The RAC Region I teleconference was held on Thursday 2/05/15. The following individuals participated.

Allison Hardt (Chair)Maryland DOT

Mike Bonini (Vice Chair)Penn DOT

Ann ScholzNew Hampshire DOT

Kevin MahoneyConn DOT

Soumya DeyDistrict of Columbia DOT

Stephanie DockDistrict of Columbia DOT

Dale PeabodyMaine DOT

Gary FrederickNew York DOT

Peter Healey Rhode Island DOT

Mike SockRhode Island DOT

George ColgroveVermont DOT

The agenda was revised to include a discussion on the Peer Exchange the New York DOT plans to hold later this year.

The minutes from the 12/04/14 callwere approved (Dale Peabody and Soumya Dey).

Old Business/Announcements:

The minutes from the 1/08/14 RAC Leadership call were distributed to Region 1 for review. FHWA is still looking into the eligibilityof tuition fees for SPR funds. RAC had been hoping for a determination by TRB. The next Leadership call will be 2/12/14. The main regional issue for discussion will be the 2016 National RAC meeting to be hosted by the region.

New York submitted publications for December and January (links included on page 2 of the agenda). Please remember to submit any publications for February to Allison.

High Value Research submissions are due 3/31 through RPM. The goal is for every state to submit at least one. Please refer to the 1/23/15 email from Bill Stone for more information.

Glenn Roberts has accepted a new position at the NH DOT. Ann Scholz has officially been named the RAC member replacing Glenn.

With Glenn moving on R1 has a vacancy on the Program Management and Quality Task Force. David Jared, Georgia DOT, has requested that Region 1 fill the vacancy so Allison solicited a new member from the group. Ann Scholz believes she may be able to fill the spot but will need a few months to adjust to the changes in NH. DC is also looking at the task forces they are currently participating on and considering shifting things around. Once the R1 member has been confirmed, Allison will follow-up with David Jared.

Rhode Island is considering hosting the 2016 National RAC Meeting in Providence. The Marriott Hotel has conference facilities and rooms available for July 2016 but RI DOT cannot be involved in negotiating or signing the contract for the meeting. Colin Franco will join the RAC Leadership Call on 2/12 to discuss. AASHTO may be able to handle the hotel contract or possibly RI DOT could contract meeting planning responsibilities to the University of Rhode Island.

NCHRP rankings must be submitted by 2/20. If a R1 state submitted a problem statement and would like support from the region, they may want to consider sending it to the group for consideration. The RAC Task Force Chairs also submitted SP-05, Support for AASHTO RAC Task Forces in Response to the SCOR Strategic Plan. This was submitted in an effort to find some much needed resources for the group of volunteers that make up the task forces. The number of active task force membership seems to be decreasing over time so this is viewed as critical to maintaining the volume of work that has come to be expected. R1 was asked to consider ranking this as a high priority.

New Business:

NY will be hosting a Peer Exchange in either June or September of this year. The focus may include program and project management, national program management (i.e. NCHRP, TRB, etc.), and skills sets for research staff and research champions. They are looking for at least two other states to attend. If you are interested please contact Gary Frederick for more information - .

NH is interested in finding out if any states in the region are using MS Access to generate their research annual report. Based on the discussion most states are using Word but several were also unaware that this is a federal requirement of the SPR program. NH plans to add a few fields to their current Access database to try to make reporting a little easier and less time consuming.

Dale Peabody is attending a meeting later this month to discuss how to use approximately $11M in SHRP2 funds that will be available after the Round 6 solicitation comes out later this year. Feedback is being sought from the states to see if there are any products or gaps from previous solicitations that these funds could be used for. Please send Dale any thoughts you might have - .

A discussion on regional showcases was tabled because MassDOT was not on the call. They are interested in learning more about NJ’s showcase and any others in the region (i.e. who has one and what are the focus areas).

It was discussed that it might be helpful to raise the issue of the implementation of 2 CFR 200 “super circular” during the RAC Leadership Call and ask if guidance will be provided specifically on the research area. RAC has not heard many details on this but it does appear that some of the changes may affect program management (e.g. extensions, setting up projects, etc.).

The next call is 3/5/15. Please send discussion items to Allison.

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