I²SL University Alliance Group (UAG)

Working Group History and Past Events

• 2017-2021 information coming soon.
• In October 2016, the group had a conference call to review and discuss changes of a draft document titled "Voluntarily including language about actions for efficiency in federal grant proposals."
• At the September 2016 I²SL Annual Conference, there was an in-person working group meeting of the UAG. The group focused planning for creating a document that could be shared with scientists, research administrators, etc. at our university campuses to encourage incorporating information voluntarily into grant proposals on actions for efficiency with federal funding and resources (such as equipment sharing, space efficiency, energy efficient equipment/processes, etc.).
• On May 10th, 2016, at the 2016 DOE Better Buildings Summit in Washington, D.C., a half-day meeting was held on "Greening Grants" which the UAG helped organize. This meeting was focused on gathering input from scientists on the topic of Greening Grants. Attendees included a mix of representatives from universities, federal agencies, and non-profit organizations. Presentations, notes, and other information can be viewed at the 2016 GREENING GRANTS MEETING WEBPAGE.
• On April 14th, 2016, Kathy Ramirez-Aguilar gave an I²SL webinar titled "Greening Grants: Connecting Sustainability and Efficiency to Federal Research Funding for Universities." Slides from the webinar are available for viewing. I²SL members can listen to a recording of the webinar.
• Monthly conference call meetings of the UAG continued through the latter half of 2015 and first half of 2016.
• At the September 2015 I²SL Conference, Kathy Ramirez-Aguilar gave a presentation at the I²SL conference titled "Connecting Sustainability with Research Funding: Why is there a need, who's taking action, and what will be the benefits?"
• At the September 2015 I²SL Conference, there was an in-person working group meeting of the UAG. Some action items discussed were working to gather greater input from scientists on the topic of Greening Grants and working with our campuses to voluntarily have language incorporated into grant proposals reflecting actions that labs are taking for efficiency (of benefit to conservation of resources and effective, efficient use of federal dollars), similar to what UC-Santa Barbara is doing.
• On May 29, 2015, at the 2015 DOE Better Buildings Summit in Washington, D.C., a half-day meeting was held on "Greening Grants" which the UAG helped organize. Federal employee and university representatives attended the meeting, which included presentations and discussion. Presentations, notes, and other information can be viewed at the 2015 GREENING GRANTS MEETING WEBPAGE.
• On May 17, 2015, in response to NIH’s request for information on "Optimizing Funding Policies and Other Strategies to Improve the Impact and Sustainability of Biomedical Research" Notice Number: NOT-OD-15-084, five members of the UAG submitted comments. View the submitted comments.
• Susan Vargas, an energy manager with Stanford University and an active member of the I²SL University Alliance Group, was voted onto the I²SL Board of Directors at the Spring 2015 board meeting. Many thanks to Susan for being a university representative on the I²SL Board of Directors and serving as a link between the UAG and the board. View the I²SL Board of Directors.
• In March 2015, the group had a conference call to discuss university representation on the I²SL board of directors including preferred qualities. The group is encouraged to nominate university candidates by sending resumes to I²SL. View the meeting notes.
• In February 2015, the group had a conference call to discuss ideas for the next I²SL conference in Sept 2015 and the upcoming May 29th meeting at the DOE Better Buildings Summit in Washington, DC, focused on Greening Grants. View the meeting notes.
• On September 23, 2014 from 5p.m. - 6:30 p.m. EDT, there was an in-person meeting of the group at the 2014 I²SL Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida.
• On September 12, 2014, the group had a webinar meeting with representatives from various federal agencies to explore the topic of connecting sustainability to research funding at universities, share ideas, gain an understanding of the federal perspective, and to see if there are ways that the UAG can work together with federal agencies on this topic in a cooperative, collaborative manner. View the meeting notes and presentation.
• In August 2014, a second webinar was held with the group where we explored ideas for connecting sustainability to the funding of research at universities and items to discuss during the September 2014 webinar call with federal agency representatives. View the meeting notes.
• In July 2014, many members of the group attended a DOE webinar where two winning university student teams that participated in the 2014 DOE Better Buildings Case Competition, “Experimenting with Efficiency: Greening the Granting Process for Research Institutions,” presented their solutions for connecting sustainability to federal funding of research on university campuses. (A link to a recording of the webinar will be posted once generated by DOE).
• The group was formed in spring 2014 and conducted its first webinar meeting in June 2014 where background information was presented on missing connections between sustainability and research funding at universities. The meeting also focused on some initial signs of action from the federal government to address this issue. View the meeting notes.

 

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