Dean's Faculty Update
ll Grower Association Grants – now ZERO percent IDC!
Date: July 6th, 2007
From: Mark R. McLellan, Dean
To All IFAS Researchers:
Folks, we had an exceptional year last year (FY06) in our sponsored awards – we were up 15% in awards! As this year (FY07) is closing, given the extraordinary changes in special federal grants (loss of over $10 million in grants), we are is still looking quite reasonable. Congratulations to all our faculty!
We have some important news to share with you. We have been discussing for some time the need to recognize our grower associations and the extraordinary effort they make to support our research. Although the dollars are small in comparison to our over all portfolio, they represent a grass roots effort by stakeholders that care deeply and our research mission.
Last month we made a decision here in IFAS and approached UF Division of Sponsored Research with a plan to set the IDC rate for all grower association funded research at zero. We proposed that based on our faculty’s continuing success to attract major federal grants we can move to zero IDC for grower associations. I am pleased to announce that Tom Walsh, Director of DSR agreed with our assessment and DSR will now approve all grower association sponsored research at zero IDC.
The thanks for this goes not to IFAS or DSR but rather to all the hardworking faculty that are creating an attractive investment opportunity for all sponsors. In particular, DSR is impressed with our growing faculty success with highly competitive grants. All of this allows us the luxury of recognizing the special effort of grower associations to support our work with no overhead applied. It is great news and a win-win for all – but especially for our grower associations!
Again – many thanks to all of our faculty that help make this a reality.
With this message to you, we are starting a new practice of posting critical research updates on the Research Admin Website. We will be continuing to use this site as a means of alerting you to news pertaining to research opportunities. Please check back often.
Mark R. McLellan
Dean for Research, IFAS
Director, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station
