COR Working Groups

The Council on Research establishes 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.

Active Working Groups

As we relaunch and reshape the APLU Council on Research working groups, we’re excited to share the two working groups planned for 2026. To join a working group, please contact Kevin Cooke.

• Supporting Research Activities in the Humanities and Social Sciences: This group will focus on topics and challenges specific to research and creative activity administration in the humanities and social sciences.
• AI in the Research Enterprise: This group will look at how AI is affecting the research enterprise, including policy, operations, ethics, and practical use cases.

Past Working Groups

The Safe and Inclusive Research Environments Working Group focused on 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 its 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 University and Industry Working Group was founded with the primary purpose of identifying and developing 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.” Co-leaders: Chris Keane, Vice President for Research at Washington State University, and Marian McCord, Senior Vice Provost for Research at the University of New Hampshire.

The Mentorship 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. The Mentorship Working Group provided recommendations for community-building strategies that will be incorporated into future COR events and programming.

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 the 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 and 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 its 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.