University of Texas System - Academic Affairs

The overall goal of this program is to increase the research capacity of academic institutions, by funding start up packages for outstanding faculty in STEM and areas of distinctive strength in academic institutions.

The FY 2009 STARS program will consist of competitive grants. A total of up to $10 million will be available for institutions to request funding focused on recruiting very expensive, high caliber senior faculty.

Principles for allocating STARS funding:

The allocation of STARS funds will focus on very expensive and high caliber senior faculty, where the resources required for recruitment are above and beyond the normal amount that would be available through routine institutional funding sources.

The academic institutions will be expected to align and justify their requests with the areas of current and emerging strength and distinction that they have identified as part of their campus strategic plans, the UT System strategic planning, compacts, and accountability processes. This program should be used to further strengthen those high-priority areas.

The highest priority for STARS funds should be recruiting star-level faculty members from other institutions where the start-up funding is large (>$0.5M).

Recruitment opportunities, when conducted in a nationally competitive environment, occur rapidly – to be effective, decisions regarding STARS requests sometimes must occur within a matter of days.

Criteria for the STARS Competitive Program

The Regents of the University of Texas have approved the use of $10 million of LERR monies for purchase of equipment and renovation of facilities required as part of the recruitment of particularly outstanding faculty in the academic institutions. These monies are meant to supplement institutional resources for the purpose of recruiting the very best faculty. Priority will be given to recruitment of individuals who are already members of National Academies. They will be provided instant start-up funding to recruit those individuals. The second priority will be given to individuals with national reputations and promise of election to national honorific societies, such as the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, among others. The third priority will be given to individuals who have national reputation and are engaged in leading a brand new field of discovery. Finally, if there are any money left, it will be allocated to help recruit outstanding junior faculty members that come from strong scientific backgrounds and mentored by leading authorities in STEM fields, e, g., new faculty graduates from MIT.

Factors which will be considered for the use of these monies include:
- The extent to which the recruitment will provide outstanding scientific leadership in an area of significant strength to the individual institution, e.g., the addition of a high-quality research program in an underdeveloped area within the institution, or a substantial enhancement of an existing program.
- The extent to which recruitment provides important research leadership in a priority area for the University of Texas System and/or the State of Texas, e.g. research in underdeveloped aspects of science, engineering, or technology or for moving to a higher level in an established program.
- The extent to which the recruitment would introduce a researcher into high quality collaborative activities involving interactions between health science campuses and academic campuses, or among multiple campuses.
- The extent to which the recruitment will contribute to scientific development in areas bridging multiple disciplines, enhancing translation of research from bench to bedside, or provide scientific or technological skills supportive of a number of other investigators and/or programs.

Successful nominees will have a firm institutional commitment that amounts to not less than 10 % of the amount awarded by System. Such commitment can include salary support and any other part of the recruiting package such as technicians, graduate students, equipment or other essential needs of the investigator.
Individuals nominated for these funds should show evidence of accomplishment in research with demonstrated capacity for nationally competitive extramural research support and graduate student training. There should be clear justification for additional equipment and renovation needs from the STARS Program for amounts up to $0.5 million, the maximum for recruiting new faculty. Some faculty recruitments may require substantially more than this amount, and in such cases the institutions would be expected to provide a larger amount of support for the recruitment.

Requests for funding will be reviewed by members of a Scientific Advisory Board. Proposals will be considered at anytime in both hardcopy and electronic format. Since successful recruitment and/or retention would require prompt decisions with regard to the recruiting package, the EVC will make timely commitments of these monies, based on the advisory consultants’ advice, until all funds have been allocated and expended.

STARS Application Process for Competitive Awards

Institutions must use the attached cover sheet to submit for requests of STARS funding. Approval by the institution’s president or designee is required. A resume or CV must be attached to all proposals.

A panel review committee consisting of very high-level people (all national academy members) from within the UT System will receive electronically the proposed nominees. If there is a difference of opinion, the file will be reviewed by a third member of the panel review. The committee will be staffed by the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Planning and Assessment. The committee will review all requests and set a goal of approving or denying each request within one week. The group will handle these matters mostly via email, with a conference call in close cases. The advantage of such a committee is consistency, speed, high standards, and credibility, which are crucial in recruiting and retention. To avoid conflicts of interest, a committee member will by rule abstain from voting on anyone from his/her institution.

The System will establish a process to track and report results to heighten awareness and to place particular emphasis on promoting diversity in this program.

With each award, the UT System will stipulate the indicators of progress and success for this funding, and will expect annual reports on this progress.

STARS Program