COR Working Groups

The Council on Research establishes four new working groups to address current policy issues affecting research institutions. Each group organizes activities that benefit COR membership. The working groups facilitate discussion, connect similar efforts, inform potential actions, and engage key leaders and communities.

Please join a working group to offer your leadership and expertise on these important research policy issues. To join a working group, please contact Kevin Cooke.

Active Working Groups

The Safe and Inclusive Research Environments Working Group is committed to changing the culture of academic research to eliminate discrimination and bias based on gender, race and ethnicity. Co-leaders: Joseph Whittaker, Vice President for Research and Economic Development/Associate Provost at Jackson State University, and Peter Dorhout, Vice President for Research at Iowa State University.

The Safe and Inclusive Research Environments Working Group fulfilled their objective of reviewing the NASEM Sexual Harassment report and plans to produce a set of recommendations that research programs can implement to combat sexual harassment. The group also hosted a popular session at the COR Summer Meeting and is now focusing their work on racial and ethnic diversity, equity and inclusion.

The University and Industry Working Group was founded with the primary purpose to identify and develop a plan to implement high priority follow-up actions arising from the February 2022 APLU report entitled “Driving U.S. Competitiveness Through Improved University-Industry Partnerships.” The group continues to keep COR members appraised of best practices for collaborating with industry. Co-leaders: Chris Keane, Vice President for Research at Washington State University, and Marian McCord, Senior Vice Provost for Research at University of New Hampshire.

The Mentorship Working Group is COR’s newest working group, focused on building connections between senior research officers to enable peer support and mentorship. Co-leaders: Irem Tumer, Vice President for Research at Oregon State University, and Luis Cifuentes, Vice President for Research at New Mexico State University.

Working Group Accomplishments

The Research Security and Related Compliance Working Group focused on collecting accurate information and providing practical guidance for reducing risk and increasing research security to efficiently navigate a growing landscape of competing compliance mandates. Co-leaders: Rob A. Rutenbar, Senior Vice Chancellor for Research at University of Pittsburgh, and Laurie E. Locascio, Vice President for Research at the University of Maryland.

The Research Security Working Group met its objective of serving as subject matter experts and reviewing the survey of best practices for universities on undue foreign influence. The group hosted a popular session at the COR Summer Meeting. Members of the group are also involved in numerous other ongoing research security related policy discussions.

The Public Impact Research Working Group sought to support and bring together multiple efforts as a national campaign to convey how a large portion of university research, across all academic disciplines, seeks a positive societal impact. Co-leaders: Sandra Brown, Vice Chancellor for Research at UC San Diego, and Robin Kaler, Associate Chancellor for Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The Public Impact Research (PIR) Working Group was critical in helping create a news network and sharing stories on how APLU institutions were combating COVID-19. The group collected stories that were shared on the APLU website as part of the successful virtual COR Summer Meeting. These stories were from APLU members all over the US.

The Research Transparency Working Group completed their work supporting the Accelerating Public Access to Research Data (APARD) initiative with the report Implementing Effective Data Practices: Stakeholder Recommendations for Collaborative Research Support, and hosted a COR Conversation on open access data and publishing on 3 Dec. APLU and COR will continue to contribute to this effort via the ongoing APARD initiative.

The Future of Research Working Group was created to address the changing landscape of university research, especially due to the pandemic. COR Summer meeting also featured a session focusing on the future of the research enterprise as we emerge from the pandemic. Co-leaders: Matt Tarr, Vice President for Research and Economic Development at the University of New Orleans, and Lora Weiss, Senior Vice President for Research at The Pennsylvania State University.