The appendix to "New Business Models for Research" by Katharina Phillips provides a critical analysis of federal regulatory and administrative frameworks governing university research, focusing on issues of accountability, consistency, and efficiency. The document highlights how universities already adhere to rigorous audit standards but face increasing duplication and expense due to individual federal agency audits and expanded requirements, such as heightened subrecipient oversight and the imposition of Cost Accounting Standards. These measures have yielded substantial compliance costs with little demonstrated improvement in accountability, often leading to uncertainty and inefficiency. The report underscores the fragmentation and inconsistency of federal regulations—such as OMB Circulars A-110, A-133, and agency-specific rules—which complicate compliance, increase administrative burdens, and undermine the intention of uniform research management standards.
Further concerns include the chronic underfunding of research administration and infrastructure, as evidenced by federally imposed caps on cost recoveries that shift a significant financial burden onto universities. The inconsistency and proliferation of electronic grant management systems across agencies exacerbate administrative inefficiency and hinder communication. In the domain of technology transfer, the appendix defends the effectiveness of the Bayh-Dole Act's framework while warning against departures from its uniformity, particularly through the expansion of alternative federal funding mechanisms that bypass standard patent and compliance requirements. The document calls for streamlined, harmonized, and adequately funded federal research policies to ensure efficiency, reduce unnecessary costs, and foster effective collaboration and innovation within the academic research environment.
