AASHTO RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE (RAC)

RESEARCH COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION TASK GROUP

MEETING NOTES

8/8/07

  1. Introductions/Housekeeping
  2. Introductions

Task group members present: Steve Albert, Nancy Chinlund, Georgene Geary, Allison Hardt, Sandi Hoff, Crawford Jencks, Cory Johnson (representing Sue Lodahl), Wes Lum, Leni Oman, Calvin Roberts, and Sue Sillick.

Task group members absent: Michael Bonini, Nelda Bravo, Jeff Brown, Colin Franco, Laurie McGinnis, Lou Sanders, and Dawn Tucker.

Friends and others present: Ken Kobetsky, Ned Parrish, Barbara Post, Doug Price, Clayton Schumaker, Mike Wendt, and Amanda Wilson

  1. Volunteer for meeting notes – Sandi Hoff
  1. Changes/additions to agenda?

None.

  1. Corrections to 7/3/2007 meeting notes? (attached)

None.

  1. Friends of the Committee

Clayton Schumaker indicated he would like to be a friend of the task group. Sue Sillick asked attendees to sign in as a Friend if they wish to be added to the friends list.

  1. RAC Chair/Vice Chair Report

Richard Long asked if the task group members had any questions regarding the task groups. There were no questions asked. He requested we write a paragraph describing the mission/objectives of the task group and a paragraph detailing current activities.

  1. Report on Action Items from last meeting
  2. Sue S. will finalize the June meeting notes and post them to the SCOR/RAC website.

Done

  1. Sue S. will post the updated committee membership the SCOR/RAC website.

Done.

  1. Sue S. will send information on the Research Issues in Freight Transportation: Congestion and System Performance conference to RAC.

Done.

  1. Steve Albert will send the UTC listing by theme area to Sue S. when it is approved and Sue S. will distribute to committee and RAC.

The list Steve A. prepared was for the 10 National UTC’s. Sue S. distributed a national listing of all UTC’s by funding categorization. It would be nice to have a complete listing by theme area. Steve A. eventually plans to expand this list beyond the 10 National UTC’s. Also, RITA is working on providing more information on UTC’s by theme via their website.

  1. All Committee members were asked to review the CUTC Coordination and Collaboration Work Plan and to send comments to Steve Albert.

The goal is to create a document outlining: 1) ways DOT’s and UTC’s can work together, 2) three areas common to both UTC’s and DOT’s, and 3) resources available through UTC’s. This document will be provided to the UTC’s for their review. When it is complete, it will be distributed to others.

Steve A. stated UTC’s could help to fill the gaps in on going Federal research. Nancy Chinlund asked if an approach had been identified for looking at the gap analysis. Steve indicated no methodology had been identified at the time, but the National UTC’s have the opportunity to create an identity for themselves and fill a national need.

Leni Oman suggested supplementing the language in the list provided to provide greater explanation on the items. In order for both sides to understand the issues, there is a need for clarification.

Leni Oman suggested we ask partners in the transportation community what they need to know about UTC’s in order to partner more effectively.

Steve A. stated the UTC themes are very broad. We may need to look beyond themes to focus areas, in order to more effectively find partnerships. We need to identify the specific expertise available through the UTC.

  1. Steve A. will follow up on a private sector partnering article for the next CUTC newsletter.

Sue S. and Steve A. will follow-up on this item to get this information out to the RAC.

Cory Johnson asked if other states had problems with private sector firms doing to work on contracts with universities and UTC’s. Sandi H. indicated TN has dealt with this issue and has added contract language to limit the amount of subcontracting by universities. This limitation has solved the problem of university contracts becoming pass-throughs for consulting firms.

  1. Dawn Tucker will find out if anyone is ensuring UTC’s are entering records into RIP.

Barbara Post will send RITA regular reports indicating who is and is not entering data into RIP. RITA can then follow up with the UTC’s.

  1. Steve A. will request UTC’s enter complete RIP records.

Barbara Post indicted the UTC’s are using RIP. They are required in their contracts to enter all research projects into RIP. The training being developed will help ensure records are complete.

Leni O. asked about projects WSDOT is conducting with universities, eligible for UTC match, that are appearing on the UTC list in RIP. Ken Kobetsky asked if it was important to make the distinction about who funds what? The issue is with duplicate records. Even though, a record submitted by a state DOT has preference over other records, sometimes duplicates still make it in the database. Sue S. suggested each state check the listings in their area to ensure the projects are a clean.

The real problem is the projects in RIP that are closed and not moved to TRIS. It’s up to the entity that enters each record to determine the eventual fate of each record. Sue S. indicated Montana DOT deletes records from RIP when a final report is entered into the TRIS database. For those projects that weren’t published, MDT leaves the record in RIP to let others know research was conducted on the topic; the RIP records provide contact information for anyone who would like to inquire about a project that wasn’t published. We all need to do our best to keep the RIP database clean. The training being developed should help with this effort.

Barbara P. discussed plans for adding a FAQ list to the RIP.

  1. Leni O. and Mike Wendt will determine the best method for search a number of web sites at a time.

To create an easy to use one-stop search tool, similar to the 50 states search tool, for research needs, the unfunded NCHRP topics will need to be put into HTML format (they are currently in PDF). It is possible to search multiple PDF files at a time, but it is not terribly user friendly.

The question was asked - How old can a research need be and still be legitimate. This will need to be discussed by the Committee and a decision will need to be made as to how to maintain the information so that it is most useful.

A data entry screen for additional research needs not found elsewhere might be a nice feature. We would need to have a standard so everyone is putting their information out in the same format with the same information. Then it can be searchable through a Google format.

We would like to find out which states post their research needs and suggest guidance on format to facilitate searching all research needs with one tool.

Roy Messler, Barbara P., Mike W., and Amanda W. will work together to develop a search tool for unfunded needs.

  1. Nelda will follow up on a RIP training workshop.

Nelda B. and Barbara P. worked with NHI to develop one part of the training tool: a 24/7 web-based guide to walk interested parties through RIP data entry. Barbara P. gave a demo of what was developed. She indicated a few corrections needed to be made and then it would be ready for distribution.

It is useful to have this training. Universities are getting their money from several sources and this allows one place for all their research to be shown. Steve stated if it is marketed to researchers, they will want to use it. It is a means of publicizing what they are doing.

How do we increase use of the website? Why are some who are required to enter into RIP, not doing so? How do we get universities who are not UTC’s and other agencies (e.g., FMCSA, environmental resource agencies, locals, MPO’s, etc.) involved? Who else should we be targeting? FAA Centers of Excellence were mentioned.

Database is relatively easy to use. It is not a training issue. It is a marketing issue. We have to market what is in it for the state/UTC to enter research in progress records. Perhaps providing anecdotal information on the benefits of entering into RIP, such as reducing duplication of efforts and advertising what research is being conducted, can be a helpful tool.

How do we roll up the research being conducted to look for national themes? Where are we putting our $’s? What themes would emerge from analysis of the 50 work programs?

How do we ensure records are complete? We need to include this in the marketing/training for RIP. We also need a fact sheet (e.g., FAQ’s) to clarify issues so everyone is completing the information in the same way. There is a consistency problem with the database.

Barbara could set up a meeting with RIP contractor to discuss the set up of the database to ensure complete records.

Barbara staff will enter into RIP if you send an electronic file. Researchers or sponsors can send an excel spreadsheet of all new projects and they will enter it.

Pooled fund studies will be entered directly from Pooled Fund.

TRT training was raised. We’ll focus on RIP first, and then we can move to other areas.

There are a number of issues that can be discussed with the B0002 Committee at the annual TRB meeting.

  1. Sue S. will talk to Chris Hedges/TRB about the possibility of adding WIKI’s to the SCOR/RAC website.

Sue S. will meet with Natassja/TRB and the AASHTO webmaster to discuss what we can and cannot do on the AASHTO SCOR/RAC website. Ken K. indicated AASHTO would work with us to get what we require.

Leni O. will demonstrate the use and value of WIKI’s for our website at a future meeting. We should also consider RSS feeds; how much are we willing to use these?

  1. Sue S. will talk to Steve about helping out with a website and administrative functions for the group.

Steve A. is waiting to hear from RITA if hosting a website for this group is allowed under UTC funding rules.

  1. All committee members will consider how often this group should meet and a regular meeting day/time. This will be decided at the 8/8/07 meeting.

The committee would like to meet monthly. Sue will query for a standard day/time and will schedule the next meeting.

  1. Crawford will check into the possibility of searching unfunded NCHRP topics by keyword across years; Crawford will also check to see if contacts can be added for each problem statement.

As discussed in 3i above, it will be more user friendly to move the NCHRP unfunded research topics to HTML format. Crawford will provide contact information for the unfunded projects.

  1. Leni will send Sue the list of ongoing and completed environmental research when completed; Sue will send this information to the rest of the committee.

Done.

  1. Develop Statement of Objectives (SMART - Specific, Measurable, Agreed Upon, Realistic, and Time-Bound)
  2. What are some easy wins (low hanging fruit)?

RIP web-training, working with RITA to develop training.

Work on research needs portal.

Finish the bubble chart for planning and environmental research and put it on the web. Development of bubble charts for topical areas – would link to the themes. Leni O. will add UTC focus areas.

Wes Lum discussed the executive committee prioritizing the task force efforts in the strategic planning efforts of SCOR. References to the matrix distributed in the first teleconference in June. SCOR wants to see better coordination in the research community internationally and will pass down assignments to the task group.

Identify success stories of states partnering with UTC/Universities for TR News and other newsletters. Barbara can submit to TR News. Steve will be the lead.

  1. Need to prioritize objectives.
  1. Next Meeting
  2. Do we want to set up a regular meeting time/day? If so, what works for you?

Sue will query the committee via e-mail as to a regular meeting day/time. The Committee would like to meet monthly.

  1. Agenda items

WIKI

Website

Focus on initial objectives (RIP Training, Unfunded research needs search tool, and partnering theme in TRNews) and then move on to other items.


ACTION ITEMS:

Ø  Sue will prepare a list of current activities for the RAC Leadership and our website.

Ø  Sue will update the membership list and post it to our website.

Ø  Steve will work on a TRNews theme on partnering.

Ø  Roy Messler, Barbara P., Mike W., and Amanda W. will work together to develop a search tool for unfunded needs.

Ø  Nelda B. and Barbara P. will work on completing the RIP data entry training.

Ø  Sue S. will work with AASHTO, TRB, and Steve A. to discuss options for our website.