WASHINGTON – Howard University launched a five-year strategic plan, named Howard Forward as a central guiding mechanism to advance teaching, research, service and clinical practice on the Howard University campus. One of the five pillars of the plan, Inspire New Knowledge, was created to continue Howard’s ongoing commitment to innovation in instruction, promotion of and entrepreneurship in research, interdisciplinary research and cross-sector collaboration that inspires Howard faculty and students to change the world for the better. After one year of implementation, the Inspire New Knowledge committee has seen tremendous progress.

With the goal to increase College and School-level participation in grant-funded research and study abroad opportunities Vice President for Research Bruce Jones, Ph.D., who was hired in 2018 for his knowledge in research and grant work, has implemented a number of strategies to bring the goals of the Inspire New Knowledge committee to full fruition. Working alongside the Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Anthony Wutoh, Ph.D., R.Ph., who also leads the newly established Office of Academic Excellence, VP Jones shares insight on what the newly established Office of Research (OoR) has accomplished the in 2019-2020 academic year, and a few of the next steps for the commitment.

"We are truly excited about the accomplishments of the Office of Research over the past year. As it stands, faculty grant productivity is $23 million over what it was at this same time last year,” said VP Jones. “More Colleges and Schools are expressing a desire to engage in grant funded research as the Office of Research places an increased emphasis on systematically matching faculty knowledge and expertise to grant funded research and grant funded professional training needs in the local and national community. Consistent with this emphasis, the Office of Research has been leading and providing incentives for faculty to engage in large-scale interdisciplinary and cross-sector research with the recognition that many of the problems and issues that we face in society require multidisciplinary approaches.” 

Under the leadership of Jones, and Chief Financial Officer Michael Masch, the Interoffice Research Committee (IRC) was established to streamline the Howard University grant development, submission and monitoring process.

“The Interoffice Research Committee (IRC) consists of operational representatives from across the Howard campus to include the Office of Research, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the Office of Human Resources and the Office of Facilities,” said Jones. “Additionally, through the work of the IRC, we established a monitoring and reporting mechanism for communicating more effectively with each of the 13 Colleges and Schools on campus as a means to increase and support grant and contract research.”

What the Future Holds

With the reestablishment of the Office of Research in 2018, coupled with university investments toward the full development of the Office, Howard University will continue on its quest to regain its status as a Research I institution of higher education. Key to this quest is a need to more than double the number of research proposal submissions to $100 million by fiscal year 2024.

Jones believes each of these developments, “will allow for increased opportunities for our faculty, students and research staff to significantly contribute to Howard's mission to be committed to the development of distinguished, historically aware, and compassionate graduates and to the discovery of solutions to human problems in the United States and throughout the world."

For more information on pillar two of the Howard Forward strategic plan, visit https://www2.howard.edu/howard-forward/inspire-new-knowledge. 

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(Photo: Howard University Vice President of Research speaking with a professor at the Interdisciplinary Research Building for Research Week 2019)

About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 165 Fulbright Scholars. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu

Media Contact: Imani Pope-Johns, Imani.popejohns@howard.edu