President’s Report – Appendix K

Research Office
Dr. Rosemary Clews
Assistant Vice President (Research)

UNIT DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

The Research Office exists to enhance the quality of research conducted at St. Thomas University and expand its quantity. The Research Office comprises the Assistant Vice President, a half time assistant, and a half time Institutional Research Officer. Chaired by the Assistant Vice President (Research), a Senate-appointed Research Committee oversees the work of the Research Office. The Assistant Vice President (Research) reports to the Vice President (Academic).

2003-2004 ACTIVITIES

Development of Strategic Research Plan
After extensive consultation, a Strategic Research Plan was developed. This plan will help us to secure institutional funding for our main focal research areas (qualitative analysis, narrative studies, populations on the margins of Canadian society, Atlantic Studies, human rights and social justice, and multiculturalism).

Application for Canada Research Chair
A special competition for small universities that have not received sufficient research dollars to qualify for a Chair (a federally-funded dedicated research position) was announced. After an international search Dr. Deborah van den Hoonaard (Department of Gerontology) was selected as our nominee for a Chair in Qualitative Analysis. We await the results of our application. Shortly before submitting the application we learned that we reached the threshold for a Chair based on our research dollars - fortunately this did not disqualify us from the competition.

Establishment of Atlantic Metropolis
After participating in planning for more than three years, St. Thomas University was named as one of four lead universities in a new Atlantic policy-research centre for research on immigration and diversity that carries a budget of more than one million dollars over 3 years. Under the leadership of Dr. Heather Richmond, St. Thomas will coordinate research in the region about immigration and education. Dr. Michael McGowan will lead research relating to immigration, human rights and social justice

Assistance with Applications for External Support
The Research Office assists faculty to identify potential funding sources for their research and provides advice and guidance with application processes. Our main federal funding agency is the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Applications for external funding have shown a marked increase. The results of twelve 2003-4 applications for SSHRC support have been announced. Three have been successful and a further three were recommended for funding but there were insufficient federal funds to make awards. This success rate compares favourably with the Canadian average success rate.

The university has supported five applications for funding by the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF). Our success rate has not been high with NBIF to date. NBIF appears to favour research in the physical sciences and engineering. We have made overtures to the foundation to explain our ethos and make the case that our research contributes to innovation in the province. Without compromising the integrity of their research, applicants to NBIF have attempted to present their research in a way that shows compatibility with the mandate of NBIF. We await results.

Contribution to SSHRC Renewal
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada has embarked on a process of consultation about its future. Under the leadership of Dr. Gayle MacDonald we have played an active role in providing feedback about the special needs and interests of this university

Student Research and Ideas Fair
On March 24th we held our first fair to showcase student research and scholarship. Twenty six students made presentations on topics ranging from post-traumatic stress experienced by military personnel today to controversy in the dating of the Old English epic Beowulf. Congratulations to Dr. Patrick Malcolmson, Ms. Janice Moore and the planning committee for organizing the successful event. Two students (Natalie Oake and David Wilcox) represented STU at a similar event at the University of St. Thomas in Texas.

Adjudication of Applications for Internal Support
(Internal support includes course releases, internal research grants, specialist computing equipment, and assistance with the cost of conference travel). The Senate Research Committee holds two competitions each year, in November and in May. In November 2003 a record number of applications for internal research support were received with more than one third of all full time faculty making an application for one or more categories of research support.

Masters Scholarships
In partnership with the Registrar, the Research Office held two competitions for Masters Scholarships awarded by SSHRC and one competition for a Masters Scholarship awarded by the Canadian Institute for Health Research for graduating students. Each of our nominees to SSHRC received awards of $12,000. We await the results of our nominations to CIHR

Mentoring
The Assistant Vice President met with all new faculty to discuss their plans for research. The Assistant Vice President and seasoned faculty researchers have provided mentoring to novice researchers.

Information Services and Research Resource Area
The research web-site has been expanded. Funding opportunities have been communicated through the web-site and newsletters. Cupboards, notice boards and book-shelves have been constructed to house our developing bank of research reference resources.

FUTURE INITIATIVES

Application for Institutional Grant
We have begun a process of preparing an application for a grant under the SSHRC Aid to Small Universities due in December.

Application for Second Canada Research Chair
We will make an application for the Canada Research Chair that we have been awarded on merit.

Development of Research Resource Area
We plan to develop our reference materials funded through our institutional research grant

Campus Research Network
During the coming year we intend to promote our Campus Research Network of specialist computing equipment so that its capabilities are understood more fully by our researchers.

FINAL NOTES
A research culture that is firmly rooted in our mission and our mandate has been developing rapidly in recent years. At provincial and federal levels there is a growing recognition that this university has a distinct contribution to make to Canadian research.

The Assistant Vice President (Research) has been on sabbatical during the current semester and was absent from campus for seven weeks. Thanks are due to faculty and staff who added her duties to their workloads, particularly Mr. Larry Batt, Dr. Ian Fraser, Dr. Gayle MacDonald and Dr. Patrick Malcolmson and faculty who served on the Senate Research Committee: Drs. Francis, Fraser, MacDonald, Narine, and Richmond.

The Research Office has benefited greatly from the leadership, wise counsel, enthusiasm and encouragement provided by the Vice President Academic, Dr. Richard Myers. He will be greatly missed.