For years this university has been giving small awards for the "top"
researchers in  the colleges and one nice award for the all-campus winner.
The selection has been collegial and cosy, and without real guidelines.  As
you might expect, last year they awarded a hefty cash award to a person who
had inflated his awards, his role on projects, on and on.  The Hindenburg
was less a gas bag than this Dude.  He also has enemies who delighted into
turning this into a BFD, right after the awards banquet and picutres in the
newspaper.  There were no rules and Herr Hindenburg exploited the lack of
structure quite successfully (I may hire him as a research administrator,
if I can teach him the rules of courtesy-- he has the right instincts).

So, now I have to write standards for reporting one's research
productivity.  We'll limit research awards to those submitted through this
institution, delimit what a PI REALLY is, stuff like that.  Do any of you
have similar guidelines that you might share?

Also, I'd be interested to know how allow faculty to represent their
activity on projects where they make a material contribution to a project
(whatever that means) without being a PI.  For instance, a person is not a
PI or Co-PI, but is paid for a summer's reserach, serves on the project
team, etc.  For sure that person will be part of the publications, but what
about reserach productivity in terms of the actual work?

Ah, nitpicking, the true stuff of factotums.

Spanky

Mike (Spanky) McCallister, Ph. D.
Director, Research and Sponsored programs
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
2801 S. University Drive
Little Rock, AR 72204-1099
501-569-8657 (v)
501-569-3039 (f)