In addition to Herb's cautions about determining the purpose of the report
and the complexities of assigning credit--your capacity to gather and report
data has to be commensurate with your resources.  Maintaining a data base is
time-consuming and grows more so each time someone wants to report a new
piece of information.  It's not just a matter of recording a new item from
each record (and sometimes going through old records to recover the new item
from them); there's also decision-making, like "What qualifies as a
publication?" or "Is this a research project or a service project?"  So
adding info to make departments or individuals look good has to be balanced
against your other responsibilities--processing grant applications quickly,
getting out timely information about grant opportunities, conducting
regulatory reviews efficiently, etc.

No central office can depict (or obfuscate) the activity of a department at
the same level of detail that the department itself can; and with the web,
any department can strut itself for the whole campus (and world) to see.
For central offices it's sufficient to define the purposes of the report
clearly and then tell "The Truth" within that context.

-----Original Message-----
From: Herbert B. Chermside [mailto:xxxxxx@VCU.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2002 11:03 AM
To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG
Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] Annual Report that includes CoPIs

"Credit" is always a problem.

You can share "credit" when you are discussing "activity" or "contribution"
to an intellectual activity.  You can do something like this using whatever
names/responsibilities are listed in proposals.  Warning: set your
guidelines for "co-PI" or other collaborators clearly and objectively, and
stick to them.  And make chairs, at least, sign off!  Maybe Deans.  (Might
use "faculty named in project budget as criterion.)

It is very difficult to share "credit" when you are discussing $ brought
in.  If that's the measure of your "credit" system, you may find you have
to do what we do:  A project can be administratively divided into parts
when it makes sense.  A Program Project grant is one.  Otherwise use
judgement; we base it on requests (at proposal time, not later when chairs
and deans smell money!) for administrative sub-accounts, and we look at the
work plan to make sure it is a reasonable division of activity and
responsibility.

Consider what this report does in the institutional (formal or informal)
reward system for individuals and for units.  Or what you want it to
do!  Then set criteria and stick to them.  People will always try to milk
the system!!

Chuck

At 10:03 AM 10/23/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>
>Has anyone developed an annual report and included CoPIs as well as the
>PIs?  If you have, would you send me a pdf copy of the report? Or, if you
>have considered including the CoPIs but decided against doing so, please
>send me your reasons why it didn't work.
>
>One of our department chairs wants see his faculty, who are CoPIs,
>included on the annual report. When the CoPI is listed on a grant within
>that same department, they will show up on that department's report.
>However, the problem comes when X department faculty are CoPI on Y
>department's report. Then what? Awkward cross referencing?
>
>Perhaps some of you have come up with a neat report that addresses this
>question of giving credit to CoPIs. For a look at our annual reports,
>please visit:
>
><http://www.southalabama.edu/osp/researchreports.htm>http://www.southalabam
a.edu/osp/researchreports.htm
>
>Maggie
>
>
>
>
>Maggie Pyle, Ph.D.
>Director, Office of  Sponsored Programs
>University of South Alabama
>Mobile, AL 36688
><http://www.southalabama.edu/osp>www.southalabama.edu/osp
>(251) 460-6456
>(251) 460-7955 fax
>
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>subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via
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Herbert B. Chermside, CRA
Director, Sponsored Programs Administration
Virginia Commonwealth University
PO BOX 980568
Richmond, VA  23298-0568
Express Delivery Only:
 Sanger Hall, Rm. 1-032A
 11th & Marshall Streets
 Richmond, VA  23219
Voice:  804-828-6772
Fax     804-828-2521
OFFICE e-mail   xxxxxx@VCU.EDU
Personal e-mail xxxxxx@vcu.edu
http://views.vcu.edu/ospa/
VCU will close most faculty and staff offices from December 21, 2002
through January 5, 2003.  OSPA will operate only a skeleton staff, with
some limited hours, during this period.

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