In response to increasing costs and growing reliance on external funding for college faculty research, a plan for promoting faculty success in gaining financial support for research is proposed. The plan is based on information in the literature concerning prerequisites for success in getting external support. (Author/MSE)

As news reports continue to describe questionable charges for indirect costs in government-sponsored research, academic officials try to explain the rates, which vary greatly by institution and are based on complicated accounting formulas, to the press, alumni, trustees, and state legislators. Overhead rates, ranging from 37 percent to 77 percent,…

Under a new cost-management plan at the National Institutes of Health, overhead rates charged on research grants, as part of the total project cost, could be a determining factor on "marginal" proposals. Some feel universities will learn to be more economical; others feel the policy penalizes one group of universities. (MSE)

Recent federal audits of research project overhead charges at 13 universities uncovered over $13 million in inappropriate items. Proposals for reform include a federal upper limit on overhead rates and a fixed institutional overhead rate charged to any sponsor. Concern continues over repayment to the government of previous wrongful collections by…

Fifteen questions about research policy at higher education institutions are posed. The questions address concerns about the credibility and integrity of institutions that perform research in the national interest and are intended to stimulate discussion by policymakers as the country enters a period of likely reductions in federal basic research…

National technology development initiatives in Japan and Europe are playing an increasingly important role in many fields of research. Such heightened international activity suggests a need for a more global perspective on research administration, and raises many questions for the United States' research community and science and technology…

Chronicles the "biography" of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement: its emergence from a confederacy of research colleagues in the late 1950s to an "empire" to its present state as a collection of satrapies, each concerned with a particular research project. Traces the development of…

Research administrators must understand who they are and what they do. A metaphor for the research administrator's identity and service mission is proposed: "custodian of the corporate conscience and culture." The role of this administrator is viewed as part of the entire process of learning for the development of generalizable knowledge…

In a panel discussion, four leaders of the Society of Research Administrators discuss how the organization and the issues it addresses have evolved since publication of an article about it in 1988. Topics include whether the organization has lived up to its founders' ideals, the nature of the membership, comparisons with another research…

This manual discusses major differences between academic and commercial educational research (CER) and provides suggestions to help researchers who want to conduct CER. The paper is based on the experiences of the TAFE National Center for Research and Development Ltd in Leabrook (Australia). Focus is on describing how to apply for grants and how…

The variables and management strategies influencing the job satisfaction of research scientists are examined. Emphasis is on defining satisfaction within the job context and the implications for managing the context to enhance satisfaction. (MSE)

The history of the debate over federal efforts to reduce indirect cost recovery in federal research grants to universities is outlined and discussed by a former university administrator involved in the policy's formation. (MSE)

A survey of the research administration community suggests great diversity of organizational arrangements, operational staff size, staff and administrator background, and task assignments. (MSE)

The role of two agricultural research administrators at two campuses of the University of Maryland system--College Park and Eastern Shore--in strategizing and implementing a process for interinstitutional planning and coordination in one major research program is discussed. (Author/MLW)

A discussion of the role of university-based organized research units reviews the major issues that confront such centers, describes results of a survey of 18 of the fastest growing research universities, and makes recommendations concerning appropriate management and the role of the centers within the research university. (Author/MSE)