such as lead campus reviews, strategic planning, program assessment, etc. will be organized and selected by the Chair, and the Executive Committee will be responsible for their final approval. When necessary, Ad hoc working groups will be appointed by the Chair.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Any sitting member of the Executive Committee may not be a Principle Investigator of an investigator grant, cannot be the primary mentor of a fellowship, and cannot be a PI of a lead campus.

Funding for Executive Committee Travel

The TSR&TP will cover member's travel expenses to the spring meeting and the symposium. If a member does not have other travel funds available, the TSR&TP will also reimburse expenses for travel to the fall meeting.

Interactions with the Public Advisory Committee

The Chair and other selected representatives will be invited to attend one Public Advisory Committee meeting each year. Public Advisory Committee members will be invited to participate (as non-voting members) in the spring Executive Committee meeting.

Student Member

A permanent post for a student member is not appropriate at this time because further expansion of the Executive Committee might make it unable to perform its functions efficiently. Students may participate in committee meetings on an ad hoc basis when a student voice might contribute an important perspective.

B. Public Advisory Committee

Public Advisory Committee Chair

The committee, from its membership, shall select the chair for a one-year renewable term.

Duties of the Chair

  • Run meetings
  • Set meeting agendas
  • Serve as a point of contact between the committee and the TSR&TP

Membership

The Public Advisory Committee will consist of members from the California State Government, the public, industry, and other constituencies identified by UCOP as having an appropriate interest. All members shall have the privilege of voting. The TSR&TP Director shall be an ex-offico member. Additional members shall be added as the TSR&TP develops programs in new areas to complement these initiatives.

Duties of the Committee

Recommend Policy Identify New Opportunities for the University of California Act as Contacts for their Constituents

Length of Service

Each member shall be appointed for a three-year renewable term. If a member can not attend a specific meeting, appointment of an alternate to represent their constituency is appropriate.

Frequency of Meetings The Public Advisory Committee will meet twice

a year, once in the spring, and once in the fall. Both meetings should precede the scheduled Executive Committee meetings.

Interactions with the Executive Committee

The Chair and other selected representatives will be invited to attend one of Executive Committee meetings each year. Public Advisory Committee members will be invited to participate in the spring Executive Committee meeting.

C. Program Director

Duties of the Director

  • Serve as the Chief Executive Officer
  • Oversee Daily Management and Overall Administration of the Program through the Director's Office
  • Implement Policy Recommendations by the Executive Committee
  • Serve as Chief Liaison between the Lead Campus Programs, Individual
  • Investigators, and the Executive Committee Responsible for Technology Transfer and Outreach (Website, Annual Symposium)
  • Oversee TSR&TP Annual Reporting, Grant & Fellowship Programs
  • Principal Contact for the UC with the Public in this Area of Expertise
  • Implement Ongoing Programmatic Reviews, including performance of the TSR&TP as a whole (Oversee Maintenance of a Database of Former Trainees & Faculty and their Contributions to California)
  • Represent the TSR&TP with UCOP and the State of California

Compensation for the Director

The Director may require funding from TSR&TP to provide release time from some of the normal professional duties of teaching, research and service. The actual amount of release time will be negotiated with UCOP during the recruitment and retention of the Director.

Succession Strategy

If the Director resigns or is incapacitated, either an Associate Director or another appointee of the Executive Committee shall serve as the interim director. The Executive Committee will also initiate a search and nominate a new Director. Because of the political nature of the TSR&TP, proximity to Sacramento should be considered as an important criterion when choosing a location for the Director's Office.

D. Associate Directors

Appointment

The Director will nominate potential Associate Directors. The Executive Committee will vote to confirm each nomination.

Duties

Associate Directors will represent the Program on campuses other than that of the Director. Usually there will be two Associate Directors, one each for the North and South, who will have discretionary funding to assist campuses in developing new programmatic initiatives that will further the mission of the TSR&TP.

Term of Service

Associate Directors will be appointed for a 3-year renewable term. At the end of each 3-year term, the Director will recommend to the Executive Committee either a reappointment or a new candidate.

Budgets

Annual budgets for the Associate Directors will be recommended by the Director and be subject to approval by the Executive Committee. Associate Directors will provide an annual report to the committee on how the funds were used. Associate Directors will not be compensated except for travel expenses to Executive Committee meetings, TSR&TP workshops and symposia, and other recognized program activities.

III. PROGRAM COMPONENTS

A. Lead Campus Programs Component Directors

Each Lead Campus program will select a Principal Investigator (PI or Director) from the main host campus and Co-Investigator(s) (Associate Director(s)), usually from other collaborating campuses or from National Laboratories with significant participation in the component. The PI will serve as liaison with the TSR&TP Director's Office, and will be responsible for the completion of the following: overall administration, annual and other reporting to the director's office, presenting a poster at the Annual Research Symposium, and to perform outreach for recognition of the TSR&TP and the LC beyond the University of California.

Longevity

Once a lead campus program is funded, it will be subject to a non-competitive review at 3 years, with a maximum period of 6 years. After 6 years of funding, a lead campus will have the opportunity to apply for new lead campus funding through an open and broadly announced competition in response to an RFA consistent with new research needs. Lead campus programs may be renewed if it can be demonstrated the TSR&TP funding will be used to leverage extramural grants. Otherwise, the new proposal should be different from the current program. Individuals or groups from former programs are not excluded from applying with a new competitive proposal. Lead campuses entering their 6th year of funding can apply for one additional year of funding, conditional on the component being able to demonstrate that they have effectively leveraged the previous 6 years of funding (i.e. submitted a major extramural grant application).

Review Policy

Lead campus programs will be reviewed annually by the Executive Committee based upon their annual report and at three years by a subcommittee based upon a site visit. Written guidelines will be provided to the lead campus before each site visit. If deemed necessary by the Executive Committee, site visits may be arranged at any time for a more detailed evaluation of a program than can be done from the annual report. . The Executive Committee can disestablish an unsuccessful program upon the specific recommendation of a review team after a site visit to the campus.

Level of Funding

The base level of lead campus funding will generally be $270,000. The Executive Committee will determine a specific program's funding based upon the initial proposal and then after the three-year review. The Executive Committee will also determine the level of funding if a 7th year is awarded.

B. Annual Grants Program

The annual grants program is a major source of new ideas and creative new approaches in areas not directly covered by the lead campus programs. The program allows quick development of new research efforts in response to new issues and opportunities, and to effectively tap the expertise of the entire UC system. The total number of grants awarded will depend on whether a new lead campus program is funded in the same year, among other factors including the annual base budget.

Fellowships

The maximum budget request allowed for fellowship awards will be $25,000 per year (maximum award of $50,000 for 2 years).

Other

The Executive Committee reviews the program on an annual basis to determine what other grants in addition to the fellowships can be offered. Two new grants have been created for 2006. The New Investigator Grant is open to investigators not previously funded by the TSR&TP. The maximum budget request allowed for new investigator grant awards will be $25,000 per year (max award $50,000 for 2 years). The Collaborative Research Grant is open to any 2 UC investigators with PI status. The maximum budget request allowed for collaborate research grant awards will be $50,000 per year (maximum award $100,000 for 2 years).