SYNOPSIS OF THE RESEARCH THINK TANK

Established by the Provost in Spring 2002, the Research Think Tank consists of approximately thirty faculty members drawn from the University's twelve schools and colleges. Dr. Lawrence Gary (Social Work), whose research productivity and record of service has distinguished his tenure at the University, chairs the committee. To further facilitate the committee's work, three co-chairs were appointed to lead three divisional subcommittees, as follows: for the biological and life sciences, Dr. Robert Taylor (Pharmacology) and Dr. Georgia M. Dunston (Microbiology); for the physical sciences and engineering, Dr. Arthur Thorpe (Physics and Astronomy) and Dr. John Trimble (Systems and Computer Science); and for the fine arts, humanities and social sciences, Dr. Florence Bonner (Sociology) and Dr. Farah Ibrahim (Human Development and Psychoeducational Studies). The co-chairs and the committee as a whole have been meeting regularly since May. They aim to produce a report with concrete recommendations before the end of the current semester.

The committee's initial charge urged its members to investigate the present state of research and research administration with an eye toward what the University should do to increase research productivity consistent with the goals outlined in Strategic Framework for Action II and to achieve Tier 1 status. Recognizing that several such committees had been similarly charged over the past several years, the Think Tank will not duplicate past efforts. Rather its major goal is to implement changes in the way research is conducted at Howard University. The committee is concentrating on five areas in formulating its recommendations:

1. increasing the volume and dollar value of externally funded research activity;
2. promoting interdisciplinary and multi-institutional research activity;
3. developing an incentive system for promoting faculty participation;
4. redesigning the infrastructure supporting research; and
5. improving the productivity of the University's centers and institutes.

Moreover, the committee has been asked to define a niche that Howard University will occupy in the competitive arena of university-based research and that will serve as a unifying theme to our various research endeavors.

The designation of Research Think Tank does not connote that the committee will sponsor research directly. Rather, the name reflects my expectation that the committee will study every aspect of the research enterprise at the University very carefully and offer me its considered judgment about our current strengths and weaknesses. The ultimate fulfillment of our goals rests with the faculty, working in their departmental and school and college settings. Yet the committee may also serve a valuable function pointing toward potential growth areas that recombine our present strengths in new ways. In that sense the committee has been charged with imagining new possibilities.