Program AdministrationThe SCORE project principal investigators and the project director will form the SCOREImplementation Group. This group will have monthly meetings where information related toimplementation of the grant will be disseminated and administrative matters will be addressed. Inaddition to the implementation meetings, there will be monthly scientific discussions at whichinvestigators and their students will present updates about progress on their research projects.These SCORE Science Sessions will be informal presentations of work-in-progress, and will beopen to the campus community. Each investigator and his/her students will be responsible forpresenting at a SCORE Science Session once each year. The SCORE Science Sessions willprovide the Program Director and other faculty an opportunity to monitor and guide the scientificprogress of investigators and their students. The Program Director, who has supervised up to 20investigators and support staff as a Research Group Leader in industry, will work to removebarriers to success for individual investigator's projects, especially those who are establishingresearch programs at DSU for the first time. Although this issue may seem trivial at mostuniversities, it is a significant at a small university that historically has been focused on teachingrather than research needs. It is expected that 25% time will be needed.To ensure the success of the overall SCORE program at DSU, we will have an AdvisoryBoard of outside experts to review the progress and approaches of the program. The externalAdvisory Board will include Dr. Steve Borleske of the DuPont Company, Dr. Karl Steiner of theDelaware Biotechnology Institute associated with the University of Delaware, Dr. Keith Howard,Associate Professor of Biology at Morehouse College and a DSU alumnus, and Dr. ItzhakFisher, Chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University. TheAdvisory Board will meet annually with the implementation committee and Program Director.Maintenance and repair of equipment purchased, refurbished or upgraded with SCOREproject or other grant funds will be funded by the University through the office of the AssociateProvost for Research. This office is in the process of establishing a University-wide EquipmentMaintenance Fund to cover maintenance and repair of non-computer equipment on campus(university computers are already covered by a maintenance contract). To establish the fund, 5%of the indirect costs the University collects from all external grants will be placed in amaintenance fund that will be administered by the Associate Provost for Research (see letter ofsupport). These funds will be used to purchase service agreements where practical, pay forroutine service that will extend the life and improve the performance of equipment, and to payfor needed repairs to keep equipment operational. The SCORE Program Coordinator will beresponsible for submitting repair and maintenance requests to this fund, and for scheduling repairand maintenance visits, and maintaining paperwork related to warranties and service contracts.Safe handling of chemical and radioactive waste will be overseen by the ProgramDirector with the assistance of the Radiation Safety Officer (Dr. DiMaria), and the SCOREProgram Coordinator. The Program Director is familiar with proper procedures for handlinghazardous materials having been the Chairperson of an industrial radioisotope committee, andhas been responsible for complying with state and federal guidelines for handling hazardous andbiological material for over twenty years. At DSU, chemical waste and chemically contaminateditems are collected and labeled by departmental chemical safety officers who notify DSU'shazardous waste contractor to pick up the chemicals for disposal. Ethidium bromidecontaminated gels (the most common hazardous product produced at DSU) are collected inbiohazard bags and passed on to the hazardous waste contractor for incineration. While SCOREfaculty will continue to coordinate waste disposal with the chemical safety officer in theirdepartment, the SCORE Program Coordinator, with the supervision of the Project Director, willcoordinate hazardous waste disposal for the Biotechnology and Tissue Culture facilities.
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