Perspectives (Volume I, number 7) (fwd)

[Anne Nothof]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 97 12:36:51 MST
From: Alvin Finkel <alvinf at cs.athabascau.ca>
To: faculty at cs.athabascau.ca
Subject: Perspectives (Volume I, number 7) (fwd)

Forwarded message:
>>From hssfc.ca!fedcan Mon Nov 24 12:30:27 1997
Message-Id: <1.5.4.16.19971119105842.4edf195c at 206.191.23.196>
X-Sender: fedcan at 206.191.23.196
X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.4 (16)
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
To: cynthia.alexander at acadiau.ca, easpevig at acs.ryerson.ca,
    therese at bosshog.arts.uwo.ca, berkok-u at rmc.ca,
    boadwayr at qed.econ.queensu.ca, arnd_bohm at carleton.ca,
    cbold at uoguelph.ca, ebright at julian.uwo.ca, rcavell at unixg.ubc.ca,
    ecobley at uvic.ca, pcolilli at nickel.laurentian.ca, sojrc at trentu.ca,
    acooper at watarts.uwaterloo.ca, cowper at chass.utoronto.ca,
    jkcoyle at aix1.uottawa.ca, wcragg at mail.fas.yorku.ca,
    cruiksha at mcmaster.ca, rcurrie at ccm.umanitoba.ca,
    davey at sparc.uccb.ns.ca, fdavey at julian.uwo.ca, tdebruyn at cyberus.ca,
    patricia.demers at ualberta.ca, adenis at aix1.uottawa.ca,
    mdesjard at mach1.wlu.ca, livio.dimatteo at lakeheadu.ca,
    cpasci at psych.utoronto.ca, cdunn at morgan.ucs.mun.ca,
    pedwards at mailserv.mta.ca, relwood at ccs.carleton.ca,
    ens at brandonu.ca, bfallis at gbrownc.on.ca, findlay at sask.usask.ca,
    alvinf at aupair.cs.athabascau.ca, fleising at acs.ucalgary.ca,
    rforrest at ubishops.ca, igammel at upei.ca, harrison at aix1.uottawa.ca,
    gerson at sfu.ca, ngolfman at morgan.ucs.mun.ca, sgunew at unixg.ubc.ca,
    mgupta at sparc.uccb.ns.ca, yhebert at acs.ucalgary.ca,
    higginsms at aol.com, bryan.hillis at uregina.ca, cinnes at yorku.ca,
    nargess.kayhani at msvu.ca, elaine_keillor at carleton.ca,
    knafla at acs.ucalgary.ca, mlarsen at shark.stmarys.ca,
    maclachlan at hg.uleth.ca, bmassam at yorku.ca, jmather at mach2.wlu.ca,
    maticka at uwindsor.ca, mccormick at hg.uleth.ca, mckim at stthomasu.ca,
    merrilee at chass.utoronto.ca, michelmann at sask.usask.ca,
    miller at skyfox.usask.ca, mitchell at acs.ucalgary.ca,
    stevem at einstein.unipissing.ca, andrewo at chass.utoronto.ca,
    mowen at acs.ryerson.ca, presubc at unixg.ubc.ca,
    rplant at chass.utoronto.ca, plou at unb.ca,
    gpuglies at credit.erin.utoronto.ca, draynor at acadvm1.uottawa.ca,
    mrandall at bosshog.arts.uwo.ca, reimer at vax2.concordia.ca,
    rosenber at post.queensu.ca, jsivell at spartan.ac.brocku.ca,
    rsmith at mach2.wlu.ca, rspielma at nickel.laurentian.ca,
    stevens at io.uwinnipeg.ca, thomas at cc.umanitoba.ca,
    jurbina at ccs.carleton.ca, vorst2 at ccm.umanitoba.ca,
    brownep at comnet.ca, wern at morgan.ucs.mun.ca, awesthue at mach1.wlu.ca,
    willij at cma.ca, mwmoore at uvic.ca, stan_winer at carleton.ca,
    zeytino at mcmaster.ca
From: "Fedcan" <fedcan at hssfc.ca>
Subject: Perspectives (Volume I, number 7)
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 11:00:47 -0500

PERSPECTIVES
An electronic newsletter on research and science policy.  A pilot project of
the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada.

PERSPECTIVES will appear at regular intervals throughout the year and will
be posted on the Federation web site:
http://www.hssfc.ca/Pub/PublicationsEng.html. Please address your comments
and suggestions to Jacqueline Wright, Executive Assistant, at:
jawright at hssfc.ca.

PERSPECTIVES (Volume I, Number 7)

Editor: Wayne Kondro

Contents:
i)      Introduction
ii)     The Financial Picture
iii)    Making the Case
iv)     The Strategic Plan
v)      Governing Council
vi)     CRICs
vii)    Tri-Council Code of Ethics
viii)   Canada Foundation for Innovation

SSHRC's NEW PRESIDENT SAYS AGENCY WILL ADOPT AN =91OPEN FOR BUSINESS'=
 ATTITUDE
Partnerships must be developed to fund Federation's "innovative" CRICs=
 proposal

i)  INTRODUCTION
Recently-appointed Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council president
Dr. Marc Renaud has a very simple message for Ottawa's political mandarins:
"SSHRC is open for business."

"We are ready to make deals. We are ready to build up partnerships. We are
ready to put people around the table and try to figure out what's the best
means to achieving a better understanding of the determinants of social
cohesion and what could be done," Renaud added in an interview with
Perspectives last week.

The Universit=E9 de Montr=E9al sociologist, who described himself as "a
researcher on sabbatical in Ottawa for three years," argued that the social
sciences and humanities community isn't adequately exploited in addressing
many of the nation's social and cultural problems.

Citing American Peter Drucker,  Renaud said society is "undergoing the third
most important change in the millennium." Following the development of the
printing press and steam engine, the information technology revolution has
led to the "globalization of world markets, globalization of ideas,
globalization of sicknesses. ...In that context, our communities don't have
the same bonding capacity as they had in the past. The way we organize our
work changes, the competitive pressures throughout the world, etcetera,
etcetera."

"Where are the minds to help us guide ourselves? I think they're largely in
the social sciences and humanities research community. There are 20,000
people in Canada in the universities working in 30-35 fields and all these
people think about these things. They have things to say and they are
capable of doing very rigorous research."

Renaud also repeatedly stressed that a valuable contribution can be made by
humanists. For example, there's a need to assess whether there's a value to
teaching Latin in schools, given that the language instills a "certain kind
of logic" in children's brains, he noted. Such studies are very "helpful,
although it's not tackling an immediate social problem."  In his view, they
represent an investment in understanding issues from a broader perspective.

But Renaud added that neither the social sciences nor the humanities will be
able to make a contribution if they aren't well-financed by the federal
government.

ii) THE FINANCIAL PICTURE
Stressing that SSHRC has already cut its budget to the bone, Renaud said the
agency can profitably use a $250-million injection in funds. He noted the
Association of Universities & Colleges of Canada (ed. note: through the ad
hoc coalition which includes the Humanities & Social Sciences Federation of
Canada, the Canadian Consortium for Research, the Canadian Association of
University Teachers and the Canadian Graduate Council) has advocated at
least a 60 per cent increase in SSHRC's budget over four years. "That's the
minimum and $250-million is the optimum."

"It may not be a good idea that all of this come from government but we need
a substantial increase," he added.

Renaud also said he's also hopeful SSHRC's financial picture will brighten
through new partnership arrangements. The agency has already been in
discussions with federal departments like the forest service about the
possibility of topping up training awards, given the cultural and social
link between forestry and activities like tourism and recreation.

Renaud also said he's promoting an extension of scientific research &
experimental development tax credits to encompass private sector support for
social sciences research in select fields like health. In earlier
discussions with the pharmaceutical industry, Renaud said he sensed they'd
be willing to provide support for research in areas like pharmacovigilance,
pharmacoeconomics, and the psychosocio impact of medical drugs. "The issue
is can we attract them by having some money and will the government help us
get them involved through tax breaks."

iii) MAKING THE CASE=20
But the social sciences and humanities community must make a "better case"
for additional funding, Renaud argued. SSHRC represents the largest
community in Canadian universities, measuring both students and professors,
yet is the least funded. Representing about 55% of the staff and student
populations, SSHRC finances only 5% of the students and 15% of the
professors, as compared to 20% and 60%, respectively, for NSERC.

To redress that discrepancy, SSHRC must become "more proactive" and
visionary. To that end, Renaud said SSHRC and the research community must
overcome the "us and them" mentality which now typifies relations and which
stems, in large part, from SSHRC's funding situation and having to say "No"
to the majority of people who ask for research support. Rather, the cause
must be advanced by both; "SSHRC is a means in all of this and the
researchers are a means. The end is to try to shape the future in a better
way and it can be tackled in all kinds of different ways."

Renaud also noted that the research community must understand that the
current era is "much more utilitarian." The culture of entitlement which
prevailed in universities in past decades is over; "the competition for
resources is fierce and they're not entitled" to research funding.

But while the ball has to be thrown to the research community to provide a
better rationale for research support, through mechanisms like the SSHRC
strategic plan's creation of an onus on basic research grant applicants to
make a compelling case for why their  research proposals are of strategic
importance to the discipline or the nation, Renaud also said the Canadian
populace has to "make a choice": either finance research adequately or let
the universities fall into ruin. "It's as simple a choice as this."

iv) THE STRATEGIC PLAN
Renaud said SSHRC is still putting the meat on the bones of the agency's new
five-year strategic plan, which will replace its two existing programs of
direct research support (Research Grants and Strategic Grants) with two new
categories of competition: Open Research and Targeted Research.
Essentially, the distinguishing features are that, under the first category,
proposals can be submitted on any research topic and research can be carried
out in a variety of ways, whereas under the second, research will be
networked and focused in specified thematic areas.

At last month's meeting of council, it was decided those thematic areas
would be =91social cohesion' and =91social, cultural and intellectual
implications of the knowledge society'.  The two areas were chosen following
a broad consultation in which federal government departments, universities,
private sector and community organizations were asked for input.

But still to be determined are the exact nature of programs or support that
will flow from the selection of the two thematic areas, Renaud said. Among
the options are the creation of university chairs in "social
entrepreneurship" (i.e., social cohesion and institutional change); the
creation of postdoctoral fellowships; or the issuance of a request for
proposals investigating specific aspects of the thematic areas.  But Renaud
said that the Council will seek expert advice to help define the actual
programs.

In helping to operationalize the strategic plan, Renaud also noted that a $1
million program will be established to generate new ideas on how social
sciences and humanities research can better tackle research challenges in
innovative ways. Although it's projected that an open competition for these
monies will be held three times a year, details of the initiative won't be
unveiled until December.

v) GOVERNING COUNCIL
The new attitude at SSHRC will also be reflected in the composition of the
agency's governing council, which will be made more representative of the
broader Canadian community, Renaud said.

In submitting council appointment recommendations to Industry minister John
Manley, Renaud said he tried to achieve a more balanced mix of producers and
consumers of knowledge. "I am ready to respect all the traditional balances
in terms of region, in terms of gender, in terms of big university-small
university, in terms of disciplines. The humanities have to be there. The
social sciences have to be there."

But he added that the board should also "have some people who are consumers
of knowledge, who use the kind of intellectual production coming out of
social sciences and humanities to do things."

In that context, Renaud says he proposed that board appointees be drawn from
the business community, the world of "community activists," as well as the
academic community. "And among the academics, I really want to have the
top-notch people, the prize-winner type academics, so that when people look
at SSHRC's board they'll say: wow."

Such top-drawer academics will help promote SSHRC's image and improve
networking within political circles, Renaud says.

When Ottawa is searching for advice on major policy issues in, for example
such areas as the impact of globalization on national identity, it should be
able to look to SSHRC as a source of intellectual firepower.  "So I'm
looking for a board that has all kinds of balances in it so that we can
answer the outside demand in a better manner and take decisions."

In operational terms, Renaud added that he hopes to make more use of the
board's committee structure to draft policy advice. "I don't think we should
have these two-day, three times a year meetings like we've had in the past.
I think we ought to have standing committees that are more operational."

vi) CRICS
Renaud was quick to praise the Humanities & Social Sciences Federation of
Canada proposal to create 15 Community Research & Information Crossroads
(CRICs) innovation centres across the nation in a bid to promote more
knowledge transfer between universities and communities.

"It's an innovative idea," he said, noting that the CRICs are an extension
of the sort of research centres which have evolved in Quebec over the past
decade and have successfully served to better integrate students,
researchers and communities in collaborative attempts to address social=
 issues.

Echoing those sentiments in an earlier interview with Perspectives was
Secretary of State (Science, R&D) Dr. Ron Duhamel, who noted that CRICs, as
a concept, is "extremely positive ...sound and impressive" but the amount of
money involved --$27.5-million/five years, of which $21-million would come
from government-- requires that it undergo "careful study, analysis and
scrutiny."=20

But Renaud said he was surprised "the federation was asking for so little
money. You need cash to get going. ...You don't do these things with
$200,000/year."

Renaud added he's hopeful some of the monies required to launch the CRICs
proposal might be raised through partnerships with the private sector and
other levels of government. Asked if there was any room in SSHRC's budget to
launch CRICs, Renaud indicated the agency would need additional resources.

"If we have an increase in the budget this year, there's other priorities"
such as bolstering support for training (such as postdocs) and increasing
the funding success rate of applications for research awards (now in the
low-20s).

But SSHRC's third priority will be "to leverage partnerships. And CRICS is
one those ideas, where we can lever all kinds of partnerships and we have to
get going with it."

vii) TRI-COUNCIL CODE OF ETHICS
Renaud confirmed that the granting council presidents will not proceed with
the controversial proposed Code of Ethical Conduct for Research Involving
Humans in its current form.  Rather, it will likely adopt some form of
"statement of policy" which will articulate general principles by which the
research community will be expected to abide. (A separate Perspectives issue
on the ethics code will be forthcoming later this month).

But totally abandoning new ethics regulations isn't an option because "we'll
end up with American-type legislation," Renaud said. So the councils will be
looking to approve a less prescriptive "set of guidelines" next spring to
outline "general principles, the general criteria according to which ethics
boards function.  And then, in two or four years, we'll review all of this
and maybe then come up with a code."

viii) CANADA FOUNDATION FOR INNOVATION
Although administrators of Ottawa's $800-million research infrastructure
program have indicated that the development of databases is considered
operational funding and therefore not eligible for support when the
foundation finally becomes operational next year, Renaud says he's still
hopeful that a case can be made for their inclusion.

To that end, SSHRC will conduct an international teleconference, in which
CFI officials will be invited to participate, "to look at what are the
infrastructure needs for the social sciences and humanities."

Renaud also noted it hasn't yet been determined whether the granting council
presidents will be given a seat at the CFI table. But he said SSHRC will "is
going to play a role in trying to identify the key areas where we would be
acceptable for Foundation" awards.

Editor:
Wayne Kondro is a freelance writer based in Ottawa.  The former Editor of
the "Science Bulletin", an independent newsletter on national S&T policy, he
is currently a regular contributor to such publications as "Science" and
"The Lancet".



Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada
Federation canadienne des sciences humaines et sociales
151 Slater Street, Suite 415, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5H3
Tel:  (613) 238-6112; Fax:  (613) 238-6114
Email/Courrier electronique:  fedcan at hssfc.ca