The document provides a comprehensive overview of recent activities, membership updates, staff roles, and committee reports for the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR) as of October 2020. Three new institutional members—Oakland University, Medical College of Wisconsin, and the University of Wyoming—joined COGR during 2020. The COGR staff includes President Wendy Streitz and several key policy and committee officers whose work spans research administration, security, compliance, and financial oversight. The October 2020 committee reports were presented under the leadership of David Norton and Wendy Streitz, with active participation from a panel of distinguished committee chairs from prominent research institutions.
Each COGR committee provided detailed updates on current initiatives. The Research Security & Intellectual Property (RSIP) committee reported on regulatory implementations, export control, intellectual property issues, and anniversary milestones such as the Bayh-Dole Act. The Contracts & Grants Administration (CGA) committee focused on guidance around grant requirements, inter-agency communications, and improvements for compliance with Uniform Guidance. The Research Ethics & Compliance (REC) committee addressed matters such as responsible conduct of research, ethics training, responses to regulatory guidance, and a new framework for conflict of commitment principles. Meanwhile, the Costing & Financial Compliance (CFC) committee concentrated on extending federal flexibilities, compliance supplements, data requests, readiness guides, and policy changes, reflecting ongoing adaptations to federal oversight in research funding. Collectively, the document signals COGR’s continued commitment to facilitating effective research administration through robust committee activity, stakeholder engagement, and adaptation to evolving national research policies.
