VA-SRA Minutes 12/5/1997

The Winter Meeting of the Virginia Chapter of the Society of Research Administrators (VASRA) was called to order at approximately 11:20 a.m. on Friday, December 5, 1997 in the University Center at The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia by Ms. Jenny Bradley, Chapter President.

The Minutes of the June 2, 1997 meeting (previously distributed) and the Treasurer's Report (included in the meeting packet) were adopted as presented by Mary Schamber, Chapter Secretary/Treasurer. As of the completion of the June 1997 meeting, the Chapter had an accumulated balance of $3,338.10. A discussion was held on possible uses of Chapter funds.

Jenny Bradley read a thank you letter from Jennifer Keller, Virginia Commonwealth University. Ms. Keller was the first recipient of the SRA Virginia Chapter Meeting Fellowship Program which paid her registration fees to the 1997 SRA Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. Ms. Keller then spoke for a few minutes about her experiences at the Annual SRA meeting.

The criteria for future Meeting Fellowships was discussed and are as follows:

• Meeting Fellowships will pay the registration fee only to the Annual National SRA meeting or a Southern Section meeting. Fees for additional workshops and special events are the responsibility of the recipient or their institution, agency or company.

• Applicants must be a paid member of the Virginia Chapter of SRA and must have attended at least one Chapter meeting.

• Applicants should not have attended a national meeting in the last 5 years or a regional meeting in the last 3 years.

• Applicants must be employed in some form of research administration.

• Fellowships will be awarded only if funds are available.

• An individual who accepts a fellowship from the Virginia Chapter cannot receive a fellowship to the same meeting from any other organization.

Jenny Bradley appointed Bob Wolfson, Old Dominion University Research Foundation, as Chair of the Nominating Committee. Mr. Wolfson is to appoint two other members to the Committee. In compliance with the Chapter Bylaws, Ms. Bradley requested that the Nominating Committee report nominations to the membership in writing at least sixty (60) days prior to the next Chapter meeting.

Janet Hahn announced that Radford University would be pleased to host the Spring 1998 meeting on May 14 & 15, 1998. In order to keep down the cost of overnight stays and allow sufficient travel time, it was suggested that we try beginning the next meeting at 12:00 noon on one day and adjourn at 4:00 p.m. the next day.

Diana Vincelli reported that the University of Richmond would be pleased to host the Winter 1998 meeting, probably in the first week of December.

Mary Schamber, Secretary/Treasurer, asked that everyone send her any address or phone changes so that the VA-SRA Directory can be updated. She also explained the procedure to change your e-mail address in the VA-SRA list server.

• To remove your old e-mail address - Send a message to "majordomo@virginia.edu" with nothing in the subject line and the following command in the body of your message:

If you have any problems or would like other information about our list server, contact Jonathan Hine, our list serve owner, at jth3e~virginia.edu

A manual entitled The Compilation of Research Administration and Business Practices for Virginia Institutions of Higher Education was informally adopted as a working guide for use at all member institutions. The guide was compiled by a VA-SRA committee and was designed to serve as an operational tool and practical guide for sponsored research administration offices. Please send any updates to Pat Buennemeyer at James Madison University or Evelyn Mink at George Mason University.

A suggestion was made to have a VA-SRA web page so that Chapter information would be readily available to everyone. Anyone who has the capability to set up and manage a web page is encouraged to volunteer

Mary Hunter, Virginia Tech, suggested that VA-SRA finance the training course fee or testing fee for a member preparing for the CRA exam. After a discussion of the subject, it was decided to table this suggestion for a year.

There was a brief discussion of what the various institutions are doing to train their employees. Members are asked to send an e-mail to Chuck Willis, Old Dominion University Research Foundation, (chuck~pobox.hprf.odu.edu) describing what type of professional development they have received and what types of training they would like to see.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 12:15 p.m.

C/o Old Dominion University Research Foundation · P.O. Box 6369 Norfolk, VA 23508-0369

Phone (757) 683-4293 · Fax (757) 683-5290