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URA 2006-2007 Annual Report
Corporate Structure
Membership and Governance
As a non-profit corporation, URA is governed by a Council of Presidents of its 90 member universities. The Council is analogous to the shareholders of a public corporation. A Board of Trustees, elected by the Council, has the fiduciary responsibilities for the corporation and deals with corporate policy and planning issues. The Trustees appoint a board of overseers for each major URA-managed enterprise. URA overseers typically have the scientific and/or administrative expertise and experience applicable to the specific enterprise. The headquarters office of URA in Washington, D.C. coordinates the activities of the Council and boards, and is responsible for oversight and governance of Fermilab and for corporate relations with the federal government, industry, academe, and the general public.
URA member universities are divided among seven geographic regions within the United States to ensure that URA’s governing boards reflect the organization’s national character. URA has expanded these regions to include its several international members. The Council of Presidents elects one Trustee from each of the seven regions; each Regional Trustee is president or equivalent chief executive officer of a member institution in the region. There are up to ten At-Large Trustees. A board of overseers typically has a similar structure, with seven regional members and a designated number of at-large members.
URA board members over the years have included chief executive officers of major industrial corporations, corporate vice-presidents, university presidents and vicepresidents. Boards have also included winners of major science prizes, including Nobel laureates, as well as directors of other major research laboratories. Regional group secretaries, who are faculty members at URA member universities, help to identify candidates for election as regional members on the boards of overseers.
URA was the sole management and operating (M&O) contractor for Fermilab through 2006, and URA’s oversight body for Fermilab was the eighteen-member Fermilab Board of Overseers. The Fermilab Director was selected by the URA Board of Trustees with the approval of DOE. In 2007, URA joined with the University of Chicago to form Fermi Research Alliance, LLC (FRA), the jointly-owned nonprofit company that now holds the Fermilab M&O contract. Accordingly, direct oversight of Fermilab has been assumed by a new twenty-four member FRA Board of Directors. Under URA’s formal agreement with the University of Chicago, half of the FRA Directors are appointed by URA and half are appointed by the University. The University President serves as the Chair of the FRA Board, and the URA President serves as the Board’s Vice Chair. Representatives of Fermilab’s other major neighboring universities (Illinois Institute of Technology, Northern Illinois University, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois) have permanent seats on the FRA Board. URA has appointed nine incumbent members of its 2006 Fermilab Board of Overseers, including all seven Regional Overseers, to the FRA Board.
Daily Fermilab operations are coordinated directly between Laboratory management and the DOE Fermi Site Office or DOE headquarters. The total number of FRA employees at Fermilab is currently about 2,000. The Fermilab Director is the President of FRA.
Assessments
In lieu of annual dues, URA historically has assessed its member universities only as special needs arise. From the formation of the corporation in 1965 through 2006, such assessments totaled $30,000 per member. Newly elected members were assessed the amount of the most recent prior assessment. In response to a requirement in DOE’s request for proposals (RFP) for the new Fermilab M&O contract that commenced on January 1, 2007, URA, the University of Chicago and the four local Illinois universities agreed to support new initiatives at the Laboratory. The University will contribute its share of the fee earned under the contract, approximately $400,000 per year, to underwrite University faculty participation at Fermilab and other Laboratory programs. Similarly, URA will support a variety of activities at Fermilab which would specifically be reserved for faculty and staff from URA member universities, and which would be of mutual benefit to the universities and to the Laboratory. To fund this initiative, the URA Trustees authorized the introduction of a five-year, limited-term assessment of $5,000 per year from each of URA’s member universities, over the five-year term of the new Fermilab contract.
URA Headquarters Office
Corporate officers include leaders of the URA governing bodies (Council of Presidents and Board of Trustees) and executive officers at URA headquarters in Washington, D.C. (President, Vice President/Secretary, Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer, and General Counsel). The URA Secretary, CFO, and General Counsel currently also serve in the corresponding positions in FRA.
URA Regional Group Secretaries
- Kam-Biu Luk, University of California, Berkeley
- Kenneth J. Heller, University of Minnesota
- Sally C. Seidel, University of New Mexico
- Randal C. Ruchti, University of Notre Dame
- Paul D. Sheldon, Vanderbilt University
- Bruce A. Barnett, Johns Hopkins University
- Michael Tuts, Columbia University