The Chicago Conference for Associate Deans of Research at Small and Mid-Sized Engineering Schools, University of Illinois at Chicago, October 2016

1646808-Brezinsky本次会议的目的是为来自较小(主要是公立)机构的工程学院副院长提供他们所需的实用、有效和基于现场的知识，以成功应对较小大学研究生教育任务发展的一些挑战。其中一些挑战涉及形成以下方面的最佳做法：a)帮助教员取得成功，即获得更多资金和国家认可；b)通过指导帮助初级教员，特别是在他们任职前的几年里，特别是对于极具声望和竞争性的拨款，如NSF职业奖和其他机构的同等奖项(如空军青年研究员奖)c)为教职员工提供撰写大笔资金提案所需的基础设施d)促进学科和跨学科合作小组或集群e)提高研究生产率并增强研究的影响f)培养可能是未来大型提案的绩效主管的研究领导者g)以一致的方式确定和授权研究副院长的职位h)为研究副院长提供自我评估和评估的指标体系他们的学院/工程学院i)招收最优质的研究生，特别是国内学生，可能来自彼此的机构j)从代表不足的少数族裔群体中招聘女性教职员工k)发展机构间合作，因为较小规模的学校没有必要的项目经理、提案经理、研究助理和奖学金，特别是为研究所或中心收集大量资金提案所需的奖学金)优化副院长与其院长的关系m)优化副院长与其工程学教员同事的关系。为所列项目形成最佳实践的意义在于，副院长、教师和学生本身将更好地为学生工程学教育的进步服务，工程学是对社会和国家具有重要意义的STEM学科之一。为期两天的会议将有演讲、讲座和分组讨论，作为向副院长提供他们所需的实用、有效和实地知识的手段。演讲者将包括NSF项目经理，他们将详细介绍如何在他们的项目中成功提出建议。能源部、基础能源科学和其他机构的演讲者也可以做出贡献。曾处理过较小学校问题的研究副院长将出席，来自这些规模相同的学校的成功提案作者也将出席。最后，实践者将得到指导专家的介绍，他们可以将实践者的建议放在更广泛的背景下。此外，全体讲座还将为实际执行的具体情况提供更广泛的背景。例如，化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统司司长将被要求就NSF的使命和/或更广泛的影响进行全体演讲。同样，伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校的校长将被要求召开一次全体会议，重点讨论在规模较小的工程学院(如UIC)建立多样性的挑战。也有可能让一位尊敬的全体演讲者代表芝加哥这个新兴的科技城市。分组会议将补充演讲和全体讲师，让副院长有机会讨论他们与其他ADR以及演讲者和讲师建议的战术和战略所使用的战术和战略。抄写员将保留所讨论的实际行动的记录，以便编制一份经过实地测试的技术汇编，供以后传播。

1646808 - BrezinskyThe aim of this conference is to provide engineering school Associate Deans from smaller, primarily public, institutions with the practical, effective and field-based knowledge they need to successfully address some of the challenges to the development of the graduate education missions at smaller universities. Some of these challenges involve forming best practices for the following: a) helping faculty to be successful, i.e. getting more funding and national recognition b) assisting junior faculty, especially during their pre-tenure years, through mentoring, particularly for highly prestigious and competitive grants such as the NSF CAREER awards and its equivalent awards from other agencies (e.g. Air Force Young Investigator Award) c) providing faculty the necessary infrastructure for writing proposals for large funding amounts d) facilitating both disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborative groups or clusters e) increasing research productivity as well as enhancing the impact of the research f) cultivating research leaders who might be PIs on future large proposals g) defining and empowering the position of Associate Dean of Research in a consistent way h) providing Associate Deans of Research a system of metrics both for self-evaluation and for evaluation of their Colleges/Schools of Engineering i) recruiting best quality graduate students especially domestic students, possibly from one another's institutions j) recruiting women faculty and faculty from underrepresented minority groups k) developing inter-institutional collaborations since smaller sized schools do not have the critical mass necessary for having the program managers, proposal managers, research assistantships needed to put together large funding proposals especially for Institutes or Centers l) optimizing Associate Deans relationships with their Deans m) optimizing Associate Deans relationships with their engineering faculty colleagues. The significance of forming best practices for the items listed is that Associate Deans, the faculty and the students themselves will better serve the advancement of students' education in engineering, one of the STEM disciplines which is of great importance to society and the nation. The two day conference will have presentations, lectures and breakout sessions as the means of providing Associate Deans with the practical, effective and field-based knowledge they need. The presentation speakers will include NSF program managers who will present details about what leads to successful proposals in their programs. Speakers from the Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences and other agencies can contribute as well. Associate Deans of Research who have dealt with smaller school problems will present as will successful proposal writers from these same sized schools. Lastly, practitioners will be complemented by presentations of mentoring experts who can put the practical advice of the practitioners into a wider context. In addition, plenary lectures will also provide a broader context for specifics of practical implementation. For example, the Director of the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems Division will be asked to give a plenary lecture about NSF's Mission and/or Broader Impacts. Similarly, the Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Chicago will be asked to give a plenary focusing on the challenge of establishing diversity in smaller engineering schools such as the one at UIC. It may also be possible to get an honorific plenary speaker to represent the City of Chicago, a burgeoning technological location. Breakout sessions will complement the presentations and plenary lecturers by giving Associate Deans the opportunity to discuss the tactics and strategies they have used with those of other ADRs and with those suggested by the speakers and lecturers. Scribes will keep records of the practical actions discussed so that a compilation of field tested techniques can be created for subsequent dissemination.