The guidelines presented are intended to stimulate institutional self-assessment, evaluation, and possible policy actions by college and university presidents, chief academic officers, and other academic officers not responsible for day-to-day administration of sponsored research programs. Officers of nonprofit research organizations may also find it useful. Institutional presidents and other officers need to be familiar with the array of variables that affect sponsored research programs. To that end, five major categories and fifteen subcategories of variables are established. The major categories are based on five principal administrative functions essential to any sponsored research program: (1) determining basic policy; (2) planning the program; (3) organizing the program; (4) coordinating the program with policy; and (5) representing the program externally. (Author/MSE)