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The Research Foundation of The City University of New York
The story that these trends tell is one of CUNY’s growing focus on, and success in attract-
ing, sponsored program activity. Indeed, CUNY’s commitment in this area is evident from the
investment the University has made, and that it continues to make, in faculty and facilities.
The Role of the Research Foundation
The Research Foundation is a private, educational, not-for-profit corporation that works
closely with colleges and PIs, both to secure and manage grants and contracts from a
multitude of sources. On the pre-award side, we partner with college grants offices to help
in the pursuit of opportunities. Most recently, we upgraded our COS database to the new
product, Pivot. This not only allows anyone at CUNY to conduct world-wide searches of
funding resources, but through the creation of PI profiles, facilitates the identification of
potential collaborators.
Once funding is obtained, the RF shifts into post-award mode. If there are staff to be hired
to work on an award, they are hired as RF employees and their benefits, as well as their
wages, come from the Foundation. If goods and services need to be purchased, these are
acquired by the Foundation. Sponsor reporting, legal compliance, audit oversight, facilities
construction and leasing, insurance, contract negotiation, cash management, planned giv-
ing, and indirect cost recovery rate determination are among the many functions performed
by the RF on a fee-for-service basis.
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Because the RF handles these numerous and com-
plex tasks, PIs can better focus on achieving the purposes of their awards.
To give just a brief sense of the scope of what the Foundation handles, in the most recent
year we employed over 12,000 full- and part-time staff, most of whom could be found
on the campuses and in the professional schools of the University carrying out grant and
contract-funded tasks. More than 80,000 vouchers were processed for the purchase of
a variety of goods and services in support of awards. Over 4,000 project budgets were
established and managed. Some 120 external audits were coordinated and brought to
successful conclusion.
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The Research Foundation receives no direct tax-levy funding. Its operations are funded primarily through a service fee tied
to volume and type of activity performed for the University. This is supplemented by income from the LLC and GrantsPlus.