Implementing a Comprehensive Research Compliance Program

Over the past decade, the role of the research administrator has emerged as a senior-level executive position at most universities and other organizations that accept federal funds. These senior staff members perform various functions relative to research administration and support, often with little or no formal preparation or training. The goal of this handbook is to provide practical guidance to research administrators as they navigate the multi-faceted work of their professional role.

Research administrators are responsible for implementation of increasingly complex regulations and for oversight of institutional responsibilities, activities broadly termed research compliance. These activities include compliance with terms and conditions of awards, compliance with regulations that specifically apply to institutions when accepting federal funds for research, and compliance with regulations that are relevant to research practice (whether funded or unfunded).

Previous volumes on these topics have focused primarily on educating research faculty, staff, and students. An assumption in many of these volumes is that all additional questions related to research ethics and regulations should be directed to the senior research administrator; there is little guidance, however, intended for the senior research administrators themselves. Thus, this handbook is intended to serve as a detailed reference manual for senior research administrators who are increasingly expected to be conversant on a wide variety of complex ethical and regulatory topics and to provide guidance to upper administration, as well as faculty, staff, and students.