Guests: Ed Feser, Ed Ray, Irem Tumer
- High OPE rates and its implication on research at OSU: OSU’s fringe rate (OPE) is one of the highest in the country. OSU’s OPE rates range from 45% to 85% depending on the salary range. In comparison, OPE rates at Stanford are in the range of 30%-42%. Because of this, the number of FTEs on OSU grants is 30-40% lower for the same direct costs compared to other institutions.
This issue may be out of the hands of OSU due to the mandatory PEBB retirement and healthcare costs. Please consider plans to separate state-funded positions and extramural grant-funded positions to enable OSU faculty to compete on an equal footing.
- Strategic investment plans in research enterprise to enable effective future F&A rate (indirect cost) negotiations in about three years.
OSU F&A recovery rate is in the bottom 15% in the country. Strategic investments in research will be needed for the next renegotiation in recovering costs associated with supporting research and maintaining cutting-edge research infrastructure.
- OSU-wide Bridge funding strategy to enable research faculty to remain productive.
The competition for extra mural funding is extremely high. For example, the funding rates for certain DOD grants is in the range of 2%-4% and NIH/NCI funding rates are around 7%. If research faculty fall out of a funding circle, it will be even more challenging to compete for grants. We need to have an effective support system at the Research Office/University level in order for the faculty in between funding cycles to remain competitive.
- Possibly allocate a portion of future tuition dollars to the Research Office to further strengthen undergraduate student research.