WHAT IS THE FDP?

1. WELCOME TO THE FEDERAL DEMONSTRATION PARTNERSHIPGovernment, University, Industry Research Roundtable (GUIRR)The National AcademiesPHASE V

2. WHAT IS THE FDP? The FDP is a cooperative effort among federal research agencies, universities and the National Academy of Science’s Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable (GUIRR) aimed at streamlining and improving the federal/university research support relationship and reducing administrative burden.

3. WHAT IS THE FDP? The Federal Demonstration Partnership began in 1988 as the Florida Demonstration Project and is now entering Phase V which will extend through 2012.

4. FDP MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the FDP is to examine, improve and streamline the administrative processes involved in the competitive appointment, allocation and management of federal funds which support research activities at institutions of higher education throughout the country.

5. MEETINGS • The basic ground rule is that at institutional expense, institutional representatives are expected to regularly attend FDP meetings and to participate in committees, working groups and task forces. • Faculty participation is critical to the FDP. Faculty representatives should attend FDP meetings, at institutional expense,  whenever their teaching and research schedules permit and are encouraged to participate in committees and task forces in their areas of interest and expertise. • A list of Commonly Used Acronyms and Abbreviations can be found at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/fdp/FDP_Acronyms.pdf

6. MEETINGS • Three meetings per year • Format of the meetings is informal utilizing • Broad plenary sessions • Break out sessions for working groups, committee and task force meetings • Networking opportunities

7. COMMUNICATION • FDP list-servs • FDP Website • Announcements made during each meeting • Dissemination of proceedings

8. PARTICIPATION • Being a member of the FDP is about participation. • All members are encouraged to join and be active participants in standing committees and task forces. • Participation from the floor during general sessions is always encouraged and ample time is provided for questions and comments. • The membership, by design, is diverse so as to represent all parties affected by new research funding and administrative requirements.

9. PARTICIPATION • Members must be active participants in the evaluation of any impact these changes in administration may have on their institutions. • Members should consider themselves representatives of their constituents back at their home institution, whether representing faculty or administrative staff, a large established research institution or a smaller emerging research institution, an east or west coast, or public or private institution. • Members are encouraged to propose new task forces or demonstrations following the procedures established by the FDP found at http://www.thefdp.org/Procedures_Taskforce.html.

10. PARTICIPATION • All committees, working groups and task forces, with the exception of the Executive Committee and standing committees, are open to everyone for membership. • Even though the official membership is limited on these committees, when they meet during regularly scheduled FDP meetings, they are open to everyone. • Once a member has identified an open membership committee of interest, approach one of the co-chairs and offer to join the committee.

11. PARTICIPATION • The new member’s name will be added to the committee’s membership list and added to that committee’s listserv. • Members are included in conference calls, fact gathering activities or actions the committee undertakes between meetings. • The aims of the current committees and task forces are quite diverse and are outlined on the FDP website at <http://thefdp.org/>.

12. Success Stories • Expanded Authorities • FDP Subaward Agreement • Standard Government-wide Terms and Conditions • Faculty Burden Survey • Emerging Research Institutions GUIRR Partnership Workshop • FDP as key sounding board for Research Business Models Subcommittee of the Committee on Science, grants.gov, research.gov, etc.

13. COMMITTEE STRUCTURE • Committees and task forces have a federal and an institutional co-chair. • Membership is comprised of members from both groups to be certain that both sides have equal time to discuss their issues and assess the impact of a discussion point. • In Phase V, Faculty and ERA liaisons will be assigned to each committee, task force and working group, as appropriate.

14. FDP COMMITTEES • Executive Committee • Operational Standing Committees • Membership • Finance • Communications

15. FDP STANDING COMMITTEES • Functional Standing Committees • Faculty • Electronic Research Administration (ERA) • Research Administration Committee • Finance, Audit and Costing Committee • Research Compliance Committee

16. MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE • Responsible for membership issues: • Monitoring attendance and participation • Assuring vendor participation complies with FDP policy • Receiving, evaluating and recommending requests for additional affiliate membership • Encouraging increased federal participation and membership • Facilitating transition process for new FDP phases • Updating and overseeing Executive Committee nomination/election procedures • Supporting ERI full participation in FDP activities

17. FINANCE COMMITTEE • Responsible for providing oversight of the FDP finances by: • Reviewing annual budgets • Setting financial related policies and procedures • Monitoring the payment of dues

18. COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE • Approves all FDP publications in either print or electronic form • Provides direction for the FDP web site • Responsible for oversight of the FDP Biannual Report • Compilation and dissemination of meeting proceedings • Develop outreach materials

19. ERA COMMITTEE • Responsible for: • Serving as umbrella entity to ERA related task groups • Furnishing guidelines for ERA development • Providing faculty perspective regarding ERA initiatives • Establishing and maintaining relationship with other organizations’ ERA initiatives • Establishing and maintaining relationship with the Grants.gov effort and related research data standards work under P.L. 106-107 • Coordinating presentations

20. ERA COMMITTEE • Membership on the ERA standing committee is limited; however there are many subcommittees and working groups that are overseen by this standing committee that are open to all. • This standing committee provides oversight to ERA activities to prevent redundant efforts and to integrate the findings and activities of the subcommittees and working groups. • The ERA working groups and subcommittees are open to all members interested in participating.

21. FINANCE, AUDIT & COSTING COMMITTEE • Focuses on initiatives to reduce administrative burden in the areas of financial, audit and costing policies particularly exploring opportunities to simplify related policies without compromising accountability • Current initiatives • Subrecipient Monitoring Demonstration • Project Certification • Federal Invoicing Initiative (exploratory)

22. RESEARCH COMPLIANCE COMMITTEE • Reviews existing and new administrative requirements related to but not limited to human research participant protections, use and care of animals, biosafety, conflicts of interest, objectivity in research and export controls. • Explores ways to harmonize requirements across agencies • Eliminate redundancies • Identify good practices

23. MENTORING • Resources to assist new members in the transition to active membership and participation: • New attendee orientation • FDP Website • Assigned mentors

24. MENTORING • Mentors are assigned to new member institutions and, upon request, to first-time attendees. • Mentors perform introductions and answer questions at the meeting and throughout the year.

25. THE FDP WEBSITE • The FDP website is a resource of archival and current information on the FDP. • Members are responsible for keeping their own personal information (name, institutional address, etc.) up to date. All other information is updated regularly by the web team. • All committees and task forces, and indeed the entire membership have their own listservs to facilitate communication about upcoming meetings, and ongoing activities of the various task forces. • Meeting registration is also handled on-line through the website. • FDP website located at http://thefdp.org/

26. FACULTY COMMITTEE • Current Initiatives • Administrative Support for Complex Research Programs • Export Controls/Select Agents/Biosafety • Changes in Peer Review Processes • ERA Issues Directly Affecting Faculty • Oversight of Research Involving Human Research Participants • Growing Burden Associated with Compliance Activities • Oversight and Management of Research Cores

27. FACULTY AT FDP • Faculty representation at FDP was introduced in Phase III and this group is still evolving although its influence has grown significantly over the last two phases. • In Phase III, a faculty web page, faculty listserv and an advisory committee were created, with the Chair of the committee being elected by the membership. • The faculty representatives elect a Co-Chair of their standing committee who also sits on the Executive Committee along with the Chair. • The Faculty Chair serves as the Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee.

28. FACULTY AT FDP • The Faculty Standing Committee was created as a mechanism by which faculty could discuss, prioritize and communicate directly to the executive committee. • There are at least two formal faculty sessions at each meeting to conduct their business. These sessions are scheduled to occur so as not to conflict with other task force and committee activities that might be of keen interest to the faculty. • Faculty coffees, lunches and dinners are open to all and are regularly attended by research administrators and federal representatives giving faculty an ideal opportunity to learn about and discuss issues with people at a national level

29. FACULTY AT FDP • In order to better coordinate the activities of the faculty, a faculty steering committee was formed from volunteers willing to donate a little more of their time to the FDP. • The steering committee holds a monthly teleconference and its members lead fact gathering activities or tackle action items formulated at the regular FDP meetings. • Anyone interested in participating should contact the chair of this committee, presently David W. Robinson (robinsda@ohsu.edu) • Faculty are also encouraged to attend and participate in all “non-faculty” committees and task forces that they find of interest. Faculty participating in this way are often asked to report back at one of the formal faculty business meetings.

30. QUESTIONS