To the Editor:

The purpose of this letter is to encourage participation in a Web-based survey of the UB faculty. This survey is being conducted by the Faculty Senate Research and Creative Activity Committee (RACAC), whose charge is "to review, report and recommend to the Faculty Senate matters concerning university policies, procedures and actions regarding research and creative activity; university facilities for research and creative activity; funding for research and creative activity, and responsibilities and liabilities of researchers."

The purpose of this survey of the full- and part-time faculty at UB is to determine issues related to research and creative activity, with a view toward recommending "action items" as part of a final written report to the Faculty Senate. Simply put, "What's on the minds of the faculty regarding research and creative activity?"

The survey will take about 10 minutes and can be accessed from http://wings.buffalo.edu/survey/facultysenate/. The results of this survey will be tabulated electronically and discussed and interpreted by the RACAC. Based on the results, the committee may conduct "focus-group" sessions to probe more deeply into issues. Presently existing faculty groups may be used for this. Electronic "chat rooms" also may be used.

Finally, the RACAC will formulate its conclusions and recommendations, including specifics, where possible. The resulting report will be made available to the faculty. Respondents' confidentiality will be preserved, but the survey will not preclude the option of providing non-confidential information, if desired by the respondent.

In view of the ambitious goals of the provost and vice president for research, this appears to be a unique opportunity to have your voice(s) heard.