Global Weather Services in 2025

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The Research University in a Flat World FEPP and
the Culture of Innovation and Initiative
T.H.Lee WilliamsVice-President for ResearchDean
of the Graduate CollegeUniversity of
OklahomaUSA-FEPP 16th Annual WorkshopLas
Vegas, Nevada August 2, 2006
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FEPP and the Research University A Case Study
T.H.Lee Williams Vice-President for Research and
Graduate Dean University of Oklahoma
August 3, 2005 15th Annual Users and Screeners
Association Professional Workshop and
Conference Kansas City, MO
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The University of Oklahoma

• Three campuses
• Norman, OKC Health Sciences, Tulsa
• 30,800 students
• 2475 faculty
• Total annual budget 1 billion
• gt 240 million sponsored programs
• Private Endowment 900million
• Recent fundraising campaign gt 1 billion
• Over 850 million in current and recent
  construction

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University funding pressures

• Higher Education is a highly competitive market
• Costs are rising
• Physical infrastructure
• Maintenance of existing plant
• New plant academic and support
• Academic infrastructure
• Recruitment and retention of top faculty,
  including startup costs
• Increasing technology needs for classroom and
  teaching labs
• Increasing technology needs for research programs
• State funding has fallen from 40 to 20 of
  budget needs
• Universities must pursue multiple funding sources
• State Appropriation, Tuition and Fees, Private
  Giving, Grants and Contracts.

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History of OUs engagement with FEPP

• Aware of program since mid-90s (NSF briefing)
  but no internal advocate/experience
• Late 1990s - Individual initiative for faculty
  PI in Electrical Engineering, part-time as
  adjunct to regular duties
• 2001 - Joint College of Engineering/VP Research
  One-Year Proof-of-Concept to expand services to
  Engineering College
• 2002 - Study curtailed early due to success, and
  program formalized for the entire campus within
  the Office of Research Services, soft-funded.
• 2003 - Core administrative staff position added
  to base budget of the Office of Research Services
• 2004 Costing study implemented to recover
  cost-of-acquisition
• 2005 First Full year of operation with
  cost-recovery.
• 2005 Cumulative acquisitions over 8million,
  distributed to 55 departments/units on the OU
  Norman campus

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Program Staffing

• One FTE Administrative staff
• Maintains close ongoing contact and conversations
  with faculty and departments
• Guides acquisition decisions
• One FTE Hourly staff
• Two Student Assistants

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Program Funding

• Administrative staff covered in Office of
  Research Services base budget
• User charges cover other program costs
• Personnel
• Facilities space rental
• Office costs materials
• Communications
• cell phones, Internet
• Travel
• air fare, mileage, truck rental

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Robust Model Process

• Placement
• Inventory
• Compliance
• Consistent treatment

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User Response

• Much positive email feedback from users
• It is seldom these days that government can be
  called "efficient" but this program seems to be
  accomplishing that seemingly impossible task.
• We needed 4 used computers for instructional use
  in Dynamics Control Lab AME 4812 for our
  undergraduate students. Joe Grego was able to
  come up with them. We are thankful for his help.
  OU FEPP is a great idea.
• We recently received some very nice hard plastic
  cases through this program that our technicians
  will be using to protect equipment they need for
  field work. I have also spoken with Joe about
  some other needs we have in the Mesonet that this
  program might be able to fulfill. This is a very
  helpful program especially in these times of very
  tight budgets.
• Value of program goes beyond items acquired per
  se

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The University Mission

• The mission of the University of Oklahoma is to
  provide the best possible educational experience
  for our students through excellence in teaching,
  research, and creative activity, and service to
  the state and society.

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The Mission

• The Creation and Dissemination of Knowledge
• Our product is our students
• Their educational experience prepares and
  translates into their future success and
  contribution to society
• The world they are entering is changing faster
  than at any time in history

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The Flat World

• The World is Flat A Brief History of the 21st
  Century, Thomas L. Friedman
• Outsource, Open-source, Offshoring,
  Supply-Chaining, Insourcing, In-forming
• Dot-com Boom, Dot-com Bust, which was the
  success?
• America and the Flat World
• Untouchables, Quiet crisis
• Dynamic Innovation and Initiative in a
  multicultural world
• This is the world our students will live and work
  in.
• This is the world we can and must prepare them
  for
• It is also the world our university will live and
  compete in

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So What Does the Modern University Look Like?
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Main Campus
University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
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Stephenson Research and Technology Center
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OUs Research Campus
The Vision Collocate University (.edu),
Government (.gov, .mil), and Private Sector
(.com, .org, .net) in a setting that enables and
supports interaction and collaborations that
produce value-added benefit to each.
Connecting the Dots A Community of Ideas
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The University A Community of Scholars
The University A Community of Ideas
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OUs Research Campus
The Vision - Connecting The Dots The
University Setting - A Meeting Place of
Cultures - Discipline - Nationality -
Ethnic - Organization The Enabling
Environment - Physical
Infrastructure - Interaction
Infrastructure - Contractual
Infrastructure
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So How does FEPP fit?

• Continued core role in bringing resources to
  support campus needs in research and teaching in
  continuing times of limited state resources and
  stressed federal research funding
• But more fundamentally it is a concrete example
  of the universitys vision of supporting
  initiative and innovation working across
  organizational cultures to effect mutual value
• This strength is also the challenge the
  intrinsic global role and activities of the
  university in a time of increasing concerns over
  national security