ORAU Consortium Membership

The Board of Directors of Oak Ridge Associated Universities has approved the following criteria for evaluation of applications to become sponsoring institutions and associate members. The Council will consider applications in the context that:

• ORAU recognizes that university partnerships and interaction with national laboratories, such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have become more global in nature;
• ORAU acknowledges that membership criteria and institutions change over time. Institutions may retain their current status by continued payment of appropriate dues, and may apply to change status at the annual deadline;
• ORAU will recruit top tier research institutions as strategic partners that complement ORAU core competencies and enhance the competitiveness of ORAU and the existing members. ORAU will focus on colleges and universities with synergistic interests that would provide value to the consortium. ORAU welcomes universities from all geographic regions with a strong focus on how universities complement the needs and interests of current members. An international university may apply to become a sponsoring or associate member; and
• ORAU will consider applicants for membership annually.

Sponsoring Institutions

A. An ORAU sponsoring institution must be a non-profit institution of higher learning granting doctoral degrees in areas complementary to the interests of ORAU members and/or the programs of ORAU itself. An institution must be accredited by regional organizations and by appropriate professional organizations.

B. The following desirable criteria will be considered in reviewing applications. Candidate institutions that do not meet these criteria may be encouraged to apply to become associate members of ORAU.

1. Be among the nation's top universities as measured by inclusion in the top Carnegie categories of Research Universities and/or inclusion in the top 200 institutions listed in the NSF R&D expenditures tables.
2. Be a comprehensive program offering doctoral degrees in multiple science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields for a minimum of the five previous years.

C. For international universities applying for membership as a sponsoring institution, the preferred approach would be for the international applicant to be recommended by an ORAU sponsoring institution.

Associate Members

Associate Members of the consortium are most effective when mutual benefit exists. As these institutions are often experiencing rapid growth or change in technical focus, the Associate Members are reviewed periodically to determine if it is appropriate to apply for Sponsoring Membership and if the mutual benefit remains strong.

A. An ORAU associate member institution must be an accredited institution of higher learning offering bachelor’s, master’s or a limited number of doctoral degrees in areas complementary to the interests of ORAU members and/or the programs of ORAU; AND

B. The applicant must be recommended/supported by either a sponsoring institution or an ORAU program based on client needs; AND

C. The applicant will typically be ranked in the top 400 institutions for science and engineering research federal expenditures by NSF (Table 17 NCSES HERD) or have received an annual average of $2 million of federal research funding over the prior three years; AND

D. The applicant must offer graduate degrees in at least two science, engineering or mathematics fields.

Each institution in ORAU’s University Consortium appoints a representative to the Council of Sponsoring Institutions, which governs ORAU in accordance with the Council’s Charter and By Laws. These representatives, called Councilors, are appointed by the executive head of each Sponsoring or Associate member institution.

Preferably, the appointed Councilor is the Chief Research Officer for the institution. The Councilor serves as the liaison between the member university and ORAU. Councilor responsibilities and functions include the following:

• Casts the Sponsoring institution’s vote at the Annual Meeting of the ORAU Council of Sponsoring Institutions (Associate Members do not vote on matters considered by the Council).
• Notifies the ORAU University Partnerships Office of changes in the appointed Councilor or Chief Research Officer at the institution.
• Receives and disseminates information on ORAU grant programs and activities to administrators, faculty and students at the institution, including but not limited to the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Program, Innovation Partnerships Program, and the ORAU-Directed Research and Development Program.
• Manages information flow regarding opportunities for joint funding, participant programs, and ORAU grant programs to appropriate personnel in the university and may choose to engage a team of colleagues to maximize engagement.
• Arranges campus visits by ORAU staff.
• Serves as the conduit for submission of proposals to ORAU grant programs, which limits the number of applications from an institution.
• Understands ORAU core competencies and facilitates partnerships for joint proposals involving university faculty and ORAU subject matter experts.
• Understands institutional capabilities and interests, strategic plans and asset availability. 
• Employs technical background, expertise, and interests as a volunteer for service on Council committees, such as award selection committees.
• Monitors and facilitates payment of the ORAU annual membership dues.

Now that you are an ORAU Consortium Member, you want to begin reaping the full benefits as quickly as possible. That’s why the Memorandum of Understanding is so important.

Our MOU facilitates rapid collaboration between ORAU and your institution on potential proposals or projects. The MOU allows a pre-negotiation of standard terms for a Non-Disclosure Agreement and Teaming Agreement before they are required. Member Institutions are requested to sign the MOU and NDA after terms have been negotiated and needs of the institution have been met. 

If you have business questions about the MOU, please contact Casey Thomas.

If you have legal questions regarding modifications of the terms, please contact Rachel Lokitz.

Adding value to your membership in ORAU’s University Consortium is a priority for us. To that end, ORAU partners with private industry on major government contracts, primarily Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) awards. Many of these awards provide opportunities for Consortium members to conduct real-world research for government agencies.

If your institution is an ORAU Consortium member and has not signed an MOU and NDA and wishes to do so, please contact Cathy Fore or Casey Thomas.

A visit from ORAU to your campus should be a valuable highlight of your membership in the ORAU University Consortium. A campus visit offers an opportunity for ORAU representatives to join in value-added conversations with university leadership, faculty and students. Campus visits help us gain a deeper understanding of your institution’s research agenda and priorities, and they help us learn how your priorities align with ORAU's core competencies. Through this alignment, we can build a better, stronger partnership together, resulting in mutually-beneficial collaborations.

A campus visit may be a newsworthy event, especially if a presentation or seminar by a member of ORAU’s team is included in the visit agenda.

Because campus visits can be newsworthy, we have developed a campus visit toolkit to assist you in planning and organizing the visit. The toolkit includes:

• A campus visit agenda template
• A seminar announcement template
• A biography for the ORAU representative(s) conducting the visit
• A sample news release for use in publicizing the visit and seminar or for new members to announce ORAU visits during and after the membership process.

To schedule a campus visit, or to obtain a copy of the campus visit toolkit, call the University Partnerships Office at (865) 576-6513 or university.partnerships@orau.org.