Concern for the state of the humanities is a choice, not a necessity, for research administrators, but by fostering the humanities in any way, research administrators can nurture a vital tradition and a resource that contributes to the institution's basic purposes. (Author/MSE)

Principles for developing successful university-industry partnerships offered: (1) recognize each others goals; (2) match the capabilities interests, and facilities of the institutions with the people involved; (3) develop trust among the individuals; and (4) recognize administrative differences. (MSE)

University research results often lead to patentable inventions with significant possibilities for ethical conflict. University officials must be conscious of these conflicts, examine each situation carefully, and determine actions creating the greatest good for the greatest number. (Author/MSE)

The history of Canada's second largest engineering school's system of research administration is outlined, and the areas of general concern for research administrators seen in the near future are examined. (MSE)

A training and development curriculum for scientific research managers is discussed. Four management modules linked to a typical career profile are described: research management, subject matter management, functional program management, and policy and program management. (MSE)

Converting research facility costs from indirect to direct costs is used as an illustrative example of the problems of making changes in research program costing policy. (MSE)

For short- and long-term individual and institutional survival, the university and its research administrators must preserve and enhance the institution's climate for the pursuit of faculty scholarship, and faculties must keep research productivity and scholarly activity high.(MSE)

Research administrators can avoid falling into bureaucratic traps by (1) understanding what is important and what is subordinate to it; (2) becoming a better manager; and (3) improving public relations by being more accessible, soliciting complaints, consulting, supporting clients, making the rules work for clients, and educating clients.

The project accounting system used by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Chemical Sciences exchanges financial data with the campus' central accounting system and allows integration of this information with user-entered data to produce an easily read, fully obligated project accounting statement for the budget and period…

Interviews with faculty on decisions to submit proposals for external funding suggest that activity at the current institution is related to previous experience, and more experience in graduate school may have a strong, positive effect on later activity. (Author/MSE)

An approach to training new administrators is outlined that has four advantages: (1) identifying job responsibilities and matching them with available human, machine, or material resources; (2) compiling instructional units for each of those responsibilities; (3) presenting the units in logical order, allowing for discussion and assimilation; and…

The ways in which the Medical College of Pennsylvania has coped with exceptional growth in its externally funded research in the last seven years are discussed. Management has used commercially available computer software and two personal computers to establish five databases and facilitate provision of services. (Author/MSE)

Issues in technology transfer of inventions created through federally-funded, university-based research are reviewed, and the role of the Patent and Trademarks Amendments Act of 1980 in changing the presumption of title is discussed. (MSE)

A survey of South Carolina participants in Small Business Innovative Research programs, conducted to evaluate previous assumptions about research success factors, found that success hinged on the principal investigator's background, the presence of university connections for the project, and the project's ability to respond to the agency's stated…

A research administrator is seen as one who provides an environment conducive to the performance of research by allowing the principal investigator to spend as little time as possible with administrative paperwork. A protocol routing sheet and a checklist for protocol submissions are provided. (MLW)