Leadership

Council on Research, Scholarship & Creative Activity

The Faculty Senate has merged the Publications Council and the Research Council into a new body: the Council on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity (CRSC). The CRSC officially began on January 26, 2026.

About the CRSC

The CRSC shall advise the Provost and Executive Vice President, the Vice President for Research and the Executive Vice President for USF Health on matters pertaining to policies, procedures and investments intended to promote growth, excellence and integrity in research, scholarship and creative (RSC) activity throughout the university community. 
 
This shall include all elements of the cycle of innovation and of the USF ecosystem for RSC activities, including, but not limited to, the following:

  1. Providing recommendations regarding:
    a)     Overall USF prioritization of and strategy for RSC activities;
    b)     Allocation of internal funds to support RSC activities;
    c)     USF infrastructure for RSC activities, including investments in shared facilities for RSC activities, support units and human infrastructure enabling RSC activities;
    d)     Strategies to secure new investments in USF RSC activities and infrastructure;
    e)     Any other elements of the USF RSC Ecosystem necessary to support world-leading RSC activities and outcomes at USF.
     
  2. Review of Internal Proposals
    a)     Internal funding to initiate and support highly successful USF RSC activities;
    b)     Support and subvention of publication and promotion of USF research, scholarship, and creative products;
    c)     Submissions for internal competitions for limited-opportunity external grant proposals
    d)     Any other internally competitive opportunities for funding to support RSC activities.

The CRSC is operated and supported by the Research Development Institute on behalf of USF Research.

leadership

Current Leadership:
Chair: Richard Heller
Vice-Chair: Nicole Guenther Discenza

Support Staff:  
John Johnson 
Associate Director, Research Development Institute/InfoReady
j2j@usf.edu

Tina Lucas
Administrative Coordinator
tlucas@usf.edu

 

Meetings 

Council Charge 

Council Roster 

Operating Procedures 

Council Membership & Appointments 

Subcommittees 

operating procedures

The council shall develop its own operating procedures, which, at a minimum, shall include the following subcommittees:

  • a subcommittee on policy development;
  • a subcommittee that reviews internal proposals related to external promotion of research;
  • a subcommittee that reviews internal proposals related to enabling research.

The recommendations of the subcommittees shall be subject to approval by the full council. The operating procedures shall include provision for all elements of the council’s charge, and for collaborating with other university councils and standing committees whose function may be related to the promotion of research and other creative activities at USF. In all decisions of the council, a quorum must be present, and a simple majority vote will rule.

Council membership & appointments

The membership of the CRSC shall consist of two faculty representatives from each college, except that the College of Arts and Sciences shall have six faculty representatives (two each from the School of Humanities, the School of Social Sciences, and the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics). There shall be two faculty representatives from USF Libraries. There shall be two at-large faculty representatives from the USF St. Petersburg campus, and two from the USF Sarasota Manatee Campus. In addition,there shall be four at-large faculty members to be appointed from any academic unit. All appointees should have demonstrated productivity in research, scholarship or other creative activity. Any seat left unfilled as of October 1 of the academic year of which it becomes open shall become an at- large seat for the remainder of that term. Faculty members of the council will be appointed for three-year terms. Members may serve two consecutive terms, after which they must retire from the council for one full year before seeking re-appointment. 
 
In addition, the council shall include the following members:

  • The Immediate Past CRSC Council Chair (voting, at-large member), if not otherwise a member
  • The Vice President for Research (ex-officio and non-voting)
  • USF Research Designee (ex-officio and non-voting)
  • Provost’s Designee (ex-officio and non-voting)
  • Representative of the Associate Deans for Research (ADR), (ex-officio and non-voting)
  • Representative of the Research Development Institute (ex-officio and non-voting)

Appointment: Nominees will submit nomination forms to the Committee on Committees of the Faculty Senate which will review each nominee. The Faculty Senate President will appoint the voting members of this council upon the recommendation of the Faculty Senate.
 
Any seat left unfilled as of October 1 of the academic year of which it becomes open shall become at large seat for the remainder of that term. Faculty members of the council will be appointed for three-year terms. Members may serve two consecutive terms, after which they must retire from the council for one full year before seeking re-appointment. 

Subcommittees

Committees named in the council charge initial areas of work:

(i)  A subcommittee on policy development will focus on advocacy and policy development towards strengthening the environment for research, scholarship, and creative activity at USF.  
Chair: TBA                   Vice-Chair TBA

a) Developing new strategies for assessing internal applications for limited submission grants
b) Develop new strategies measuring the return on investment on internal grants
c) Developing policies proposals that enhance research support at USF
d)  Approving chairs for research core facility faculty oversight committees 

(ii)  A subcommittee for review of internal proposals related to external promotion of research will review internally competitive proposals for funds to support research dissemination and promotion of research, scholarship, and creative activity. In the first year, this will include review of internal proposals previously administered in this area by the research and publication councils, including the following. 
Chair: TBA                   Vice-Chair TBA

a) Publication subvention proposals 
b) Faculty International Travel Grant (FITG)
c) Conference Planning Grants (CONF)
d) ORAA Research Award

Over the longer term, this committee will establish recommendations regarding the suite of internal funding opportunities that should support this dissemination and promotion.  This council could also consider meet with the library council to develop a strategy to address open access fees.
 
(iii) A subcommittee for review of internal proposals related to enabling research will review internally competitive proposals that enable USF research, scholarship, and creative activity. Given the relatively small pool of funding, these opportunities have historically focused on internal awards that lead to self-sustaining research programs. Chair: TBA                                 Vice-Chair TBA

a) New Researcher Grant, (NRG)
b) Multi-User Research Capital Investment Awards (MuRCIA)
c) Proposal Enhancement Grant (PEG)
d) Interdisciplinary Center Preparation Grant (ICPG)

Over the longer term, this committee will establish recommendations regarding the suite of internal funding opportunities that should be supporting research.

  • USF Internal Awards grant program: develop policies and procedures and recommend awardees for the Sponsored Research Internal Awards Program.

  • Limited submission pre-proposal selection: review and rank pre-proposals for Vice President. Chair, or designee, attends one meeting of the USF Faculty Council each semester and makes a report to the council members. Meet with councils and standing committees to promote research and other creative activities at USF.