“At the end of the day, we need to bring more resources to our campus in support of our teaching, research and service mission. The RGI is just one element of a broad strategy to do so.”
– Chancellor Carlos Santiago

Starting late next month, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will start to build upon a new cornerstone in the vision of Chancellor Carlos Santiago’s entrepreneurial university.

That vision includes the Research Growth Initiative (RGI), a program that aims to expand the university’s research enterprise by investing in proposals by UWM faculty and staff.

“We have to take concrete steps to realize the chancellor’s vision,” said Vice Chancellor for Research and Dean of the Graduate School Abbas Ourmazd.

The initiative allows those faculty and staff members to apply for initial funding, which is awarded by the university.

“It’s kind of a seed money idea,” said Tomas Lipinski, co-director & associate professor of the School of Information Studies and president pro tem of the Faculty Senate.

The monies, dubbed 101-4, are state monies designated for research, Ourmazd said. He said there is currently $14 million in the 101-4 monies for use for the initiative.

The 101-4 funds are currently distributed by legacy allocations and ad hoc decisions. Most of the funds go to Letters & Sciences, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Graduate School.

In the past, the bulk of 101-4 funds have ended up with a relatively small number of individuals and/or activities, each often receiving 101-4 funds from multiple sources. Most of the campus receives little or no 101-4 funds, according to the RGI frequently asked questions.

The initiative was unanimously endorsed by the Faculty Senate on Nov. 17.

“One reason I think it has the support of the faculty is that it really it reopens up in theory these research dollars to the university,” Lipinski said.

The proposals are supposed to be self-sustaining, meaning that, after a definitive period of time, the proposals would find external funding sources and continue the research, Ourmazd said.

The initiative is not intended for one-time funding for a short-term project, Ourmazd said.

UWM has to invest in self-sustaining research proposals, he said. “Otherwise, there’s no growth.”

The seed money is “essential for growth,” he said.

“I am very proud of our faculty and academic staff and our governance representatives for the thoughtful way they have approached the RGI initiative and embraced it in spite of a very difficult budget climate,” Santiago said in an e-mail. “I believe that it shows that the campus is eager to take this institution to the next level. At the end of the day, we need to bring more resources to our campus in support of our teaching, research and service mission. The RGI is just one element of a broad strategy to do so.”

The idea for the initiative came together through input across campus from a wide audience of people, Ourmazd said. But he said the Academic Deans’ Council, in particular, helped spur the initiative on.

“Let’s wipe the slate clean,” Lipinski said of the idea behind the research initiative.

Lipinski said that external funding sources often want some sort of information, whether it is a pilot study or some other information, before awarding that external funding. The initiative will help bridge that gap for faculty and staff, he said.

The program is designed to put more researchers into the process of research and help enable all disciplines, including humanities and the arts, to gain access to research funding.

“Researchers and faculty members know best how to succeed,” Ourmazd said.

Success for the program would equate “to the extent that we can grow research,” Ourmazd said.

Under the initiative, faculty and staff can apply for seed funding for periods of one to three years. An external panel will review the proposals and make decisions based on them.

Proposals are due on Jan. 23. After that, various external review panels will parse the proposals and pass along recommendations to a group consisting of Santiago, Ourmazd and Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Rita Cheng.

The awards are scheduled to be announced in late April or early May next year. Money for the projects will be available starting July 1, the first day of the next fiscal year.

“Maybe there’s some new people out there that have new ideas,” Lipinski said.

The initiative is a “framework” for the new research funding, Ourmazd said, adding that there may be a few adjustments to the process along the way. He said administrators would continue to seek input from faculty, staff and researchers.

Ourmazd said UWM will continue to monitor the program as well.

“I would like to see this program broadened to include graduate and undergraduate studies,” Ourmazd said.

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