• Administrative Procedures. Department administrative procedures supporting the collaboration can be 

 cumbersome and intrusive when compared with other Federal agencies. NOAA has recently completed a 

 top-to-bottom examination of these procedures in an effort to cut the processing time for grants and con- 

 tracts by a factor of two. It will take some time before this goal is achieved. 



• Variety of Funding Mechanisms. In NOAA, for example, agency interactions with the RIU's are not con- 

 fined to any single granting entity but are spread in diverse ways across the entire organization. This has 

 many benefits; in particular, it ensures good working level interactions between Federal and university re- 

 searchers across the entire organization. 



There is, however, a negative side. While old-time university researchers who have grown up with the system 

 have been able to cope, newcomers are confronted with a bewildering array of grants and contracts procedures and 

 opportunities, with little coherence apparent in the rules governing one to the next. NOAA is beginning to bring more 

 order to this picture, and to provide better guidelines to help researchers identify and work with the diverse funding 

 sources. 



• Obstacles to Use of DoC Facilities. For example, NOAA maintains a number of facilities of importance to 

 university researchers, including research vessels, research aircraft, and high-performance computers. 

 University access to these facilities is limited and less uniform than it might be. 



Recently, NOAA has established an ombudsman function to provide some rehef for researchers to cope with the 

 worst of these problems. It will take some time, however, to make this a fully effective mechanism for addressing 

 university concerns. 



Elements/Characteristics of a Productive Future Relationship: 



Department of Commerce Agencies recognize that the science and engineering under their authority is in a state 

 of rapid change. Earth sciences are evolving from a focus on particular processes and expeditionary work of small 

 scope and short duration, to broader, more comprehensive observation and predictive modeling of the earth system, 

 including ecosystem modeling of its living component. Increasingly, NOAA's operational observing systems create 

 data sets of research value. Researcher input to the design of these systems early in the planning process can mean 

 substantial improvements in the research value of the operational system. 



This is changing the nature of NOAA-university cooperation in fundamental ways. Formerly interactions at the 

 working level, covering short periods of time, and small dollar amounts, were adequate. Increasingly, in the future, 

 universities will need to participate in oceanic and atmospheric research at the institutional level, for sustained 

 periods. This will require greater managerial attention and cooperation at all levels. Maintaining fiexibility in the face 

 of this managerial attention will be a challenge. NOAA's desire to accelerate technology transfer will also mean that 

 larger numbers of university researchers will be invited into NOAA's operating envirormient. 



Similarly, technology transfer from the universities into private industry is assuming greater importance as inter- 

 national economic competition increases and the strategic implications of such competition continue to grow. This 

 will result in greater demands on NIST-university collaboration. 



In the world of the future, university access to DoC data will become even more critical; the agencies will have 

 to work to ensure open exchange of research data and information. 



Legislative/Executive Authorities(s) for Agency Relationships with 

 Research-Intensive Universities: 



Numerous legislative/executive authorities govern these relationships. 



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